Koru Mindfulness is a four-session mindfulness training program taught by teachers trained and certified by the Center for Koru Mindfulness. Koru is the New Zealand Maori word for the unfurling fern frond.
Koru program basic structure:
- Four, virtual 75-minute classes
- Classes are small groups of up to 16 participants
- Each class includes:
- short opening meditation
- check-in
- mind-body skill
- mindfulness meditation practice
Weekly Skills and Guided Meditations:
Class 1:
- Dynamic Breathing
- Diaphragmatic Breathing
- Body Scan
Class 2:
- Walking Meditation
- Gatha Meditation
Class 3:
- Guided Imagery
- Labeling Thoughts
Class 4:
- Eating Meditation
- Labeling Feelings
Paula Fitzpatrick, Ph.D., is a certified Koru teacher and has completed the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness Practice Teaching Intensive, the second formal program in Teacher Education for Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and is trained to teach the full 8-week MBSR program. She has experience teaching and conducting research in mindfulness and meditation, positive psychology, and interpersonal synchrony in both typical and atypical populations. Her research has been funded by NIH and NSF and employs innovative, multi-method research designs and the formation of collaborative research teams with diverse backgrounds that cut across disciplinary expertise—developmental psychology, clinical psychology, social psychology, movement science, neuroscience, and education.