D'lene, Instructor
D’lene began her studies in meditation in 1988 while working in the Burn Trauma Unit at the University of Tennessee Hospital as a Physical Therapy Assistant. Several of her cancer patients introduced her to the Silva Method, using the mind as a healer. When she learned that one patient had actually reported putting their cancer in remission 3 times over a 15 year time span using only diet and the Silva Method of meditation all before 1988, refusing Chemotherapy or Radiation, this unleashed her passion for studying meditation.
She obtained her Master’s Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling and Educational Psychology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1992 and began teaching relaxation techniques to individuals and in groups and continued her studies in different meditation techniques. She moved to Chicago in 1994, as she was working as a Community Therapist with gangs on a federal grant for wrap around services, and there she was introduced to/studied/and then taught the two meditation technique categories of either Focused Attention Meditation or Open Monitoring Meditation. Over the past 20 years, she has continued her love of teaching meditation and has taught a multitude of techniques including Guided Visualization, Zazen, Loving Kindness Meditation, Chakra Meditation, Kundalini Meditation, Sound Meditation, Mantra Meditation, Mindfulness Meditation, some types of Taoist Meditation, and Effortless Presence Meditation.
Now that hard science has caught up and proven over the last several years that meditation has many health benefits including actually increasing gray matter, changing our cells at the genetic level, lowering blood pressure, pain management, increased immunity, and increasing emotional balance, she intends to keep discovering and teaching. She believes what Sandy C. Newbigging has said, “the main way to do meditation wrong is to try to do it right”.
D'lene has completed her RYT teacher training hours and is certified to teach yoga and meditation.