Over the coming months, we will introduce you to some of the amazing teachers, coaches and trainers who are using OfferingTree to promote greater health, wellness and fitness in their communities.
In this post, we head to the western slopes of Colorado, where Nichole Moorman has been teaching mindfulness practices since 2010. Nichole, who found her calling as a clinical social worker, explains that yoga initially helped her establish a foundation of mindfulness, a helpful start as she began to learn how to teach Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) as part of her counseling work. Even with this foundation, Nichole recalls a sense of discomfort as she co-taught her first DBT group and felt she needed to deepen her understanding and practice of mindfulness. “I quickly realized that mindfulness, a core skill in DBT, takes a lot of practice and that I needed more in-depth experience and training to teach it effectively.” she explains. “This discomfort was my doorway into cultivating moment to moment awareness in my personal and professional life. I wanted to serve my clients more effectively and compassionately, and this required bringing kind and careful attention to my personal experiences, relationships, and reactivity.”
Once she made the decision to further explore mindfulness, Nichole rearranged her schedule and found the closest Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course near her, which was two hours away. This course and Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn changed her life, personally and professionally, and led her to pursue additional training as a qualified MBSR teacher through the Center of Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts. Today, Nichole continues to specialize in treating anxiety, depression and trauma impact, including PTSD, in adults while offering mindfulness and MBSR to those working in healthcare, education and other caregiving roles within the community. Speaking to her additional mindfulness training and practice, she says “I find teaching MBSR classes a natural and beautiful complement to the individual counseling I have been offering for a over a decade.”
Nichole loves her work, in part because of the journeys she shares with her clients and students. During her 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course, and especially the daylong intensive, she has the opportunity to cultivate a community. “I love getting to spend so much time with a group, and learning and unfolding with each other each week. I think communities need more social spaces like this.”
When asked what kind of impact she hopes to make with her work and practice, Nichole says, “I hope to co-create spaces in people’s lives and in the western slope community for reflection, restoration, and remembering what’s best and true in our lives.”
When she’s not on the job, Nichole finds nourishment by hanging out with her pack which includes her husband and three furry friends, enjoying ice cream and taking in all of the great outdoor recreation that Colorado has to offer! Check out how Nichole uses OfferingTree to share mindfulness with the community by visiting her site: nicholemoorman.offeringtree.com.
