CO-FOUNDER
Siandiwe Charles-Harris, PhD
Educator, researcher, mindfulness facilitator, and outdoor guide. Siandiwe connects inquiry with experiences that support attention, agency, connection, and belonging.
Read Siandiwe’s storyAttention · Agency · Connection · Belonging
Hi, I’m Siandiwe.
I help people and communities reclaim attention, connection, and belonging in a world increasingly designed for distraction and disconnection.
Educator. Researcher. Mindfulness facilitator. Outdoor guide.
Read my full bio
A good place to begin01 / FIND YOUR WAY
What brings you here?
Your suggested path
With ourselves. With one another. With the living world.Scroll to explore ↓
Room to connect.
A moment of Mindful Megafauna practice, by the water.
Explore outdoor experiencesABOUT THE FOUNDER
Siandiwe Charles-Harris, PhD
Siandiwe Charles-Harris, PhD, is an educator, researcher, curriculum designer, Certified Mindfulness Facilitator, and Certified Mindful Outdoor Guide whose work explores how attention, inquiry, relationship, and place shape learning and human development. Across more than 18 years in K–12 schools, higher education, and community learning, she has created experiences that invite people to think deeply, notice carefully, and participate more fully in their lives and communities.
Dr. Charles-Harris earned a BA in English, an MA in Secondary English Education, and a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Connecticut. Her doctoral research examined how racial ideology and colonial assumptions operate within teacher-preparation policy, extending her longstanding commitment to culturally responsive and humanizing education. She has taught English and humanities in New York and Connecticut and has served as a lecturer, course developer, and clinical supervisor at UConn’s Neag School of Education. At Kingsborough Early College Secondary School in Brooklyn, she coordinated research and professional development, helping to strengthen curriculum, professional learning, and college-access pathways. Her work has also included program design, educator development, organizational research, and partnership building.
Her movement into mindfulness and outdoor education is not a departure from this career, but an intentional expansion of it. Throughout her work, she has remained interested in the conditions that help people become more attentive, reflective, connected, and capable. Mindfulness, philosophical inquiry, and outdoor learning offer additional ways to cultivate these capacities through direct experience, sensory awareness, curiosity, and relationship with the living world.
This direction is also rooted in childhood. Growing up on an island, Siandiwe’s best memories were made outdoors—in nature, with friends and family, and during long stretches of unstructured, screen-free time. Island life taught her to notice tides, weather, and the changing character of a place. It also gave her an early understanding that nature can be beautiful and life-giving while also powerful and unpredictable. Those experiences continue to shape her beliefs about attention, freedom, resilience, connection, and belonging.
To support this evolving practice, Dr. Charles-Harris completed certification as a Mindfulness Facilitator through the Copper Beech Institute and as a Mindful Outdoor Guide through the Kripalu School of Mindful Outdoor Leadership. She also holds an Advanced Certificate in Philosophy with Children and has pursued additional preparation in wilderness safety and nature-based practice. Together, these experiences connect her academic and pedagogical expertise with embodied, place-based, and contemplative approaches to learning.
Dr. Charles-Harris is the founder of Mindful Megafauna, an education and well-being initiative bringing together mindfulness, nature connection, philosophical inquiry, creativity, and ecological belonging. Through guided outdoor experiences, educational programs, workshops, and partnerships, she serves children, adolescents, adults, educators, families, community organizations, and workplaces. Her work is grounded in a simple but consequential idea: human beings do not stand apart from nature. By learning to pay attention—to ourselves, one another, and the places we inhabit—we can recover ways of living that are more connected, intentional, and fully alive.
Siandiwe co-founded the Siandiwe ecosystem with her longtime friend Mar’Kee Thomas. Meet the people behind the work
THE PEOPLE BEHIND SIANDIWE
Rooted in friendship.
Growing together.
Longtime friends and co-founders Siandiwe Charles-Harris and Mar’Kee Thomas bring different kinds of experience to a shared concern for human flourishing.
Our projects have their own identities. The people and relationships behind them create room for ideas, care, and collaborations to move across the ecosystem.
CO-FOUNDER
Mar’Kee Thomas, LCSW, RYT 200
Mar’Kee is a licensed clinical social worker and yoga teacher with experience in public child welfare, work with older adults, grief and loss, and yoga for children and families. Her practice is informed by anti-oppressive and liberatory approaches to healing.
She is a mother of two, ages 15 and 8, and will contribute in several capacities as the Siandiwe ecosystem grows.
Read Mar’Kee’s full profileIDEAS, TEACHING & WRITING
We need better ways to be human together.
Our attention is increasingly captured by technologies competing for it. Young people navigate social worlds that can feel hyperconnected and isolating at once. Adults struggle to make room for friendship, community, rest, and presence. And many of us think of nature as somewhere to visit, rather than the living world to which we already belong.
I work at the intersections of these questions, drawing from education, philosophy, mindfulness, human development, ecological belonging, and community-building.
Sometimes the work is a teenager finding connection through a shared experience. Sometimes it is an educator reconsidering attention and digital life, a coaching client finding a workable next step, or a group standing quietly among trees.
The settings change. The underlying work continues:
Attention. Agency. Connection. Belonging.
Education asks how people grow.
Philosophy asks how we should live.
Mindfulness asks us to notice what is actually here.
Nature reminds us what we are.
My work lives where these questions meet.A connected body of work.
Through teaching, research, writing, and speaking, I explore attention, education, technology, identity, ecological belonging, human development, and the environments that support human flourishing. These questions connect the projects below and make room for future essays, books, and conversations.
IDEAS INTO PRACTICE
My work takes
several forms.
Four distinct projects help people live more attentively, intentionally, and connectedly—with themselves, one another, and the living world. Choose a door to explore.
Mindful Megafauna explores mindfulness, ecological belonging, and attention, inviting us to remember that we were never separate from nature. Through outdoor experiences, workshops, and education, I invite people to come meet their greater self outdoors. Writing and thoughtfully chosen objects are part of the growing vision.
Our philosophy & purposeKind of Different is a social lab for thoughtful, observant, creative young people who may feel out of sync with conventional social spaces. Shared experiences create conditions for confidence, curiosity, authentic connection, and being themselves—with others, IRL.
Mindful-Hire brings a concern for human flourishing into workplaces and organizations through wellness programming, training, consulting, design, and the people who deliver those experiences. The focus is on conditions that help people participate, feel well, and do good work.
Praxis Vitae is my executive-function coaching and human-development practice, helping adolescents, college students, and adults bridge the gap between knowing what they want to do and being able to do it. Integrating practical strategies, mindfulness, philosophical inquiry, and structured reflection, it supports the skills, systems, and self-understanding needed to navigate life with greater agency and intention.
From planning and organization to attention, self-regulation, and purposeful decision-making, the work is about learning how to live deliberately—and translating intention into meaningful action.
A PRACTICE OF ATTENTION & CONNECTION
Mindful Megafauna is a nature-based mindfulness and learning practice that helps people reclaim attention, strengthen intentional action, and deepen connection with themselves, one another, and the living world. Guided outdoor experiences and workshops bring together nature connection, philosophical inquiry, and practical support for everyday life. Praxis Vitae is the home for coaching, with optional nature-connected practices through MM.
WHY THIS WORK MATTERS
In a survey of 19,806 adults, at least this much weekly nature contact was associated with better self-reported health and well-being.
White et al. (2019)In a small study of 36 adults, nature experiences of this length showed the most efficient cortisol reduction.
Hunter et al. (2019)A meta-analysis found small-to-moderate benefits of mindfulness training for several attention and cognitive measures.
Zainal & Newman (2024)Research informs our approach; these studies did not evaluate Mindful Megafauna programs.
OUR MISSION
Create accessible experiences and learning practices that cultivate attention, agency, and relationship with our communities and the living world.
OUR VISION
Communities grounded in ecological belonging, where people meet everyday life with curiosity, intention, and care for one another and the Earth.
MEET THE FOUNDER
Siandiwe (Sian) Charles-Harris, PhD is an educator and curriculum designer, a Certified Mindfulness Facilitator, and a Certified Mindful Outdoor Guide. She holds an Advanced Certificate in Philosophy with Children. Her work connects contemplative practice, philosophical inquiry, and nature connection with practical support for everyday life.
Read Sian’s storyOUR GROWING ECOSYSTEMThe Practice / The Academy / The Mercantile / The Press
ATTENTION. AGENCY. INTENTIONAL ACTION.
Executive-function coaching for teens, college students & emerging adults
Close the gap between intention and action.
Personalized coaching to build practical strategies for planning, organizing, prioritizing, managing attention, and following through—while developing the self-knowledge to use those strategies in real life.
Online + in person in the Mansfield, Connecticut area · Optional nature-based practices
You know they’re capable.
They may know it too.
And yet assignments get finished but not submitted. Projects turn into last-minute emergencies. They intend to start earlier next time, but lose track of deadlines, feel overwhelmed, or get pulled in by distractions.
Coaching creates room to understand these patterns and try practical strategies that fit the person. We work with real responsibilities, reflect on what happens, and adjust together. Adults seeking more workable systems are welcome, too.
WHAT WE BUILD
Skills for everyday life.
The focus is shaped around your goals and the situations you want to navigate.
- Task initiation
- Planning & prioritizing
- Time management
- Organization
- Working-memory supports
- Attention & digital habits
- Follow-through
- Metacognition & self-awareness
- Self-advocacy
EXECUTIVE FUNCTION COACHING & CONSULTING
Attention. Agency. Intentional Action.
For adolescents, college students, and adults whose intentions outpace the systems they have to act on them. Build practical ways to manage procrastination, planning, attention, overwhelm, and follow-through—with growing independence and self-understanding.
Coaching blends practical executive-function strategies, metacognition, philosophical inquiry, structured reflection, signature thought exercises, mindfulness, and environmental design. Meet online or in person in the Mansfield, CT area. Indoor and outdoor options are available; nature-based practice through Mindful Megafauna is optional and chosen with your goals in mind.
AN 8-WEEK COACHING EXPERIENCE
Praxis Foundations
- 75-minute intake and executive-function profile
- Six 50-minute individual coaching sessions
- Personalized planning, prioritizing, initiation, and follow-through tools
- Praxis thought exercises and reflective practice
- Brief between-session check-ins
- Parent alignment check-in for clients under 18
- Optional nature-based practices
Founding-client investment$1,200 for 8 weeks
Two payments of $600 available.
A LONGER COACHING PARTNERSHIP
A little more time to practice what works.
The 12-week option gives students room to understand their patterns, try new approaches with real school and life responsibilities, and adjust those approaches as their needs change. It is individualized, collaborative, and grounded in agency rather than a one-size-fits-all productivity system.
We begin with a conversation with the student and parent or caregiver to explore fit and agree on goals. With the student’s participation, coaching may include planning and organization, task initiation, attention and digital habits, managing overwhelm, self-advocacy, and reflection. Outdoor or mindfulness practices can be included when they serve the student’s goals.
Coaching is educational support, not therapy or a promise of particular grades or outcomes. Progress depends on participation and the support available between sessions.
12-WEEK EXECUTIVE-FUNCTION COACHING
Praxis Momentum
- Twelve private 45–50-minute sessions, generally weekly
- Individualized goals, practical tools, and progress reflection
- Initial support plan, with up to one hour reviewing relevant assessment documents
- Coordination with other providers when appropriate and authorized
- Parent or caregiver updates and family team conversations, with boundaries agreed at the start
- Brief email or text check-ins between sessions, within agreed availability
- Optional nature-connected practice through Mindful Megafauna
Program investment$1,750 total
$250 initial planning fee + $1,500 for twelve sessions. Two- or three-part payment options available. Sessions are intended to be completed within six months of starting.
ATTENTION & DIGITAL WELL-BEING
Look up. Reconnect. Choose deliberately.
LOOKUP is a Praxis Vitae program in development that invites young people to explore where their attention goes—and what becomes possible when they make room for curiosity, connection, and life beyond screens.
The first offering is a school assembly, with distinct middle- and high-school versions. Through reflection and shared inquiry, LOOKUP explores digital habits, everyday agency, and more intentional choices about attention.
Explore the program details
A PRAXIS VITAE PROGRAM
LOOKUP
- Distinct middle- and high-school assembly versions
- Attention awareness and everyday digital habits
- Curiosity, connection, and life beyond screens
- Reflection on agency and intentional choices
COMING SOON · IN DEVELOPMENT
Dates, format, scope, and fees will be confirmed through conversation as the program develops.
Explore the program details
Middle school: attention, curiosity, connection, and life beyond screens.
High school: agency, digital habits, and choosing where attention goes.
Future possibilities: challenges, Phone-Free Fridays, retreats, and nature-connected experiences through MM. These extensions are in development.
THE PRAXIS VITAE APPROACH
Practical strategies.
Thoughtful reflection.
Coaching brings together executive-function strategies, philosophical inquiry, mindfulness, and experience. We explore what helps you act on what matters.
- Executive-function strategiesPractical systems for planning, organizing, and follow-through.
- Praxis thought exercisesStructured inquiry to examine patterns, gain perspective, and clarify priorities.
- Mindfulness & attention awarenessNotice attention, emotion, and habits before reacting.
- Environmental designShape the conditions that make intentional action easier.
- Optional nature-based practiceOutdoor experiences through MM offer space for attention, reflection, and perspective.
The Praxis Vitae method
- 01 / ATTEND
What is happening?
Notice attention, energy, habits, and the environment.
- 02 / INQUIRE
What is underneath this?
Explore patterns, assumptions, and what matters.
- 03 / ORIENT
What matters now?
Clarify the goal and a useful next direction.
- 04 / DESIGN
What would make action easier?
Create tools, routines, and supports that fit.
- 05 / ACT
What is the next workable step?
Try a manageable action in daily life.
- 06 / REFLECT
What did we learn?
Review the experience, adjust, and return to the cycle.
Explore P.O.S.I.T.I.V.E. skills
The P.O.S.I.T.I.V.E. framework comes from the Executive Function Coaching Academy (EFCA). Descriptions are paraphrased for Praxis Vitae.
- Planning
- Break goals into manageable steps.
- Organization
- Create usable systems for materials and information.
- Self-Advocacy
- Recognize needs and ask for appropriate support.
- Initiation
- Find a workable first step and begin.
- Time Management
- Estimate time, plan work, and track deadlines.
- Inhibition Management
- Pause before acting and manage distractions.
- Visualizing Outcomes
- Picture a desired result before starting.
- Evaluating Priorities
- Decide what needs attention now.
MEET DR. SIANDIWE
Sian Charles-Harris, PhD
I’m an educator, teacher educator, curriculum designer, Certified Mindfulness Facilitator, mindful outdoor guide, and the founder of Praxis Vitae.
My work centers on learning, human development, reflection, and a deceptively simple question: What helps people become increasingly capable of directing their own lives?
My approach connects practical executive-function strategies with attention, self-understanding, and the environments in which we live and learn.
Read my full storyA FEW QUESTIONS TO BEGIN
Frequently asked questions
What is executive-function coaching?
A collaborative process for building practical ways to plan, start, organize, manage attention and time, and follow through. Sessions connect reflection with strategies you can try in everyday life.
Does my child need an ADHD diagnosis?
A diagnosis is not required to explore coaching. The first conversation focuses on the challenges, goals, and kind of support that may fit.
Do you work with ADHD and autistic clients?
We can explore how coaching might support your goals, communication preferences, and ways of working. The fit call is an opportunity to discuss what would make sessions accessible and useful.
Is executive-function coaching therapy?
Praxis Vitae offers educational and coaching support. Coaching focuses on practical goals, tools, reflection, and everyday action. It does not provide psychotherapy, diagnosis, or mental-health treatment.
What does nature-based coaching mean?
With your agreement, coaching can include outdoor attention and reflection practices through Mindful Megafauna. Nature-based practice is optional. Indoor and online coaching are available.
Do parents participate?
Praxis Foundations includes a parent alignment check-in for clients under 18. We discuss goals, communication, and appropriate involvement at the start of the coaching relationship.
Will you monitor all of my child’s assignments?
We work on systems for tracking responsibilities, starting work, and following through. We’ll clarify expectations for check-ins and communication together; comprehensive daily assignment monitoring is not part of the listed package.
Can coaching happen online?
Yes. Coaching can take place online or in person in the Mansfield, Connecticut area. We discuss format, availability, and fit before confirming the arrangement.
READY TO GET STARTED?
Let’s find out whether
Praxis Vitae is a good fit.
Request a complimentary 20-minute conversation about what is currently difficult, what you’ve tried, and whether coaching is a useful next step.
hello@siandiwe.com
Send your inquiry to begin a conversation about availability.
FOR CURRENT CLIENTS
Praxis Vitae client portal
Students and parents already working with Praxis Vitae can sign in to TutorBird to view lesson notes, scheduling, and resources.
New to Praxis Vitae? Use the fit-call inquiry above to start a conversation.
THE PRACTICE / COME MEET YOUR GREATER SELF OUTDOORS
Walk Series & Mindful Outdoor Experiences
Coming SoonSlow down. Notice what is here. Make room for a question. Our guided walks and nature immersions bring mindfulness, philosophical inquiry, and ecological belonging into a shared experience of the living world.
FIRST FEATURED OFFERING
The Walking Questions:
Philosophy on Foot
What might we discover when we let a question walk with us?
Move mindfully through forests, along waterways, or among mountains, bringing life’s questions into conversation with the place around you. Explore identity, freedom, connection, meaning, and the good life from the understanding that we are nature, too.
Each experience makes room for sensory observation, quiet time on your own, reflective writing, and facilitated philosophical dialogue. No background in mindfulness or philosophy is needed—just curiosity and a willingness to notice.
Explore a few walking questions
- What does it mean to belong?
- Where do I experience freedom in everyday life?
- If I am already part of nature, what changes about how I live?
- What makes a life meaningful?
LET’S TAKE THE NEXT STEP
Dates, locations, accessibility details, and registration are coming soon. Interested in joining or bringing an experience to your group? Tell us a little about what you have in mind.
THE PRACTICE / NATURE-INSPIRED ART & MINDFUL MAKING
The Art of Noticing
In DevelopmentLook closely at a leaf, a twig, or the texture of bark. What kind of mark could it make? Explore the living world through leaf and flower printing, botanical rubbings, natural pigments, and the marks we can make with fallen branches and grasses. Beginners are welcome.
SEASONAL & COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS
Wild & Wonderful
Play with color, texture, and pattern. Print butterfly wings with leaves or see what happens when a twig becomes your brush. These workshops make room for experimentation and discovery, with formats for families and community groups.
Planned length · 60–120 minutes
CONTEMPLATIVE WORKSHOPS & RETREATS
Art as Inquiry
Take a little longer with a material, an image, or a question. Guided noticing, quiet making, and philosophical conversation bring questions about change, meaning, and belonging into the studio or outdoors.
Planned length · 2 hours to a full day
Explore seasonal and themed ideas
- Spring · First Impressions — Print leaves and flowers while noticing what is beginning to emerge.
- Summer · Wild Strokes — Play with bold color and brushes made from twigs and grasses.
- Autumn · The Beauty of Letting Go — Work with fallen leaves and reflect on change, gratitude, and release.
- Winter · The Quiet Mark — Explore branch silhouettes, ink, and the quiet of a limited palette.
Other themes in development include Wings & Wonder, The Forest Is My Brush, A Sense of Place, What Remains, and The Unfinished Landscape.
THE PRACTICE / GRIEF WRITING RETREAT
What We Keep
In DevelopmentA small-group writing retreat for adults grieving the death of a mother or mother figure. A journal, a letter, something she wore, or a memory can be your starting point.
We’ll make time for guided writing, quiet reflection, and decorating a keepsake box for what you choose to hold close. You can write privately or share what you wish.
Ask for retreat updatesMOMENTS OF PRACTICE
Attention takes place.
By the water or under the trees, there are many ways to pause and return to the present.
A SOCIAL LAB FOR CONFIDENCE, CONNECTION & BELONGING
Different is not the problem.
Disconnection is.
Kind of Different creates spaces where adolescents can discover common ground while remaining authentically themselves. Shared adventures, creative expression, outdoor exploration, games, and service bring teens together around something worth doing.
ROOM TO BE YOURSELF
A community shaped around strengths.
KoD welcomes adolescents who want meaningful peer connection, including those who feel overlooked, socially hesitant, unconventional, or uncomfortable in typical groups. Different personalities, communication styles, interests, and neurotypes are welcome. A diagnosis is not required.
Curiosity opens possibilities.
Questions, experimentation, and discovery make room for different perspectives. Inquiry is about staying curious, rather than academic performance or comparison.
Creativity is a way in.
Making, storytelling, design, imaginative play, and unusual solutions all count. Creative expression is a core pathway for participation, with no artistic talent required.
Choice makes participation real.
Teens have meaningful choices in how they join in. Participation and personal sharing are never forced; connection grows through inclusion, shared interests, and respectful relationships.
FOUNDING COHORT · IN DEVELOPMENT
Six weeks of shared experience.
The initial model envisions approximately 6–8 adolescents, supported by prepared Adult Guides and Teen Community Builders. This sequence is provisional: venues, interests, accessibility needs, and pilot logistics will shape the final plan.
| Week | Experience | SPICES emphasis |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Board Game Social | Social · Inquiry · Emotional |
| 02 | Mini Golf or Bowling | Physical · Social · Emotional |
| 03 | Paint & Snack | Creative · Self · Social |
| 04 | Hiking & Nature Exploration | Physical · Inquiry · Self |
| 05 | Yoga & Mindful Movement | Physical · Emotional · Self |
| 06 | Community Service & Celebration | Social · Creative · Emotional · Self |
A FAMILIAR RHYTHM, ROOM FOR CHOICE
Before. During. After.
Know what to expect.
A welcome, orientation, shared expectations, and optional conversation prompts help the group find its footing.
Do something together.
A shared activity, light facilitation, and meaningful choices create openings for natural interaction.
Notice what mattered.
Brief reflection recognizes experiences and strengths, with a look ahead to the next gathering.
A third place in the making.
The longer-term aspiration is a consistent community beyond home and school. Recurring adventures, creative workshops, service, teen leadership, and family experiences are possibilities for the future.
A connected vision.
Mindful Megafauna is being explored as KoD’s broader philosophical and organizational home. That relationship remains a working proposal, with shared possibilities around mindfulness, curiosity, nature, creativity, and stewardship.
Meet Mindful MegafaunaOUR FOUNDATIONS
- Individuality
- Belonging
- Curiosity
- Creativity
- Autonomy
- Connection
- Safety
- Growth
THE MENTOR COMMUNITY
A community, held with care.
Adult Guides and Teen Community Builders bring interests, skills, and personalities into the group. Their shared purpose is to create the conditions for welcoming, respectful relationships.
ADULT GUIDES
Bring your interests. Help hold the space.
Educators, artists, nature enthusiasts, makers, and other trusted adults can help create welcoming environments and facilitate shared activities.
- Welcome, notice, and include.
- Model respectful relationships and maintain appropriate boundaries.
- Offer light support while making room for teen choice.
TEEN COMMUNITY BUILDERS
Participate. Include. Make room.
Older teens welcome younger cohort members through genuine shared participation, with opportunities for leadership, collaboration, service, and mutual learning.
- Join as a community member with interests of your own.
- Offer natural openings and respect someone’s choice.
- Adults hold supervision and safeguarding responsibilities.
Community Builders are not expected to be therapists, supervisors, or social-skills instructors.
Preparation comes before launch.
Adult screening, youth safeguarding, role preparation, supervision, emergency protocols, accessibility arrangements, and family consent processes still need to be established for the pilot. Recruitment will need clear boundaries, voluntary participation, and attention to applicable school policies.
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Help make shared experiences possible.
Bring a space, an activity, local knowledge, or a connection to families. We can explore where a small cohort, creative project, outdoor adventure, or service experience could complement your work. Partners and venues have not yet been confirmed.
FOR PARENTS & CAREGIVERS
Every teen deserves a place to belong.
Some teens thrive in busy, fast-moving social spaces. Others are thoughtful, creative, curious, and still finding where they fit. KoD creates opportunities to discover shared interests and build relationships through real experiences, with caring guides and room to engage at their own pace.
We don’t ask teens to become someone else to belong. We help create spaces where they can belong as themselves.
This inquiry builder prepares an email draft for you to review and send. It does not enroll your teen or add you to a mailing list.
QUESTIONS FAMILIES MAY HAVE
What to know before a first conversation.
Who is KoD for? Is there a set age range?
KoD welcomes adolescents who want meaningful peer connection, including teens who feel socially hesitant or out of place in conventional groups. The exact pilot age range and cohort composition are still being established.
Does my teen need a diagnosis?
No. KoD is inclusive of different personalities, interests, communication styles, and neurotypes. A conversation about fit and access needs will help shape participation.
Is this therapy or a social-skills class?
KoD is a nonclinical, experiential social community. Connection develops through shared activities, meaningful choices, and supportive relationships. It is not psychotherapy or a conventional social-skills class.
Will my teen have to talk, share, or join every activity?
Participation and personal sharing are never forced. Teens have meaningful choices, and guides create opportunities to engage at their own pace.
What would the six weeks look like?
The proposed cohort combines games, movement, creative expression, nature exploration, and service. Each gathering has a welcome and orientation, a shared activity, and brief reflection. The sequence is provisional and will be shaped by interests, venues, and accessibility needs.
Browse the experience menuWhat are the dates, locations, fees, and transportation arrangements?
Those details are still in development, along with session length, enrollment, scholarships, insurance, and operating costs. The initial model is approximately 6–8 adolescents over six weeks; there are no confirmed pilot dates or enrollment places to reserve here.
How will access and safety be planned?
Before launch, the pilot needs adult screening, safeguarding and supervision plans, role preparation, emergency procedures, accessibility arrangements, and family consent processes. Access needs should inform the activity plan from the start.
How will you understand whether the experience is working?
Participant, family, and mentor feedback will focus on comfort, enjoyment, belonging, and opportunities for connection. The aim is meaningful experience and growing confidence, without promises of a guaranteed social transformation.
How can I express interest now?
Use the family interest button to prepare a message with your own contact details and a brief description of what you would like to explore. Keep a young person’s private or health information out of the prototype form.
THE SPICES FRAMEWORK
Six ways to make room for the whole person.
Meaningful connection involves more than conversation skills. Movement, exploration, creativity, feelings, relationships, and self-discovery all offer ways to grow. SPICES guides experience design, rather than functioning as a classroom curriculum.
A single activity can draw on several domains. Every experience need not cover all six; the cohort aims for a thoughtful balance across them.
- S Social
- Connection & Belonging
Friendships, communication, collaboration, healthy relationships, boundaries, and community participation.
How do I connect with others while remaining myself?
- P Physical
- Movement & Awareness
Movement, body awareness, sensory experience, outdoor activity, physical confidence, and well-being.
How do I experience and care for myself through movement?
- I Inquiry
- Curiosity & Discovery
Questions, exploration, perspective-taking, experimentation, and problem-solving. Curiosity takes priority over academic performance or comparison.
What can I discover when I stay curious?
- C Creative
- Imagination & Expression
Art, storytelling, design, making, imaginative play, inventing games, and unconventional solutions. Creativity extends beyond artistic talent.
What can I imagine, create, or express in my own way?
- E Emotional
- Awareness & Resilience
Emotional awareness, empathy, expression, coping, regulation, and respect for one’s own and others’ feelings.
How can I understand my feelings and respond to others with care?
- S Self
- Identity & Agency
Values, interests, strengths, authenticity, autonomy, confidence, purpose, and self-understanding.
Who am I, and how do I want to show up in the world?
SPICES tags and social intensity describe how a KoD experience could be designed. Drive times are approximate from Mansfield; group arrangements, age requirements, access, and costs need checking with each venue. These are possible destinations, not scheduled KoD trips or confirmed partnerships.
WELLNESS STAFFING · TRAINING · CONSULTING · DESIGN
The right people make wellness work.
Mindful-Hire brings together wellness expertise, thoughtful programming, and practical design to support people, workplaces, and communities. Begin with the people you serve and the conditions they need to do well.
WHO WE ARE
Wellness is human work.
A useful wellness initiative needs more than good intentions. It needs knowledgeable people, an approach suited to the audience, and room for meaningful participation. Mindful-Hire connects the work of staffing, learning, consulting, and workplace design around that purpose.
Our aim is to help shape conditions where people can function well, feel well, and do good work. Workload, expectations, attention, connection, recovery, and physical surroundings belong in that conversation alongside individual well-being practices.
Expertise with a purpose.
Facilitators, educators, coaches, and practitioners whose skills fit the audience and the work.
Learning that fits.
Workshops, curricula, wellness series, and shared experiences shaped around a clear need.
Care in everyday work.
Thoughtful routines, attention, communication, and opportunities to pause and reconnect.
Environments that support people.
Interior design for wellness, restorative spaces, and nature-informed workplace choices.
WHO WE SERVE
Where people gather, learn, and work.
- Workplaces & employers
- HR & people teams
- Schools & universities
- Nonprofits & community organizations
- Health clubs & wellness organizations
- Retreat & hospitality settings
- Conferences & virtual events
SIANDIWE CHARLES-HARRIS, PhD
Founder · educator · wellness program designer
Mindful-Hire brings an educator’s attention to how people learn, participate, and put ideas into practice. Its work connects thoughtful facilitation with the people, programs, practices, and places that make well-being possible.
The name began with purposeful matching of people to work. That care now extends to the way a program is designed, a team is supported, and a workplace is experienced.
I NEED TALENT
Bring us a goal, a group, or a gap.
Explore a wellness professional, facilitator, trainer, or specialized support for your organization.
Start with your needsI AM TALENT
Bring the work you do well.
Introduce your expertise and the settings where you would like to contribute.
Explore the talent networkSERVICES & TRAININGS
Wellness expertise. Thoughtfully matched.
Start with a particular need or explore a connected approach. Scope, professional fit, delivery, availability, and fees would be agreed through an initial conversation.
01 / PEOPLE
Wellness Staffing
Discuss facilitators, educators, trainers, coaches, and wellness practitioners for ongoing, event-based, or project work.
- Mindfulness, movement, and contemplative practice
- Stress management, attention, and executive-function expertise
- Wellness education, nutrition, and outdoor wellness
- Facilitation and participant-side virtual-event support
For example: finding a facilitator for a workplace wellness series or an educator for a community event.
Find talent02 / PROGRAMS & PRACTICES
Training & Program Design
Shape learning and shared experiences around the people who will use them.
- Workshops, wellness series, and professional development
- Custom curricula, onboarding, and learning materials
- Facilitator and manager preparation
- Retreats and experiences with space for reflection, connection, and purposeful work
For example: designing a staff learning series or a reflective team gathering.
03 / PLACES & CONDITIONS
Consulting & Workplace Design
Look at how your workplace’s practices, programs, and physical surroundings support the people within it.
- Needs assessment, wellness strategy, and organizational planning
- Program development and employee-experience consultation
- Interior design for wellness
- Restorative and contemplative spaces, natural elements, and nature-informed design
For example: exploring a quiet restorative area or a more coherent workplace wellness plan.
The Workplace Listening Lab
Research-informed workplace wellness and organizational design
Listen deeply. Understand clearly. Work better.
What makes a workplace a place where people can thrive?
At Mindful-Hire, we believe the people who experience a workplace every day are among its most valuable sources of insight. Understanding their experiences is essential to creating healthier, more responsive organizations.
The Workplace Listening Lab brings qualitative research methods to the work of organizational wellness and improvement.
Through individual interviews, facilitated focus groups, and systematic analysis, we help organizations listen to their people, understand the conditions shaping their experiences, and identify meaningful opportunities for change.
Our inquiries explore questions of workplace culture, employee well-being, belonging, communication, leadership, workload, and the relationship between people and the environments in which they work.
We turn what we learn into actionable insights and practical recommendations that help organizations create workplaces where people feel supported, valued, and able to do their best work.
Our services include:
- Employee experience interviews and focus groups
- Workplace culture and wellness assessments
- Qualitative research and thematic analysis
- Employee engagement and belonging inquiries
- Organizational needs assessments
- Collaborative workplace redesign
- Program evaluation and continuous improvement
Better workplaces begin with better listening.
Contact Mindful-Hire to explore a Workplace Listening Lab engagement.
hello@siandiwe.comWAYS TO BEGIN
Choose the need that is closest to yours.
FOR ORGANIZATIONS
Tell us what you want to make possible.
You may need a professional, a learning experience, a program plan, or a better starting point. Describe the work and the people it should serve; we can begin by clarifying the fit.
Tell us what you need.
Share your organization, audience, goals, timing, setting, and the support you have in mind.
Define the right fit.
Clarify the expertise, experience, format, and role requirements that would serve the work.
Agree on the details.
Discuss scope, availability, delivery, coordination, and fees before confirming an engagement.
A useful first brief can be simple.
- Who is the audience, and what do they need?
- What would you like the experience or support to accomplish?
- When and where would it happen—online, in person, or both?
- Are you seeking staffing, a workshop, consulting, design, or virtual-event support?
The prototype prepares a message for you to copy or download. It does not book a professional or confirm availability.
FOR WELLNESS PROFESSIONALS
Put your expertise in a meaningful setting.
Mindful-Hire is developing a network of educators, facilitators, coaches, practitioners, and other wellness professionals for contract, event, training, program, and experience-based work.
Introduce what you do, the people you serve, and the kinds of engagements that fit your skills. Matching would depend on the needs of a project, relevant qualifications, and availability.
Share the work you do well.
- Your specialties, facilitation experience, and populations served
- Relevant credentials, licenses, or training
- Geographic service area and online or in-person availability
- Languages, preferred engagement types, and a résumé or portfolio link
A SPECIALIZED ROLE TO EXPLORE
Mindful Webinar Attendee
Active listeners, thoughtful questioners, educators, and facilitators can bring valuable skills to the participant side of a virtual event.
Relevant strengths include technical quality checks, constructive chat participation, question generation, training experience, and subject expertise.
This inquiry builder prepares an email draft for you to review and send. It does not upload a résumé, activate a profile, or guarantee work.
MINDFUL WEBINAR ATTENDEES™
Human presence for better virtual experiences.
Give your presenter a thoughtful participant-side partner: someone who listens, notices how the event feels from the audience side, and responds constructively to invitations to participate.
This role complements facilitation by checking the attendee experience, offering relevant questions, and providing useful feedback. The support role is transparent to the organizer and represented honestly.
Support before, during, and after.
Check the attendee experience.
Review the agreed agenda or materials and join early to check audio, video, slides, links, and participant-facing features.
Listen and participate.
Provide technical cues, respond naturally to prompts and polls, contribute constructively in chat, and ask thoughtful questions that fit the session.
Share what you noticed.
Offer feedback on clarity, instructions, links, activities, comfort of participation, and the experience from the audience’s perspective.
WAYS TO SHAPE SUPPORT
Choose a starting level.
These are proposed support formats. The event, preparation, role, and fee would be agreed together.
Presence
An attentive participant who checks the audience experience, responds to interactive elements, and offers basic technical and engagement feedback.
Engagement
Presence, with purposeful contributions to chat, polls, activities, and Q&A to support a comfortable culture of participation.
Event Partner
Advance agenda or presentation review, prepared questions, full-event participation, and structured participant-perspective feedback.
Authentic engagement. Transparent support.
Mindful-Hire does not provide fabricated registrations, testimonials, reviews, leads, or deceptive audience metrics. Event-support personnel should be identified and reported accurately, with their contributions grounded in real listening and relevant participation.
Useful settings include professional development, educational webinars, corporate training, virtual workshops, continuing education, community conversations, online courses, and conference sessions.
SPEAKING, FACILITATION & COLLABORATION
Let’s make something more human.
Bring Siandiwe to your organization.
I speak and facilitate for schools, universities, libraries, nonprofits, community organizations, workplaces, conferences, and groups. Together, we can create programs, experiences, and environments that make it easier for people to notice, connect, participate, and belong.
Begin with a question, an audience, or a need. We’ll discuss the topic, format, scope, timing, and fee through conversation.
Invite a talk
Attention and digital life. Education and human flourishing. Ecological belonging. Youth connection and identity.
Plan a workshop
Reflective dialogue, mindfulness, philosophical inquiry, and practical ways to attend, connect, and participate.
Collaborate
Bring a research question, writing idea, community partnership, or program you would like to develop together.
WORK WITH ME
A conversation is a good start.
Tell me what you’re imagining. Choose a project, a talk or workshop, or a collaboration; the form will shape itself around your interest.
Prefer to write directly? hello@siandiwe.com
Still figuring it out? Choose “Not sure yet.” You don’t need a polished idea to begin.
READY TO SEND
Your inquiry draft
Open the draft in your email app, review it, and press Send. If no email app opens, copy the draft and send it to hello@siandiwe.com. This website does not send your message automatically.