Erica Marcus, MAT, founded Wise Minds. Big Hearts. in 2015 to bring mindfulness programming to students, families, and schools around New England. She now has the honor of applying that a breadth of experience to her work with WholeSchool Mindfulness, working towards systemic change within a single educational institution in Maine.
This work is the culmination of nearly fifteen years of experience in classroom teaching, wilderness youth therapy, and outdoor education combined with Kripalu Yoga and Mindful Schools certifications. Erica believes that educators benefit immensely from cultivating a mindfulness practice, and those benefits have the power to transform classrooms.
In the Spring of 2022, Erica published Attention Hijacked: Using Mindfulness to Reclaim your Brain from Tech, in which she offers a compassionate approach to bringing awareness and intention to tech use, for teens and the adults who care for them.
She is also a delighted (if often exhausted) mother of two young kiddos under the age of four. From her first postpartum experience, she produced Daily Mindful Minis, Tiny Mindfulness Practices for the Fourth Trimester, to process how mindfulness supported her during this time and share with new mothers during their postpartum journey.
In her free time, she paints, writes, hikes, runs, and eats ice cream.
Education and Training
Mindful Schools, Schoolwide Implementation Program Graduate 7/2020-7/2021
MindBe, PreSchool Mindfulness Teacher Certification 2/2019-2/2020
Center for Adolescent Studies, Trauma-Informed Care for Professionals Working with Youth 2017
Mindful Schools, Mindful Teacher Certification Program 7/2014-7/2015
MAT in Secondary English Language Arts 5/2012-5/2013
Trinity Washington University, Washington, DC
Center for Inspired Teaching, Teaching Certification 6/2010-8/2011
15-month alternative certification program to receive District of Columbia Certified English/Grades 7-12 Level Teacher License
Kripalu, 200-hr Yoga Teacher Training 2/2010
Bachelor of Arts, Sociology; Concentration in Education 8/2001-5/2005
Haverford College, Haverford, PA
wise minds. big hearts. collaborating schools and organizations:
Falmouth High School
Cascade Brook School
“[Erica] integrated her work on mindfulness with students who brought a diverse array of strengths and needs, and helped her students to develop self-awareness and compassion and appreciation for one another’s unique stories. ”
“Erica loves her students and her students love her. She is an extremely thoughtful teacher, and all who come in contact with her feel her passion. The infusion of mindfulness into her instruction has paved the way for some of our most difficult students to own their behavior. ”