Our Team
Hi, I’m Lauren Wessinger, Executive Director at The Mindful Project and Instructor.
Mindfulness and resilience has been quite the buzzword for a few years now. Perhaps as a leader in your agency you’ve dabbled in these topics, but never seemed to really be able to get it off the ground. Or, you know your team is struggling and needs support, but you’re not sure what support to bring in and how. What we know now coming out of the pandemic, especially for anyone who works in the public sector, is that we can no longer ignore the toll stress is taking on our health. A structured mindfulness program targeting resilience and stress can make a difference in how your team feels about their job, their health, and their overall life.
When I owned my own business, students came to me for mindfulness, however I started to see a shift where the people who needed mindfulness the most had the hardest time getting there due to incredibly demanding work/life schedules. When we closed our bricks and mortar space I knew it was time to take the practices and techniques out into the community. This was the beginning of The Mindful Project.
I also created an online, trauma-informed mindfulness and yoga platform called The Daily Well to supplement everything we do here at The Mindful Project.
I am a certified mindfulness instructor through the University of California, Berkeley, and an ERYT-500 yoga instructor. I also have certifications in both trauma-informed mindfulness and yoga. I have taught mindfulness, meditation, and yoga since 2009.
Mahogany Wilson is a Clinical Social Worker, yoga teacher, and founder of Blackbird Therapy and Wellness. She received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from The University of Texas at Arlington, through their esteemed Social Work program.
Mahogany has experience working with individuals across a broad age range, from pediatric to geriatric, in both outpatient and inpatient mental health settings. She also has expertise in perinatal and postpartum mental health.
Currently, she focuses on supporting adults navigating life transitions and seeking a deeper understanding of their inner world. Additionally, she provides support for individuals dealing with depression, anxiety, adjustment disorders, grief, and trauma.
Mahogany Wilson, LCSW, Mindful Project Instructor
Faith Geiger, LMSW, Mindful Project Instructor
Faith Geiger is the founder of TULLA, an integrated coaching, therapy, and training company focused on liberating the human spirit and human flourishing.
As an Integral Coach & Psychotherapist, Faith blends two decades of coaching and human development experience with her clinical work and takes a humanistic approach to supporting people in becoming the highest and best version of themselves, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
She is passionate about personal mastery and inner transformation, cultivating human potential, working with people who are serious about change, and co-creating the conditions for people to flourish from the inside out.
Faith is a certified integral coach, licensed master social worker, psychotherapist in training, certified psychedelic-assisted therapist, Stagen Integral Leadership Program graduate, and a doctoral student focused on Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness.
Faith is an instructor for The Mindful Project.
Faith Geiger, LMSW, is supervised by Michelle Zadrozny, LCSW-S, EAS-C.
Amber Shumake, SEP, Mindful Project Instructor
Amber Shumake, M.Ed., SEP, E-RYT 200, has been teaching for over 13 years. Amber earned her B.S. in Education and a M.Ed. in Counseling from Texas Christian University. She has also trained in Somatic Experiencing (S.E.), a body-oriented therapeutic method founded by Peter Levine which releases stored trauma and stress to bring the nervous system into a state of balance.
Amber works in her community to create cultures of wellness. Educating social workers and direct service providers on the effects of trauma, vicarious trauma, and compassion fatigue, she equips them with practical somatic tools to release stress, prevent burnout, and increase sustainability.
In her private practice, she utilizes a variety of holistic techniques to empower individuals to heal unresolved trauma, minimizing the effects of post-traumatic stress and integrating challenging life experiences so they can re-engage with life purposefully and joyfully.
To bring levity to the gravity of her work, Amber enjoys creating art. Specializing in photography, she creates high caliber portraiture for families, and businesses.
She resides in Fort Worth, Texas with her adopted son and two almost feral rescue dogs.
Michael Watkins, Mindful Project Instructor
Michael found Buddhism and the mindful path in 2012 when he decided to stop drinking. In 2018, he left his seventeen year career as an Executive Chef to help in the substance use treatment field and became the Mindfulness Coordinator at Brazos Recovery. In 2019 he became certified as a 300-hour Trauma-Informed Mindfulness Teacher through the Engaged Mindfulness Institute and in 2022 was ordained as a Dharmacharya/Lay Buddhist Minister in the Embracing Simplicity Order.
Michael feels that mindfulness tools are available to anyone regardless of spiritual beliefs. He took a vow to cultivate his life for the benefit of all beings. This is an aspiration to be helpful in the world to the best of his ability. It reflects in how he shows up as a parent, son, and family member, as well as at work and in the world.
In 2021, Michael went to work for Recovery Resource Council's Overdose Response Team. He currently is the Program Supervisor, but also works as a certified Recovery Support Peer Specialist. He is also is the Founder and Spiritual Director for Radiant Heart Ministry. RHM is a Buddhist Community organization based in the Yuthok Nynthig lineage where all are welcome regardless of spiritual background or beliefs. The mission of RHM is to offer free meditation, yoga, and spiritual friendship to the community through the cultivation of generosity, compassion, and wisdom.
He is a certified Path of Freedom facilitator through the Prison Mindfulness Institute.
With the hope of his own personal growth helping him continue to serve others, Michael continues to work closely with his teacher and is pursuing Buddhist Chaplaincy training.
