Specialists

Jen manages our Equine and Animal Connections programs and is passionate about sharing the wonders of animals and our natural world. She has dedicated 30+ years to creating connections between people and nature to promote awareness, empathy, and deeper understanding. Jen has worked with numerous wild and domestic species, ranging from horses and goats to alligators, venomous snakes, and birds of prey. She holds state and federal licenses to care for wildlife that have been injured or were captive-born and can no longer survive independently in the wild. Her non-profit organization, Nature Matters, brings animal education and direct experiences to the greater community. Jen feels that by connecting with other species, we can expand our vision and be inspired to offer more care and empathy for our natural world and each other.

Workshops

Raptors & Resilience: Re-envisioned • The Wisdom of Owls • Horse Sense • Chicken Keeping

Lecture

Healing the Herd

Private Sessions

Raptors & Resilience: Re-envisioned • The Wisdom of Owls

Mark’s diverse background and 20+ years of experience in the military, recovery rehabilitation, and outdoor guiding inform his approach. He has created a full range of therapeutic tools to work with people who suffer from sadness, pain, and loss of spiritual connection, sometimes due to underlying trauma. Against the backdrop of the great outdoors, Mark uses his “Daily Dose” method, along with mind/body techniques, to address the root causes and driving forces of symptoms. Mark’s path to recovery helps people reprogram their neural pathways, build mindful habits, and release blocks to growth and healing.

Lectures

Artful Photography Stroll • Mindful Photography Stroll • Qigong • Gratitude Meditation 

Workshops

Mindful Kayaking • Stand Up Paddleboard Yoga • Tension Release Exercises (TRE) • Snapshots of Splendor • Dynamic Breathwork Discovery • Alchemy of Resilience: Breathwork, Mindset & Cold • Sensory Silk Cocoon Meditation

Private Sessions

Tension Release Exercise (TRE) • Daily Dose Wellness • Change Your Breathing Change Your Mood

Raya awakened spiritually at a young age and lived in a yoga ashram, studying energy healing and becoming a certified holistic health counselor. She earned a BA from Yale and began using her intuitive and analytical skills to work at the Northeast’s top holistic wellness centers. Her passion and ability for channeling spiritual energy and soul messages from higher planes are evident in her work today. She augments her hands-on pranic work with crystals and aura photography, helping people release blocked energy to create inner peace.

Lectures

Aura Photo Stories

Workshops

Crystal Clarity • Capture Your Aura 

Private Sessions

Aura Imaging • Energy Session with Aura Photos • Chorus of Crystals with Aura Photos

Well-traveled freelance commercial photographer Gregory Cherin lived and worked in New York City before becoming a year-round Berkshires resident. Gregory’s award-winning work has appeared in national magazines, newspapers, advertisements, websites, annual reports, brochures, books, catalogs, and national network television. Greg finds it most fulfilling when he can connect with people, nature, and landscapes through a unique and mindful approach to photography.

Lectures

Artful Photography Stroll • Mindful Photography Stroll

Workshops

Mt. Greylock Photography Excursion • Cultural Photography

Private Sessions

Custom Off-Property Photography Lesson • Artful Photography Stroll • Mindful Photography Stroll • Mt. Greylock Photography Excursion • Cultural Photography

Greg holds degrees from the New England School of Acupuncture and Cornell University and spent the early part of his career as a research scientist, oceanography instructor, and internationally recognized environmental education leader. At home for decades in the Berkshires, he has guided numerous guests in kayaking, paddle boarding, hiking, biking, skiing, and snowshoeing. He is passionate about sharing a scientifically informed spiritual practice in nature. Greg’s acupuncture sessions offer relief from stress-related issues as well as pain and fatigue. Through positional therapy, he helps bring opposing muscle groups into balance, promoting good posture. His goal is to empower people to self-correct most musculoskeletal issues so they may enjoy a long, pain-free life. Greg helps people move with the effortless power and grace of the ancients and is a dedicated, high-level student of internationally renowned Tai Chi Master and luminary, Yang Yang.

Lectures

Principles of Positional Therapy • Mansion to Marsh Hike • Qigong • Balancing Meridians: Acupuncture and Acupressure • Tai Chi

Workshops

Balance Board Yoga • Mindful Kayaking • Shinrin-Yoku • Tai Chi Hike• Spirit of the Saber

Private Sessions

Becoming Balance • Qi Flow • Qi Grounding • Acupuncture • Beyond Acupuncture

For over 20 years, Adrian has immersed himself in vegetarian cooking, African drumming, and community living. He has worked at the Omega Institute of Holistic Studies and served as executive chef at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, Austen Rigg’s, and Table Six. He spent several years at Canyon Ranch in the Berkshires as a demonstration chef and hand-drumming teacher. Adrian’s dedication, patience, and commitment to educating and inspiring guests align perfectly with Miraval Berkshires’ vision for achieving a life in balance through mindfulness.

Lectures

Culinary Concepts • Highlights of the Season • Restoring Bone Broth

Workshops

Blend ‘N’ Balance Smoothies • Conquer the Blade • Cocktails with the Chef • Flower to Root Cooking • Rhythm & Writing • Connection Through Percussion • Plant-Based BBQ • Highlights of the Season: Chef’s Garden Tour

Private Sessions

Rhythm & Writing • Connection Through Percussion

Cassandra is a potter, sculptor, and pottery instructor. She lives in a tiny house tucked into the mountains with her husband and their two children. As a family, they believe in living simply, creatively, and in touch with the natural world. Acknowledging the mind-body connection of her medium, Cassandra says, “Working with clay allows me to be my truest self.” When she is not muddy with clay, Cassandra is also a yoga teacher and dog agility trainer.

Workshops

The Way of the Wheel • Handbuilding with Clay • Mindful Mandalas • Craft Your Own Mala • The Beauty of Imperfection

Lecture

The Art of Movement

Private Sessions

The Beauty of Imperfection • Glazing

With twenty years in the hair care industry, Bridget’s holistic approach to caring for others is genuine and refreshing. Her positive energy, infectious smile, and warm hugs have made her a beloved figure in The Berkshires. She is a celebrated stylist to some of the most iconic celebrities, and travelers around the world come to New England to seek her services. Everyone who sits in her chair comes away feeling renewed. An American Medical Association Board Certified Trichologist, Bridget offers private consultations to review your hair and scalp care needs using a certified scalp scope. Healthy hair comes from a healthy scalp, and Bridget promotes the idea that beauty comes from within with herbal treatments created from local flora and fauna.

Workshops

Hair Aware

Will Boyce has been a Mind-Body Teacher for over 20 years. He is a certified Kripalu Yoga Teacher, Integral Tai Chi, and Qigong Teacher, a Level 2 Mindfulness Coach with Unified Mindfulness, Certified HeartMath Mentor, and a Kripalu Mindful Outdoor Guide. Will is a United States Army veteran and has spent much of his life helping people with addiction recovery. His mission is to help change the world one person at a time through simple, effective, contemplative practices.

Workshop

The Way to Superior Sleep • See, Hear, Feel: An Alternative Path to Mindfulness & Meditation • Sensory Silk Cocoon Meditation

Lectures

Qigong • Meditation with Music • Mindfulness at Miraval • Gratitude Meditation • Meditation for Superior Sleep

Private Sessions

Breathe Your Stress Away • How to Meditate • From Your Stress to Rest • Qigong: Flowing Movement

Dayla Robinson is an Energy Master, spiritual healer, and ceremonialist. She has spent the past 10 years learning and sharing ancient healing techniques with Indigenous cultures throughout the Americas. She is passionate about sharing an integrated approach to healing that brings harmony and balance.

Workshops

Cleansing Chakras with Sound • Tree Ceremony: The Magnificent Maple • Rosemary for Remembrance • A Sound Journey of Transformation • Song of the Rose: A Guided Meditation • Tree Ceremony: Grandfather Ginkgo • Cacao & Sound Ceremony • Pine Tree Ceremony of Peace • Illumination Ritual: Release 2021 & Restore 2022

Lectures

The Power of Ritual • Retuning Energy • Exploring the Chakras • Journey Into the Labyrinth • Winter Labyrinth Walk

Private Sessions

Spirit Quest • Harmonic Vibrations

Rudra has conducted and taught sound meditations for individuals, couples, and groups for two decades. Using an extensive collection of antique Himalayan Bowls, Rudra guides participants into a deeply supported meditative state. He studied Sonic Theology and Sound Therapy at the Nine Ways Academia Institute and is a Harmonic Therapy Association member. He combines a background in sound design
and dreamwork to guide his approach in setting up contemplative
and therapeutic soundscapes.

Workshops

The Art of Playing Tibetan Tones • Vibrational Sound Chamber

Lecture

Tibetan Tones

Private Sessions

Himalayan Sound Bath • Yojana

Susannah has a diverse background in the creative arts. She finds great joy in mindfully guiding others to express themselves by creating pottery, painting, and malas. She brings over a decade of yoga and meditation practice to the arts, weaving together the spiritual relationship between them. When Susannah is not in the studio making art, she helps others build their connection to the healing power of nature.

WORKSHOPS

Craft Your Own Malas • The Way of the Wheel • Handbuilding with Clay • Mindful Mandalas • Create Your Own Apothecary

For over 30 years, Nick has flourished in the hospitality and food and beverage industry, embodying elegant service at the country’s top wellness facilities. Nick combines his knowledge and experience with a fun-loving approach to infuse mindfulness and balance into his unique offerings. He is a graduate of NYU with an art and textile degree and is an interior design expert. There is nothing Nick loves more than getting people together in a warm and nurturing environment to enjoy the most fundamental pleasures of life: food, drink, and connection.

WORKSHOPS

East Coast Oysters & Bubbles • Sensory Wine Tasting • Seasonal Elixirs Cocktails • Farm to Glass: Beyond the Bloody Mary • Tea with Intention • Sparkling Spirits • Miraval’s Farm-to-Basket Experience • Joy of Java

LECTURE

Lunch with Intention

Jenae has been working in the field of nutrition for almost 14 years providing nutrition counseling, group nutrition classes, as well as creating and training health and wellness programs. She is a certified yoga instructor and has explored many avenues of mindfulness including the Sedona Method, Spatial Dynamics, the Healing Code, mediation, prayer/healing touch, and the law of attraction. Her approach to helping others is accomplished through integrating mental, emotional, and physical health to assist others in moving toward achieving overall wellbeing and life satisfaction. She received a bachelor’s degree in Nutrition Science from Russell Sage College and a Master’s in Applied Nutrition from Sage Graduate School. Additionally, her desire for all people to eat well and have access to healthy food motivated her to revise and promote food donation programs of a chain-wide grocery store increasing healthy donations by thousands of dollars to those in need each year. Jenae is dedicated to serving others needs through looking at the whole person and breaking down large goals into more manageable and achievable success.

WORKSHOPS

The Importance of Phytonutrients • Nutrition for Healthy Skin • To Supplement or Not to Supplement

LECTURE

Exploring Emotional Eating • Mindful Eating

Private Sessions

Nutrition Consultation for Diabetes • Nutrition Consultation for Sport • Nutrition Consultation for Weight Loss • Nutrition Consultation for Celiac • Nutrition Consultation for Heart Disease • Nutrition Consultation for General Health

Beatrice’s love for seafood comes from her Cape Cod roots, which inspired her to share her family’s passion for catching and cooking fresh fish. What she did not learn at home about the culinary arts, she quickly absorbed in the kitchens of Canyon Ranch; everything from technique and etiquette to nutrition and a passion for produce. For Beatrice, cooking is all about love. She hopes to kindle a similar passion in others and help them discover the joy of creating and sharing healthy and delicious food together.

LECTURES

Culinary Concepts • Highlights of the Season • Restoring Bone Broth

WORKSHOPS

Blend ‘N’ Balance Smoothies • That’s my Jam • Fun with Pho • Appreciating Chocolate • Conquer the Blade • Cocktails with the Chef • Flower to Root Cooking • Just Cook for Me • Chef’s Tasting Menu • Sunday Bruch Essentials • Miraval Recipes • The Modern Art of Sauces

Tariq is a motivated and inspired individual who has found purpose in working with others to help them find theirs. His focus on human-to-human connection with clients reflects his belief that finding community through each other to better the self and environment is the sole reason we are here. Tariq incorporates motivational speaking and intention to help guests feel supported in class and at home. He works with clients to meet them wherever they are and collaboratively creates a plan to meet their goals. Self-care through fitness, Tariq maintains, enhances overall wellbeing by exercising the body while simultaneously elevating the soul and mind.

WORKSHOP

Working Out with Compassion

Lori is a health and wellness, fitness, and Pilates professional with 30 years of experience. She provides expert instruction in yoga, fitness, and personal training; however, her forte is Pilates. Lori is a nationally certified Pilates teacher, Gold Standard in Pilates, and a graduate of Polestar Pilates Comprehensive Teacher Training (an international authority in Pilates education). Lori’s passion is assisting people to reach their maximum potential by promoting whole-body health, wellness, and strength through movement.

WORKSHOPS

Aerial Pilates • Pilates Apparatus Circuit • Bogalates • DaVinci Board Reformer Workout • Bosu Yogalates

PRIVATE SESSIONS

Personal Training • Pilates Reformer • Pilates for Back Rehabilitation • Pilates Apparatus • Pilates Recovery • Pilates for Golf • Pilates for Men

Alexia specializes in grief support and uses an integrative approach to coping after loss. As a trained therapist, Alexia uses her knowledge of supporting the human psyche with traditional counseling and blends it seamlessly with her abilities as a spirit medium. Alexia holds a master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling with a specialized certification in trauma and is a Certified Spirit Medium and Spiritual Healer. Alexia is a trained Reiki practitioner in the Usui tradition and a compassionate End of Life Doula. Before beginning her private practice, Alexia worked as a bereavement counselor at an inpatient hospice facility with patients and their families and as a first responder for the Massachusetts Center for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome at Boston Medical Center.

WORKSHOPS

Harnessing Hope • The Freedom of Forgiveness • Navigating Grief: Lifting the Layers

LECTURE

Demystifying Mediumship • The Naming of Souls: Honoring the Departed • Spirit Stories

PRIVATE SESSION

Mediumship Reading • Grief Counseling Session • Clairvoyant Reading

Sarah is a nature and equine enthusiast who has spent her lifetime learning about native plant communities in the Berkshires. She learned to listen closely to the more-than-human world in her quest to create relationships and partnerships with animals and plants alike by spending her youth working with horses and people from all walks of life. She holds a certificate in wild mushroom food safety and enjoys foraging for plants and fungi while introducing people to nature’s abundance. With years of landscaping experience and multiple credentials in horticulture, her passion has evolved to include regenerative agriculture practices. Sarah encourages people to develop a deeper connection with nature and food systems to bring balance and joy to our lives.

WORKSHOPS

Mindful Mushroom Discovery • Fantastic Fungi: Grow Your Own • Grounded & Grateful: Garden Care • Mastering Microgreens

LECTURE

The Magic of Mushrooms

PRIVATE SESSIONS

Mindful Mushroom Discovery • Fantastic Fungi: Grow Your Own • Grounded & Grateful: Garden Care • Mastering Microgreens

Bart Staub is an Ayurvedic Diet & Lifestyle Practitioner and certified 200-hour Kripalu Yoga Teacher. He spent the last 15 years studying Indian philosophical and metaphysical systems with a traditional Indian Guru, Satya Narayana Dasa, in India. Bart loves to educate, inspire and motivate his students to achieve optimal health through simple practices. He teaches periodically in Northern India. In his free time, he reads, writes, and researches current global health perspectives and how they resonate with traditional Indian sciences.

WORKSHOPS

Strengthening Sensual Health • 6 Tastes, 5 Elements

LECTURES

Grounding on the Great Lawn • Riding the Wave of Routines: Circadian Rhythms & Cycles • Soul Discovery • The Magic of Mushrooms

PRIVATE SESSIONS

Thai Massage • Explore Your Elemental Nature

Brian is a hard-core fitness trainer by day and inspirational renaissance artist by night who has numerous pen names and character names for theatrical purposes. He demonstrates holistic health mastery through vibrant creative expression. Brian is the author of several books, including The Art of Collecting Poetry.

WORKSHOPS

Memory Power • Introspective Journaling • Poetry Theater

LECTURES

Optimize Your Health at Any Age • Poetry Guided Imagery