Dr Paula Martin ( MICGP) is a General Practitioner, living and working in the West of Ireland. Paula graduated from UCD Medical School in 2005 and went on to complete her training as a GP in the Sligo GP Training Scheme in 2010.
Paula has always had a great passion for exploring and integrating participatory mind - body and lifestyle practices into modern medicine & GP. Paula has a very strong personal practice of insight meditation for over 25 years, and has spent an accumulated 10 months in one of the world's most pioneering silent meditation centres The Insight Meditation Centre, Barre Massachusuetts practising with teachers such as Joseph Goldstein and students of Jack kornfield and Tara Brach. She has also researched Mind Body Medicine worldwide, including extensive time in India, South East Asia.
Drawing on this great passion and having direct contact with the high levels of stress and suffering in the healthcare service, In 2010, Paula began training formally in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction at The Centre for Mindfulness in Medicine, Healthcare and Society at The University of Massachusetts Medical School founded by Jon Kabat Zinn. She is now a formally certified instructor offering both MBSR & MBCT. Paula also completed a one year Postgraduate training in Mindfulness Based Approaches at The Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice, Bangor University, Wales.
In 2017 Paula was awarded a Summerschool Bursary from the Oxford Centre for MIndfulness, Department of Psychiatry, Oxford University. Paula is the Founding Director of Beo – Centre for Mindfulness & Integrative Health where she now collaborates with her husband Jared on Mindfulness Projects, teachings and trainings both within HSE settings and within the community. She also offers individual consultations to patients with chronic illness. Past teaching projects include :
Creation and Implementation of the Living Well, Living Mindfully, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for prevention of relapse of depression within Sligo Leitrim Mental Health Services
Mindfulness and Resilience training programs for the staff of Sligo University Hospital and Galway University Hospital. Collaborative Mindfulness projects through: The College of Psychiatry of Ireland, The Irish College of General Practice, TCD Faculty of Medicine, Undergraduate Program, St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital & CAMHS Sligo.
Movement and embodiment are also central to Paula's approach to an Integrated Mindfulness Practice. Paula is a qualified yoga instructor, and trained as an Embodiment movement facilitator under Open Floor International.
Alongside GP and mindfulness teaching, Paula is mother to Luna and loves life with her family by the Atlantic Ocean in Strandhill - swimming, cycling, hiking, dancing and connecting with community.