Living With HOPE Guest" Heidi Thompson

Heidi Thompson grew up in Vernon B.C. and in the 1970’s travelled to Europe to study photography and painting for eight years. She became interested in meditation, psychology, and philosophy and began to investigate various mind-developing techniques and spiritual traditions.

When Thompson returned to Canada she worked as a photographer, book publisher, teacher and painter. Thompson’s continuing interest in meditation led her to attending a 10-dayVipassana retreat taught by S.N. Goenka in where she was introduced to the focusing-technique called Anapana, or breath awareness.

Thompson has been practicing breath awareness for more than twenty-five years and has experience more health, peace, and creativity. Wanting to share the technique with children, she developed Mindmastery - an attention-development program for children of all ages and abilities. Thompson was invited to conduct Mindmastery programs in public schools with children in grades K-12.

After Mindmastery was featured in a CBC documentary, Thompson received a flood of inquiries from parents, psychologists, teachers, and childcare professionals wanting to learn breath awareness and to teach it to children. In response to the need for a step-by-step instruction guide, Thompson wrote Calm Focus Joy: The Power of Breath Awareness

Heidi Thompson currently lives in Vernon, and spends her time painting, exhibiting her artwork, writing, and conducting Mindmastery workshops.