Emily Bitner will co-facilitate Introduction to Mindfulness and The Practice of Mindfulness at the Well this fall (with Dr. Heidi Schreiber-Pan). In her work, Emily helps to empower and facilitate healing for adults and youth with the tools and confidence to move through loss, trauma, anxiety, depression, personal growth, and other life transitions. She weaves together clinical interventions with in-the-moment intuitive response. She encourages clients to cultivate their own insight, knowledge, and wisdom as she works with them in sessions. As part of an integrative approach, she also specializes in providing spiritually integrated counseling for clients who seek to discuss faith, spirituality, or any meaning-making system as part of the counseling process. Emily’s approach emphasizes the whole person, not just thoughts and behaviors, but truly mind, body, and spirit in counseling. She incorporates psycho-dynamic interventions, mindful cognitive behavioral tools, and strength-based practices. She is also certified in life coaching, hypnosis, and trauma-sensitive yoga. Emily has a MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Loyola University Maryland and studied meditation and yoga in the U.S. and India. She also offers yoga and mindfulness techniques in client sessions. In addition to working with individual clients, she offers mental health focused yoga/mindfulness classes, workshops, and is available to speak on yoga and mindfulness as it connects to mental health.
How/when did you become involved with Well for the Journey?
I am just getting involved with Well for the Journey for the first time through a colleague, Dr. Heidi Schreiber-Pan, who invited me to co-facilitate a course on mindfulness.
What do you wish more people knew about the Well?
I wish people knew more about the scholarship resources available at the Well. Self-care is often the first thing to go when people feel they don’t have extra money and really it ought to remain a priority like buying groceries. So, I wish more folks knew about the options for receiving assistance for such holistic self-care.
When did you become interested in mindfulness?
Since mindfulness is really an inherent part of yoga, I would say I became interested in mindfulness when I started learning about yoga 17 years ago, as a college freshman. I was less drawn to the physical practice of yoga at that time. Instead I was intrigued with feeling at peace and learning how to tap into my own energy through meditation and pranayama (breath-work). When the term mindfulness became popular over the past decade, I realized how all the years of yoga practice and training really taught me about mindfulness. It is a myth and common misconception that yoga is all about twisting yourself like a pretzel. The postures are really one-eighth of what yoga is in its totality. The other seven-eighths are truly about mindfulness without the movement: in the breath, in the way you conduct yourself ethically, in meditation, and in all areas of life. Really, the postures or the physical practice is a vehicle for developing self-awareness and ultimately mindfulness.
What was it like to study yoga and mindfulness in India?
It was hot, I was quite mindful of the humidity! I spent seven weeks studying yoga in Rishikesh, India, known as the “yoga capital of the world.” My previous formal yoga study and training in Arizona prepared me very well for what India had in store. We were in a strict course of practicing six days a week, from 6 am to 9 pm with time for meals, and a brief break period mid-day. We practiced asana four hours each day, studied philosophy, anatomy, and the “science” of yoga. Evenings ended the day with meditations or chanting.
My teacher, a former lawyer-in-India-turned-yogi was excellent, a good guide with a dry sense of humor and strong desire to mold those of us who were really invested. There was no air-conditioning so all yoga was naturally “hot yoga.” We stayed in an ashram-style accommodation with simple sattvic meals. Monkeys would occasionally swoop into open windows in our yoga hall which I consistently found enchanting! It was a very intense experience and what I learned is immeasurable. It was a great challenge, no doubt. I met incredible people from all over the world and learned a lot about myself through the practice.
How do you incorporate mindfulness and yoga into your work?
I try to live mindfully. It is a part of me and therefore it is imbued into everything I do. I am not always so perfectly mindful! But that is the whole point, we always grow and uncover new layers and levels in the ways we understand things or practice things, in this case, the Self through mindfulness. I incorporate both yoga and mindfulness into counseling and into my yoga classes/workshops. The reason for this is simple: increasing mindfulness helps empower individuals to be more peaceful, more authentic versions of themselves. To me this is freeing and I want to help others to feel freedom and peace in their minds and hearts. In the counseling office, on the yoga mat, or in any aspect of life, it is easy for us humans to believe we are something other than our True selves, or to get carried away by mind chatter. Mindfulness helps us to get in touch with what is real and true and this is how we begin to experience calm and peace more consistently.
What are your favorite hobbies/leisure activities?
I love music, nature, art, food, and stand-up comedy. Recently, I started gardening which combines nature, art, and sometimes food! I love the different colors and textures of the plants and creating a space for new life to grow; it is very meditative as well. I used to hike in the desert when I lived in Arizona and I still hike now, but I miss the dry heat of the desert and the expansive views of the southwest. Although, every year autumn’s foliage and crispness helps me rekindle my love for the Mid-Atlantic woodland environment. Listening to music, sharing music, and singing bring a lot of energy into my life. Connecting with friends is an important part of leisure time. Laughing is something I look forward to, whether listening to stand-up comedy alone or enjoying my friends; it just feeds my soul.
Register for Introduction to Mindfulness (Thursday, Sept. 21, 7-9 pm)`
