Dana DePalma has practiced Insight Meditation since 1993 and is a member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council. Dana co-developed and leads innovative programs for the staff at Spirit Rock that combine practice, study and leadership training. She holds a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology, is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and enjoys sharing the Dharma as a spiritual mentor.
DaRa Williams is a trainer, meditation teacher and psychotherapist. DaRa has been a meditator for the past 25 years and is a practitioner of both Vipassana and Ascension meditation. She is a graduate of the Spirit Rock/Insight Meditation Society Teacher Training Program and is a Guiding Teacher at IMS. She is the Program Manager and a core teacher in the current IMS Teacher Training. DaRa has been a clinician and administrator in the field of Mental Health for over 25 years and currently maintains a private practice in Manhattan. She is a certified trainer and practitioner of Indigenous Focusing-Oriented Therapy and Complex Trauma. DaRa integrates these skills, understandings, wisdom traditions and worldviews in her intention for contributing to the ending of suffering for all beings.
"It is my belief that vipassana meditation and the dharma are ideal for transforming suffering, particularly the trauma of oppression and its many vicissitudes-where the chains around our minds and hearts can be broken and dissolved. Awareness and wisdom become the vehicle for freedom and transforming lives."
David R. Loy is especially interested in the conversation between Buddhism and modernity. His books include A New Buddhist Path, Ecodharma: Buddhist teachings for the Ecological Crisis, Nonduality, Lack and Transcendance, A Buddhist History of the West, The Great Awakening, Money Sex War Karma and The World Is Made of Stories. A Zen practitioner for many years, he is qualified as a teacher in the Sanbo Zen tradition.
David Richo, Ph.D., M.F.T., is a psychotherapist, teacher, workshop leader, and writer who works in Santa Barbara and San Francisco California. He combines Jungian, transpersonal, and mythic perspectives in his work.
Here are examples of where I present classes/workshops:
In the bay area, I usually teach daylong classes at:
Spirit Rock Retreat Center in Marin:http://www.spiritrock.org UC Berkeley Extension in San Francisco: 510-642-4111 San Damiano Retreat Center in Danville: www.sandamiano.org At Esalen in Big Sur: esalen.org
In Santa Barbara I teach classes at: City College Adult Education: http://sbcc.augusoft.net One ongoing class in spring and summer is: Reading and Writing Poetry for Personal Growth Fridays 10-12. All these classes are free.
Dawn has been practicing and studying Insight Meditation since 2005, and has graduated from the first teacher development group of True North Insight, and Spirit Rock's Mindfulness Yoga and Meditation Training, Dedicated Practitioners' Program, and 4-year Retreat Teacher Training. She teaches with a playful, dynamic, and heartfelt approach, and leads daylongs, retreats, yearlong programs, and mindfulness workshops in Canada and the US for Spirit Rock, True North Insight, and for teens with Inward Bound Mindfulness Education. Dawn is also the author of “Mindfulness Meditation for Beginners”. For more information, visit dawnmauricio.com.
Dawn is a Buddhist teacher in the Insight Meditation tradition. She serves as the Guiding Teacher for Insight Santa Cruz, and also teaches regularly for Insight Meditation Center. She teaches and assists residential meditation retreats in North America.
Dawn has accumulated several years of silent meditation retreat practice since beginning Buddhist practice. She began teaching in 2010.
She holds an MA from the Institute of Buddhist Studies and Graduate Theological Union, specializing in Buddhism and Pastoral Care and Counseling. After her degree, she worked as a professional Interfaith Spiritual Care professional (Chaplain) at Stanford Medicine. She currently serves core faculty for the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies Online Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Program.