Chris Willitts :: Founder

Chris Willitts is an expert of consciousness, fitness enthusiast, and social entrepreneur.

He also teaches a pioneering meditation class that blends shades of positive psychology into the course called Meditation Illuminates. Chris's academic background is in consciousness studies, psychology, and religion studies from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Strength training has been a vital part of his life for almost 20 years. After his introduction to meditation later as an adult, Chris noticed a tremendous sense of emotional strength and connection during his workouts that stayed with him even after training sessions. This higher level of consciousness helped him realize that his old motivation for strength training (nourishing his ego) was incomplete. Today, his practice also nourishes his personal growth and maturity, and serves as a vehicle to his self-cultivated spirituality.

Mindful Muscle came to fruition as a result of Chris combining almost 20 years of experience with strength training with mindfulness meditation and its inherent capacity for personal development, fulfillment, and thriving health.

Fun fact: The University of Michigan has been very influential in the pioneering movement of consciousness studies and the first mainstream university to offer courses on meditation.

Richard Mann, Ph.D. :: Advisory Panel Member

We really can't say enough nice things about this profoundly wise expert of mindfulness. Dr. Mann is a living legend in Ann Arbor, Michigan, especially on the University of Michigan campus. The Michigan Daily published a thoughtful article that illustrates his philosophy of teaching. Dr. Mann is notorious for his uncanny ability to “awaken” students to the nature of their true selves. His other specialty is giving students inspiration to explore the extraordinary phenomena that occurs in everyday life, such as clairvoyance, intuition, and energy healing.

Dr. Mann has degrees from Harvard and the University of Michigan, and has taught psychology at both prestigious schools. In 2001, he co-directed a team of prominent developmental psychologists for the Human Change Project. Its goal was to create an Encyclopedia of Human Development, a detailed and easily accessible catalog of all research on human psychological and spiritual growth.

Special thanks to...

Martha Winona Travers, Ph.D.

Martha is one of those rare souls you meet who simply express a deep state of be-ing and seem to almost look into the essence of the people she encounters. She has been an ongoing source of inspiration to this project and a fundamental mentor to Chris's consciousness studies and meditation practice.

Martha teaches in the Program in Creativity and Consciousness Studies at the University of Michigan. She is a personal growth and community-building consultant for hospitals, colleges, and industry. In 2004, Martha completed a 5-year apprenticeship to an indigenous shaman from the Andes Mountains. She travels and lives in Ecuador part of the year and takes small groups to the Andes Mountains to experience transformative practice. Martha is the creator of The WayCard Oracle, a divination process, and gives personal readings and consultations on spiritual growth.