Our Board Members
Jan Chozen Bays, MD
Dr. Chozen Bays is a pediatrician and Zen teacher. She did her medical studies at UC San Diego, trained in Zen under two masters in the US and Japan, and since 2001 has served a co-abbot of the Great Vow Zen Monastery in Oregon. She shared her experiences over three decades of practicing and teaching mindful eating, in the book, Mindful Eating: A Guide to Rediscovering a Healthy and Joyful Relationship with Food, which has been translated into seven languages. She compiled 53 favorite mindfulness exercises in the book How to Train a Wild Elephant and Other Adventures in Mindfulness. In 2022 Shambhala released her most recent book, Mindful Medicine: 40 Simple Practices to Help Healthcare Professionals Heal Burnout and Reconnect to Purpose. Jan offers Mindful Eating-Conscious Living trainings for professionals in the US and Europe.
Order her new book here!
Jill Goldsmith, Esquire
Jill is the owner of Workplace Solutions NW, a firm offering neutral services to organizations in conflict. Jill’s work is focused on helping people in organizations work through conflict in a healthy, respectful and productive way. Jill has practiced labor and employment law since 1991 and has been a mediator since 1996. Jill has worked extensively in both private and public sectors including with academic institutions, medical organizations, social service agencies and many corporate contexts from very small to very large. Jill offers resiliency workshops and retreats to a wide variety of audiences (usually with her business partner, Judy Clarke), including training in compassion and mindfulness as part of a trauma informed care curriculum, implicit bias and healthy ways to handle conflict. Jill is a Trained Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher in the program developed by Christopher Germer, PhD and Kristin Neff, PhD with a graduate certificate from UCSD and is in training to become a teacher of Stanford’s Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) program. A practicing Buddhist, Jill is enrolled in the Master of Divinity program at Maitripa College in Portland, Oregon.
Patrick Green
Patrick comes to the board with over 20 years in non-profit management and organizational development. He worked in the labor union movement at the local, state, and national level, particularly in political and advocacy campaign. Patrick also served as a legislative lobbyist in three state capitals in the areas of taxation, human services, and health care. He’s served on non-profit boards including the Oregon Center for Public Policy, a leader in fiscal analysis, and the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center based in Washington DC. Patrick was the executive director of Our Oregon, where he ran statewide ballot measure and public advocacy campaigns managing a staff of eight and a budget of over $1 million. Patrick began his own meditation and mindfulness practice with the Zen Community of Oregon (ZCO) in 2004. After a decade of meditation practice he was given teaching responsibilities and has led weekend meditation retreats and workshops. He served six years as the ZCO board president and five years as treasurer.
Jeff Horacek, MD
Dr. Horacek has been a practicing primary care doctor for nearly 20 years and is the medical director for Mary’s Woods Retirement Community. While working for Providence Health System in 2007, Dr. Horacek developed a deeper recognition and appreciation of the mind-body-spirit connection through meditation and yoga. This connection has become an important part of his personal and professional life and integrates that knowledge into his work with geriatrics, diabetes care, health coaching, prison populations and drug/alcohol treatment centers. Dr. Horacek enjoys spending time with his two daughters in the natural beauty of the mountains, rivers, and wildlife of the Pacific Northwest.
Holger Link, MD
Dr. Link is an associate professor in pediatric pulmonology and sleep medicine at Oregon Health & Science University. He is interested in the effects of sleep deprivation and fatigue on physician wellness. He was the director for sleep education at OHSU for 10 years, providing education on the management of sleep deprivation and fatigue to residents, fellows and faculty. In that role, he gained a deep understanding of the challenges health care providers face. It became clear to him that most physicians are good at pushing themselves to work hard but with few or no strategies to recharge. This led him to explore mindfulness and meditation. After initial fits and starts, he made a big leap forward after attending a weekend retreat with the wonderful team of Mindful Medicine. It was eye opening to see the shared challenges and humanity among health care providers. Dr. Link does not get perfect scores for daily meditation practice but is getting a bit better at it every month. As a new board member, he is excited to join the Mindful Medicine team.
Jill Shaw, DO
Dr. Shaw is a board-certified Obstetrician and Gynecologist who joined the Mindful Medicine Board in February 2020. Dr. Shaw was one of four founders of the OB/GYN Division in 2012, served as an Executive Vice President at The Oregon Clinic for two years and founded their Peer Support Program. Dr. Shaw was the top-ranked provider in Patient Satisfaction ratings through the NRC at The Oregon Clinic from 2017-2019. Dr. Shaw retired from The Oregon Clinic at the end of December 2019 to go on sabbatical and to expand her provider wellness work. She was appointed to a 3 year term on the Oregon Medical Board in February 2020. She enjoys volunteering, hiking in the woods and foraging for edible mushrooms in season while exploring Oregon’s great outdoors. Dr. Shaw lives in Portland with her husband.
Judy Ulibarri, RN HWNC-BC
Judy is a Holistic Registered Nurse with a health background. She has specialized education and experience as a Health and Wellness Nurse Coach. Judy understands wellness occurs when the whole body, ( body, mind and spirit) are cared for and honored. Judy uses mindful and awareness practices in her daily living and with her clients. She offers an array of Integrative Health practices to those she works with and shares with. Judy believes our best health and wellbeing occur most easily when we pay attention to the gifts surrounding us. For Judy, this is often when spending time with family, in the garden, or on her bicycle!
Our Course Instructors
Denise Gour, LCSW
Denise has worked with children and adults as a licensed clinical social worker since 1999 and specializes in the areas of stress, depression, anxiety, and addiction recovery. Her services are offered privately and under contract with health care, education, and private business organizations. Denise has enjoyed regularly facilitating three evidence-based mindfulness courses since 2009. Professional Mindfulness Training: Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction 2009, Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention 2010, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression 2011, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for Teens 2010 , Interpersonal Neurobiology 2010. You can learn more about Denise and her services at www.mindfulplace.com.
Laura Martin, LCSW
Laura has been social worker since 1993, with much of her clinical experience in high-volume, high-intensity community mental health. Teaching the mindful modality of DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy), and witnessing the profound effects of mindfulness with difficult populations was a huge inspiration to develop her own mindfulness practice. Laura has been practicing deeply with the Zen Community of Oregon since 2004. She has been in private practice in downtown Portland since 2010. Laura has been teaching Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction since 2009 and is working towards MBSR Teacher Certification through the Center for Mindfulness at UMass Medical School. Laura also offers shorter mindfulness / meditation retreats, day-long retreats, classes on developing amindful relationship to money, and self-compassion. You can learn more about Laura at: lauramartinlcsw.com