Cultivate Your Best Self
with Character Strengths & Mindful Presence
(What we place our attention on grows)
The Shine Program
Be your best self, live your best life, do your best work.
The Shine with Character Strengths & Mindfulness Program is an invitation to be more fully present and to embody our core positive personality traits.
Have you noticed that what we place our attention on grows? In the Shine Program we build our ability to place our attention in the present moment and on our strengths of character.
We develop skills including strengths awareness (versus strengths blindness), strengths-spotting and appreciation, strengths balance, reframing, mindful presence (versus mindlessness, autopilot), mindful listening, and mindful speaking.
Do you coach? The Shine Program builds key International Coaching Federation (ICF) competencies such as maintains presence, listens actively, evokes awareness, and facilitates client growth.
The Program Workshops
The Shine Program consists of 8 experiential on-line workshops taking place in a small group setting.
The program follows the Mindfulness-Based Strengths Practice (MBSP), an evidence-based program created by Ryan M. Niemiec, Psy.D, which leverages mindfulness to direct our attention to what is best in us.
Available Now: Coaching & ICF Mentor Coaching
〰️
Get in Touch
〰️
Available Now: Coaching & ICF Mentor Coaching 〰️ Get in Touch 〰️
The Opportunity
The Shine Program is the space for participants to:
-
Acquire or enhance knowledge, practices, and skills in character strengths and mindfulness.
-
Access more easily the pathways to greater well-being as defined by the PERMA* framework by Dr. Martin Seligman.
*Positive emotions, engagement, positive relationships, meaning, and accomplishment
-
Be part of a diverse community of strengths-focused people sharing and enriching the experience.
The Method
By design, the Shine Program fosters:
-
Awareness
Shining light on our character strengths and related points of opportunity. Discovering the science behind the program’s content in a hands-on way.
-
Connection
Co-creating a safe shared space where to be fully present, connect with peers, and develop awareness and strengths together.
-
Practice
Participating in strengths activities, guided mindfulness exercises, discussions (peer-to-peer and group), journaling, mindful sharing, and more.
-
Integration
Bringing our character strengths and mindful ways of being and doing into each aspect of our lives - at home, at work, and at play.
When mindful of and applying our character strengths, we shine from the inside out, radiating positive emotions that feel good and positively impact ourselves and others.
The Facilitator & Credentials
Dana L. Walden, the Shine Program Facilitator, MBSP-CC, & Coach PCC ICF
“I am an enthusiastic strengths-spotter who enjoys helping others see what’s best in them!
My secret formula? An attentive and appreciative approach nourished by ongoing training and experience in the fields of professional coaching, mindfulness, and character strengths.
My signature strengths include:
Honesty, Gratitude, Hope, Perseverance, Bravery, Humility, and Appreciation of Beauty & Excellence.”
-
Dana is 1 of a dozen MBSP Charter Certified Practitioners trained by Ryan M. Niemiec, Psy.D, Education Director at the VIA Institute on Character; credentialed by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), she is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC).
Founder of Certo Coaching & Consulting Sàrl based in Switzerland, Dana feels at her best when facilitating learning, growth, and achievement in a mutually-enriching environment.
In addition to the Shine Program, Dana’s other activities include: working as a Leadership Coach, acting as a Supervisor and Mentor Coach at IDC Institut de Coaching since 2013, and serving as Professor of Leadership at the University of Applied Sciences (HEG HES-SO) in Geneva since 2016.
She is a certified practitioner of the Insights Discovery® psychometric assessment and the Emotional & Social Competency Inventory (ESCI) 360° by Korn Ferry™ Hay Group.
-
“Dana’s coaching is very serene, trustful, kind, and welcoming. It is with this atmosphere that she allows you to face reality and overcome your limitations.”
- Silvia
-
About the program:
“Dana: sharing golden nuggets and us growing as a group together through a natural flow of giving and receiving; being one of the most generous people I know.”
- Sabine (ACC ICF), Program Participant
-
“I always felt welcomed, listened to, accompanied in her supervision during my certification to become a professional coach. I have fond memories of a caring and smiling person.”
- Valentina (ACC ICF)
-
“Whilst being very professional in her approach, she manages to introduce a zest of humor and laughter (very consistently) which is most productive - and appreciated.”
- Vincent
-
About the program:
“It is a very interesting course as it connects you to your inner self and tells you in a scientific manner more about your own self – the best part is it’s all positive information.”
- M.J., Program Participant
-
“Dana’s coaching style: welcoming, clever, profound. Her strengths: calmness, lack of judgment, curiosity, joy, willingness to go deep.”
- Morvan (PCC ICF)
-
About the program:
“I am more aware of the fact that the spectrum of people’s strengths can be very wide. I appreciate this diversity.”
- Sabrina, Program Participant
-
About the program:
“I am more aware of some of my character strengths such as humility and leadership and it helps me to take things more easily and be more self-confident.”
- Stephanie (ACC ICF), Program Participant
-
About the program:
“It has helped me to understand myself better and accept myself more.”
- N.G., Program Participant
The Essence of the Shine Program
To the heart of the program in 60 seconds.
The Synergy
Uniting character strengths and mindfulness creates a positive synergy, sometimes referred to as a virtuous circle, where each builds off the other.
Character Strengths
The VIA Institute on Character defines character strengths as the positive parts of our personality that influence our thoughts, feelings, will, and actions.
Universal and core to who we are, when we apply them we feel authentic.
Good news: We have all 24 strengths and we can intentionally leverage each one to amplify the positive and reframe the negative in our lives. Yet unfortunately we often overlook or underestimate our strengths.
Note: The VIA Institute on Character is the global leader in advancing the science and practice of character strengths; VIA offers the world’s only free, psychometrically valid assessment measuring the 24 character strengths.
In the Shine Program, we practice accessing our character strengths with mindfulness and being mindful by leveraging our character strengths; doing so allows us to tap into the full potential of both.
Mindfulness
Also known as present-moment awareness, mindfulness can be defined as the awareness that emerges when intentionally paying attention in a non-judgmental way to the unfolding moment-to-moment experience. (Source: Tara Brach)
To be mindful we can leverage any of our character strengths and particularly Self-Regulation - to direct our attention - and Curiosity - to help us remain open and refrain from judging.
Good news: A wide range of activities can be “mindful” from breathing to walking to listening which offers us many opportunities to be present throughout the day. There’s something for everyone.
We see more of the positives,
including our strengths,
when we are present.
- Ryan M. Niemiec
The Enrollment Process
Want to experience the Shine Program?
Get in touch with Dana via the Contact button below.
Thank you for your interest.