Hi! I’m Caroline Welch. Welcome to my website.

I hope you that you will find what you are looking for, and perhaps even some ideas and practices you didn’t know you were seeking.

I’ve spent the last 12 years learning about and promoting healthy minds and well-being as CEO and Co-founder, with Dr. Dan Siegel, of the Mindsight Institute in Santa Monica, California. Our mission is to bring more kindness, compassion and resilience into the world. My first book, The Gift of Presence: A Mindfulness Guide for Women, is now available.

Like many of you, I’ve worn (and wear) many hats both professionally and personally. I’ve been a bank teller, waitress, English teacher in Japan, corporate litigator, court-appointed mediator, and in-house counsel at two studios here in Los Angeles. Between graduate school and law school, I spent a year and a half backpacking around the world, through 26 different countries with my college girlfriend. I love traveling but get motion sickness on just about anything moving that I’m not driving.

I’ve raised two children with my husband, Dan, and was fortunate enough to be caregiver for my dad in his last few months on earth. In hindsight, the dots in my life’s pathway are starting to make some sense, but it certainly didn’t feel that way along much of the journey.

I used to think that my mindfulness practice began while I was working in Japan, and learned to meditate in a temple near Okayama. But more recently, I’ve realized that it started much earlier in my life, while growing up on our family’s dairy farm in Wisconsin. Why do I think that?

Because the more I make mindfulness a part of my daily life, the more I realize that the informal practice moments are as important as the formal ones. Smelling the air after the hay has been cut in the field, rushing from the dinner table to chase runaway cows, and feeling the warmth of a freshly laid hen’s egg in my hand, are all moments of presence I experienced early in life.

My invitation is for you to notice, to become aware, to pay attention. It’s simple, but not easy.

We are all on this journey together to develop the confidence that we can handle whatever comes our way by accessing our most resilient, flexible selves.

That’s the gift of presence.

Caroline Welch is CEO and Co-founder, with Dr. Dan Siegel, of the Mindsight Institute in Santa Monica, California. She offers lectures and workshops to enhance well-being in our personal and professional lives. Caroline began her mindfulness practice forty years ago while working in Japan.

Caroline’s first book, The Gift of Presence: A Mindfulness Guide for Women, is now available.

Born on a working dairy farm, Caroline’s first trip out of Darien, Wisconsin was to Shiraz, Iran on a high school exchange program. That was the beginning of her love of travel and exploration which has included climbing Mount Kenya, teaching English in Japan for three years, and backpacking through 25 different countries.

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School, with a master’s degree from the University of Southern California, Caroline started her legal career as a corporate litigator. She has served as a Los Angeles County court appointed mediator, and as in-house counsel at Spelling Entertainment Group and MGM Studios.

Caroline is an avid watercolorist. She and her husband, Dan, live in Santa Monica, and have two adult children.

Caroline Welch is CEO and Co-founder, with Dr. Dan Siegel, of the Mindsight Institute in Santa Monica, California. She offers lectures and workshops to enhance well-being in our personal and professional lives. Caroline began her mindfulness practice forty years ago while working in Japan.

Caroline’s first book, The Gift of Presence: A Mindfulness Guide for Women, is now available for pre-order. Its release date is March 17, 2020.

Born on a working dairy farm, Caroline’s first trip out of Darien, Wisconsin was to Shiraz, Iran on a high school exchange program. That was the beginning of her love of travel and exploration which has included climbing Mount Kenya, teaching English in Japan for three years, and backpacking through 25 different countries.

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School, with a master’s degree from the University of Southern California, Caroline started her legal career as a corporate litigator. She has served as a Los Angeles County court appointed mediator, and as in-house counsel at Spelling Entertainment Group and MGM Studios.

Caroline is an avid watercolorist. She and her husband, Dan, live in Santa Monica with their dog, Charlie, and have two adult children.