Program Satisfaction Questionnaire

From our January 2023 retreat: “Great variety! Tracy made us feel welcome, at home, and comfortable. The fire was mood setting and the hot tea comforting. The warmer weather added to the day to be able to be in and with nature. I always love your smile, kindness, care, compassion, and leadership! Julie helped me arrive and become settled, present, and centered. Tobi’s movement slowed my thoughts and continued Julie’s teaching to bring me into my body with gentleness and compassion… Cathan is a wonderful teacher and has so much knowledge and wisdom to share… Shane’s teaching made it possible to go deeper with compassion for myself… [he] is approachable, creative, and fearless to try something new! Julia delved deeper within of being compassionate to me, myself, and I… It was a helpful way to hold everything in the retreat in a comforting, connected, and spacious way… How [the] teachings built on one another, beautiful…. The variety [of] ways to meditate fed my soul.”

“The three presenters were extraordinary. I was able to identify unseen layers of work that needs to be done. Beginning with the initial agreements until the end, the entire workshop was delivered by the three presenters with a mindful presence, elegance, compassion, and with depth and breadth of content.”

“I’ve taken two Mindfulness Based programs at MAM this year, and I’d highly recommend these courses. They’re a safe space for exploring mindfulness, and deepening self awareness through practices, homework and group discussion. The instructors are skilled facilitators, and the retreats offer a chance to connect with the broader mindfulness community at MAM.”

“I would like to say that this was the most beneficial and helpful course for CE credits I’ve attended in a while, thank you!”

“I felt so safe and free to be myself in the space that was held and created on retreat, even if we were in silence. I enjoyed the different options provided and the personal time to integrate or choose what you most needed. I left with so much clarity on what patterns and conditioning leads me to feel drained, and hope to continue integrating this new level of seeing and awareness after the retreat.”

“Appreciated the diversity of the presenters in areas of special expertise, personalities, and styles as well as the cohesion and connectedness across all the presenters that leaves a sense of warmth, assurance, and heart-smiles. Received a well rounded understanding of all the programs.”

“I was blown away with the level of the people there. Not only were the leaders skilled and knowledgeable, the participants were very skilled and wonderful. In some of the breakout sessions my experience was very humbling.”

“I have engaged in a number of programs and workshops on social and racial justice. This was the first time I had the opportunity to explore my identity as a “white” person in America. I can tell how important this will be to my own healing and to my ability to contribute to community healing as a mindful anti-racist and amplifier of oppressed voices. This is also the first time experiencing the practice of mindfulness in the context of social/racial justice workshop. For me this nurtures the conditions for deeper learning and more effectively managing the barriers common to doing this work – shame, denial, overwhelm, grief, striving/fixing. Thank you! I look forward to part 2.”

“[The presenter was] Calm, centered, present- active listener, very knowledgeable of the material. The mindfulness practice is wonderful. I enjoyed hearing about the research and connection between mindfulness practice and its benefits/affects on professionals.”

“Great dynamic presenters… They did a good job making it interactive and I loved the visual examples. I enjoyed learning from them.”

“I felt cared for the entire time, I learned applicable skills too! She made it safe to explore and ask questions. I loved how experiential it was. The experiential and conversational nature of this learning was great!”

“There is always a warm, supporting, enriching atmosphere provided by all the instructors. Each movement towards creating your individual revolution is welcomed. I congratulate all of you for the nonstop energy, optimism, courage and conviction as you continue to develop and expand your community, and a revolution from the inside out.”

“I feel privileged to be part of this amazing community! Thanks to everyone who participates!”

“MAM has many quality offerings and I hope the word/advertising will continue to spread about all the great classes MAM offers. I especially like the classes that are at no extra charge that come with membership.”

“I felt both Tracy and Shane’s personalities and knowledge allowed me to open up and share my thoughts and experiences. I felt a sense of ease, trust and space in this intimate group. As a feeling of freedom flowed openly, accepting the unknown. Each session was filled with interesting dialogue. Loved the feedback they offered leaving me with much contemplation to delve into. The vast resources offered has been a continuation of deeper understanding to ponder in the weeks and months ahead.”

“I’ve taken two Mindfulness Based programs at MAM this year, and I’d highly recommend these courses. They’re a safe space for exploring mindfulness, and deepening self awareness through practices, homework and group discussion. The instructors are skilled facilitators, and the retreats offer a chance to connect with the broader mindfulness community at MAM. The teachers do a great job facilitating discussions, and I learn a lot from listening to the other participants talk about their experiences and offer ideas/insights.”

“Both of the presenters had a wealth of experience and knowledge that they brought to the workshop.”

“Informative, living out what they taught us which is lovely, open, receptive.”

“Insightful, wise, knowledgeable and very warm to everyone.”

“Calming, inviting, honorable, enjoyable.”

“Every time I sit, every teaching I hear, I learn more.”

“I learned a lot and truly appreciated the practical applications and tools to use in my practice.”

“I loved this training and have been able to implement it with my clients.”

“The MBCT course offered an ideal balance between deepening my mindfulness practice and increasing awareness of my internal experiences in regards to symptoms of depression and anxiety. It helped me reflect on and adapt my day to day to a more mindful and healthy living space.”

“Exploring this book has added layers and depth to my understanding of so many attributes like altruism, empathy, and compassion along with many others. There is also a wealth of practice presented to add to mindful living. Each chapter had a section of practices to support each concept. These are resources that can support and expand mindful practice. I also enjoyed the group practice each week centered on the reading theme. Each discussion explored how mindfulness can be used in various ways, both in building positive attributes and handling the unskillful edge states when we fall. Informational and inspirational!”

“It was an honor and pleasure to log into Zoom for each MSC class. My heart, my mind, my spirit are all in alignment again… I let myself experience all of the offerings and found the ones that really resonated with me. This class brought back to who that I AM – embodiment of love, peace, kindness, joy and more. After a series of multiple losses in the past few years, my ability to give to others did not stop, but my nurturing to myself was set aside. End result: mental and physical exhaustion – existing and fueled by adrenaline. I am grateful for the beautiful reset I received – my heart is my true source – and when I am connected – my mind is calm and clear. Thank you Aimee for your kind, sweet, sensitive self that understands and breathes this with type of energy that allows for others to heal and return home to themselves.”

“Sydney was such a great facilitator, professional, knowledgeable and kind. She created a space that felt extremely safe and welcoming. I learned so much and will try to take more classes with her in the future.”

“Tracy was so compassionate and friendly which made me feel safe and open to expression. I loved how she spoke to each of us and took the time to respond and offer us individual time, space and interesting explanations. I looked forward to spending Monday with Tracy and after class I felt I had learned, benefited ways to become a better person. Life changing skills that needed fine tuned and practiced every day. I give Tracy 5 stars!”

“Angie is an amazing teacher, not only is she well versed in the subject, she made each session engaging. She also provided really helpful supplemental materials/articles on the topic. I absolutely want to take every single class she teaches… that’s how amazing this experience [was]. Angie uses various instructional methods to accommodate different learning styles and provides robust class outlines and notes for each class session. I appreciate her preparation and attention to detail.”

“Cathan was so gentle, warm, and encouraging. I can tell she really knows and practices what she preaches when it comes to non-violent communication.”

“Julia’s morning yoga/silent meditation was a really important part of my experience and gave me some powerful insights about what I want and need in my home practice.”

“I enjoyed having the opportunity to learn from a teacher/mentor. I found Tracy to be very knowledgeable and skilled. I feel like I learned a lot from her. I have found in person/group mindful practice much easier and informative than doing it on my own or through books.”

“Deah was warm, knowledgeable and inviting. The outline was useful, applicable, and meaningful. Astounded me we got so much accomplished in 2 hours. Offer this next year for sure!! ”

“I appreciated Erik’s ability to explain MBSR and meditation in a straightforward commonsense way that didn’t get too deep in the weeds but left me with a better understanding and avenues to explore. I left the class feeling that mindfulness/meditation is something that I can and have incorporated into my daily life.”

“[Sydney] fully embodied mindful self compassion by curiously working to understand our sharing, asking us deeper questions so we became more mindful, responding with compassion when we didn’t for ourselves. She was a wonderful model of the behavior we are invited into through the material.”

“Deah was absolutely wonderful. This series was so thoughtful and well organized, Deah obviously put a lot of time into preparing it. The handouts each week were very thorough – full of information, reflection questions, practices, and resources. Deah had so much genuine enthusiasm, it made it extra fun to learn from her. I am so thankful for this series and look forward to hopefully practicing with her again soon! I was a little nervous about doing this series online, but it turned out wonderfully! Deah put us in breakout rooms a couple times each session, which was really nice. There was a lot of interaction and discussion overall, which was perfect for this material. The general themes each week were emotions, self-compassion, and radical acceptance. They all were taught through the lens of mindfulness, and I feel like I learned a lot!”

“Sydney is an excellent educator and facilitator – Extremely engaging.”

“I wish we had had more Deah in the schedule! I love her guidance, handouts, humor, and way of holding space for processing post meditation.”

“Sydney is an expert presenter. She provided a great structure- content, zoom breakouts, and breaks as needed. The information related to trauma and vagal systems was so helpful. I LOVED the emphasis and consideration given to DEI. Very powerful insights related to unintentional judgments about doing mindfulness that can be communicated by teachers, and how to change language to be more inclusive. A wealth of knowledge, and embodied the practices she was discussing as a leader. Very good modeling!”

“Cathan is a skilled and gifted teacher. Her knowledge of the content was exceptional! Digging deeper into this topic was extremely valuable and useful in all facets of life.”

“I found Sydney Spears teaching to be one of the more creative, humorous and accessible I have experienced. She can take a difficult concept and approach it in a thoughtful, and sometime fun, way and then bring the students along on the discovery journey to full compression and an experience of it so there is more complete understanding and embodiment… Sydney made is big effort to look at, speak to and include the Zoomers in the program.”

“As a person living with an invisible disability, I felt very seen by Dr. Spears. It felt very supportive to practice somatic movement, something I typically do by myself, as a group!”