Richard Hawkins has practised various traditions of meditation; Zen, Theravada and Tibetan, for over twenty years. He qualified as a teacher of Sivanada Yoga at the Vedanata Ashram, Vrindavan, North India. He was accredited as a Breathworks trainer in July 2009. Previously, in 2007, he trained in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) with Mark Williams at the Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre.

As part of his continuing professional development, he began, in 2008, an MSc course in mindfulness-based approaches at the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at the University of Bangor. Richard has worked in a variety of fields, including personnel management, export marketing and software development.

A colleague described him as having been round the block a few times. He thinks it was a compliment. He now devotes his time to teaching mindfulness. He believes that developing self-compassion is an important part of mindfulness training.