About Patricia
Hello and thank you for visiting my website!
As far as I can remember, I’ve been interested in human behavior. This motivated me to pursue a degree in psychology in my undergraduate studies at Marywood University. Years later, while raising my 4 daughters, I received a Graduate Degree in Education also from Marywood University. I taught Educational Psychology on the Graduate level at Marywood University and spent most of my teaching years in the middle school classroom. As a middle school teacher, I realized my students were increasingly struggling with self-regulation, focusing, and concentrating which was interfering with their learning and emotional growth and development.
So, I made the decision to share daily mindfulness and yoga activities with my students throughout the day. The results were stunning! Not surprisingly, I noticed a major positive shift in behavior, self-regulation and learning among my students. These results generated a desire to become a Registered Yoga Teacher, Registered Children’s and Teen Yoga Teacher, Mindful Schools Instructor, and Certified Mindfulness -Based Stress Reduction Teacher. As part of my studies, I delved into the research of the benefits of yoga and mindfulness for youth and adults. The growing research and findings by neuroscientists and psychologists created in me a conviction and passion to bring yoga and mindfulness to as many as I can. So, I left the classroom to work with the nationally known organizations, Yoga4Classrooms and PESI, to provide professional continuing education at schools across the country. Closer to home, I began to work with a local non-profit called the Mindful Child Initiative in Allentown, PA. I taught yoga and mindfulness in the area schools and beyond. Also, I created and co-authored a teaching manual for school staff called “Trauma-Informed Mindfulness for Educators.” This manual is used as the primary instructional tool for a 6-hour professional development training for educators in all the Allentown Elementary, Middle, and High Schools and schools in other states as well. This manual assists the staff in implementing simple effective tools and strategies to help students self-regulate, focus and learn throughout the school day and beyond. This training also offers self-care skills to the staff to help them manage stress and enhance their physical, mental, and emotional health and well-being.
In addition to my work in schools, I’m a professional speaker/trainer for organizations and businesses in the community and beyond. I motivate business leaders how to create positive and productive work cultures to not only improve production and workplace climate, but empower people to manage and reduce daily stress and imbalances in mind and body to promote health and wellness through mindfulness and yoga. As a mindfulness practitioner, I provide private one-on-one sessions with adults and youth for individual, partner and family mindfulness training/mentoring.