Board of Directors

Shirsha Marie – Managing Director and Trustee of Sangsurya Retreat Centre

Shirsha is an Integrated Somatic Psychotherapist (I.B.P.), a Senior teacher of Tai Chi, Qigong and traditional Korean martial arts (A.H.A. and H.Y.S.K), and a Mindfulness and Compassion teacher with Insight Meditation Australia. (I.M.I.) She has over 40 years of meditation practice and psychotherapy experience, and 38 years of teaching health and martial arts systems which cultivate vital life energy for physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being. 

Shirsha is the founder and principal teacher of Heart Mind Centre (est. 1986) in Byron Bay, where she has instructed daily classes in the arts of Tai Chi, Qigong, martial arts and mindfulness to a great many dedicated students. She has taught numerous programmes for adults and youth which develop safety, wisdom, resilience, respect and social responsibility. Shirsha worked at Bay Rehab for 15 years teaching Tai Chi and Qigong practices which support clients’ recovery from addiction. Her classes provide knowledge and skills in how to focus and calm the mind, build inner strength, process early childhood trauma, regulate the nervous system, develop mindful awareness and cultivate harmonious ways of living.

Read More at:  https://heartmindcentre.com.au

Radha Nicholson – Director and Trustee of Sangsurya Retreat 

Radha is a Senior Dharma Teacher in the Insight Meditation Tradition with a meditation practice of over 45 years and has been teaching internationally and in Australia for more than 20 years.

She is the guiding teacher for Bay Insight Meditation in Byron Bay and teaches at Sangsurya Meditation Centre. She also teaches regularly by invitation in India,  Germany and Israel and has been a guest teacher in the UK, California and New Zealand. In Australia, Radha is a mentor on the Dharma Facilitator’s Program, a skills based training program to educate potential teachers how to teach Buddhist philosophy and meditation.

She is a registered psychologist and has retired from private practice. Her specialty areas were anxiety, depression, trauma and substance abuse disorders. She previously worked at The Buttery in Bangalow, a therapeutic community for those with substance abuse disorders and was the Clinical Director of the Sanctuary and The Bay Retreats in Byron Bay.

Read more at: https://radhanicholson.com