About

Background

Aiko Michot’s background in science allows for the integration of a unique Mindfulness Program. Self-exploration is encouraged in a safe setting where participants have the space to conduct their own investigation about the physical, emotional and mental processes that make up their experience. Participants learn about the nervous system’s influence on attention and emotional regulation, the brain’s evolutionary conditioning towards reaction versus response, and how to use neuroplasticity to break free from habits and move towards having a life with more choices.

Teaching Style

There is something magical about investigating phenomena and finding our own gateway to presence. Aiko’s teaching is student centered, experiential and interactive. The tone of the sessions are permissive, playful and experimental. Sessions are made up of engaging activities where participants get to discover for themselves the different aspects of awareness. Participants share their experiences in diad/triads or group discussions. This helps build relationships within the community, individual ownership for one’s own learning and equity. Aiko strongly feels that her role is to facilitate a safe and encouraging space that validates each person’s unique way of learning and finding their own truth.

Experience

Aiko enjoys guiding beginners in their meditation practice and feels that teaching Mindfulness is a strong support to her own learning. This has led her to serve as a cohort leader for Mindful School’s 2017-2018 Year Long Teacher Certification Program.

Aiko currently teaches mindfulness to staff at the San Mateo Union High School District. She also offers mindfulness workshops at wellness events with the San Mateo County Office and Burlingame Library, and has been a guest speaker at numerous Bay Area youth events. She has taught at the San Francisco Dharma Collective, the Redwood City Insight Meditation Center Teens Group and this year has co-taught mindfulness to middle schoolers and teens at Spirit Rock - where she also served as a mentor for the 2018 New Years Teen Retreat.

Training

Aiko is a certified Mindfulness Instructor by Mindful Schools. She has had a diligent daily practice since 2014 under various teachers from Spirit Rock and Mindful Schools. She has attended over 80 days of Vipassana meditation retreats and taken numerous courses exploring the Judgmental Mind, Self-Compassion, Difficult Emotions, Mindful and Nonviolent Communication.

Inspiration

As a pantheist, Aiko derives most of her inspiration and insights by observing, interacting and learning in nature. She works as a full time Biology and Environmental Science High School Teacher at Mills High School and volunteers her summers as a Research Field Assistant. In 2018 she joined the Canadian Wildlife Service team to conduct shore bird surveys in the Arctic for climate change monitoring studies. In 2019 she continued this line of work with the US Fish & Wildlife, in Kodiak Island, Alaska; monitoring seabirds. Aiko is passionate about environmental activism and works enthusiastically in helping her students to develop their voice and the necessary interpersonal skills to advocate for a more sustainable future.