Personal growth classes
ONLINE ONLY
FRESH START: FREE Daily Mindfulness Practice
Dr. Ann Friedman, Dr. Michele Pola and Bela Shah, J.D., IFC-PCC
• Monday – Friday
• 7:30 – 7:45 am
FREE
Class Details
Each day is an opportunity for a fresh start to live your life fully. Practicing meditation in community to release unhelpful thoughts and quiet the mind can be strengthened by daily practice. Join Ann, Michele and Bela each morning for a 15-minute practice, which will vary each day, to make mindfulness part of your life.
ONLINE & IN PERSON
WELLNESS 2026: PRACTICES for PHYSICAL, MENTAL, and EMOTIONAL RESILIENCE
Dr. Michele Pola
ONLINE
• Mondays, April 13 – May 1
• 6:00 – 7:30 pm CT
IN PERSON
• Wednesdays, April 8 – May 5
• 6:00 – 7:30 pm CT
Series cost: $195
Class Details
This 5-week series meets 90 minutes weekly for interactive, experiential lessons based on scientific research supporting the benefits of mindfulness. Mindfulness has been found to be so empowering that it is being offered by the US Military, the US Veteran’s Administration, and companies like Google, General Mills, Intel, Aetna, Goldman Sachs, AstraZeneca, and The Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Learn tools to:
- relax the body and lower blood pressure;
- train for focus and attention, building gray matter in 8 key areas of your brain;
- improve sleep;
- be with physical pain, often reducing or eliminating it;
- calm anxiety, fear, uncertainty, hurt, and other difficult emotions;
- question and release unhelpful thoughts.
Our Trainers
Ann Friedman, J.D., Ph.D.
Ann Friedman, J.D., Ph.D., Director of Workplace Wellness at Mental Health America of Greater Houston, is a Psychologist and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, who teaches mindfulness, conflict resolution, and trauma recovery to adults and youth. A graduate of University of Houston Law Center, she taught Law and Ethics to UH graduate psychology students for 10 years. Dr. Friedman has worked with over 60 businesses, 100 nonprofit organizations, and 200 educational institutions in Houston, Puerto Rico, Florida, Southeast Texas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and California.
Some of her major achievements include:
- Moving employee engagement at a major Houston hospital department of 70 employees from the bottom to the top rating in the hospital in 8 months.
- Improving communication and lowering stress levels in an international corporation of oil traders over three years.
- Serving as an annual trainer for the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health for 4 years.
Certified in Mindfulness Facilitation (UCLA) and Cognitively Based Compassion Training (Emory University), Dr Friedman also brings expertise in Collaborative Communication, a proven method to enhance employee engagement and resolve conflicts. Her psychology training was completed at the University of Houston, UT Health Science Center, and Baylor College of Medicine.
Michele Pola, Ed.D.
Michele Pola, Ed.D. a certified mindfulness teacher through the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center and certified yoga teacher through Yoga Alliance at Joy Yoga University, is now certified in teaching Mindfulness in Nature through Mark Coleman, author of Awake in the Wild.
Prior to her immersion in the mind-body experience, Dr. Pola spent 35 years in the public and non-profit sector of education, including, serving for eight years as Chief of Staff for the Houston Independent School District, the nation’s seventh largest district. Additionally, for nine years, she served in leadership roles with the Houston A+ (Annenberg) Challenge, leading reform efforts to build leadership capacity in central offices and at the school level.
Dr. Pola’s holds an Ed.D in education from NOVA Southeastern in Florida, an M.S. in Mid Management from the University of Houston–Clear Lake, and a B.S. in Education from Lesley College in Massachusetts. In 2014 she completed the Rice University Executive Education Accelerated Development Program.
Bela Shah, J.D., IFC-PCC
Bela Shah, J.D., IFC-PCC served as an Immigration Attorney in Berkeley, California, after graduating with Honors from the University of Chicago and later receiving her Juris Doctorate from the University of Houston Law Center. With nearly a decade of experience, Bela is also a professionally certified coach (ICF) with advanced training in emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and mindful self-compassion.
For two years she served as the Associate Director of a coaching program for Meru Health, a mental health and wellbeing startup based out of Silicon Valley. While leading the program, Bela and her team coached 500+ professionals using evidence-based approaches and techniques to improve their emotional intelligence skills and achieved improved wellbeing in 80% of their clients. They also developed a successful wellbeing app using evidence-based videos, CBT exercises, and mindfulness practices based on the latest research in emotional intelligence, positive psychology, and neuroscience. Now as the Founder of Wisdom Leadership, Bela has coached Forbes 30 Under 30 Leaders, Oxford Rhodes Scholars, and social impact leaders from the Harvard School of Business.
