People

Paul

 Senior Teacher

Paul Baranowski is the founder and principal teacher of Luminous Ground, a meditation group located in the heart of Toronto. Paul has been studying and practicing Buddhism and meditation since 2004. He is an ordained member of the Order of Interbeing in the Zen tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, and author of Interdependent Liberation. Paul […]

Laurie

 Intermediate Teacher

Laurie has been practicing mindfulness and meditation since 2001. In 2002 he spent three days at Plum Village and was introduced to the teachings of Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. He returned there many times, spending well over a year in total, learning how to touch life deeply simply by opening to present moment experience […]

Dawn

Dawn grew up in Seoul, Korea until moving to Toronto when she was 15 years old. In 2009, she started to attend a local meditation group in Toronto and she slowly started to discover her motivation to live with less struggle. With the help of her teacher, Paul Baranowski, and Luminous Ground members, she has […]

Roxana

Roxana has been practicing meditation and studying Buddhist teachings since 2012 and has attended retreats in the Thich Nhat Hanh tradition and with Luminous Ground. Her enthusiasm and curiosity led her to explore several meditation groups, traditions and teaching styles, to find her home in Luminous Ground, under the training of Paul Baranowski. Roxana’s key motivation is […]

Matthew

Matthew began studying Buddhism and practicing meditation with Paul Baranowski since 2013. He began practicing the needs-based communication technique ‘Nonviolent Communication’ in 2015, and facilitating corporate and public NVC training sessions in 2016. Matthew’s aim is to spread awareness of mindfulness’ many applications in daily life, and to help facilitate mindful technology practices to bring […]

Jen

With a curious spirit, Jen began sitting at Luminous Ground’s weekly classes in the spring of 2016, shortly after meeting Paul through “Mind Your Business”, an event hosted at Shopify. Not long after joining this vibrant community of young professionals, Jen began the teacher training program to deepen her mindfulness practice, striving for more calm, […]

Reza

Reza was introduced to mindfulness practice in 2012 through a colleague who became a dear friend. In 2014, he joined his sister and brother-in-law as a formal practitioner at Luminous Ground; founded by Principal Teacher and mentor, Paul Baranowski. His favourite style of practice is group sharing as it creates the conditions for participants to […]

Kim

Kim Yee is a student and practitioner of Buddhist teachings. She discovered mindfulness and meditation through her work at Interaxon, the creators of MUSE: the brain-sensing headband, in 2014. Here, she met Paul Baranowski, VP of Development and Founder of Luminous Ground; he is now her principal Dharma teacher. Along with Paul, she co-founded “Mindfulness […]

JulieMae Doherty

JulieMae started mindful meditation in 2007 when she was pregnant with her oldest child. She first met the LG community in 2016 when she joined them on retreat. One year later, she joined the Teacher Training program to strengthen her practice and find a pathway to share meditation with others. As a mother of three […]

Sheva

Sheva has been practicing mindful meditation for the past two years under the mentorship of Paul Baranowski. With the support of her teacher and fellow practitioners, Sheva has gained insight and continues to learn how and when to use the right techniques and practices to find peace wherever she is at. Through practice, Sheva has discovered […]