MEET OUR CREW
We are a crew of three rowers with unique backgrounds that combine psychology, mindfulness, recreation, and athletics.
Gizem Toska, PhD
Psychologist, Trainer
Having received her PhD in Counseling Psychology at the University of Florida (UF), Gizem has served as a clinician and educator at the same institution for 11 years. Being passionate about providing psychoeducational trainings to her community, she served as the Outreach Director at the UF Counseling and Wellness Center and oversaw the provision of outreach services to their community. Gizem’s expertise has been on teaching others how to better regulate their autonomic nervous system and achieve long-lasting relaxation. Throughout her career, Gizem has provided numerous workshops that focuses on mindfulness, wellness, and relaxation among other topics. She had trained dozens of fellow psychologists to provide wellness and mindfulness workshops as well. She has been practicing mindfulness since 2007 and has been utilizing mindfulness as a clinical tool since 2008. A relatively green rower, Gizem has been into coastal rowing since September 2018. Since the first contact of her oar with water, she has been aware of the power of rowing as a tool for personal growth in general and mindfulness in particular. She started practicing mindfulness on water and soon established guided scripts for rowing meditations.
Ferit Toska, PhD
Psychologist, Trainer
Ferit has met with rowing when he was a 15 year old high school student. He continued rowing at his college, Bogazici University, where he also served as the club captain. His passion for being in the moment as an athlete found a new form when he moved to Florida: Running. He ran over 50 marathons and ultra marathons. He received his PhD in Mathematics. He taught various courses at college level. He then delved into the world of AI as a data scientist. But he never let go of his rower mind. In fact, he tapped onto that mindset again and again as he went through challenging projects or tasks including finishing the first officially recognized ergometer marathon. Upon moving to Bodrum, Turkey in 2018, he reunited with rowing at the Halikarnas Rowing Club where he also serves as an instructor. It did not take him long to delve into how a rower’s mind functions and translates to wellness. He knew what Gizem was talking about. He knew he wanted to offer this opportunity to people who are yet to formally experience the power of rower mind. He also knew a key person who would complete the crew for RowerMind, Orhan Ozturk.
Orhan Öztürk
Psychologist, Trainer
Orhan Öztürk holds B.A. degree in Psychology at Istanbul University (1999). Shortly after getting his degree, he attended graduate school at Boğaziçi University wherein he started collegiate rowing. He served as the captain of Boğaziçi Rowing Crew and organized a regatta between Boğaziçi, Oxford and Cambridge Universities in historical Golden Horn. As a professional, he spent most of his career in clinical settings and accumulated immense experience about people from different psychosocial backgrounds. After falling in love with teaching others how psychological development can improve day to day life, he reshaped his career as a corporate trainer. Since 2005, he has provided psychoeducational trainings to numerous groups of various sizes. He worked with industries such as banking, telecommunication, automotive, national defense, and mass manufacturing. Moreover, he is an avid aviation enthusiast and became one of the first psychologists working in aviation industry. He is an expert of pilot assessment and training. Orhan continues to lecture on aviation psychology in Uskudar University. Being an outdoor enthusiast, Orhan enjoys climbing high mountains, participating multi-day adventure races, finishing orienteering courses, and running trail marathons. As a certified psychological performance coach, he mentored several elite and novice athletes. Knowing how physical activity can create a personal growth opportunity under intentional guidance, Orhan he took corporate training outdoors through RowerMind.
RowerMind is a product of our love for rowing and our experience and knowledge that deeper levels of personal growth can be achieved through holistic experiences that engage the body as well as the mind.
Our crew has a combined 25+ years of teaching/training experience and 40+ years of rowing experience. And we have developed a variety of tiered trainings that facilitate personal growth through coastal rowing and additional outdoor experiences.