Sparking change from the inside, out.
We have touched the lives of +10,000 employees and counting!
An unprecedented challenge.
Workplaces are facing an unprecedented challenge as their people are increasingly feeling stressed, anxious, overwhelmed and burnt out.
Often, what’s at cause is not a lack of desire or will to overcome stress. In fact, most strive to be competent, resilient, and successful members of their team. Yet, under the surface, unconscious patterns of thoughts, emotions and behaviors keep us spinning our wheels.
Burn-out
Productivity loss
Employee conflict
Motivated, passionate, doers are most at risk
Sick day
Negative attitude
Avoidable mistakes
The Brain Spa Method
Brain Spa’s methodology goes beyond transforming stress and into actualizing a participant’s full potential.
When practicing mindfulness, we learn to cultivate a mindset that is calm, clear and stable even in the most difficult circumstances. From this foundation, we are best placed to grow critical leadership skills and behaviours.
Brain Spa’s approach combines the latest in neuroscience, psychology, and management science with practices honed for millennia on the foothills of the Himalayas and beyond.
Meet the Team
Miriam Bekkouche
Founder and Lead Facilitator
Miriam Bekkouche is the Founder & Lead Facilitator at Brain Spa and a sought-after expert in mindfulness-based leadership, having worked with dozens of teams and over +10,000 employees globally since 2014. Her approach is inspired by her decade-long career with the Canadian Foreign Service and 4 years within NYC’s dynamic tech start-up and investor community. Her TED Talk explores the role of mindfulness and leadership in global problem-solving.
Through her coaching practice, Miriam empowers forward-thinking leaders to align with and expand their inner leadership so they can create the outer impact they desire.
Miriam has studied with a number of cherished teachers and traditions including: Himalayan Tradition in Rishikesh, India, Vipassana Meditation as taught by S.N. Goenka, UMass Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction created at UMASS by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Compassion Cultivation Training developed at Stanford U by Thupten Jinpa and Prema Yoga’s Teacher Training (200hr) in Brooklyn, NY with guest teacher Sharon Salzberg.
She received her B.A. in political science from McGill University (Montreal, Canada) and M.A. in public administration from the College of Europe (Bruges, Belgium). Of Algerian-American descent, she currently lives in Montreal where she can also be found parenting a preschooler and teaching yoga.
Facilitators
Natasha Fong
Facilitator
After working as a management consultant at a top global firm in New York City, and several years delving into the science of mindfulness while working in tech, Natasha wanted to create a program to guide corporate teams into an approachable and sustainable meditation practice. This comes from her own experience using meditation as a tool to stay balanced, grounded and present in high pressure roles.
Having walked in the shoes of many of her students, Natasha loves to share tools and techniques to help them with managing stress and developing focus and clarity, while relating to the demands of corporate life.
Natasha is honoured to be trained under the Vedic tradition and Sivananda Yoga lineage. She combines modern research to make ancient practices accessible to the modern practitioner and relevant to the business world.
Zanette Johnson, PhD
Facilitator
Zanette Johnson PhD, YOL’s Director of Learning, helps teams increase engagement, wellbeing, and effectiveness, as they bring their shared values to life. Drawing upon her background as a neuroscientist and her 25 years as a mindfulness practitioner, Zanette teaches leaders to stay relaxed and consistent as they build alignment between their daily actions, shared values, and future goals.
David Perls
Facilitator
David Perls is an executive coach, mindfulness teacher, and leadership facilitator. After spending the first half of his career in senior strategy roles at eBay and Landor, David’s work today is focused on enhancing conscious leadership through mindfulness. David graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and is a Certified MBSR Teacher through the Brown University School of Public Health.
Advisors
Nadine Bekkouche
Advisor
Nadine is the president of NBE Education. Nadine uses her expertise in psychology, education and research to consult with businesses designing educational programs and to create online courses that help solve real-world problems. Nadine Bekkouche is currently working on a PhD in Education. She holds an MSc in Medical Psychology & has published a number of papers and reference texts in the fields of psychology, behavioral research and health. She is the author of a best-selling course on Effective Academic Writing on Udemy.
Fil D’Urbano
Advisor
Fil D’Urbano is a senior Human Resources Executive and trusted Advisor with a track record of building winning strategies in culture shaping and change management for top-tier organizations. Fil began her career in telecom and aerospace with CAE, Bombardier, Pratt & Whitney, and Marconi Communications before shifting her focus to the world of retail (Groupe Dynamite, Limited Brands). Fil is currently Head of People and Culture and Chief Mindfulness Officer at international fashion retailer Ardene.
As a passionate advocate for conscious leadership and mindfulness, Fil is breathing new life into the way organizations think about leadership. Through mental health awareness and training programs, keynote speakers, mindfulness programs that span the entire employee lifecycle, and conscious leadership practices, Fil is helping businesses recognize the positive impacts of leading with authenticity and compassion at both the individual and organizational level.
Laura Hernandez
Youth Advisor
Laura Hernandez Merlano is a lifelong environmentalist who is passionate about mobilising her community. Born in Medellin, Colombia, she looks forward to bringing her insightful and intersectional perspectives as a young Latina. Laura completed her studies in Economics at the University of Ottawa. She actively advocates for compassionate leadership that prioritises psychological wellbeing and challenges the traditionally exploitative nature of the labour force.
As a public servant, she challenges the public sector to focus on respectful and meaningful engagements with historically excluded communities. Laura also hopes to challenge the private sector’s true nature of profits and definition of sustainability. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking new plant-based recipes, staying active outdoors, and playing her ukulele, especially by a campfire.
Darcy Skye
Advisor
Darcy Skye has been professionally coaching clients for 15 years. She holds a Masters Degree in Education from the University of Michigan, and coaching certification through the Coach Training Alliance, as well as several additional coaching credentials. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Ecology, Reiki Master certification and was trained through the 3-year Energy Medicine Practitioner program at the Rhys Thomas Institute of Energy Medicine in Massachusetts.
Darcy coaches on subjects she has personal experience with, having gone through many changes in her life including career change, divorce, dating, pregnancy and parenting. She has lived in several countries, loves to backpack, bake treats, and find reasons to giggle with her kids.
Darcy brings a combination of scientific inquiry, coaching best practices and healing to her sessions. As her client you receive her passion and insight. She has a gift for understanding dynamics under the surface that help you move past limitations, find your power and take action to achieve your goals.
Consultants and Collaborators
Sly Stark
Virtual Assistant
Katrina Conanan
Event Management
Diliana Popova
Copywriting
Iane AF
Website Design
Why bring Brain Spa to your workplace?
There has never been a more compelling need for new work life design than now!
The global pandemic has changed everything – the way we work, learn, celebrate, workout, care for families and play.
We believe the new normal will continue to evolve, and we must design ways to thrive and grow in this world of turbulent change.
