Meet Margaret
Official Title: Founder and Director of Mindfulness Midwest, LLC
Professional Titles: MA, LCPC, E-RYT 500+, MSN, CSN, RN, CFM UMass Certified MBSR Teacher
Unofficial Titles: Mags, Marg, Mom (Mother at times), Grandmom Margaret, Friend, Neighbor, Mindfulness/MBSR Teacher/Facilitator, Preschool Yoga Teacher, Yoga Teacher, Counselor/Psychotherapist, Registered Nurse, Novice Researcher
Favourite Quote: Attention is the purest and rarest form of generosity ~Simone Weil
Recent Work Experiences that inform and support my role as a Mindfulness/MBSR Teacher/Psychotherapist
- Current roles as a Teacher/Facilitator/Psychotherapist
- As a member of the Wellness team of the RUSH Road Home Program, Road Home Program: The Center for Veterans and Their Families, a partner of the Wounded Warrior Project® , Margaret teaches Mindfulness and Yoga to Veterans as part of an ongoing Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), to all branches of the US Military Veterans seeking support and healing for Military Combat and Military Sexual Trauma.
- Margaret facilitates weekly Mindfulness Practices for Stress Management, Live Online via Zoom, for the for the administration, faculty, and staff of Oak Lawn-Hometown School District 123.
- Margaret teaches the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Course to Cancer patients, Cancer survivors (and all those that support them), for the Integrative Therapy Department of OSF Little Company of Mary Medical Center, OSF LCMMC Integrative Therapy Department, as well as people in the community of the southwest side of Chicago. Moved to a virtual platform (Zoom) at the onset of the pandemic.
- Margaret facilitates a bi-monthly MBSR Group for MBSR Graduates held Live Online via Zoom (since the onset of the pandemic) to re-connect, re-initiate practice, and/or support ongoing Mindfulness practices.
- In addition to teaching MBSR, Margaret maintains a psychotherapy practice as a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) at the Center for Psychological Services located in Oak Lawn, IL The Center for Psychological Services
- Margaret continues to volunteer as a teacher of Preschool Yoga and Mindfulness in Chicago Public Schools.
Life Span Work Experiences +
Margaret’s background spans a lifetime of educational opportunities and professional careers comprised of work as follows:
- Registered Nurse in Surgical Intensive Care Units at University of Chicago and Northwestern Memorial Hospital
- Registered Nurse in Galway, Ireland
- Nursing Instructor at a Little Company of Mary Hospital-Based RN Program
- Fire Protection Engineer
- IL Certified School Nurse in the Chicago Public Schools
- Home Health/Hospice Nurse
- Adjunct Professor UIC College of Nursing
- Hatha Yoga Instructor
- Parent Coordinator at Barbara Vick Early Childhood Center
- Developer and Instructor of Preschool Yoga and Mindfulness Program
- Instructor of Preschool Yoga and Mindfulness Program Curriculum to Red Yellow Blue (RYB) Education Technology Early Childhood Educators in Beijing, China
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Instructor/Facilitator
- OSF Little Company of Mary Medical Center
- Community of the southwest side of Chicago
- Facilitator of bi-monthly MBSR Group for MBSR graduates (virtually as of onset of pandemic)
- Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) in the State of IL
- Mindfulness and Yoga Instructor at RUSH Road Home Program
- Facilitated a free midday Live Online Mindfulness Practice during Covid Shelter in Place in 2020
- Facilitator of weekly virtual Mindfulness for Stress Management for administration, faculty , and staff of Oak Lawn-Hometown School District 123.
- Mindfulness Seminar Facilitator, Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart, Lake Forest, IL.
Extending Gratitude and Appreciation to ALL of My Teachers for sharing their vast amount of embodied knowledge with such grace and humility +
- Nursing: Graduate School, St. Xavier University, many professors, however, these two women were powerfully influential
- JoAnn Gruca, PhD in Public Policy Analysis, Associate Professor
- Aida Bahrawy, EdD in Higher and Adult Education, Associate Professor
- Yoga
- Donna Wilkinson, Hatha Yoga Teacher
- Temple of Kriya Yoga: William Hunt, Carol Moritz, Mary Samano, and Kim Schwartz
- Restorative Yoga: Judith Lasater, PhD, P.T.
- Web-based Yoga: Dr. Melissa West
- Kari Tomashik, High Energy Yoga, Eischens Yoga
- Kathleen Wright, Garden of Yoga
- Web-based Yoga: Kate Mitcheom, M.S.N., C.N.M. R.Y.T
- You Tube based: Dr. Arielle Schwartz
- Mindfulness/Meditation/MBSR
- Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD
- Saki F. Santorelli, EdD, MA
- Lynne Koerbel, MPH
- Florence Maleo-Meyer, MS, MA, LFMT
- Carolyn West, PhD
- Bob Stahl, PhD
- Judson Brewer, MD, PhD
- Pam Erdmann, MEd
- Zoketsu Norman Fischer
- Tim Burnett, Mindfulness Northwest
- Andrew Getz
- Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness
- David Treleaven, PhD
Experiential Learning +
- Relationships
- As a mother of four, I do the best I can to allow my children to continue to teach me
- As a friend, I truly believe in mutuality and reciprocity
- As a human, believe in the ongoing practice of extending kindness and the study and practice of self-compassion
- Teaching. As I teach, I learn. As a teacher of nursing, yoga (adult and preschool) and mindfulness, I have strived and continue to strive to be present in a way that allows me to learn from those before me. Truly believe that each person brings a unique presence and voice to teach me. Bearing witness to their experience in a way that informs the way that I teach, especially with reference to language.
- Yoga and Informal and Formal
Mindfulness Practices
- As I practice, I embody the practice, witnessing thoughts, emotions, and sensations in the midst of practice, which allows me to move towards the expression of that experience, exploration of language in leading practice
- Work ethic, a strong sense of that from my parents
Formal Education +
Margaret is a Certified Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness Practitioner through her studies and work with David Treleaven.
Margaret completed the End of Life Doula training through International End of Life Doula Association (INELDA) in December, 2021.
Margaret was awarded her Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher Certification from Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society™ (CFM) at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. As a lifelong learner, Margaret is supporting her current teaching of Mindfulness with ongoing study of Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness with author and educator, David Treleaven.
Margaret was awarded a Masters in Science in Nursing from St. Xavier University, as well as a Masters of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Adler University. Margaret received her 500-hour Yoga Teacher Certification and Meditation Teacher Training from the Temple of Kriya in Chicago and has taught yoga for over 20 years. Margaret continues to take part in trainings available to yoga teachers.
Free Time Activities, Opportunities to be Present +
Being outside in nature (my backyard, Morton Arboretum), bird watching, practicing yoga and meditation, cooking/baking, time with friends, time with children/grandchildren, neighbor children, driving in snow storm (feel like I am in a snow globe!), listening to music (Baroque and Motown) , listening to NPR/WBEZ podcasts and WFMT, knitting, reading, dancing in the kitchen, streaming PBS Masterpiece and a bit of Netflix now and then, and road trips!!
I dream about: +
Designing a building….or perhaps, a small functional living space with a boiler (radiant heat), wood floors, and a lot of Pella windows.
Moving to Ireland.