Mindfulness Studies

Mindfulness Studies program founder Nancy Waring encourages students to get to know their own minds. A longtime mindfulness meditator and mindfulness-based stress reduction teacher, Waring is among a growing number of educators focused on contemplative studies. Besides mentoring SDMD students in contemplative subject areas, she designed and teaches the interdisciplinary graduate course, "Mindfulness and Professional Practice." Waring has a particular interest in the effects of meditation on the brain, and studies of neuroscience of meditation.

A life-long learner like many of her students, Waring has wide-ranging scholarly interests, including mind-body matters, the psychology of wellness and illness, integrative and allopathic medicine (particularly brain science and the history of medicine), Buddhism, social justice, women in conflict with the law, literary studies, and creative non-fiction.

Waring's career has spanned academia and journalism; she has been a writer, editor, and writing teacher for 30 years. She served as editor-in-chief of the Harvard Law Bulletin and deputy executive editor of Hippocrates, a primary care journal for physicians. At Hippocrates, she contributed many feature articles about leaders in mind/body and integrative medicine, as well as allopathic medicine. Formerly a frequent contributor to the Boston Sunday Globe Magazine, Waring has also written for The Village Voice, Natural Health, Women and Crime, and Shambhala Sun Magazine. She is currently writing a memoir.

In 1994, Waring helped found a home in Cambridge for formerly homeless women with HIV/AIDS, where she facilitates a weekly support group. She has received several awards recognizing her HIV/AIDS work, including the Cambridge Peace Commission's Peace and Justice Award.

Melissa holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University and a graduate certificate in Women's and Gender Studies, as well as a PhD in Human Dimensions of Ecosystem Science and Management.  She is a research consultant and writer.  In addition to teaching writing and research methods courses in the Mindfulness Studies program, she has facilitated independent studies courses for student in the Creative Writing MFA program at Lesley.  

Dr. Armstrong is a Clinical Neuropsychologist with experience in health care, occupational rehabilitation, and education.  Formerly a School Psychologist in New York State, her early interest in students with learning disabilities grew into her fascination with brain and behavior.  While working in corporate educational publishing and student services for the past 15 years, her personal meditation practice evolved and she was drawn to the Mindfulness program at Lesley where she completed the Certificate program in 2014.  

She returned for a professional involvement with the Lesley Graduate Program in Mindfulness Training in the Fall of 2016 as a teaching assistant and became an Adjunct Professor in Summer 2017.  Her personal goals are to further engage in the development of Lesley’s students and in outreach to the broader Lesley and academic community regarding the benefits of this program.  A researcher in her previous academic setting at the University of Rochester (NY) Medical School, she hopes to bring these skills to the Lesley program.  Her current interests include Contemplative Neuroscience, and Mindfulness as applied in medical and educational settings. 

Since reading ‘Memories, dreams, and reflections’ by C.G Jung in my teens, I knew that I wanted to dedicate my life to the study of mind. A first degree in Psychology from Warwick University followed by an M.Sc. in Intelligent Systems, and a PhD Knowledge Acquisition for Expert Systems have given me a sound base for a long career as an Executive Cognitive Coach. I am an author, a chartered research psychologist, and a fellow at the Royal Society of Arts.

I have always tried to push the boundaries of conventional wisdom in business: highlighting the human side of knowledge management in my first book, using laughter as a tool for creative living in my second and now challenging clock time as a time management technique in ‘Lived time’, my latest book.

As a result of writing and applying the techniques in ‘Lived Time,' I find myself leading a contemplative life whilst I continue to write, run my cognitive coaching practice and teach online. I completed a supervised 3 year and 1 month part time retreat in the Thai Theravada Buddhist Tradition, to support a contemplative life in a hectic world. I am interested in the intersection of contemplation and information technology.

My previous books include: ‘Honing your knowledge skills’ and ‘Laughing Matters: How to live creatively with laughter.'

These days I feel at ease with life and have all the time in the world to do what I love – be of service to others and walk my dog Colin, a little Jack Russell that has changed my life.

Chip Hartranft is a an independent scholar/practitioner of yoga and Indian Buddhism.  He has studied Sanskrit and Pali in order to better understand ancient texts such as the discourses on mindfulness and breath meditation.  In 2002 he founded the Arlington Center, a setting for yoga and meditation practice and wellness.  Since the publication of his book on the yoga Sutra in 2003, he has been invited to teach the dharma in educational and meditation training settings across the country.