About
bmindful was founded to help athletes find balance in their daily lives, build more resiliency, and tap into their highest potential.
Ethan Saal
Founder, CEO and Senior bmindful Coach
Ethan founded bmindful in 2019 with the vision of helping athletes work with their minds and become better friends with themselves. He has worked with thousands of athletes both in team settings and at an individual level. Ethan is also a well known public speaker that has given talks at MIT, Wesleyan University (CT), Amherst College, Tufts University and many more top schools. You can watch his TEDx talk named “The Silent Epidemic”, which is aimed at breaking down the stigma surrounding mental health, especially among athletes..
As a collegiate tennis player, he helped Brandeis University rise from outside the top 30 to #8 in the country. At the same time, his struggle with his mental health issues, including anxiety and depression, led him to take a medical leave his Sophomore year. Confronting his own mental obstacles led him to begin studying neuroscience, psychology, behavior and eventually, mindfulness and meditation. The power of mindfulness quickly became apparent to Ethan as it began to dramatically improve his performance on and off the court. After graduating, he decided to pursue further education and certification as a mindfulness coach.
Ethan earned his certification as a Mindfulness Meditation Teacher from Dharma Moon under Senior teacher, David Nichtern. In addition to athletes, he also works with students of all ages, adults, families, military, companies, executives, administrators and coaches. Ethan is our most Senior teacher with over 6+ years of experience and 12+ years as a mindfulness practitioner.
Ethan’s TEDx Talk
‘The Silent Epidemic’
Ethan takes you through his own personal journey of struggling with his mental health as a collegiate athlete and what it takes to start becoming better friends with his mind. Thsi talk was delivered in hopes of raising awareness around mental health so people don’t have to suffer alone or in silence.
Eric Mandell
COO, Director of Growth and bmindful Coach
Eric, a former college baseball player, joined bmindful as our COO in 2022. He’s certified in Mindfulness Meditation and Functional & Therapeutic Breathwork.
Eric engaged with mindfulness practices as a collegiate athlete when he struggled with anxiety, a lack of confidence and spiraling negative thoughts surrounding his injury recovery process. As he learned to train his mind, as well as his body, he learned how important mindfulness is to both performance and well-being.
Before bmindful, Eric spent 6+ years in the corporate space, working at startups and large organizations, like Snap Inc. He learned firsthand how to lead, build team chemistry, and navigate the highs and lows of performance in high-pressure environments.
Through his athletic and professional experiences, Eric discovered the importance of acceptance and vulnerability, not just for himself, but for the success of a team. Now, he’s passionate about helping athletes, employees, and teams strengthen their minds, connect more deeply, perform at their best and find more joy on the rollercoaster ride we call life.