About

A Little Bit About ME…

Welcome to Mindful Storytelling! I am Cathy Koman. I have been a teacher for twenty years.  I am originally from Canada, but I have lived in Europe, Asia and I currently reside in Melbourne, Australia.

Although, most of my family still lives in Canada, I am blessed to have married into a highly creative family of performing artists, musicians and actors.

Keeping me present and on my toes are my husband Tymek, artist extrodinare Leeloo, the mover and dancer Ziggy, our sensitive dog ‘Jeddy Boy’, our kitty cat Loki, guinne pigs and our chickens Penny. Poppy and Pumpkin. Being surrounded by so many fabulously creative beings inspires and encourages me to follow my joy and passion of creating stories for and with children.

My interest in mindfulness and meditation started almost 25 years ago in India during a 10 day silent meditation retreat. Over the past fifteen years, my understanding has evolved through reading, courses and daily practice. Raising children has given me lots of opportunities to choose a more mindful approach to life and time to dream of how I could incorporate mindfulness into my teaching.

Now a days, I am the Inclusion Leader at a local school. This website will be dedicated to telling diverse stories. I will be sharing tools and strategies to support teachers, leaders and educators with strategies to create a more inclusive classroom.

Here are some workshops I have run in the past…

Mindful Storytelling

I have always had a love and passion for the arts which I have incorporated into my teaching though storytelling, drama, music and movement activities. Over the years, these activities have inspired many stories I have written and finally evolved into a workshop I present at schools, Mindful Storytelling; Through Drama, Music and Movement.

Basically, I provide the bones of the story, music and/or props and the children create the rest by using their imagination, movement and dance. I incorporate mindfulness techniques, throughout the session, to keep us all calm, engaged, in our bodies and having fun.

A Mindful Planet

Mindful Storytelling story/sessions themes vary however one of my programs, A Mindful Planet, taps into the prior knowledge of the students and then seeks to extend that knowledge on all things regarding sustainability, biodiversity, climate change, responsible environmentalism, loss of habitat, water conservation, ect.

My passion regarding sustainability and the environment has influenced much of my work over the last 24 years. My undergraduate degree was International Development and I worked for an environmental NGO for years.

Later, as a primary school teacher, supporting students to be responsible for their choices was integrated into daily routines from recycling, composting, lights out in the afternoon, to responsible water use and nude food. I also ensured that every unit of work discussed our planet and the impact of whatever we studied, such as; transportation, wildlife, gardening, indigenous knowledge, science and technology, etc. I always sot to link these larger concepts or Inquiry units back to impact they have on our environment.

Contact us to learn more about this important program. 

Books ALIVE

Mindful Storytelling gave birth to another program, in 2017, Books ALIVE. This lead me to applying for a community grant. Which was awarded at the beginning of 2018 by the Maribyrnong City Council. This meant that I was able to deliver free workshops to families through out 2018 in West Melbourne. We are growing! This year there will be more than just me bringing Books ALIVE to children of all ages!