Louise is passionate about sharing mindfulness and compassion with others. She has introduced these practices to tens of thousands of people across the globe. She wholeheartedly believes that mindfulness and compassion practices have the potential to transform people's lives and create a kinder world for everyone.  

He is passionate about how an understanding of mindfulness and traditional insight meditation practices can give us a deeper sense of connection and oneness with nature. He believes that in this process both our sense of isolation and mental suffering can be relieved as well as helping to inspire action that heals our connection with the earth. One of his earliest inspirations for practicing meditation came from sitting in nature and experiencing the sense of belonging and not being separate. Since then, nature has been a constant support, inspiration and teacher throughout his journey with mindfulness meditation. Having lived for a number of years in a meditation retreat centre where he helped take care of the woodland, he has a particular resonance with the power of the forest to cultivate stillness and understanding. Drawing both on modern mindfulness and ancient insight meditation practices he believes that we can gain a much deeper insight into our internal world by taking the time to be with, explore and learn from the natural world.

My understanding of the philosophy behind Loving Kindness practice is that it reconnects you to your diamond nature and to the diamond nature of all beings around you and it supports and strengthens the qualities of compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity, qualities important for our mindfulness practice and for the cultivation of self-love and self-care. The practice itself involves using phrases of well-wishing as a focus for your attention and offering these phrases to yourself and to people in your life, extending these phrases to all beings everywhere. There are many benefits to practising Loving Kindness such as an increase in positive emotions, life satisfaction, vagal tone (which is a physiological marker of wellbeing), grey matter in the areas of the brain associated with emotional regulation, social connection, and your ability to enter a relaxing and restorative state. It promotes resilience, slows biological aging, curbs self-criticism, decreases your bias towards others, alleviates emotional tension associated with chronic migraines, and activates and strengthens areas of the brain responsible for empathy and emotional intelligence.

Through daily mindfulness and self-compassion practices, Jackie has learned to embrace the richness of every moment, finding solace and comfort in the joy of being and cultivating a sense of warmth and acceptance towards herself and those she encounters. Jackie believes that when we cultivate, nurture, and grow kindness and compassion towards ourselves, this radiates outwards fostering healthier relationships with others and creates a much more compassionate world. Having spent 24 years as a post-primary teacher, Jackie has developed a strong sense of empathy for teenagers while recognising the unique stressors and pressures they face in todays fast-paced, social-media driven world.
Adolescence can be a turbulent time, filled with academic stress, peer pressure, identity exploration and emotional ups and downs. Her empathy for her students and the struggles they face, motivates her to share mindfulness and self-compassion practices which can reduce stress, improve mental health, increase emotional resilience, and enhance overall well-being in teenagers. These practices have helped Jackie navigate challenging times and have been instrumental in her own personal growth and well-being. Jackie has experienced firsthand the transformative power of these practices which has fuelled her desire to share these with others, especially teenagers and educators.
Jackie’s Creative Mindfulness journey began in 2018 upon completion of The Fundamentals of Mindfulness as delivered by Louise in Athlone IT. Jackie instantly fell in love with Louise’s kind-hearted presence and unique style of teaching and sharing mindfulness and self-compassion. Jackie has been practicing and sharing her passion for Louises’s Creative Mindfulness Method using colour, creativity, vibrancy, kindness, and care since then! Jackie is indebted to Louise, Thomas and many other like-minded practitioners who have supported her on her journey and wishes to support fellow educators and Creative Mindfulness practitioners in this very same way!

For me mindfulness is a door to a more loving, conscious and free life.
When we cultivate the practice of mindfulness in our lives we experience ourselves and the world around us from a place of awareness and kindness.  Mindfulness invites us to pause and see clearly, giving us the opportunity to come out of the daily pressures, rush, the automátic, impulsive ways we sometimes get lost in and  respond to life congruently with our deepest intentions and wellbeing.
This does not mean being perfect, this for me means allowing ourselves to be, embrace life with compassion and find peace within ourselves.
The creative mindfulness kids program offers a unique opportunity for adults and children to experience and cultivate mindfulness in their lives,helping them to embody the qualities the practice has to offer in a friendly and loving manner.

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Experiencing mindfulness for me has been a life changing journey. A journey of self-discovery, and a journey where I have learned to love and accept myself, exactly as I am. Learning to meet myself, others and my surroundings in the present moment with kindness, and without judgement, has led me to inner peace. Many of us are kind to others, but being kind to ourselves is not something we are always very good at. What I have discovered is that being kind to yourself has the ability to completely transform your life. We are all perfect exactly as we are, and practicing mindfulness reconnects you with your true inner beauty. True happiness starts from within. When practicing and teaching mindfulness is to share from an open-heart, with the aim of inspiring those on my workshops to come away with their own tools to support their overall mental health and well-being. Through my teachings I aspire to spark self-kindness in all my participants.

Her mission is to share the gift of mindfulness and self-compassion with children from their earliest years to help them to feel safe, present and connected so that they can grow and flourish.
Emily loves teaching the Creative Mindfulness Method as this enables her to share the concepts of mindfulness through practical, creative, tangible and play based ways! This enables the children to develop their skills to help them to build their attention and awareness, navigate their emotions and cultivate kindness for themselves and others. Emily’s intention is to nurture the qualities of awareness, kindness and compassion to support the positive mental health and wellbeing for all who attend her classes and courses.

While I came to my formal mindfulness practice rather late in life, I feel as if I have been practicing informally for most of my life, and now that I have arrived here, I feel this is exactly where I was meant to be all along.  When in the company of young children, I have always felt there is nothing more important than the connection made, and the quality of that connection comes from truly being with the children, offering them authentic presence and a deep listening.  I have always been committed to the well-being of all children, believing that each of us deserves to feel special and worthy simply because of who we are, rather than because of any particular accomplishments.  My philosophy is very much in sync with that of my childhood, and adult, hero, Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers Neighborhood, who ended many of his television programs by saying, “You make each day a special day by just your being you.  There is no one else in this world quite like you.”  As a child, I wanted to believe him, and as an adult, thanks to the awareness and self-compassion practices taught by Louise Shanagher and the Creative Mindfulness for Kids team, I finally do.  The journey is an ongoing one for me, but as I move forward, I become more and more committed to these beautiful practices that have the ability to heal the inner child in all of us.  I believe that this curriculum has the capacity to make each and every child feel good about themselves, and in so doing the world will become a kinder and more loving place for all.
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Breda has a special interest in health and well-being. She believes each person has value and being kind to yourself and others is vital to happiness. She loves spending time outdoors in nature or playing with creativity. In the same way that kindness is contagious she loves that laughter is too and encourages everyone to make time for fun. Life is challenging and each moment is precious. Therefore Breda believes it is an honour that “we get to do this” and that we are privileged to have the opportunity to wake up to a new moment or a new day. Breda will share mindfulness and compassion based practices with you to help you to live each moment to its full potential.
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Edel truly believes the earlier we provide children with the skills to support them through their emotional well-being, we are setting them up for life to help them understand and express their thoughts and feelings while cultivating kindness, gratitude and friendship. These skills promote positive mental health, general well-being as well as strengthening cognitive functioning, confidence and resilience.
 “If I was told from the very beginning that childhood defines adult mental health, we would take care to be more loving of a child’s soul”. -Lael Stone.
Now that Edel has studied the course and has seen the positive benefits that Creative Mindfulness makes in children’s lives, she feels passionate that it should be introduced as a module in the Early Years Courses. Every childcare practitioner should have the knowledge and skills to support children with their emotional well-being.
Edel has written her first book “Robbie’s Mindful Adventures, My First Day in School” and she iknows there are many more adventures to come in this work.

Sophia's philosophy is rooted in the belief that mindfulness isn't merely a practice; it's an
empowering resource for children to navigate life's challenges with resilience and compassion.
She believes in the significance of introducing mindfulness early in childhood development,
allowing for its effective integration into every aspect of children's lives, from their daily
routines to their classrooms. As a third-culture child herself and having lived in different
countries, Sophia is driven to contribute to the creation of a global community of children that
embraces diversity, nurtures empathy, and champions cross-cultural understanding. Alongside
everyone within the Creative Mindfulness community, Sophia strives to inspire a generation of
mindful, resilient individuals who are equipped to thrive in an ever-changing world.

Olive is passionate about the importance of sharing Mindfulness, and particularly the Creative Mindfulness Kids Method, as developed by Louise Shanagher, with a goal of making it available and accessible to children of all ages, everywhere.  Olive believes that every one of us has so much value and we are all so deserving of the experience of feeling safe and loved.  While Olive works with a wide variety of individuals, in both group and individual settings, the intention as she prepares for a class or session is always the same. Creating a space that is warm, inviting, where everything belongs, is very important. When we feel safe, we can begin to relax, and allow ourselves to settle, to pause and just be.  It is from this space we can begin to really grow our mindfulness practice and kindness toward ourselves and others.  The Creative Mindfulness trainings have really helped Olive grow her own awareness and compassion practices and now more than ever, she wishes to support others as they are invited to develop theirs. If we can invite children from a young age to practice mindfulness and cultivate self compassion, we are offering them skills and tools which will be of great value to them for their life to benefit their physical, mental and emotional health.

Dora Dora truly believes that working with children is a privilege, and she has learned something very important from every single child she has had the honor of working with. She would especially highlight the blessing of being the mom of her two amazing children, who are making her life full of love, kindness, and compassion. She finds that Mindfulness practices are incredibly beneficial not only for the mental well-being of individuals but also for families, larger communities, and the overall mental health of our society. Among all the amazing benefits of Mindfulness, Dora would emphasize the importance of becoming more aware of our own emotions, thoughts, and sensations through Mindfulness practices. She believes that supporting children to develop the skill of recognising their own emotions will help them to acknowledge the emotions of others. This is the key to developing empathy, and empathy is the pillar of emotional intelligence. If children can learn and practice this complex ability from a young age, they will be naturally predisposed to kindness, compassion, and tolerance.

“Empathy is the glue that binds societies together, fostering understanding and harmony.”
(Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, 1984)

With the beautiful tool of the Creative Mindfulness method, Dora would like to help the children foster awareness, self-compassion, and emotion-regulation and support them in developing empathy, kindness (toward themselves and others), and emotional intelligence. If we can help one child improve his or her mental well-being, maybe one day this work will have an impact on a whole generation, and through that generation, this world might be a much better place to live in.
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