The Open Centre Singapore

About us – The Open Centre offers various programmes on mindfulness, resilience, social-emotional learning, creative arts, and more. The group’s vision is to deliver mindfulness and related programmes in a professional, grounded and ethical way to individuals, organisations and communities.

Besides running Mindfulness & Resilience Camps for children aged 6 to 12 during the school holidays since 2013, our The Resilient Child 12-week Programme teaches children social and emotional learning skills that link cognitive neuroscience and mindful awareness training.

The Open Centre’s mindfulness programmes for adults include Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) 8-week Programmes.

In our various collaborations with schools/ organisations, we also deliver CCE workshops, Social-Emotional Learning and Mindfulness programmes to students, as well as workshops on Mindfulness for Educators.

Some of the clients we have worked with include: Ministry of Home Affairs, Singapore Tourism Board, Institute of Adult Learning, Mendaki, Fei Yue Family Centres, Anglo Chinese School Barker, Catholic High School, Yishun Town Secondary, Clementi Town Secondary, CHIJ St. Theresa, Ahmad Ibrahim Primary School, Bedok North Secondary School, Red Swastika School

OUR TEAM

Dawn

Director | Counsellor & Psychotherapist - M.Soc Sc (Counselling)

Inspired by summer camps in Omega Institute (USA) and Plum Village (France), Dawn founded The Mindful Camp in 2014 with the vision of bringing a holistic camp focusing on well-being and life-skills to Singapore.

A trained mindfulness teacher and psychotherapist, Dawn is passionate about helping young campers be future-ready and resilient.

She is a member of the American Camp Association and keeps herself updated on latest camp guidelines and best practices.
In addition to being the camp director, Dawn is an avid traveller and enjoys dancing and walking her black Labrador!

WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?
"A cup of hot chocolate and a good book."

WHAT IS ONE THING YOU DO DAILY THAT REPLENISHES YOU?
"Meditation and a walk in nature."

Yiping

Camp Leader, Media Designer | First Aid Certified

Having spent her final year of BA(Hons) in Design Communication pursuing research in the importance of art-making to child development, Yiping advocates for progressive education. She believes that learning should support and foster the inherent curious nature of a child over suppressing or conforming it; engaging in art activities would provide a child with the stimuli and guidance they need to grow creatively as critical thinkers.

She enjoys spending time with children encouraging and exploring their wildly creative sides, and loves creating hands-on, crafty workshops and designing exciting programmes for The Mindful Camp that can do just that!

WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?
"Being in nature, soaking up the sun"

WHAT IS ONE THING YOU DO DAILY THAT REPLENISHES YOU?
"I tend to my plants in the morning and get at least one good sweat throughout the day"

Georgy

Sports / Camp Facilitator | First Aid Certified

A high-performance athlete and mindfulness practitioner, Georgy believes that children learn best in a positive environment. He believes in positive reinforcement, encouragement of efforts and celebration of small achievements.

Hailing from the largest country in the world, Georgy is the model of discipline and gentleness all at once (naturally, becoming some of our campers’ favourite counsellor!) At camp, he is the master of the swimming pool and enjoys playing soccer, badminton and games with campers.

WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?
"Being with my family"

WHAT IS ONE THING YOU DO DAILY THAT REPLENISHES YOU?
"My morning ritual - fifteen minutes of light exercises and fifteen minutes of meditation, plus my favourite coffee!"

Natasha

Camp Facilitator | First Aid Certified

Natasha is a creative who enjoys the arts and spends a lot of her free time drawing, dancing and learning music. She believes in these creative outlets as therapeutic ways to express her emotions.

Adeptly caring for children with a gentle and dependable, yet playful and friendly touch, Natasha found her love for children after her first experience with younger ones at Whitelodge kindergarten in 2014. Being surrounded by these young, sprightly and candid souls brightens her day and inspired her to begin teaching art, as well as explore different avenues of guiding and caring for children.

"Adults are only kids grown up, anyway" -Walt Disney

WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?
"Disney movies and 50’s music"

WHAT IS ONE THING YOU DO DAILY THAT REPLENISHES YOU?
"Wake up, and find myself in moments throughout the day"

Pixin

Camp Leader, Art Therapist | First Aid Certified

Upon graduating with a first class honours in Painting, Fine Arts from the LASALLE College of the Arts in 2004, Pixin spent the next decade immersed in her personal craft practices, ran Doinky Doodles!, a studio which curated artworks handmade by local crafters and art-makers, as well as created short-form comics that were published in international comics and illustration magazines.

Pixin’s facilitation of art workshops for children and adults in Singapore and overseas led to her interest in utilizing art-making processes as means of healing and growth, which led to her attainment of a Masters in Art Therapy from LASALLE College of the Arts in 2016.

Pixin places a focus on play, as she sees the vital role of how play in art encourages young minds to embark on different experimentations, trials & errors in their creative pursuits.

WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?
"The existence of fat cats, hot showers and books"

WHAT IS ONE THING YOU DO DAILY THAT REPLENISHES YOU?
"Take small moments to reflect on my past and present, so as to be as self aware as I can be, in order to be kinder to myself and others"

Gopal

Camp Leader, Trainer

With over 15 years of running camps, Gopal is regarded as pioneer in his field. He creatively develops activities that are both safe and engaging. With a passion to raise the standard of camps in Singapore, he is also a senior trainer of camp facilitators.

WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?
"Beer! Just kidding. Right now it is playing with my daughter"

WHAT IS ONE THING YOU DO DAILY THAT REPLENISHES YOU?
"Dinner with my family, as well as catching up, watching movies and football with them"

Vignesh

Theatre / Camp Facilitator | First Aid Certified

Vignesh is an actor, theatre-maker, and educator based in Singapore.

A recipient of the Trailblazer General Fund, Vignesh received his training at the renowned Intercultural Theatre Institute. He is the co – founder and artistic director of clown and interdisciplinary theatre collective Translucent Bodies.

His affair with the stage began in 2008 and has performed and created with companies such as The Singapore Repertory Theatre, Toy Factory Productions, Teater Ekamatra, Buds Theatre, Dark Matter Theatrics, Our Company and Ground Z0.

A passionate advocate for arts education, Vignesh has been teaching theatre, speech and drama and acting to children since 2013.

WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?
"Having a good laugh and being silly with my friends"

WHAT IS ONE THING YOU DO DAILY THAT REPLENISHES YOU?
"Watching Youtube Videos!"

Dinah

Sports / Camp Facilitator | First Aid Certified

Dinah is an adventure seeker. She used to be in the track and field team, touch rugby and even competed in a martial art called Silat. During her free time, she loves engaging herself with outdoor activities. She believes that it will keep one healthy, provide opportunities to socialise and obtain new skills.

Her pure spirit in learning and venturing into different sports taught her that “if you put your mind to it, you can do it”. With her positive attitude and enthusiasm, she hopes to spread happiness to everyone!

WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?
"My family, friends, cats and sports bike"

WHAT IS ONE THING YOU DO DAILY THAT REPLENISHES YOU?
"Sharing how my day went with my close ones...and singing in the shower to kickstart my day!"

Atiqah

Sports / Camp Facilitator | First Aid Certified

As a fan of the outdoors, Atiqah often finds herself surrounded by nature be it going for a hike or merely sitting by the beach. She believes that spending time outdoors helps her to be in a better headspace hence being able to think clearer.

Her love and interest for working with children comes from being surrounded by little children almost all the time. Being able to be a part of helping a child grow and learn new things is an amazing feeling and it‘s one that doesn’t come by very often so when the opportunity arises she makes sure she gives it her all and has fun with it at the same time.

WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?
"Being by the beach"

WHAT IS ONE THING YOU DO DAILY THAT REPLENISHES YOU?
"Listen to music and read a book"

Hairul

Music / Camp Facilitator | First Aid Certified

Having been part of a music band as guitarist and singer, Hairul loves music and is our resident campfire staple(!) who skilfully improves the tune of our camp voices on a sleepover night.

After studying security technology, he is the young energetic friend to the campers, currently waiting to serve the nation.

He loves talking to kids - listening to their stories and having hearty conversations with them.

WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?
"Seeing the people around me smile, knowing that they are happy makes me happy"

WHAT IS ONE THING YOU DO DAILY THAT REPLENISHES YOU?
"Exercising and working out....I might have a couple of cheat days hehehe"

Dev

Sports / Intern Facilitator | First Aid Certified

Dev has been a scout for 7 years and has plenty of experience camping. He also aspires to be a paramedic in the future and enjoys helping others

WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?
"I find joy in many things one of which is food"

WHAT IS ONE THING YOU DO DAILY THAT REPLENISHES YOU?
"Seeing my family at the end of the day fills me with energy and love"

Valerie

Music / Camp Facilitator

Val brings to camp a ray of sunshine and infectious melodies!

A member of Singapore National Women’s Field Hockey Team and a talented guitarist, Val is a tireless and dedicated athlete who roots in the belief that there’s nothing music cannot do.

She thrives in the company of friends she holds dear and loves to make others smile, particularly bringing laughs (and more requests!) when she does her Stitch impressions at camp - even in song. Val hopes that she will inspire our young campers to have the “can do” attitude that she stands for, and holds the hope that one day, the world will be in peace, somehow.

WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?
"For me, seeing the people around me happy and spending time with them makes me happy. Many little things in life are accompanied by happiness and I often count my blessings to make sure I appreciate everything I have. "

WHAT IS ONE THING YOU DO DAILY THAT REPLENISHES YOU?
"I give myself time and space to evaluate the things I did that day. Ensure that I have been focusing on the right things. This is to reduce the times i look back and think about my actions from the past."

Charlene Teo

Associate Mindfulness Instructor - M.Soc Sc (Counselling)

Charlene holds a Master of Social Science in Professional Counseling (Swinburne), with elective in Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Certificate in Advanced Skills in Family Therapy. She is a certified teacher of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and trained under the tutelage of trainers from Oxford University Mindfulness Centre.

Charlene is a certified trainer of the Paws b and .b Mindfulness Curriculum under the Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP). The .b courses are based on the core principles of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR – University of Massachusetts) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT – Oxford University). The .b courses offer customised content and learning through our roles in the school community — as teachers, staff, parents, and students.
Charlene is also an Adult Educator for the Social Service Institute (SSI). In the previous years, she had taught the Higher Diploma in Social Services, where she conducts training on Human Behaviour. She was also a curriculum developer for various training programmes for SSI, she is also a trainer in Family Education in Parent Education programmes under “Family Matters” in Schools.

Charlene has developed various Service Excellence programmes for Training Vision Institute and presently is an adult educator for their Service Excellence and Diploma in Service Leadership Management programme.

Dr. Timothy Sim

Mentor | Family Therapist