Grace Mindfulness offers approachable mindfulness practices, events and coaching to support you to be present – to experience your life as it is happening, and is founded on the belief that mindfulness can change the world. Check out offerings here.
Grace Mindfulness operates in-person and virtually from Ottawa, Canada.
values
Equity & Belonging
I believe wellness is for everyone, and that the many barriers that exist in the wellness space, such as privilege, oppression and colonialism, must be actively and continuously dismantled to make this a reality. Everyone should have the opportunity to develop a personal wellness practice where they feel a sense of belonging.
sharing
I believe in sharing. In giving without strings. In rebalancing, so that wealth and privilege are not concentrated to a handful of people.
Community
I believe in strength in numbers and mutually beneficial relationships. In rising together. A community is more than a group of people with a shared interest or living in the same neighbourhood. It’s a place to develop trust, help one another and learn and grow.
Fun
I don’t take myself or my practice too seriously and believe you can find a bit of humour in just about everything.
(Today is a gift, that’s why they call it the “present”!) 😉
About Joanna
Grace Mindfulness was founded by Joanna Kipp. Joanna is a 200-hour The Lab of Meditation (T-LOM) certified meditation teacher. The Lab of Meditation is accredited by the International Mindfulness Teachers Association and Joanna is currently working towards the Certified Mindfulness Teacher (CMT-P) designation, a two-year process. Joanna has accrued over 85 hours guiding others in meditation and has spent more than 400 hours in personal meditation practice.
Joanna is a white, cis-gender, heterosexual, able-bodied female. Her pronouns are she, her and hers.
Joanna believes that mindfulness has the power to change the world by giving us solutions to begin to address the complex environmental and social issues we face. A former corporate sustainability consultant and climate change advisor, she became curious about mindfulness in 2013 and has been practicing, exploring and learning since. What started as a way to de-stress and increase personal productivity has evolved into:
a practice of self-care and compassion
a deep sense of empathy for others
the ability to strip away what we think we need to be happy and successful and focus on what truly matters: being present, experiencing joy and feeling gratitude
offering kindness, respect and care to others and the natural environment
experiencing thoughts and feelings without being swept away by them
Joanna’s sidekick and Chief Mindfulness Officer is her dog Penny, a rescue mutt from rural Alabama. Penny is a great mindfulness teacher - she is always in the present moment, whether she’s taking 30 seconds to sniff a single blade of grass, fully immersed in eating a meal (her favourite activity), or stalking a neighbourhood chipmunk while out on a walk.
Territorial Acknowledgement
Grace Mindfulness operates on the unceded and occupied territory of the Algonquin Anishnabeg people. As a settler, I’m grateful to be able to conduct my work here and recognize these peoples’ deep historic connection to this place and their stewardship of this land for thousands of years.
Acknowledging whose land I occupy is the first small step along the path to reconciliation. I also commit to continuous learning and raising awareness of the history of this land and sharing our financial resources with Indigenous organizations and communities.
I invite you to take a moment to reflect on whose land you are living and working on and if you don’t know, to research, reflect and share this knowledge with others.