About Marie SHEPPARD

MARGI - I CUT AND PASTE: FONT IS NOW DIFFERENT

Marie is a long-time mindfulness and Focusing practitioner who is passionate about sharing these practices in ways that help people make concrete and lasting improvements to their lives.   Her interest in teaching awareness-based practices was first kindled by the benefits that she experienced in her own life - both professional and personal - and now, twenty+ years later, is fueled by the profound changes she has witnessed in the lives of her students, clients and colleagues. (MARGI - LINK TO TESTAMONIALS?)

She believes these practices have helped her to be present, brave and resilient - especially during the most challenging moments in life, be they at work (international development, mostly in Sub Saharan Africa) or at home  (as a partner, mother, sister, friend and daughter of aging and dying parents).   

Marie began practicing mindfulness whilst pregnant with her second child (now 24) and went on to co-lead a mindful parenting group, write stories that help young children be with difficult emotions and Chair the Board of the Opening Heart Mindfulness Community.  She practices in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh and received the Dharma name, Joyful Path of the Heart, from him in 2003.

Marie spent 25 years at the World Bank, including six years living in Zambia with her family. She returned to DC to manage the World Bank’s Innovation Lab, a global unit that sought to learn about and leverage new approaches to some of the world’s most intractable problems.

Now in her “second act”, Marie teaches mindfulness and focusing and works privately with individuals and organizations. Her own experience with caregiving, both professionally and personally, led her to design programs tailored to the unique needs of people who care for people. The class “Mindfulness for Caregivers: how can we care for ourselves whilst caring for others?” invites caregivers to experience a buffet of awareness-based tools and choose those that resonate with their needs and circumstances.  The “Caregivers Cafe is a monthly on-line forum where care-givers can drop in, learn techniques and share their experiences of what does and doesn’t help within a supportive community.

Marie has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Certificate in Inner Relationship Focusing from the International Focusing Institute.    She loves being outdoors and lives in an “empty nest” brimming with chickens, horses, dogs and cats.