About Us

Equanimity

Equa·nim·i·ty | ē″kwə-nĭm′ĭ-tē

Evenness of mind, especially under stress.
The ability to allow experience to come and go freely, without push or pull.
The state of psychological stability and even-temperedness which is undisturbed by exposure to emotions, pain, or other stressors that may cause one to lose the balance of their mind.

Life is made up of moments: some meaningful, some difficult, many easily missed.

Stress, rumination, and emotional friction quietly pull attention away from the present moment, often right when it matters most.

Equa exists to solve that problem.

Equa is a science-based mindfulness training system designed to change how people respond to stress in real time. Instead of offering temporary relief or passive relaxation, Equa teaches trainable skills for emotional regulation, attention control, and resilience.

Human experience is complex. Small frustrations and major life disruptions alike can narrow our attention and reduce our capacity to find meaning in everyday moments.

But these are not fixed traits. Research proves there are learned responses that can be retrained.

Equa’s approach is built around this insight: when people learn how to work skillfully with discomfort and distraction, clarity and fulfillment follow.

Equa is not a tool for “checking out” or “just relaxing.”

It is a clinically-validated training method that helps people move through friction rather than avoid it, building mental resilience that shows up in daily life, not just during meditation.

Equa’s methodology was developed over more than 15 years of research at Carnegie Mellon University by psychologist Dr. David Creswell, a leading authority on the neuroscience of meditation and stress, alongside Julianna Raye, a pioneer in mindfulness coaching and behavior change. Together, they translated rigorous academic research into a digitally delivered, coach-guided training system that combines personalized practice, comprehensive coaching, and interactive learning.

Our History

Equa began with a simple observation: despite decades of research showing the benefits of mindfulness, no true mindfulness coaching app existed.

When our team first started working together, the gap was clear. Meditation apps largely relied on one-way audio content, recordings that assumed learning would happen through exposure alone. But decades of research in psychology, neuroscience, and behavior change said people needed something different.

Mindfulness, like physical training, is inherently challenging. Progress depends on feedback, guidance, motivation, and the ability to adapt instruction to the learner. So what if mindfulness training worked the way great coaching does? Not just scripted guidance, but dialogue. Not just practice, but insight into how and why skills improve over time.

Equa was created to bring together scientific research, coaching expertise, and learning experience design into a single system. The result is a platform that teaches skills, tracks progress, and supports learners through the ups and downs of real training.

Our Team

Mathew is a recipient of of the Innovation Commercialization Fellowship from Carnegie Mellon University, where he also earned an M.B.A. and an M.S. in Public Policy. He has taught his signature Experiential Meditation workshops for nearly a decade, and has experience building strategic channel partnerships in the high growth tech sector – supporting his former company, Lucid Design Group, to acquisition by the technologies division of Acuity Brands (NYSE: AYI).

Outside of Equa, Mathew facilitates mindfulness workshops and is a guitarist in the band Labor Dog.

Dr. David Creswell is the William S. Dietrich II Professor in Psychology and Neuroscience at Carnegie Mellon University, where he directs the Health & Human Performance Laboratory. David’s lab has been conducting world leading clinical trials of mindfulness meditation for over 15 years, focusing on how mindfulness programs can change the brain, physiology, and health. David has published over 75 scientific articles, 2 books, and received career awards from the Association for Psychological Science, the American Psychological Association, and the American Psychosomatic Society.

David’s best science on mindfulness programs has utilized the Unified Mindfulness system, and he is passionate about bringing the best in class mindfulness training curriculum and science-backed approaches to Equa.

Julianna is founder and head trainer of the Unified Mindfulness Organization, the official teacher training for the evidence-based curriculum that is being leveraged in Equa’s technology. She has over 22 years experience training students privately and in groups, and nearly a decade training coaches in the Unified Mindfulness system to do the same.

In a former life, this voice of Equa was a professional singer/songwriter, opening for such notables as Don Henley and Stevie Nicks. She has always loved using her voice and words to help people feel better.

Shawn is a senior software engineer with 8+ years in the entrepreneurial world developing web and mobile applications based on human-centric design. In academia, Shawn taught and established curriculum for courses pertaining to AI, knowledge technologies, programming, IT project management, and innovation service & design. Shawn specializes in React Native mobile applications, software project management, product ownership, and engineering team leadership.