Where Brains & Bodies
Thrive
Through Movement & Play!
Brain-based mindful movement practices and therapy approaches for those who can’t sit still.
Photography Lisa Tse
Improving Psychological Health with Mindful Movement
A practical, lived approach to improve focus and emotional regulation. This isn’t about sitting still or following rigid rules, it’s about finding what works for you, in your real life and the life of your clients. Learning to love your brain, care for your body and embrace your emotions. Our holistic Body in Mind Training™ approach combines mindful movement and compassion, delivered in creative, playful and powerful ways, woven into everyday life.
Movement-Based
We integrate creativity and embodied practice, because not everyone can sit still and it’s through movement that the mind-body connection is unlocked in powerful ways.
Brain-Informed
Grounded in neuroscience our programmes are designed to work with how our brains actually function.
Practical & Lived
This isn't just theory, it's mindfulness as a dynamic, lived experience. Our practices fit into real life, for people navigating the complexities of the modern world.
Our approach is mindfulness for the moments that matter – planning your day, during conflicts, transitioning between tasks, relating to others and more!
Evolve YOUR practice with techniques from Dr. Tamara Russell’s clinical psychology, neuroscience & martial arts expertise, and decades of teaching, supervision and client support.
Featured Course
Mindful Movement Mastery
With Dr Tamara Russell
This course is a road map for therapists, mindfulness teachers, educators and coaches who are working with one-to-one clients or groups and seek to gain confidence in how to bring Mindful Movement into their sessions.
Perhaps you’re working with clients who struggle to sit still to find mindfulness beneficial. Maybe YOU are finding standardized practices difficult or lacking efficacy?
This Mastery program draws on Dr Tamara’s 25-years of clinical experience to help you feel the freedom to innovate in meaningful & measured ways that make the most of your own skills and meet the unique needs of your diverse clients.
Learn that you have ‘permission’ to explore & adapt new practices that will unlock Attention, Focus and Awareness in creative ways that support everyday life, relationships and emotional regulation.
Personal Embodiment
Weekly personal practice for your own well=being and to increase your confidence to guide practices.
Action Reflection Learning
Monthly case discussions to guide you as you share mindful movement with your clients.
Further Learning with The Dragon Academy
The Dragon Academy offers brain-based learning resources for ADHD, creatives, and neurodivergent thinkers. Find practical ways to build focus, develop emotional regulation, and wellbeing that actually work for you.
Dragons Under the Moon Gatherings
Photography as a Healing Tool
Sword Sisters August Workshop
What Practitioner's Say About our Approach
It's ok to do mindfulness differently
Mindfulness is something that can benefit EVERYONE – not just those who have time and ability to sit still on a cushion with their eyes closed.
As someone with ADHD, Dr. Tamara found traditional seated practices frustrating and inaccessible. Her Body in Mind Training™ method is different by design. It’s for the wrigglers, the creatives, the people who need to move to think, and for anyone who’s ever felt like prescribed mindfulness techniques weren’t working for them. The starting point is everyday movements and moments, and a precise methodology that shows you how to bring the qualities of mindfulness to each and every one.
Dr. Tamara founded the Dragon Academy to unite her complementary skill-sets to develop a method for those who, like her, prefer mindfulness in motion.
Explore Courses
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Featured Books
Dr Tamara Russell’s books on movement and neuroscience based mindfulness approach. Great for minds that think differently. Practical, brain-friendly approaches to focus and wellbeing.
Mindfulness in Motion
A science-informed guide to movement-based mindfulness, explaining how and why working with the body can help develop present-moment awareness, especially for those who struggle with traditional seated meditation.
What Is Mindfulness?
A clear introduction to mindfulness that separates fact from myth, explaining how and why it supports mental health and awareness, grounded in science and clinical practice.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Got questions about how things work? Find answers about our learning platform, account setup, accessibility, and how to get the most from your Dragon Academy experience.
Who are these courses and programs for?
We offer these courses to anyone who wants the benefits of mindfulness (better attention, focus and emotion regulation) but who has struggled with the typical ways of teaching. This tends to be the ADHD Wrigglers, those with creative “galaxy” minds, and mindfulness rebels who just want to do things differently. The courses and offerings arose from Dr. Tamara’s work sharing her Body in Mind Training approach with individuals from many different backgrounds, those who can’t, won’t or don’t want to sit on a cushion to train. This includes those with speedy minds, strong emotions, busy carers/parents, health professionals and leaders.
What is Body in Mind Training?
Body in Mind Training (BMT) is a movement based mindfulness training that integrates training in executive functioning (attention, inhibition etc) with emotion regulation. It is a “next generation” mindfulness based intervention that incorporates insights from neuroscience, creativity and transpersonal psychology. This means a holistic approach that covers the bio, psycho, social and spiritual domains. Context sensitive and highly flexible, the principles of BMT forms the basis of all of Dr. Tamara’s clinical work.
Why train with Us?
Dr. Tamara is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist who faced her own challenges trying to do mindfulness the “usual” way (still, on a cushion). She understands from a personal and professional perspective how hard it is (at first) to train and tame a busy mind in a body that feels emotions deeply and intensely. With a neuroscience background, she was able to determine which brain networks to train to support executive functioning and emotion regulation. She is a fearless mindfulness innovator and creative who has worked over decades “Doing Mindfulness Differently”. Her mission is to share the tools and techniques she offers in her individual work to as wide an audience as possible.
What symptoms of ADHD does mindfulness help with?
When you work with the moving body you are training the brain’s braking system (impulsivity). The moving body offers a simple, concrete anchor to support the brain’s attention networks and train your focus. Creative ways to engage with strong emotions support the development of emotional intelligence. Development of self-compassion through conscious movement and care of the body supports the development of compassion for other wounded parts. ADHD is a blend of executive functioning and emotional challenges. Mindfulness, with adaptations, allows us to really get to know our bodies and minds so we can take care, thrive and be free to be our true unapologetic selves.
What learning platform do you use?
We are using a platform called Sutra. We chose this platform as it was designed by people who are passionate about transformational learning and community. We also love the name!
Do I actually have to sign up and make an account?
If you just wish to browse the open spaces there is no need. To register for free community events and access the interactive features (like saving events to your calendar and contributing to community chats) you will need to sign up. For anything paid, like courses or membership, you will need to sign up.
Is the learning platform easy to use?
The platform is relatively easy to use. Like any new environment, it may take a bit of time to get familiar with all the features. The more you use it the easier it gets. Once you are inside the Dragon Academy Sutra “Space” as it is called there is lots of support in the form of videos and more specific FAQs about profile set up, settings and navigation etc. Sutra also has easy to follow guides and support for participants. You can also always reach out at any time and ask for help.
Can I use the platform on my phone?
Sutra does have a phone app option which you can find in the Google Play or Apple stores. Please note however, that it was originally designed for laptops, so occasionally we find there might be some features that may glitch a bit. If you notice anything not working, do let us know as the Sutra team are super responsive and always try to help and upgrade things that come to their attention.
Does the platform use passwords and logins?
You will need to create a username and login to access Sutra. But if you forget your passwords do not worry! They have a magic link option to quickly give you access.
Does Sutra have its own Privacy Policy?
Yes it does – you can find their Privacy Policy here. You can also read their Terms of Service here.