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Associate Teachers

MINDFULNESS EVERYDAY TEACHERS

Heidi BornsteinMy passion for bringing mindful awareness to adults and teens comes from discovering meditation when I was a teen. It opened doors of perception, awareness and clarity that have guided me my entire life. Being able to share the mind body practices with adults through MBSR Workshops and teens through The Mindful Edge and seeing them open, soften, and connect with their own inner wisdom is incredibly inspiring.

Founder Mindfulness Everyday - Director SMART Ontario / Teacher / Facilitator

HEIDI BORNSTEIN, R.P., founder and acting executive director of Mindfulness Everyday, a register Canadian charity, has an extensive background in mindfulness, yoga and meditation. Heidi is trained as a Hatha yoga and meditation teacher, and received intensive training at the International Meditation Institute while living in India. She is a certified MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) Level 1 teacher, Hatha Yoga Teacher, Meditation and Level 2 SMARTeducation – Stress Managements and Resiliency Techniques for Educators (SMART) Facilitator and an Instructor for University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies.
Heidi is certified in Yoga Ed for Elementary Schools, High Schools, and for Working with Those At-Risk; Mindfulness for Kids at Risk with Vinnie Ferraro; Street Yoga training for Kids at Risk; Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program for Teens: Interventions and Strategies to Use in Clinical Practice with Gina Biegel, MA LMFT and has completed the Certification in Applied Mindfulness Program at the University of Toronto Factor Inwentash School of Social Work.
She is the co-creator (with Heather Elson) of the Yoda-Yoga Program for kids, a program specifically designed for use in the 20 minute DPA (Daily Physical Activity) in elementary schools and the co-creator and teacher for The Mindful Edge (Stress Reduction and Life Strategies for Teens) program in high schools.
Heidi is on the steering committee for Mindfulness Toronto, a community of professionals dedicated to the principles and practice of mindfulness in all sectors of society and Discover Mindfulness, a volunteer organization helping to create communities, tools and awareness to bring mindfulness, well-being and mental health to Canadian schools, supporting yoga, meditation, and mindfulness programs for children, youth, teens, and adults in Toronto since 2002.


The “stress” of education has been on academics and a full education is missing, one where a child develops socially and emotionally. Children are multi-faceted human beings. I believe that adults and youth need to become friends with themselves, accepting who they are and connecting with the wisdom that they have within already.  

Founder Mindfulness Everyday - Educational Liaison /Teacher/FacilitatorStephen Chadwick

STEPHEN CHADWICKfounder of Mindfulness Everyday, is a retired public school teacher with three decades of teaching experience with the TDSB (Toronto District School Board), specializing in working with Children with Special Needs and ESL. Steve has received his certification as a Yoga Ed Instructor for Working with Those At-Risk as well as his Level II Curriculum Training of Mindful Schools and is the co-creator and teacher for The Mindful Edge® – Stress Reduction and Life Strategies for Teens program in high schools.  Stephen is a certified Level 1 MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) teacher, a Level 2 SMARTeducation – Stress Managements and Resiliency Techniques for Educators (SMART) facilitator, an Instructor for University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies and a mindfulness teacher for Jewish Family and Children’s Services. Steve has been teaching and supporting mindfulness in Toronto since 2010.


Diana LastSeeing participants’ faces soften and their postures change, feeling their sincerity when they relate how being kinder to themselves and others has made a difference in their lives, how their moments are richer and how they are better able to relate to stress, I feel so very grateful, both as teacher and student, for being able to share in the unfolding of mindfulness.       

Program Director – Teacher/Facilitator

DIANNA LAST is an MBSR teacher who received her training under the direction of Roy Hintsa and Dr. Diane Reibel the Director of The Stress Reduction Program at Jefferson University’s Myrna Brind Center for Integrative Medicine. She participated in the 7-Day Professional Training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Mind-Body Medicine under the direction of Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn and Dr. Saki Santorelli. She studied at the International Meditation Institute in India for five years. Dianna received her certification as a Yoga Ed Instructor for Working with Those At-Risk, is trained in Mindfulness for Kids at Risk with Vinnie Ferraro, and SMARTinEducation (Stress Reduction and Relaxation Training) with Linda Wallace. Dianna is a teacher for The Mindful Edge® – Stress Reduction and Life Strategies For Teens program in high schools. She is an experienced professional photographer, who taught in the Artist in the Schools program with the TDSB. She’s exhibited at various galleries, at the Toronto Art Expo and is in many private collections worldwide.


Naomi NurgitzNaomi Nurgitz
MBSR & SMART Teacher/Facilitator

Mindfulness has made such a difference in my life, how could I not share it with others. Teaching mindfulness to others also benefits me because it reminds me to be mindful. It gives me such joy, as the weeks progress through a workshop cycle to watch participants' tight, stressed body language open up and the sparkle to come back into their eyes, as they realize that through mindfulness they have the power to live consciously.

NAOMI NURGITZ is an MBSR teacher who received her training under the direction of Roy Hintsa and Dr. Diane Reibel, the Director of The Stress Reduction Program at Jefferson University’s Myrna Brind Center for Integrative Medicine. She participated in the 7-Day Professional Training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Mind-Body Medicine under the direction of Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn and Dr. Saki Santorelli. She is trained in Mindfulness for Kids at Risk with Vinnie Ferraro, and Street Yoga training for Kids at Risk as well as smartEducation™ (Stress Management and Resiliency Techniques) with Linda Wallace. Naomi has completed MBCPM level 1 of the facilitator training at the NeuroNove Centre with Dr. Jackie Gardner-Nix for Mindfulness Based Chronic Pain Management. She came to MBSR with a long history of helping people to resolve their conflicts, both as a lawyer & mediator. She is an experienced adult educator, and spent 5 years dedicated to working with kids at risk as a volunteer member of the Youth Justice Committee at Conflict Mediation Services of Downsview.