About ATMAIntroducing ATMAATMA (The Australian Teachers of Meditation Association) is an Australia-wide registered incorporated not-for-profit association which works as an umbrella body to support the interests of meditation teachers, organisations, and the general public with an interest in meditation. Meditation has become increasingly popularised in recent times, particularly since finding its recognised place as a beneficial form of therapy, and as a valuable approach to self-development. As a result, ATMA has seen it as important to raise the profile of therapeutic meditation, to register professional meditation teachers, to facilitate the provision of clear and reliable information on meditation, and to seek government recognition and support through potential Medicare and Health Fund benefits. Through this it hopes to provide quality instruction, information and standards to the wider community. The History of ATMA
In July 2006 Pauline McKinnon (The Stillness Meditation Centre) took the issues mentioned above to a State Member of Parliament who was interested, but emphatic that government would not support various disparate meditation organisations. It was strongly recommended that a national meditation association be established to demonstrate professionalism, ethics and quality in meditation instruction, and to oversee the creation of appropriate regulations governing recognised meditation teachers. To take these ideas further Pauline then met with Dr Craig Hassed (Monash University) whose interest lead to a subsequent meeting with Dr Ian Gawler (Founder of the Gawler Foundation) and Prof Rob Moodie (then of VicHealth). From these beginnings an initial Steering Committee was formed. Further meetings explored the feasibility, aims and structure of developing such an organisation. The original objective, to accommodate therapeutic meditation, now includes additional membership categories. In May, 2008 ATMA held an inaugural meeting to float the concept and seek expressions of interest in such an association. So positive was the response that soon after an interim board was formed, which took the development of ATMA forward until its inaugural General Meeting and formation of a Board in November 2009. Throughout the continuing development of ATMA, it will remain important for it to be informed by a broad base of respected meditation practitioners and bodies. The ATMA logo
The ATMA logo includes a spiral reminiscent of the geometry of the nautilus shell. Apart from the beauty expressed in the sacred geometry of the shape, this spiral is also of symbolic significance to the practice of meditation. For example, following the spiral inwards represents the movement towards the still point of consciousness or the centre of our being, and following it outward represents the unfolding of life originating from consciousness and into physical manifestation. The Objectives of ATMA
The Board of Directors
Dr Craig Hassed, MBBS, FRACGP, Founding President I am a General Practitioner and Deputy Head of Department at the Monash University Department of General Practice. I have had a long-term personal and professional interest in the benefits and applications of meditation. My teaching, research and clinical interests include mindfulness-based stress management, mind-body medicine, meditation, holistic healthcare, health promotion, complementary therapies and medical ethics. Such is the growing interest in these fields I have been regularly invited to speak in Australia and overseas on these issues and also teach in the cancer support programs at the Gawler Foundation. I write regularly for medical journals particularly in Philosophy of Medicine and have published two books on these issues entitled New Frontiers in Medicine (Volumes 1 and 2), a third book on mindfulness-based stress management entitled Know Thyself and a fourth on an holistic lifestyle approach to healthcare, The Essence of Health. I have also been a regular media commentator on these topics.
Pauline McKinnon, Director, The Stillness Meditation Centre, Founding Vice-president In 1983 I published In Stillness Conquer Fear, pioneering public awareness of anxiety disorders and the value of Stillness Meditation as a successful intervention. At the invitation of Dr Ainslie Meares, (the ‘father’ of therapeutic meditation) I commenced meditation teaching with an emphasis on anxiety relief. A growing community need led me to formal training in psychotherapy/family therapy while continuing to maintain Meares’ theories and principles throughout my work. In 1990 my books for children prompted meditation in schools and the publication of my teaching manual, Let’s Be Still. I conduct a Stillness Meditation teacher training program and regularly give presentations at all educational levels and to health and service organizations. More recently I have assisted in the development of a meditation course at the Australian Catholic University. With public interest at heart I was moved to initiate the formation of ATMA and it is rewarding to see this eventuate. My lifelong interests beyond my expanding family include a range of creative and philosophical inclinations.
David McRae My spiritual connection to purpose, and to the seen and unseen world, is essentially why I have practised meditation for nearly 40 years. Something got me delving into the subject at about age 17. However as a meditation teacher or guide for several decades the work has mainly been with people seeking meditation’s therapeutic effects. Meditation-as-therapy has been a natural focus of my career in health with my training and qualifications being in counselling, natural medicine and biosciences. At this time (2010) I work in community mental health in Geelong and the Surf Coast and I anticipate also returning to a health centre setting to resume teaching meditative practice in the near future. I co-authored a booklet, The Essential Meditation Guide (Hill of Content, 1994).
Louise Gilmore I’ve been teaching meditation for 25 years. I’m also a trained a newspaper journalist and adult educator. I’ve trained in bereavement counseling, conflict resolution and group facilitation. I worked for 15 years as a Community Educator in my Area Health Service teaching meditation to patients and carers, training graduate and palliative care nurses and running cancer support groups and seminars. I developed and teach one-year courses teaching people to meditate and to facilitate their own meditation groups. I’ve been teaching three-day meditation retreats since 2003. Through my experience as the parent of a child with multiple disabilities I wrote The Carer’s Handbook, 1995, Allen & Unwin and became president and media spokesperson of Carers NSW as well as of Carers Australia, based in Canberra. Being on the board of ATMA has enabled me to bring together two keen interests – teaching meditation and working for the effective management of a membership-based organization.
Paul Bedson I started meditating at the age of 18. It quickly became an abiding passion and started me on my spiritual journey. In 1978, whilst travelling and meditating in India I became a sanyassin/disciple of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Osho). At Bhagwan’s request I started a meditation centre in Sydney on my return from India in 1980. I returned to India in 1982 for another year and then moved to Bhagwan’s new ashram in Oregon, U.S.A where I lived for a further 3 years. Daily meditation was a part of ashram lifestyle. I lived as a sanyassin for 9 years. During my first trip to India I also visited the ashram of S.N.Goenka and attended a 10 day Vipassana Meditation Retreat in Bodhgaya. Since my return to Australia from Oregon in 1985 I have attended five 10- day Vipassana Meditation Retreats and two 5-day retreats. From 1986-2001 I worked at a health retreat named Camp Eden in the Currumbin Valley, Gold Coast. I worked as a body therapist, counsellor, seminar facilitator, Qigong instructor and meditation instructor. In 2002 I moved to Melbourne to take the position of Senior Therapist at the Gawler Foundation. Ian Gawler and I shared our experiences of teaching meditation and formulated an approach to meditation called Mindfulness-Based Stillness Meditation. Together we have written a book entitled Meditation: an in-depth guide which will be published by Allen&Unwin in June 2010. I love teaching meditation, it helps to keep me inspired.
Lucille Wood, Secretary / Treasurer "Lucille, what are you doing?" "Just being" I replied. "Well, come and do something useful" Mum answered. And so was lost the precious natural ability we all are born with - to be still, to be quiet, to just be! It took me 30 years to regain this! My life's work is built on the Spiritual principles of self-responsibility and truth. An enquiring mind drives me to complete the jigsaw of life for people. Meditation and the Wisdom Philosophies provide a rich source of understanding. For the past three decades as a Co-Director of Gita International (www.gita.com.au), I have led the unusual life of full time teaching Hatha yoga, Philosophy and Meditation, developing Teacher Training and Post Graduate Courses for our Teachers and publishing two text books (the 1986 book on meditation met resistance from publishers), several CDs, DVDs and the inevitable administration of running a large Spiritual Centre.
Dr Ruth Gawler, MB BS (Syd) MGPPsych (Monash) FACPsyMed FPA (Cert). I am a GP with a specialised interest in Mind-Body Medicine and psychology. As Ruth Berlin, I graduated from Sydney University, and spent two years as a RMO at Sydney Hospital before working in Kenya. From 1990-95 I worked at the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress and I was the Medical Director of the Family Planning Association of Central Australia from 1991-1997 and worked most of this time as a GP in Alice Springs. In 2001 I completed a Masters in General Practice Psychiatry and I am a Fellow of the Australian College of Psychological Medicine. In 2000, after 10 years in Central Australia, I moved to Victoria to marry Ian Gawler and have been working at The Gawler Foundation in the Yarra Valley since 2001. At TGF I have lead and presented at the Health Practitioner Retreats, conferences and Meditation Teachers Trainings. Also teaching Yoga and Meditation in the Cancer and MS programs, as well as providing a service as a GP and counselor for the participants. I am a longterm student of the great Tibetan Meditation teacher Sogyal Rinpoche.
Gaynor Austen AM, BA (Hons.), Dip. Lib., MBA I currently serve as Chair of the Teachers Committee for the Turiya Yoga Foundation, which operates in Qld., NSW and Victoria. The emphasis of Turiya teaching is on meditation and pranayama practise drawn from classical Indian yoga, blended with meditative and slow movement practices drawn of Tibetan (Kum Nye) yoga. I taught actively part-time with Turiya’s Brisbane School from 1980, and coordinated the School there until my recent relocation to Sydney. I retired early from my previous university management position so that I could devote more time to those interests about which I am passionate, especially yoga meditative practice and yoga teacher training. I am a Senior teacher with the Yoga Teachers Association of Australia (YTAA), and am currently YTAA Secretary and Chair of its Membership and Training Subcommittee.
|
