About
About Mindfulness Northwest
Mindfulness Northwest offers heartfelt, caring, evidence-based instruction to communities and organizations throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Mindfulness is the simple yet powerful ability to attend more fully to present moment experience. Cultivating mindfulness can improve mental and physical health, deepen kindness and compassion, and incline the mind toward joy.
We offer courses, workshops, and presentations for both individual community members and organizations. Visit our PROGRAMS page for a complete schedule, or check out FOR ORGANIZATIONS to bring mindfulness to your workplace or group.
Our mission is to make top-quality mindfulness and compassion training accessible to communities and organizations in the Pacific Northwest. Internally, we strive to be true to the mindfulness principles of cultivating truth, inclusion, and compassion.
Founded in 2011, Mindfulness Northwest is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit. All donations to Mindfulness Northwest are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
Our programs originate in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, home to the Coast Salish people since time immemorial. We humbly acknowledge that we are here as a result of colonialism. We are grateful to the Lhaq’te’mish (Lummi Nation), Nuxwsá7aq (Nooksack), Dxʷdəwʔabš (Duwamish), and our other native neighbors for their ongoing leadership and advocacy on behalf of our common home.
Donate
We’re a non-profit with a mission to provide accessible mindfulness training as broadly as possible, in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
To that end, we have established an Accessibility Fund and request your generous help! These funds help us bring mindfulness training to those who might not otherwise be able to access it. We offer sliding scale fees, individual scholarships, and discounted and pro-bono trainings for non-profit organizations. Thank you very much for your support.
Support Accessible Mindfulness
Our mission is to make the life-changing practices of mindfulness and compassion accessible across the Pacific Northwest and beyond. We hold ourselves to the same values we teach—truth, inclusion, and compassion—both in our programs and in how we work together.
Your Gift Makes a Difference
Our Accessibility Fund helps ensure no one is turned away for lack of funds. Donations support:
- Sliding scale pricing
- Individual scholarships
- Free and discounted trainings for nonprofits
Thanks to community support, we’ve continued to offer inclusive, life-changing programs—even through financially challenging times.
Impact at a Glance
Each year, your generosity helps us:
- Serve 4,000 participants, from brief workshops to 7-day retreats
- Award 200+ scholarships for deep financial need
- Offer 8–10 free trainings to nonprofit organizations
- Make teacher training more accessible for those who will share mindfulness in their own communities
Through community support of the Accessibility Fund, we’ve been able to continue these offerings even as we’ve gone through several lean pandemic years. With your vital support, Mindfulness Northwest will be able to continue enacting our mission of offering affordable & accessible mindfulness training, in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
A Message from Our Founder
I founded Mindfulness Northwest in 2011, curious whether the mindfulness practices I’d been studying since the 1980s—rooted in Buddhism—could benefit a wider audience.
The answer has been a resounding yes. Over the years, we’ve heard again and again from participants that these practices help them navigate stress, stay present with loved ones, and reconnect with what really matters.
Today, our team of 10 serves over 4,000 people each year through a wide range of offerings—from short workshops to immersive retreats. We teach across the Puget Sound region and now nationally through online programs.
We’ve always believed mindfulness should be accessible to everyone. That’s why we offer sliding scale tuition, payment plans, and over 200 scholarships annually. We also provide free and low-cost programs for nonprofit organizations and those in need.
In 2014, we expanded our reach by training future mindfulness teachers. One graduate recently told me, “Thanks to your training, I’ve been able to guide thousands of people into presence and connection.” That’s the kind of ripple effect your support makes possible.
I’m deeply grateful to be part of this generous and growing community. Your donation helps real people find steadiness, clarity, and connection in uncertain times.
With gratitude,
Tim Burnett
Founder
A Message from Our Executive Director
I’m honored to carry forward the mission that Tim and our dedicated team began over a decade ago: to make mindfulness and compassion training accessible to all.
Every week, I witness the impact of this work—participants finding a sense of calm amid grief, reconnecting with loved ones, or discovering moments of clarity and grounded presence in a world often filled with uncertainty and information overload. It’s a quiet but powerful transformation.
What makes this possible is our shared commitment to accessibility. Whether it’s someone joining an 8-week course with a substantial scholarship, a healthcare worker attending a retreat, or a community leader completing teacher training to serve others—your donation helps open these doors.
As we continue to grow and evolve, especially in a time when so many are seeking meaningful support, I’m deeply grateful for this community of donors, practitioners, and advocates. Your generosity ensures that mindfulness isn’t just for the fortunate few—it’s something we can all turn to.
Thank you for walking this path with us.
With appreciation,
Karen Schwisow
Executive Director
What Your Donation Supports:
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$5 – Every dollar helps!
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$25 – Supports free weekly online sessions
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$100 – Sustains our sliding-scale model
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$250 – One scholarship to an 8-week mindfulness course
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$500 – Covers a 7-day retreat scholarship
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$750 – Provides 3 scholarships to a 5-day retreat
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$1000 – Supports 6 participants at a weekend retreat
Mindfulness Northwest is a 501(c)(3) non-profit (EIN: 45-5363026). All donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
Our office address is 214 N. Commercial Street #103, Bellingham, WA 98225.
Staff & Board
Admin Team
Karen Schwisow
(she/her) Executive Director & Director of Teacher Training
karen@mindfulnessnorthwest.com | 360-830-6439 x4
Karen Schwisow became our Executive Director in 2025. She is a certified MBSR teacher through the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and has completed Therapeutic Yoga Training through Subtle Yoga Asheville, NC. She co-created and serves as Director for the MBSR Teacher Training Program. She's been teaching yoga and meditation in hospitals, medical clinics, community and government organizations since 2005. Through compassionate listening, authenticity, and humor she creates a welcoming container that empowers participants to experience their own innate ability to thrive. For over a decade she has delighted in mentoring teachers as they develop their ability to support others in this profound work.
Kyle Kelly-Santos
(she/her) Programs Coordinator & Executive Assistant
office@mindfulnessnorthwest.com | 360-830-6439 x0
Jean "Kyle" Kelly-Santos serves as the Programs Coordinator & Executive Assistant at Mindfulness Northwest. With a background in remote executive assistance and program coordination, Kyle is passionate about creating efficient systems and seamless workflows to support the team’s mission. She enjoys helping organizations stay organized and ensuring programs run smoothly. Based in the Philippines, Kyle is excited to contribute to MNW’s work bringing mindfulness to communities. Outside of work, she is a homebody who enjoys quality time with her husband and family and exploring wellness practices that support a balanced lifestyle.
Ed Wayt
(he/they) Bookkeeper & Tech Wrangler
ed@mindfulnessnorthwest.com | 360-830-6439 x705
After disengaging from the tech industry, Ed traveled a winding path, eventually ordaining as a monk in the Plum Village tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. After three years in that practice, he moved to Bellingham, where he explores a vibrant, authentic, communal urban life. He enjoys investigating the role of will and grace in everyday life, likes to dance and play, tends to be way too serious, and is an active community organizer.
Our Teachers
Raizelah Bayen
(she/her) Visiting Teacher
Founder and Director of Open Pathways Institute for Integrative Massage, Raizelah has been teaching massage, yoga and wellness workshops for over 20 years. She is a registered yoga teacher and a nationally approved massage CE teacher. Her teaching style is grounded in Zen Buddhist breath meditation and body awareness practices. As a yoga teacher and bodyworker, Raizelah is most passionate about teaching embodiment as a path to presence. With a broad background in the healing arts, she brings to mindfulness workshops a variety of holistic self-care techniques that support your deepening connection to body, mind and heart.
Danny Berg, M.D.
(he/Him) Visiting Teacher
Danny is a practicing physician who began studying and practicing mindfulness about 10 years ago. Having attended several retreats, he enrolled in and completed Mindfulness Northwest's Mindfulness Teacher Training Program with Tim Burnett and subsequently completed two further years of teacher training in the Mindful Meditation Teacher certification program led by Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield. He has co-taught an "Introduction to Mindfulness" course to fellow clinicians in Seattle. Having found the Mindful Self-Compassion program to be personally transformative, he recently completed teacher training in that program. He enjoys the opportunity to work with others sharing the journey into mindfulness and self-compassion.
TUSHAR BHAGAT, Ph.D
(he/him) TEACHER TRAINER
Tushar Bhagat teaches in our Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Teacher Training Program. Tushar also teaches MBSR & other stress reduction programs at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine & Cancer Research Institute to cancer patients, students, medical residents, doctors, therapists, scientists & staff where he serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Oncology. Dr. Bhagat conducts translational cancer research in addition to pursuing research on mindfulness-based well-being programs for professionals. Dr. Bhagat received early yoga & meditation training from his parents. He began formal training in meditation during middle school while attending and serving 10-day silent Vipassana meditation retreats near Mumbai, India during high school.
Rev. Tim Burnett
(he/him) Founder & Senior Teacher
tim@mindfulnessnorthwest.com | 360-830-6439 x1
Tim founded Mindfulness Northwest in 2011 with the hope of offering the transformational practices he'd learned as a student of Zen Buddhism much more widely to the community. He is a certified teacher of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), and Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT). Tim also co-created our MBSR Teacher Training Program in 2018. A meditator since his teenage years, Tim's background in traditional Dharma practice informs his mindfulness work. Ordained as a Soto Zen priest in 2000, he apprenticed with Zen teacher Zoketsu Norman Fischer and is the Guiding Teacher of Red Cedar Zen Community in Bellingham. Former jobs include educator, carpenter, software developer, and scientist. When not in the classroom, you might find him hiking, paddling, or birding.
MARK DENNENFELSER
(he/him) Teacher TRAINER
Mark Dennenfelser teaches in our Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Teacher Training Program. Mark comes to us from the Mindfulness Center of Atlanta (founded, 2009) where he is founding director. He is a Certified MBSR Teacher, licensed professional counselor, and a registered yoga teacher. Mark is the Aquinas Center of Theology at Emory University commissioned lecturer on Centering Prayer. He has also completed training in the Mindful Schools Curriculum, Yoga Therapy in Cancer & Chronic Illness Professional Training with Integral Teachers Yoga Association, and Clinical Training in Mind Body Medicine, by Herbert Benson, MD, Mind/Body Medical Institute.
Catherine Duffy
(she/her) Teacher
catherine@mindfulnessnorthwest.com | 360-830-6439 x5
When a family member was diagnosed with a personality disorder, Catherine discovered mindfulness, and was deeply moved by its transformative power in navigating life's complexities with grace. Catherine's passion led her to train deeply in mindfulness, including Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) teaching certifications. The mother of four grown children — one of whom lives with developmental disabilities — and a grandmother, Catherine continues to learn the value of pausing, taking a breath, and inviting quiet moments to reset and refresh. Her supportive teaching is imbued with nurturance, compassionate listening, and gentle, sincere care. With her warm, grounded presence, Catherine helps her students find and rest in the peace that is always within them.
Beth Glosten, M.D.
(she/her) Teacher
beth@mindfulnessnorthwest.com | 360-830-6439 x702
Beth attended the University of Washington School of Medicine and had an academic anesthesiology career until physical issues prompted her to step back from that hectic life. She studied pilates, and through this system embraced moving mindfully. She was drawn to meditation several years ago and found it meshed naturally with her approach to teaching movement: turn focus inward to listen to, and befriend, one’s self. From this place, growth and healing are possible. This journey led her to Mindfulness Northwest where she completed both of our teacher training programs and became certified as a teacher of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Beth particularly appreciates being able to serve fellow healthcare providers in our Mindfuless for Healthcare program.
Teresa Johnson
(she/her) Teacher
teresa@mindfulnessnorthwest.com | 360-830-6439 x2
Teresa is dedicated to supporting youth and families, professionally and as a community volunteer. She is a certified teacher of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), has worked for many years in non-profit administration for organizations with heart, and holds a BA in Secondary Education. Teresa has educated parents and youth of all ages, from classrooms to summer camp. Facilitating and witnessing inner growth bring Teresa great joy, and she’s excited about the many opportunities to do this in her roles with Mindfulness Northwest.
Carolyn McCarthy
(she/her) Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator, Teacher
carolyn@mindfulnessnorthwest.com | 360-830-6439 x6
Carolyn teaches in the hopes of moving us, individually and collectively, toward healing, wholeness, and love. With a degree in Latin American Studies and Women's Studies, she uses mindfulness to support the work of social justice, turning toward the difficult within and without. Carolyn is a certified teacher of Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Zest, warmth, and wit enliven her teaching. Core practices: sitting meditation, time outside, solo living room dance parties. Visit her online at www.carolynmcc.com.
RJ Rongcal
(he/him) Teacher
rj@mindfulnessnorthwest.com | 360-830-6439 x704
RJ believes deeply in the strength and vastness of each person’s mind and heart. He has practiced and studied mindfulness in both spiritual and secular settings, including completion of our Mindfulness Teacher-Training Program and a 9-month residency at Gampo Abbey where he lived as a Buddhist monk. RJ is a certified to teach MBSR as well as general mindfulness programs. When RJ’s not nerding out about mindfulness and meditation, he’s probably busy with one of his other passions: teaching 2nd grade, playing guitar, or spending time with his pulchritudinous wife, Jamie. You can learn more about him through his teaching and writing at www.ever-mindful.com.