It seems like everywhere you turn these days, someone is talking about Mindfulness. In fact, mindfulness was recently featured on the cover of Parade magazine as “The number 1 health booster of 2015.” So…what is mindfulness really all about, where did it come from, and why is it suddenly so popular? The presentation will include a short talk, a short practice session, and plenty of time for any and all questions.

Maria began practicing and studying mindfulness more than 10 years ago in Washington, DC. Having been raised in both Catholic and Assembly of God traditions as a child, Maria’s religious roots are in Christianity but she considers mindfulness practice her spiritual home. Among her core teachers are Thich Nhat Hanh (France), Mitchell Ratner of the Stillwater Mindfulness Practice group (Silver Spring, Maryland) and Fred Eppsteiner of the Florida Community of Mindfulness (Tampa) Tampa, and Tara Brach (Insight Meditation Community of Washington). Maria helped found the Cedar Key Mindfulness practice group in February 2013.

Maria grew up in West Palm Beach and moved to Cedar Key in February 2013, having had a midlife revelation that she was happiest in the water, in a swimsuit, and on boats. Fortunately, in March 2014, she was hired as the full-time Education and Outreach programs coordinator for the Seahorse Key Marine Laboratory and gets paid to go on boats to the ‘office.’  Maria is trained as a medical oncologist and spent 10 years working at the National Institutes of Health outside Washington, DC.

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