The first time I met Aproteem Choudhury, he was interviewing for a position as a Mindfulness Coach with RTC. The moment he entered the view of my screen, I knew that he didn’t just teach mindfulness: he also practiced it regularly. The interview was virtual, but his entire demeanor emanated through the screen, infusing my own space with his calmness and stillness. Apro exudes a contagious calmness, and I immediately felt relaxed and at ease.

Mindfulness has impacted every area of Apro’s life. “My interactions with other people, how I think about things, how I act, and the content of my work all revolve around mindfulness.”

Apro’s first serious introduction to mindfulness came in 2017, when his Houston community was in the throes of recovering from Hurricane Harvey. He was participating in a training offered by The Center for Mind Body Medicine, an organization with which he still works closely. The training taught participants how to use mind-body skills in a group setting to help communities recover from large-scale traumas. After the training, Apro began to lead community groups. Eventually, he shifted into a mindfulness approach that is more focused on integrative behavioral health. He’s worked alongside psychiatric and psychological clinics, bringing mind-body skills into clinical and behavioral health spaces.

One thing Apro wishes more people knew is that mindfulness teachers still get distracted too and that mindfulness doesn’t always look or feel like it’s often portrayed in the media – sitting in a meditative posture with our eyes closed. “We can be mindful when doing simple tasks – talking to our friends and families or even when studying.” That’s one of the things our coaches tell our students. Many students play sports and have experienced moments where it felt like the crowd disappeared and it was just them and the game, the race, or the competition. That’s also mindfulness!

Apro is not just a mindfulness teacher: he’s also a scientist who studies mindfulness. In his full-time life, Apro is a Mind-Body Interventionist at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, TX. He’s tasked with developing mind-body programs for patients, as well as support systems for families and the clinical and administrative staff at the hospital. His programs are not unlike those offered at CHOP in Philadelphia. In his research, Apro has been amazed by the wide range of applications mindfulness can be used for. “Everything from focus and anxiety, to various dimensions of cognitive ability, to pain management following surgery – these are all candidates for mindfulness intervention.”

Apro’s experience with mindfulness research has contributed to our own practice and instruction here at RTC. His research has demonstrated that mindfulness students are more likely to develop a lasting personal practice that becomes a lifelong habit if they initially practice with an instructor more than once a week. That’s why many of our mindfulness coaching programs start with students having several sessions a week early in their practice: the science has shown us that this support is key.

At RTC, Apro has enjoyed his work with teenagers and adult students. Many adults find that mindfulness coaching gives them a customized skill set for managing the stressors and anxiety of daily life. Apro reflects, “Many students feel like they don’t have time for self-care. A mindfulness teacher once told me that these are the people who can benefit the most from a meditation practice. Mindfulness is a way for both adults and children to pause, reassess, and revitalize their mind, body, and spirit. Even a brief moment of mindfulness can be enough to completely shift our day in a positive way!”

Every week when Apro and I speak about his students, I’m struck by his compassion for them. He genuinely seeks to be a of service to them, by providing his students with skill sets that will empower them to help themselves. He feels for his students’ struggles and celebrates their triumphs as if they were his own, which is exactly why we’re so thrilled to have him on our team!