Specialists

Jen manages Miraval Berkshire’s Equine and Animal Connections programs and is passionate about sharing the wonders of animals and our natural world. Jen has dedicated 30+ years to creating connections between people and nature to promote awareness, empathy, and deeper understanding. Drawn to them since childhood, she has worked with numerous species both wild and domestic, ranging from horses and goats to alligators, venomous snakes, and birds of prey. Jen holds both state and federal licenses to care for wildlife that have been injured, or were captive-born, and can no longer survive in the wild on their own. Her non-profit organization, Nature Matters, brings education and direct experiences with these animals to the greater community. Jen feels that when we are able to truly connect with other species we can better understand and learn from them, expand our vision of our own lives, and be inspired to offer more care and empathy for both our natural world and each other.

Workshops

Avian Adaptations: A Lesson in Resilience

Lecture

Healing the Heard

Private Sessions

Avian Adaptations: A Lesson in Resilience

Mark’s diverse background and 20+ years of experience in the military, recovery rehabilitation, and outdoor guiding informs his approach to healing. He has created a full range of therapeutic tools to work with people who suffer from anxiety, depression, 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

Balance Board Yoga • Mindful Kayaking • Shinrin-yoku • Stand Up Paddleboard Yoga • Tension Release Exercises (TRE)• Snapshots of Splendor

Private Sessions

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

Jess Kielman is a world-class psychic, astrologer, tarot card reader, and Feng Shui consultant based in the Berkshires. She started her metaphysical studies at sixteen (the youngest member of the Berkshire Study Group), and has attained proficiency in many healing modalities since. Jess founded the first holistic center in the Berkshires in 1979 and the first regional alternative magazine in 1981. She has launched several successful businesses, hosted a call-in radio show, and maintains a busy private consulting practice. She has provided guidance to the guests at Canyon Ranch for 27 years. Her remarkable attunement to her clients has made her one of the most sought-after consultants in her field, impacting thousands with her compassionate and innovative approach.

Private Sessions

Dreaming & Archetypes • Tarot Card Reading • Western Astrology Reading

Raya experiences the world ablaze with color and energy. A Yale graduate turned Certified Holistic Health Counselor and subtle energy healer, she fell in love with the healing properties of color and light. She teaches about auras and color therapy and uses aura photography in her chakra balancing sessions.

Lectures

Color of Life Energy • Crystal Clarity

Workshops

Crystal Clarity • Capture Your Aura 

Private Sessions

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

Jordan grew up in the beautiful Berkshires, appreciating its sights and small-town charm. An alumna of The Culinary Institute of America’s Baking and Pastry program, she has worked at The Old Inn on the Green and Chocolate Springs Cafe. Pastry is Jordan’s passion and she loves sharing her talents for making confectionary delights, including pastries, cakes, chocolates, and more.

Lecture

Gluten-Free Baking

Workshops

Appreciating Chocolate • Creative Cake Decorating • Conscious Confections • Delightful Plated Desserts • Jams & Jellies • All About the Egg • In a Nutshell

Greg holds degrees from 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 leader in environmental education. At home for decades in the Berkshires, he has guided numerous guests in kayaking, paddleboarding, hiking, biking, skiing, and snowshoeing. He is passionate about sharing a spiritual practice in nature, informed by scientific knowledge. Greg’s acupuncture sessions offer relief from stress-related issues as well as pain, anxiety, depression, insomnia, immune system compromise, 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 Yang Yang, an internationally renowned Tai Chi Master and luminary in modern scientific research.

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

For more than 20 years, Adrian has worked as a self-taught Executive Chef and culinary program presenter in the nation’s leading resort spas and holistic retreat centers. Focusing on health and wellness through an active and balanced plant-based lifestyle, ayurvedic principles, and light-hearted fun, Adrian’s dedication, patience, and commitment to educating and inspiring guests for over two decades aligns perfectly with Miraval Berkshires’ Culinary program.

Lectures

Culinary Concepts • Highlights of the Season • Restoring Bone Broth

Workshops

Blend ‘N’ Balance Smoothies • Cocktails With the Chef • Conquer the Blade • Flower to Root Cooking • Rhythm & Writing • Connection Through Percussion

Private Sessions

Rhythm & Writing • Connection Through Percussion

Beth Grace is an internationally recognized Chinese Metaphysics consultant and educator with deep knowledge in many modalities of the Chinese Metaphysics system, including Classical Feng Shui, BaZi or Four Pillars of Destiny Chinese Astrology, Qi Men Dun Jia, Auspicious Date Selection, and the I Ching. She is passionate about sharing the power of this ancient wisdom with others for their personal empowerment and to improve the quality of their lives.

Workshops

Awakening Your 2021 Super Powers • Chinese Astrology: Year of the Ox • Ask the Oracle

Lecture

Ancient Wisdom for Empowered Living

Private Sessions

Chinese Astrology Reading • Chinese Astrology: Relationship Reading • Oracle Reading

Cassandra is a potter, sculptor, and pottery instructor. She lives in a tiny house tucked in 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 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

Private Sessions

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.

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, 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

Shinrin-Yoku

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 • Metamorphosis: Emerging from Chrysalis • Song of the Rose: A Guided Meditation • Tree Ceremony: Grandfather Ginkgo

Lectures

Exploring the Chakras • The Power of Ritual

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.

LECTURE

Joy of Java

WORKSHOPS

East Coast Oysters & Bubbles • Spring Elixirs • Farm to Glass: Beyond the Bloody Mary • Tea with Intention • Sparkling Spirits

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 • Jams & Jellies • 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

Born and raised in France, Chef Damidot has always had a passion for cooking. He attended the Golf Hotel Culinary School in France at the age of 16 and went on to have apprenticeships with Gilbert Mallet and Jacques Chibois. When he came to America, Chef Damidot worked in The Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach’s Grill Room and The Ritz Carlton San Francisco, until he found himself in Las Vegas as the Executive Banquet Chef at the Bellagio. Passionate about working in the Hyatt Family, in 2011 Chef Damidot became Executive Chef at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans and then joined the Park Hyatt Chicago team as Executive Chef of NoMI. Chef Eric is delighted to lead the Miraval Culinary Program, bringing mindfulness to his signature blend of rich local flavors with traditional techniques, guided by his passion and dedication to culinary arts.

Workshops

Chef’s Tasting Menu • Just Cook for Me