The Center for Mindful Eating |
We are pleased to introduce our Advisory Council, previous board members who continue to advise, influence and guide the developments, resources and mission of The Center for Mindful Eating.
Lynn Rossy, Ph.D. and Author
In 2007, she developed an empirically-validated mindful eating program called Eat for Life which helps people have a healthy relationship with food and their bodies—decreasing binge eating while increasing body image, mindfulness, and intuitive eating. She teaches her class live online over Zoom to professionals and the general public. She also travels nationally and internationally to teach mindful eating. Dr. Rossy published the concepts from her program in a book entitled, The Mindfulness-Based Eating Solution: Proven Strategies to End Overeating, Satisfy Your Hunger and Savor Your Life (New Harbinger, July 2016). Her book was named one of the top ten books of 2016 by Mindful.Org. Her newest book is Savor Every Bite: Mindful Ways to Eat, Love Your Body, and Live with Joy (New Harbinger, May 2021). Dr. Rossy is also a certified Kripalu and Energy Medicine yoga (EMYoga) teacher who teaches locally in Columbia, MO, and internationally at Pura Vida Spa in Costa Rica. She completed a three-year Community Dharma Leader Training through Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California in January 2008 and has been a student of Buddhist meditation since 1998. She completed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher training from the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Healthcare, and Society in Massachusetts in 2004. Her greatest passion is helping people find delicious ways to eat and move their bodies, while discovering greater meaning and purpose in life. She loves to play the piano, do yoga, hike in nature, eat fabulous food, and celebrate life with friends. She can be found anywhere by listening for her infectious laugh. Sign up for her monthly blog and listen to her mindfulness recordings at LynnRossy.com, be inspired by her posts on Facebook, or sign up for her daily tweets on mindful eating and living on Twitter @DrLynnRossy. You may email her at MindfulRossy@gmail.com. |
Alex AskewAt 14 he received his first job offer as a personal chef through a high school vocational work program and after 6 years of working in a variety of restaurants in and out of New York City decided to attend the Culinary Institute of America and graduated in 1989. With a focus on eating lifestyles and trends in new menu alternatives, he began food research, development, and consulting for companies; General Mills, Hilton Hotels, Aramark Corporation, Specialty Restaurants and a host of private clients. Alex has also created one of the most unique consortiums of chefs under one group (ALS Culinary Concepts) for consulting in areas of menu development, R&D, start up operations, systems and controls, training, food manufacturing, business planning and concept development. While working in restaurants that broadened his experience in different cooking styles as well as cuisines which included Cajun and Creole, Holistic, Latin and American fusion. In 1993 Alex Co-founded the BCAGlobal which dedicates itself to Education, Awareness, and Exposure for young minority students seeking careers within the culinary and hospitality industry. Alex has enjoyed guest appearances on Good Morning America, CBS Early Morning Show, and the Food Network. He was a 2001 Doctorate of Foodservice recipient from the North American Foodservice Equipment Manufacturers, a Distinguished Visited Chef (DVC) for Sullivan University, 2011 Business Leader of Year from the Marcella Brown Foundation, in May 2012 received the distinguished New York Institute of Technology Global Leadership Award and served on the American Culinary Federation as Board member Accreditation Commission. In 2014 Alex was selected as a 2014 National Kellogg Fellow in Leadership in the Racial, Equity and Healing (REH) cohort. With over 35 years in the restaurant and hospitality field Alex continues his use of knowledge and experience as a foundation for further growth and development in the culinary industry and continues the important social change work using food as a nexus and mindful eating as a platform to improve lives in the community. |
CAROLINE BAERTEN, RD
She is the first certified Mindful Eating, Conscious Living teacher (ME-CL) worldwide and offers additionally Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Mindful Self-Compassion courses to her clients. Since 2012 she has created an international platform for mindful eating teachers in Europe. In her institute, mindful eating training programs (ME-CL) are facilitated for European healthcare professionals and mentoring in mindful eating is offered through e-coaching. She is part of several research projects where the impact of mindful eating on health, wellbeing and ecology are studied. Caroline’s personal meditation practice is under the guidance of Vietnamese zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh at the European Institute of Applied Buddhism. Caroline’s interest for mindful eating is intimately connected with her passion for the earth and expressed by urban gardening and pottery. In her life and work Caroline encourages mindful food choices based on culinary pleasure, compassion and sustainability. www.me-nu.org (English) |
MEGRETTE FLETCHERMegrette Fletcher, M.Ed, RD, CDE is a cofounder of The Center for Mindful Eating. She is a co-author of two books, including Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat with Diabetes with Michelle MD, Discover Mindful Eating: A resource of handouts for health professionals, with Frederick Burggraf. Megrette is a professional speaker and spokes person in both the US and UK. She is a dietitian and certified diabetes educator and works in a diabetes clinic. Jenna Hollenstein, MS, RDN, CDNJenna is a non-diet nutrition therapist, writer, and meditation instructor based in New York City. At her private practice, Eat to Love, she helps people struggling with chronic dieting, disordered eating, eating disorders, and poor body image to move toward greater peace, health, and wellness using a combination of Intuitive Eating, mindfulness techniques, and meditation. She was trained to teach Shamatha meditation by Susan Piver, creator of the online meditation community, the Open Heart Project. Susan and Jenna co-lead an online Meditation Instructor Training course to teach dietitians, therapists, coaches, yoga teachers, and others to teach meditation skillfully and responsibly to those they work with. Through the Open Heart Project, Jenna also leads the Mommy Sangha, a weekly online gathering for moms who meditate. A Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor since 2013, Jenna leads the monthly free Chat with an Intuitive Eating Pro series, amassing an archive of more than 30 practical discussions and never failing to interject how and why a meditation practice complements an Intuitive Eating practice. Jenna is the author of Understanding Dietary Supplements, a handy guide to the evaluation and use of vitamins, minerals, herbs, and botanicals for both consumers and clinicians, and more recently the memoir Drinking to Distraction. Her third book, Eat to Love: A Mindful Guide to Transform your Relationship with Food, Body, and Life, will be released in January, 2019. |
Ronna Kabatznick, Ph.D is a social psychologist specializing in eating, depression and relationships. Dr. Kabatnick helped develop the
behavioral weight management component of the Weight Watchers Program and is the author of two best-selling books: The Zen of Mindful Eating: Ancient Answers to Modern Weight Problems and Who by Water: Reflections of a Tsunami Psychologist.
She has served as a TCME Board member is currently an advisor to TCME.
Ronna Kabatznick, PhD
Dana Notte is a non-diet dietitian and nutrition educator who aims to help people heal their relationship to food, body, and self through non-diet, weight-inclusive, and mindfulness-based approaches. She specializes in working with individuals seeking support to heal from chronic dieting, disordered eating, and eating disorders. Additionally, she actively presents at conferences and professional trainings on topics related to mindful eating and non-diet approaches to care.
Much of her training has been self-guided and on-the-job. She has spent years reading, researching, and attending trainings and conferences related to mindfulness, mindful eating, and weight-inclusive care. She is a former facilitator of the Am I Hungry® Mindful Eating Program and spent several years working for a non-diet, mindfulness-based wellness retreat, where she honed her skills as a nutrition educator, counselor, and mindfulness practitioner.
Dana is now the owner of ThrivInspired Nutrition, a Burlington, VT based nutrition counseling practice offering individual in-person and virtual nutrition counseling services, group workshops and retreats, and community, corporate, and professional speaking services. Dana is also part-time faculty at the University of Vermont where she teaches in the Nutrition and Food Sciences Department.
Recognized as an expert in the field, Dana has been quoted in several major publications including TIME, Reader’s Digest, Health, and EatingWell.
Outside of her professional work, you can find Dana in her kitchen experimenting with new ingredients and creating new recipes, with her nose in a Lonely Planet book planning her next international adventure, practicing staying present on the mat at the yoga studio, or enjoying all that the outdoors of VT have to offer.
ALICE J. ROSENAlice J. Rosen, MSEd, LMHC, is the founder of "The No-Diet and Self-Led Eating Workshops" and "The Conscious Cafe'. She is a faculty member of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy, a Certified Internal Family Systems Therapist, and former Director of Education for "Feeding Ourselves (SM)". Alice initially trained as an expressive therapist and presently works as a psychotherapist and educator specializing in eating and body image issues. She also addresses more general issues such as anxiety, mood disorders, life transitions, and chronic pain/stress. Mindfulness is a key reference point in Alice's practice. She started meditating in 1974. In 1979, during a mindfulness meditation retreat, in the midst of 17 years of conflict with food and her body, she experienced being calmly in charge, and fully satisfied. In eating mindfully, she discovered that she had an inherent wisdom about when, what and how much to eat. Alice leads mindfulness-based experiential workshops and groups designed to instill a healthy and satisfying relationship with food. (www.TheConsciousCafe.org). In addition, her work, using the Internal Family Systems Model helps people understand and heal the emotional underpinnings of un-attuned eating. She has authored and produced the CD set, The Feeding Ourselves Method, A Guide to Achieving a Healthy Relationship with Food. Her publication credits include her column, "BODY INTELLIGENCE REPORT" which appeared for three years in the journal-letter, FOOD ISSUES. Alice loves good food and considers herself an intuitive cook. Besides her work, she has a passion for nature and the outdoors, in any weather, and is admittedly addicted to being near and in the water. You can find out more about her work in her newly launched web page: TheConsciousCafe.com |