Teacher BIO

 Ratnadevi (Luise Holpernd, Phd)

Ratnadevi is a mindfulness teacher, life coach, yoga instructor and artist, based in Glasgow. She has been practising meditation for 35 years and has been teaching in Scotland and internationally over the last 30 years. She teaches regular 8 week mindfulness courses in Glasgow. 

She is a member of the Triratna Buddhist Order and  combines the experience and depth of her Buddhist practise with a non-religious approach to teaching mindfulness, characterised by a spirit of openness, gentleness, creativity and enquiry. She spends at least 2-3 months every year on retreats, both leading and as a participant, as well as doing  solitary retreats. 

She completed a teacher training course run by the Centre for Mindfulness in Bangor  and has been offering MBCT/ MBSR courses since 2003, both to the general public and within organisations, such as the NHS and universities. She incorporates elements of self-compassion, as taught by Paul Gilbert and Chris Germer, with whom she did a weeklong retreat in 2011.  She learned about  mindful pain management from breathworks.  During the last 30 years she has been taught by numerous Buddhist teachers who have shaped a deepening understanding of mindfulness and compassion, lately Vessantara. 

She has completed an intensive, year-long certification programme in coaching skills, 'coaching for transformation'. She has been an avid practitioner of NVC for the last 12 years and has developed teaching modules integrating mindfulness and compassionate  communication . Her life-long training in the arts (music, movement and visual arts, PhD in creative arts from Dartington College) feeds into courses and workshops on mindfulness and creativity. Likewise, her many years of experience of  teaching yoga informs her mindfulness teaching, offering  a well-grounded and nourishing experience to participants. 

Together with Charlotte Procter and others she has been training mindfulness teachers since 2008, at Holy Isle and at Mulberry House in Edinburgh. They have also been offering training courses and CPD days for healthcare professionals who teach mindfulness.