Our Human Being Team
Our Team
As a British Columbia Non-Profit Society, legally, we have members and directors, but practically we all view ourselves as Human Beings first and Learners or Students second. We welcome you to join us in supporting our Mission in the way that best suits you.
Jeffrey Hunter
Human Being, Founding Director, Life Learner
Jeffrey has been a high-achieving financial service professional for over 20 years and has used various forms of visualization, meditation, and mindfulness as tools to help attain his success. Along the way, Jeffrey has had the good fortune to share these practices with family, friends and former colleagues.
While enjoying a transitional period in his life, Jeffrey has been updating his knowledge and skills in both the practice and the teaching of Mindfulness & Meditation by completing the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program (Jack Kornfield & Tara Brach).
Jeffrey is a proud father to a wonderful 12-year old son, enjoys a full day of hands-on work in landscaping or construction and also dedicates time to Mental Performance Coaching for athletes/teams and business professionals. If you are interested in a focused Mental Performance Coaching session or program for your team, please contact us directly.
Alexandra Galfiova
Human Being, Director, Program Coordinator, Public Awareness & Do-er of all Things
Alexandra brings great passion and energy to BBSI! Always looking to learn new things and not one to rest on her laurels, she is the engine of success for all things BBSI. Whether it be website design or public awareness to program coordination and bookkeeping, Alexandra is there to make sure it is done and done right!
With a passion for learning and working with others she bring an international background to BBSI. Having already completed two university degrees at University of Comenius in Bratislava, Slovakia, she is now completing a post degree diploma from Camosun College here in Victoria, BC.
In addition making everything work at BBSI and studying, she is also the office manager for a local dog obedience and agility school and if you are not watching her closely, she is likely to come home with a puppy! And just to top things off, she also is in charge of keeping a certain “Life Learner”, focused on what he should be doing instead of chasing after a shiny ball - the puppy training experience comes in handy for that!
Kristin Varner
Human Being, Life Learner
Kristin aspires to bring people together in a conscious community to explore and deepen their yoga and meditation practice. The heart of her practice rests in the cultivation of present moment awareness imbued with courageous honesty and radical love. She shares three forms of meditation - loving-kindness, focused attention, and compassionate awareness - and guides people in developing their own unique triune meditation practice through integration of these three forms. Kristin encourages the application of mediation to all aspects of living with the conscious intention to benefit all.
After practicing yoga and law for two decades, Kristin combined these two passions to co-found Community Yoga Initiative to advocate for and offer affordable, accessible, and inclusive yoga outreach programs. Every week she shares yoga and meditation practices through free community classes designed to strengthen, stretch, and destress the body; soothe, relax, and decompress the mind; and open the heart. She facilitates a yoga and mindfulness immersion course for men housed at the California Rehabilitation Center (a Level II California prison) that supports their ability to manage states of trauma, develop resilience to stress, and embody intentional ways of living. She also aids high level athletes (including University of California sports teams and the United States Men’s Olympic Water Polo team) in experiencing the subtle complexities and latent abilities of their bodies and minds through team yoga and meditation practice. Kristin has assisted children and teens better understand the workings of their minds and how to calm and concentrate their attention through meditation during retreats she’s organized and assisted. Through workplace wellness programs she’s helped people experiencing stress and anxiety increase their capacity to relax and focus.
Kristin holds the following degrees and certifications: Juris Doctor, 500-Hour Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher, Prison Yoga Project Yoga & Mindfulness Facilitator, Chair Yoga Teacher, candidate for Mindfulness Meditation Teacher in 2023 (from the Awareness Training Institute and the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California at Berkeley).