I'm Dr. Mahrukh Khwaja, dentist, positive psychologist and founder of Mind Ninja, and I deliver wellbeing workshops for dental and healthcare professionals. Based in the UK, but working internationally, I design programmes, webinars, coaching and tools tailored to the specific stressors dental teams face. Mind Ninja uses:
These help clinicians build resilience, reduce burnout and enhance fulfilment in practice.
At Mind Ninja we also publish the Mind Flossing Toolkit, a deck of 60 evidence-based cards that integrate into the day-to-day of clinical environments and personal life.
From the start, I've believed that just as dental professionals floss daily to care for their teeth, they should regularly "floss" their minds, meaning a preventive, consistent approach to mental health.
I formed Mind Ninja because of my own lived experience. After several years practising dentistry, I encountered burnout and the genuine emotional weight of work, especially working in environments with stress, pressure and little psychological support.
During that difficult time, I discovered psychological tools (mindfulness, self-compassion, strengths work) that truly helped me. But I realised there was almost nothing specifically for dental teams. I envisioned a preventive, everyday approach to wellbeing for clinicians. That's how Mind Ninja was born.
I named it Mind Ninja to evoke the notion of quiet mental discipline, agility and resilience. Over time it expanded from supporting dentists to working with wider healthcare teams, organisations and clinics.
When I launched, I leaned on my clinical credentials and psychological training to build trust. I began by speaking at dental events and writing articles about wellbeing in dentistry.
I offered pilot workshops, webinars and free resources, including what would become the Mind Flossing Toolkit. Over time I refined content to address dentists' real stressors:
These were much more specific than generic "stress management".
A key challenge was overcoming genuine scepticism: some clinicians saw "wellbeing" as soft or optional. I addressed that by combining clinical credibility, evidence, testimonials, and showing tangible results (like reduced stress and improved emotional regulation) after our programmes.
Another challenge was sustaining behaviour change after workshops. To address this, I introduced ongoing touchpoints such as follow-up sessions, toolkits, QR-linked guided meditations, and structured frameworks to help integrate change into daily routines. Scaling also posed difficulties, as one-to-one coaching is highly time-intensive, so I developed hybrid models, including group, digital, and self-paced formats, along with the toolkit to reach more clinicians without compromising quality.
Over time, Mind Ninja has worked with a wide range of clients, including dental practices, NHS cohorts, healthcare organisations, and related industry partners. The programme has also earned external recognition, winning a 2022 Innovation Award from Global Health Pharma and being shortlisted in previous years at the Private Dentistry Awards.
One initiative I'm genuinely proud of is Mission Mindful, launched December 2023, which combines:
This helps normalise daily wellbeing practices in dental settings.
We now work with organisations like NHS Health Education England, the British Dental Association, King's College London and others.
Lead with experience, credibility is essential, especially in niche fields. Focus on solving real user pain points rather than broad, generic problems. Build sustainable models from the start by creating tools that extend your impact beyond one-to-one work. Use storytelling and lived experience to create an emotional connection with your audience. And above all, stay consistent, small, repeated actions often drive more lasting results than big launches.
If I were starting Mind Ninja again today, I'd have launched the digital components earlier (recorded modules, apps) rather than waiting until demand forced it. I'd also invest earlier in user data and feedback loops to see which offering truly moves outcomes. I might have brought in collaborators (designers, tech, other clinicians) sooner to broaden capacity.
I plan to expand the digital membership or app element for ongoing wellbeing support, making it easier for busy clinicians to access micro-sessions. I also aim to embed Mind Ninja programmes in:
I'll continue evolving our toolkits (future editions of Mind Flossing) and campaigns like Mission Mindful to provoke genuine culture change in dentistry. I also hope to partner globally with dental organisations and associations to scale impact beyond the UK.
Mind Ninja is a UK-based organisation founded by Dr. Mahrukh Khwaja, a dentist and positive psychologist. It provides specialised wellbeing workshops, coaching, and tools for dental and healthcare professionals. The programmes use neuroscience, positive psychology, and mindfulness to help clinicians build resilience and reduce burnout.
Mind Ninja stands out because it was created by a dentist who has personal experience with the pressures of clinical practice. It focuses on a preventive, daily approach to mental health, which Dr. Khwaja calls “mind flossing.” This is supported by evidence-based, creative tools like the Mind Flossing Toolkit, making wellbeing practices accessible and sustainable.
The Mind Flossing Toolkit is a key product from Mind Ninja. It's a deck of 60 cards, each with an evidence-based wellbeing practice. These cards are designed to be easily integrated into the busy daily routines of healthcare professionals, both in their clinical environment and personal life, to support consistent mental health habits.
The services are tailored for dental and healthcare professionals facing specific stressors like patient expectations, litigation fears, and emotional load. Mind Ninja works with individual clinicians, dental practices, NHS cohorts, and larger healthcare organisations. Finding a specialist service like this on platforms such as Fearless can be a great first step for teams seeking support.
Dr. Khwaja addresses this by combining her clinical credibility with scientific evidence and testimonials from other professionals. By focusing on tangible results, such as reduced stress and improved emotional regulation, Mind Ninja demonstrates the practical value of its programmes, moving beyond generic stress management advice.
