Holly Cluff

 Holly's personal mindfulness and meditation practice has enhanced the quality of her life and supported her efforts to manage stress and increase well-being.  She has taken the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course and attended 10-day silent meditation courses.   She has been practicing mindfulness and meditation since 2009.

Holly’s interest in teaching mindfulness to others has been inspired by her work in schools. Challenges related to focus, attention, anxiety, social skills and behavioral health issues have increased in classrooms.   As a certified K-12 educator in Arizona, Holly has introduced students to mindfulness practices with positive impacts on school success, social interactions and personal responsibility.   She has worked with students with a wide variety of learning challenges in special and general education classrooms.   In addition, she has provided educational services in a treatment center with adolescents who were working to address trauma, addiction, and behavioral health issues.   Holly has been trained in curricula from Mindful Schools, Yoga Calm and the Center for Adolescent Studies.

Holly's career in education included providing professional development training to teachers.  Bringing mindfulness to educators and other work groups has been an exciting and satisfying way to engage with her community and share life skills with people of all ages.

At the same time that Holly embraced a mindfulness practice, she started playing taiko - Japanese ensemble drumming.  Every aspect of playing taiko had connections to mindfulness.         

Holly's taiko training has been transformative. She's been amazed at all that taiko has taught her beyond the drums.  Before taiko she knew nothing about music or performance art.   She states, "I am grateful that taiko broke open a part of me that I hadn’t yet discovered.  Music, festivals and artistic expression were all new discoveries for me and rich additions to my life."   

Holly  created the TaikoMIND framework for mindful learning as a way to combine her love of taiko with her expertise as an instructor and her passion for sharing mindfulness.  It has been a powerful way to utilize her skills and teach life lessons that reach beyond any classroom setting.   Providing workshops and school programs has been exciting, meaningful, creative work. Children and adults consistently report the benefit of their participation.