Alison Canavan

Background:

Alison Canavan is a meditation teacher, author of wellbeing book Minding Mum, an integrative and intuitive health coach and motivational speaker. She is a UCLA-trained Mindfulness Facilitator from The Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behaviour, a HeartMath coach and facilitator, a Master NLP Practitioner, nutrition coach and raw foods master. She runs an integrative coaching clinic and delivers motivational talks on health and wellbeing, all over the world, specialising in mental health and addiction. Alison was a successful international model for nearly two decades before devoting her time to her greatest passion: the achievement of true health and wellbeing for everyone as she strongly believes in the power of human potential. She wrote the first postpartum wellbeing book for new mums in 2015 called Minding Mum – It’s Time to Take Care of You and following on from that created The Full 360 events. These innovative events look at connecting the dots with our health and wellbeing using accessible practices that we can easily integrate into our daily life to create positive change. Alison has a weekly wellbeing column in The Sunday Independent and is a regularly contributor to newspapers, magazines, radio, online and various podcasts worldwide.

Why I practice meditation:

For me my practice is a way of coming home to myself each day. A way of checking in to see how I am doing. It’s a connection to my inner world and a beautiful feedback pathway that enables me to live more authentically. Through my practice I feel I can make sense of what can sometimes be a crazy world.

Why I teach meditation:

It’s such an honour to share the practice of meditation with people and teach. It’s such an incredible tool to have in today’s world and I love helping people connect within and cultivate their own practice. I also believe that meditation is a fantastic tool to help you reach your full potential and live with purpose on purpose.

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Sitara Hewitt

Background:

Sitara has been teaching meditation in classes, workshops and one on one coaching sessions for 15 years. A certified energy healer & former professional dancer; she led the Mindfulness Program at the Toronto Film School for 4 years. She loves empowering others in their practice & supporting their unique journey.

Why I practice meditation:

Because when life can be tough, the inside of my own head doesn’t need to be! My life changed dramatically when i started to meditate..I let go of anxiety and anger and tapped into a peace & joy that continues to expand.

Why I teach meditation:

Seeing others peaceful and happy at the end of a session is one of my favorite experiences. Sometimes feeling good is just 15 minutes of meditating away and I feel grateful that I can facilitate that.

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Shanila Sattar

Background:

Shanila is a wellness activator, women’s researcher, speaker, and the founder of AlwaysPlay based in Los Angeles. She uses ancient modalities with a modern twist to balance and connect the emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual bodies. She came into the world of meditation from her own need after experiencing health and mood imbalances, and from not having proper wellness practices in place. Now, she loves to share these tools for others’ journeys as well.

Shanila grew up in Bangladesh and on the East Coast, working with groups with anxiety, stress, depression, mood imbalances, and sleep troubles. She loves to mix the science and the woo in her practice and hopes that she’s able to reach people who may feel that wellness is inaccessible to them.

Shanila has implemented several programs in the Los Angeles area through the support of several grants from the State of California to bring the art of sound baths and breathwork as emotional and mental wellness tools, hosts workshops in underserved populations, and continues her work in women’s research through partnerships with Universities.

Shanila’s sound bath classes are described as dreamy and otherworldly; her breathwork workshops have been described as a “must experience gift". 

Why I practice meditation:

I practice meditation because through it, I am able to access and maintain a calmer sense of being. I’m able to gain perspective of things that may have been sources of worry or anxiety, and transmute that energy into feeling calm, relaxed, blissful, and joy!

Why I teach meditation:

I teach meditation because I believe that having small practical mindfulness tools in our wellness bag is a better world for everyone. I love to create safe and inviting spaces so that the pretenses of who can and should meditate are removed. Helping people simply relax in the midst of a very busy world is beautiful.

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Lane Carlson

Background:

I’m originally from Minnesota and have spent a decade in transformational exploration. I hold a master is Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica and am a seeker of non invasive practices and modality that are helping make people’s lives better.

Why I practice meditation:

I practice meditation and breathwork to stay calm and approach each day in peace and harmony.

Why I teach meditation:

To open people to a beautiful instrument of healing. Their own breath! We all have the ability to heal ourself and I’ve found profound benefits from breathwork and meditation and I’m happy to share these benefits with others.

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Travis Eliot

Background:

After surviving a near death experience in Kauai and another during the Thailand Tsunami of 2004, Travis Eliot dedicated his life to spreading the teachings of yoga and meditation to as many people as possible.

Travis has become a world-renowned yoga and meditation teacher and author. He teaches his signature Holistic Yoga Flow classes in Los Angeles and in workshops, festivals and retreats around the world. His style is intensely dynamic and has inspired many of today's top athletes, celebrities, and entertainers.

Most recently Travis has become passionate about spreading yoga and meditation inside maximum security prisons. This work has proven to bring light to the darkest of places.

He is the creator of the groundbreaking programs The Ultimate Yogi, Yoga 30 for 30, along with many other best-selling yoga DVDs. He is the author of “Journey Into Yin Yoga,” co-author of “Holistic Yoga Flow: The Path of Practice.” His highly acclaimed chant album, The Meaning of Soul, debuted at No. 3 on the iTunes world music chart. He is the CEO of Inner Dimension Media, director of Holistic Yoga Flow teacher trainings and a member of the faculty of the prestigious Kripalu Institute and 1440 Multiversity. A Yoga Alliance-certified E-RYT 500 instructor, Travis has been featured in Yoga Journal, Yoga Magazine, LA YOGA Ayurveda and Health, Mantra magazine, Om Yoga magazine, Conscious Lifestyle, Asana Journal, Self, Fitness Trainer, Access Hollywood, and The Huffington Post.

Why I practice meditation:

I practice meditation to make friends with the crazy person inside of my head! It also helps me feel spacious and open. From this place wisdom and compassion grows.

Why I teach meditation:

I want people to be joyful, healthy and empowered. I teach to help people master their mind and therefore their life.

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Daphne Lyon

Background:

Daphne’s mission is to share the modern science and ancient wisdom of meditation practices so that we may live happier and healthier lives, create stronger more beautiful relationships with ourselves and others, and stand in the power of our most authentic self.

Meditation transformed Daphne’s life. Introduced to the practice at a young age by her parents, meditation became a vital tool, allowing her to feel more grounded and embodied no matter the experience, thought, emotion, or stressor. Daphne deepened her curiosity of meditation by traveling the world learning and working with a diverse community of yoga and meditation teachers, healers, shamans, and medicine workers. This evolved into her passion of studying ancient wisdom and modern science for the goal of simplifying and integrating these practices into our everyday lives.

Daphne's classes, workshops, trainings, and retreats offer various culturally responsive disciplines and practices that stay at the root of the teachings so that we may reside within the heart, cultivate peace of mind, connect to the earth, hold space for others, and find ways to bask in compassion and laughter along the way.

Daphne is eternally grateful to her teachers davidji, Sharon Gannon, David Life, Don and Amba Stapleton, Al Finger, Elena Brower, Mandy Trapp, Rod Stryker, Manorama, and Ram Dass and many others for their knowledge, wisdom, and grace they bestowed upon her through their teachings. To her family and the many teachers in her community who continue to inspire her, especially the students who allow Daphne to share her love and passion.

Why I Practice Meditation:

The meditation practice allows me to stand in the light and love of my most authentic self with clarity, balance, and lightheartedness. This practice enables me to hone in on a transformative skill that gives me a more encompassing and healthier awareness of my mindbody, elevates my relationships with others, and uplifts my life so that I may better serve all others.

Why I Teach Meditation:

To make great change in the world, we must begin here, with ourselves. We cultivate our full potential, brain and body health, calmness, inspiration, focus, clarity, happiness, balance, intuitive wisdom, empathy, and resilience when we practice the simple tools of meditation. Who doesn’t want this? This is why I teach, to share this profound practice of meditation and make it accessible, simple, and easy to integrate into our everyday lives so that we can live the life we want and make the world a better place.

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Jylani Ma'at Brown

Background:

As one born into a family of educators and medical practitioners, Jylani Ma’at’s background as both a teacher and a nurse came as no surprise. She inherited a legacy of traditional and alternative healing practices. Since a very young age, Jylani has been engaged in meditation, holistic wellness and embodied awareness practices. As a teenager, she found herself making deep spiritual connections in nature and with stillness. She has continued along this path ever since. When Jylani became a mother, she realized just how important it was to be disciplined about her daily practice in order to stay balanced and healthy. She has an affinity for guiding people toward wellness modalities that connect with and through the body using all of their senses. Jylani believes taking deliberate moments needs to feel authentic and comfortable so that people may practice regularly and live a life of greater ease.

Jylani has trained and taught meditation, mindfulness, movement and integrative nutrition in schools, studios and communities around the world. She enjoys learning healing practices from indigenous cultures. Admittedly, her Yoga Nidra Teacher Training with Tracee Stanley and Chanti Tocoronte-Perez, was by far the deepest and most embodied experience of her life. It was the purest example of using the body, breath and stillness to achieve deep levels of inner peace, resilience, strength and radiance.

Why I practice meditation:

I practice meditation to re-connect with my deepest sense of knowing, moment after moment. Meditation keeps me grounded and aware in my body. My daily practice helps me experience life from a calm, grateful and deliberate place. It allows me to stay aligned with my purpose, well intentioned and connected to nature’s elements.

Why I teach meditation:

I teach meditation to guide people back to themselves. The everyday life, the busyness, can get in the way and disconnect people from their joyful selves. I believe taking moments to connect the breath with the body is the most important step toward wellness and liberation.

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Madison Flock

Background:

I’m Madison Flock. I am yoga teacher, fitness instructor and Unplug certified meditation teacher from Los Angeles. From a young age, I have always had a desire to make people feel good. I grew up participating in musical theater, using my time on stage to create a whole different world for the audience to escape to. I attended UC San Diego where I studied Psychology with the goal of helping people heal through talk therapy. After I graduated college I felt lost and overwhelmed. With a desperate desire to gain more clarity and ease in my day to day life I dove head first into my yoga practice. Giving myself the time to slow down and focus on myself was a game changer. So much so that it changed the trajectory of my career.

My greatest passion is to provide safe spaces for people of all ages, where they can let go of their grip on life, surrender to the present moment and live up to their full potential. For years I was creating these experiences solely through movement, and then I took my first class at Unplug. I quickly noticed the benefits that a regular meditation practice had on my own life and I knew I was being called to share this with as many people as I could. Whether it be through mindful breathing, guided visualization or sound healing, my intention is always to leave you feeling calm, clear, and at home in your own body. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to guide you all in the very same space where I learned the power of this practice.

Why I Practice Meditation:

I practice meditation because it feels like coming home to myself. Every single time. Sitting in stillness used to drive me up the wall, but now, it is what I crave when life is driving me up the wall. Meditation has taught me how to quiet the noise of the outside world and listen to my heart. It’s what makes me feel safe. It’s what makes me feel whole. It’s what makes me feel like me.

Why I Teach Meditation:

Everyone deserves to feel good. I want to do my best to help everyone feel good. I know this works. If you trust it, you’ll know it works too.

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Unplug Meditation

12401 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 101 Los Angeles, CA 90025

(310) 826-8899

info@unplug.com