About Scott Rogers

Scott Rogers is founder and director of the Institute for Mindfulness Studies.  He has practiced mindfulness and other contemplative practices for more than 20 years.  His concentration on mindfulness is rooted in his belief that it offers one of the most effective means of encouraging meaningful inner work and growth. Scott received his masters degree in social psychology and his law degree from the University of Florida, graduating summa cum laude.

In 1999, Scott began developing the mindfulness teaching methods and exercises that form the basis for the different programs developed and taught by the Institute for Mindfulness Studies (IMS).  These mindfulness-based programs often involves the use of language and imagery that resonates with different groups to both communicate fundamental mindfulness principles and to develop mindfulness cues to help people “remember” to be mindful.  These exercises and techniques are designed to help people transform moment-to-moment interactions through the cultivation of greater mindful awareness.  The underlying insights and exercises are rooted in traditional mindfulness practices.

In 2003 Scott founded the online community, The Mindful Parent®, located on the Internet at www.themindfulparent.org.   The Mindful Parent has been visited by people in over 70 countries around the world.  In 2006, Scott published “Mindful Parenting: Meditations, Verses & Visualization for a More Joyful Life” and spoke at the 2006 Miami Book Fair International.  Scott has appeared on television, National Public Radio, been interviewed for  magazines and newspapers across the world, and speaks to numerous groups on mindfulness. In 2009 Scott published “Mindfulness for Law Students: Applying the Power of Mindful Awareness to Achieve Balance and Success in Law School” and “The Six-Minute Solution: A Mindfulness Primer for Lawyers.

In 2005, Scott began working with therapists, teaching mindfulness in the therapeutic context.  In 2007, Scott began working with educators, attorneys, physicians and other professionals.  In 2007 he began applying mindfulness practices to dieting and working with people interested in transforming their relationship to food, and he developed a program for integrating mindfulness with exercise and fitness. In 2008 Scott conducted a pilot first year mindfulness program at the University of Miami School of Law which in 2009 was expanded to encompass a comprehensive contemplative practices program for all law students.  In 2009 Scott co-developed and taught at UM Law, “Professional Responsibility and Mindfulness,” marking one of the first times mindfulness has been included in a core curriculum class in a law school.

Scott’s training in the area of mindfulness-based practices and its neuroscience underpinnings includes: Workshops with Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) founder, Jon Kabat-Zinn (2008, 2005), and Saki Santorelli (2005), and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) founder, Zindel Segal (2008); Retreat with MBCT founder John Teasdale (2008); training in Insight Dialogue and Vipassana Meditation with Insight Dialogue co-creator Gregory Kramer (2001), Sharon Salzburg (2005, 2007), and Jack Kornfield (2007); and training in brain wave research exploring high performance brain states with Anna Wise (1999). Scott has devoted many years of personal practice to experiencing the intricacies, nuances, and mysteries inherent in mindfulness practice. For many years he led a mindfulness-based meditation group in Miami Beach. His most personal work has been with Fred Eppsteiner, a much admired mindfulness teacher, who was a student of Thich Nhat Hanh’s and Roshi Philip Kapleau’s. 

Scott explores the exciting work of neuroscientists, exploring the relationship between mindfulness practices, changes in the brain’s structure and function, and its influence on behavior, thoughts, and attitudes.  In August 2008 he presented his work at an Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) applications program in Los Angeles led by Dan Siegel. In March 2009, Scott spoke on the “context-countered” approach to mindfulness, developed by IMS, at the 7th Annual International Scientific Conference for Clinicians, Researchers and Educators Investigating and Integrating Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society at U Mass Medical School.

Scott works with the lay public, parents, educators, lawyers, law students, therapists, and physicians, and provides consulting services and in-house programs to corporations, schools, law firms and law schools, and conducts workshops throughout Florida.  He lives in Miami Beach, Florida with his wife and two children.