Heather Mason

Heather Mason is the founder of the Minded Institute - an organization that both trains professionals and develops, implements, and researches innovative methods for mental health treatment based on the fusion of yoga therapy, mindfulness techniqus, neuroscience, and psychotherapy. The Minded Institute offers a renowned 500 hr yoga therapy training program in the UK for professionals who are specifically interested in using yoga therapy to work with clinical mental health populations, runs regular continuing professional development courses, and creates mind-body interventions for stress and mental health disorders.

Heather possesses a robust educational background including an MA in Psychotherapy, an MA in Buddhist Studies and an ongoing MSc in Neuroscience. She is also a 500 RYT, a yoga therapist and an MBCT facilitator. In addition to forming the Minded Institute and supporting its various activities, Heather created and taught an elective at the Boston University School of Medicine for first and second year medical students, focusing on the neural correlates and clinical applications of yoga. She has also lectured on Harvard's Mind-Body Medicine Class alongside the world's leaders in mind-body medicine research. Previously, Heather has lectured on the neurobiology of PTSD; and on neurological mechanisms of yoga, and mindfulness - as relevant interventions - for the world-renowned Boston Trauma Center. She has also developed a program for those with PTSD at the Maudsley Hospital in London, one of the leading psychiatric hospitals of the UK. Heather is a seasoned lecturer and co-organizes an annual yoga therapy conference. She is also a yoga researcher and her main area of interest is the effects of pranayama on the nervous system.