About Cynthia Garner
I’m Cynthia Garner, mental health educator, disruptor, writer, and single mom, host of the Welcome You Podcast, author of Fierce Boundaries and Out of Grace, and founder of the Aligned Mindfulness Institute. I am an adoptee and survivor, deeply devoted to breaking the cycle of generational trauma by being the mother I did not get to have, and through helping people come home to themselves and lead with presence in a divisive world.
I specialize in nervous system regulation, trauma-informed leadership, and soul-centered approaches to personal and collective healing. With over two decades of practice, professional certifications in secular mindfulness, and a Doctorate in Body Mind Healing, I bring depth, warmth, and real-world insight to every space I enter.
My work bridges the personal and the systemic—because they’re never truly separate. I support women, educators, survivors, and soul-driven leaders who are ready to create purpose-driven lives rooted in truth, tenderness, and aligned action.
A Life Lived Fully: From the Margins to the Heart
My story begins before I had words. I was adopted at 18 months, following my birth mother’s separation from a violent partner. Raised in a home shaped by both love and trauma, I learned early to seek refuge in writing, music, and stillness. The wisdom I share now has been hard-won—earned through a lifetime of listening deeply to what hurts and alchemizing grief into wisdom that heals.
Over the years, I’ve worn many names: Fulbright Scholar, archaeologist, bluegrass musician, educator, survivor, single mother, eco-therapist, and narrative nonfiction author. But beneath every title was a deep longing—for safety, for worthiness, for a place to rest.
My journey has taken me from lightning storms on volcanoes in Guatemala to heartbreaks in quiet suburban kitchens. It has included divorcing a depressed alcoholic, healing from a body shut down by chronic pain and relational trauma, and reuniting with my birth family decades after being relinquished. Along the way, I’ve learned how to interrupt the cycle of generational harm, embody my soul’s higher calling, and claim ownership of my story.
What I Offer
My current offerings are soul-centered, purpose-driven, and grounded in lived experience and expert training:
Keynotes, panels, and media interviews on sustainable leadership, workplace wellness, trauma-informed systems change, and embodied healing
Workshops, talks, creative content, and writing that help individuals and communities reconnect to the body’s intelligence and recover their inner authority
1-1 Immersive Support for Soul-led Women: With therapeutic, expressive, nature- and body-based practices, I’ll guide you toward a life of alignment, spaciousness, and embodied wisdom. Whether through somatic practices, mindfulness teaching, or narrative writing, my work offers ferocity, aliveness, depth, and a soft place to land.
A Story Still Unfolding
As an adoptee, single mother, and survivor of emotional and systemic trauma, I’ve spent my life learning how to turn poison into medicine. My memoir-in-progress, Thrown from the Nest, chronicles my journey from early relinquishment to reunion with my birth family—and the generations of grief and healing that came with it. My podcast, Welcome You, offers somatic tools and mindful practices to anyone on the path of recovering self-trust, restoring dignity, and creating soul-aligned change.
I believe that our nervous systems are contagious, and that each act of regulation, truth-telling, and presence ripples outward. Whether I’m working with a circle of women, a room of educators, or an auditorium full of change-makers, my aim is the same: to offer a soft place to land, a refuge for heart-centered leaders, and a clear way forward.
For Media & Speaking Inquiries
Please reach out to inquire about keynotes, podcast appearances, or collaborative partnerships. I welcome opportunities to speak to audiences who are ready to live and lead with depth, courage, and embodied care.
Education, and Training:
Doctorate in Body-Mind Health, Parkmore Institute. “Mindfulness for School Leadership: An evidence-based Framework for Healing School Trauma Using a Top-Down Meets Bottom-Up Approach to Mindfulness Implementation.” Formal research conducted during pilot program at Adams State University faculty and Dr. Reynold Ruslan Feldman, Ph.D. June 2023.
Advanced Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness: Widening the Window of Tolerance and Supporting Trauma Recovery, 31.5 CEU hours. David Treleaven, May-Oct. 2021.
Mindful Schools, School-wide Implementation Program. Year-long training for Mindfulness Educators, Summer 2020-2021. Year-long mindful teacher certification program, 2018-2019.
Centre for Mindfulness Studies, Toronto, CAN. Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction Advanced Teacher Training Intensive, April 2021. Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction Teacher Training, July 2018. Formal mentorship with Susan Woods, LCSW, and Patricia Rockman, MD, Ongoing.
Authentic Communication, with Oren Jay Sofer. February – March, 2021.
UCSD Mindfulness- Based Professional training Institute, Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy Advanced Teacher Training Intensive, September 2020. Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy Training, March, 2019.
Inward-Bound Mindfulness Education, Mindfulness-Teacher Certification Program for working with Adolescents. 2019-2020.
Regis University, Denver, Co. Graduate Courses in Counseling Psychology: Crisis and Trauma; Dreamwork; Ecopsychology; Grief and Loss; Professional Ethics; Substance Abuse; Military Trauma; Human Development; Counseling and Spirituality. 2017-2020.
Hakomi Institute, 2-year Comprehensive Training in Mindfulness-based Somatic Psychotherapy, Boulder, Co. Graduate. July 2019.
Mindful Education Teacher Training, with Daniel Rechstchaffen. Jan-June 2018.
Western Governors University, Salt Lake City, UT. Teacher Preparation and Licensure Program, Social Studies, May 2010.
McKinnon School of Massage, Oakland, CA. 500-hour certificate program in therapeutic massage and bodywork, July 2007.
Goucher College, Towson, MD. Master of Fine Arts in Writing Creative Nonfiction, Aug. 2006.
Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA. Honors B.A. in Anthropology, May 2001. Magna Cum Laude.
Experience:
Mindfulness Instructor and School Leadership Consultant, Alamosa K-2 Public School, Adams State University, Alamosa, CO., Sierra Grande Middle School, Blanca, CO., Moffat School, Moffat, CO., Earth Worm Forest School, and Crestone Charter School, Crestone, CO., Bill Reed Middle School, Loveland, CO. and Skyline High School, Longmont, CO. Fall 2018 – present.
Instructed school administrators, counselors, teachers, and students in mindfulness and whole-systems wellbeing. Developed and facilitated professional development offerings for small and large groups (80+ educators), with a focus on whole-faculty connection, establishing safety, trauma-sensitivity, and self-care. Worked closely with school administrators to specifically tailor offerings to fit current needs and to create a leadership-based/top-down culture of wellness and mental health support. Facilitated delivery of the Mindful Schools curriculum to preschool, elementary, middle, and high school students, and provided feedback to classroom teachers and instruction on attunement, embodied presence, mindfulness as anti-oppression pedagogy, and calm, non-reactive teaching practices.
District-wide Mindfulness Consultant, South Bend Community School Corporation, South Bend, IN. 2020-2021 school year.
Mindfulness Teacher, Rio Grande Mindfulness Institute, Albuquerque, NM. Fall 2020 – present.
Mindfulness Consultant and Professional Development Facilitator, Earth Worm Forest School and Crestone Charter School, Crestone, CO., Bill Reed Middle School, Loveland, CO. and Skyline High School, Longmont, CO. Fall 2018 – present.
Executive Director/Founder, Rocky Mountain Mindfulness Center, 501c3 Nonprofit Organization, Longmont, Co.Founder, Executive Director. August 2018 - present.
Facilitator of Mindfulness-Based Psychoeducation for Individuals, Family Systems, and Community Groups. May. 2017 – March 2020. Collaboration with the City of Longmont Youth Services and Mental Health First Aid Trainers.
Middle and High School Educator, Lyons MSHS, Lyons, Co. Twin Peaks Charter Academy, Longmont, Co. Aug. 2010-May 2017. Highly qualified in Social Studies, English, and Spanish. Substitute teacher, 2008-2010.
Massage Therapist and Receptionist, Piedmont Springs Spa, Oakland, Ca. July 2007-Jan. 2009.
Archaeological Field Technician, Eastern United States and Jamaica. April 2003-June 2006.
Fulbright Grant received for anthropological research, Guatemala. Jan.-Oct. 2002.
Language Skills: Fluency in written and spoken Spanish.