John Bruna is a counselor, educator, mindfulness and spiritual teacher. With humble and challenging beginnings, he grew up in a low-income environment, surrounded by drugs, alcohol, and violence. He has been in recovery since 1984. In 1992 he became Certified Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor in California, and in 2000 received a BA in History and Secondary Teaching Credential from California State University, Northridge. In 2005 he was ordained as a Buddhist monk in the Tibetan tradition through the Gaden Shartse Monastery in India. After more than six years of monastic life, John has returned to life as a layperson and in 2012 became a Certified Cultivating Emotional Balance Mindfulness Teacher via the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies. Currently, John is the director of Way of Compassion Foundation and Co-Founder of the Mindful Life Program.
Jessica Sylvanson has an MA in acupuncture and Chinese medicine with a thriving practice in the Colorado mountains. She is a committed member with 17 years of experience working 12-step programs consistently and over 10 years of experience studying mindfulness and Buddhist dharma. Jessica is thankful for 12-step programs and mindfulness practices and attributes her successes in relationships, work, and family life to the work she has done in both. She served for years on two non-profit Board of Directors for the Way of Compassion Foundation and Acupuncture Association of Colorado.
Katie Newbury is a Mindful Life Program certified mindfulness teacher with a decade of 12-step experience in the co-dependency Fellowships. She is program leader for the Open Sky Wilderness therapy and an instructor in the National Outdoor Leadership School.
