Seonaigh began meditative practices over 40 years ago at the age of 19. Since then, she has amassed over 20,000 hours of practice in retreat and daily practice contexts. Throughout the 1990s, she lived and researched in the Himalayas in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, culminating in the completion of a doctoral dissertation at UBC on A Path of Learning: Indo-Tibetan Buddhism as Education. She has studied extensively with many of the leading Buddhist teachers of meditation, including the Heads of all Tibetan orders as well as over 200 hours, including private consultations, with HH the Dalai Lama. Her undergraduate university degree is in Psychology and her doctorate in comparative interdisciplinary studies in education. In the MBSR tradition, she has studied with Jon Kabat Zinn, Susan Woods, Pat Rockman, and Evan Collins. Her abiding interest throughout these varied experiences has been to integrate mindfulness and other contemplative practices into Western educational systems – formal, non-formal and informal.

Currently, Seonaigh reside in Chilliwack, BC, where she serves as Head of the Department of Adult Education at the University of the Fraser Valley. Under her leadership, the Department has introduced a range of undergraduate courses in mindfulness and wellbeing, and they are preparing to launch the first for-credit graduate certificate in Mindfulness-Based Teaching and Learning (MBTL). Her particular interests in mindfulness are the promotion of lifelong learning, wellbeing and health, and environmental awareness.