Heidi Bourne is a meditation teacher in the Insight Meditation tradition and is the founder and guiding teacher of Pacific Mindfulness. She has been teaching since 2005 offering classes, series courses, nature retreats, trauma-informed and resiliency-focused professional programs, and teaches regularly for Spirit Rock Meditation Center. She holds certification in mindfulness facilitation from UCLA, trauma resiliency from the Trauma Resource Institute, and is a member of the International Mindfulness Teachers Association.
Heidi is especially interested in the integration of the common sense, accessible and timeless teachings of awareness, ethics, and compassion into the complexity of our everyday lives. She is known for her grounded, down-to-earth humor and presence. She has a background in nursing, over 35 years in small business ownership, and lives with her family in Colorado.
A little more about Heidi -
I came to meditation practice slowly, mostly through yoga beginning in my early 20's, and then only dabbling here and there until my early 40's. By that time I'd been married for 20 years, my yoga practice was well established, and our two kids were about ready to leave for college one year after the other. My work life had always been busy and full. Early on I'd been a nurse mostly working in Emergency Medicine, Intensive Care, and Obstetrics. I went on to own two small businesses; a job placement company for nurse practitioners and physician assistants, Western Practitioner Resources, and Emerald City Laundry Co, a full service neighborhood laundromat in Arcata, California.
While our kids were in high school, meditation began to creep back into my life through my yoga practice. At first, I used meditation as a reason to disappear to the quiet end of the house, sit down, not talk, and avoid arguments with my teenagers. But what I found was that I really needed this time and space to listen to my own mind-heart. I had no specific expectations or intentions other than being quiet, and then it began to change and get interesting.
By paying attention to my breath, my body sensations, and my thoughts, I started to have access to myself in a whole new way. I became completely captivated and intrigued by what I might learn by being still, by what appeared to be doing nothing. And something else was happening - I began to see and experience the world very differently.
Little by little I've become less reactive, less judgmental about myself and others, more resilient to the natural difficulties of life, and more compassionate and kind. Out of all of this has emerged a very real intention to live a more skillful life; one that more easily accommodates pain, frustration, fear, sadness, grief and loss right along side joy, delight, contentment, curiosity and love. Through this intention, I am committed to the life-long study and practice of non-harming. Aware of the vast and pervasive suffering caused by greed, ill-will and confusion, I have a very strong vow to not let any permutation of ill-will take up residence in my heart. It's not easy, but I think it's essential.
When my kids were very little I used to tell them "Choose kindness. It's much easier that way." I believed it then and I believe it now. It works.
In the early 2000's, about when my meditation practice had become part of my daily life, I also began to read extensively about mindfulness, Buddhist practice and contemplative Jewish meditation. Because I was practicing alone at home, studying became an integral aspect of my practice. In 2005 I realized I was lonely and needed a practice community. The support of a group was essential to my own practice, and that practicing alone was not sustainable over time. So, I rented a space at a local yoga center, put a sign on the door for a meditation group, and people began to show up!
In 2014, I completed the yearlong teacher training in Mindfulness Facilitation through the Mindful Awareness Research Center of UCLA have continued to train in various ways since. After nearly 20 years, my work includes offering a wide variety of classes, series courses, nature retreats, trauma-informed and resiliency-focused professional programs.
Through all of this, I’ve had the great good fortune to be guided and supported by my mentors, Sylvia Boorstein and Donald Rothberg. One day in a meditation retreat someone asked “Who was it who blew the wind beneath your wings?” I am deeply grateful to Sylvia and Donald who keep the wind blowing.