Looking back, it is more than fortuitous to celebrate five years of the Montana Mindfulness Project being birthed in Gallatin County, the Valley of the Flowers, as Indigenous people called it.
Creating MMP seemed predestined because the new tribe of Bozemanites could “smell it” in the air. The subsequent flowering was on the horizon; the people meant to bring it to life found each other, and the initiative took off. How could this stirring as a response from community interest, which now has reached so many kids and adults five years later, have sprung up otherwise?
Looking back, I remember the most apparent consistency was the energy, the sparkle, when the idea of gathering under one tent to teach mindfulness and meditation showed in a teacher’s eyes, their face lighting with a smile, a sense of alive possibility.
Margaret Kachadurian co-founded Montana Mindfulness Project in 2019. She now serves as the Executive Director and Board President.
Like a good virus, the energy became infectious because of the warm-hearted enthusiasm and dedication of the founding teachers and board members. There was agreement that teaching the latest scientific body/mind/heart courses to the Bozeman community would be welcomed by those seeking compassionate healing and wisdom for living a beautiful and enjoyable life, which resulted in offering nationally recognized courses such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), yoga, along with somatic practices for stress-reduction, resiliency, and everyday happiness.
The variety of talent in the room was simply amazing. We began to collect the puzzle pieces to frame what this gift of heart would become. I’ve witnessed over time that when there’s a wonderful opportunity, a magnetic force draws people to it. This is what happened then and remains true today. Trained professionals arrive eager to teach the mindfulness skills they have found enormously helpful in letting go of old behavior patterns and growing new mental resources like determination, self-worth, and kindness.
There’s a common bond among founders and current teachers that’s easy to identify and draws students. It’s a natural curiosity to discover what it’s like to live from the inside out as an explorer in their life’s adventures. The draw is life’s rollercoaster of good times and unavoidable misfortunes, coupled with our desire to transform our difficulties into potential doorways for living beyond what seems possible, though deeply sensed on some level. Learning becomes an adventure in search of our authentic selves, and our natural inclination to find and live from our true nature becomes pretty irresistible when a group learns and shares insights on how mindful living affects their everyday experience. This dedication to living their best life energizes our teachers who have come under the MMP tent as they offer to guide others in pursuit of wholeness, and together, we cultivate Bozeman into a community where wisdom and compassion are practiced as everyday realities by kids, families, educators, community members, and businesses.
To celebrate and continue to keep alive our mission and vision of teaching mindfulness skills to foster mental health and well-being in Montana communities, growing a healthier, kinder world, we’ll interview our current teachers in our first quarterly spring newsletter to discover what drew them to teach and how this passion sparkles in their lives as they transmit ancient teachings in today’s secular world. One of our first foundational principles remains the same: mindfulness is the medicine the world needs now.
