Why Mindful Squirrel and Who is Traci?

Traci has 20+ years of experience mentoring and working with children, teens, and adults. She enjoys the outdoors and currently has the privilege of teaching young children, ages 3-5, in a forest based program. She spends much of her day observing her young explorers and their observations of the great outdoors from low lying ground plants, bugs, and slugs to skyward trees, birds and squirrels.  

Traci used to think of squirrels as a bit scattered, "chattery", playful, and harried. More time in the woods allowed her to also notice their quiet side, along with their mindful exploration and slow crawl, and the moments they perch and pause.  She felt like she could relate to the duality of squirrels. Traci is playful, enjoys conversations, can be a bit scattered and often busy. She has also learned to walk mindfully, spend time quieting her “mind chatter” and her verbal chatter, nurturing her anxiety, taking pause and breathing in all the many wonders of the world and people around us.  

She has been cultivating her own mindfulness journey and practice for over 10 years. Traci’s practice is what she likes to call a no thrills but impactful practice.  While a beautiful serene setting in the woods, a spot on the beach, or a retreat center are welcomed to a practice, they are not essential nor easily implemented into a daily practice. Mindful Squirrel focuses on sharing tools that are transferable to your busy life, commute, transitions, work, chores, play, and rest. 

Traci’s Qualifications

• Mindful Schools Certificate of Completions
  • 101: Mindfulness Foundations - 15 hours of training
  • 201: Mindfulness in the Classroom - 30 hours of training
• Clark University: M.A. Community Development & Planning
• Personal Mindfulness Practice - 10+ years
• Mentoring and working with children, adolescents, teens, and adults for 20+ years