Financial Support

Our mission is to make all of our programs accessible. Every fee-based offering has a limited number of pay-what-you-can spots available to support self-identified people of color, members of marginalized groups (queer people, transgender people, and  people with disabilities) and those in financial need (those for whom the cost to attend is not financially possible). 

These spots are offered on a first come, first served basis. Please pay at the highest level you can afford. In order for this support to be available, we rely on those who can afford to pay the full price to do so.

Find out if spots are available by clicking REGISTER NOW on the event you are interested in.

Safety 

We work to protect the safety of all students. We reserve the right to remove any student from any class, sitting group, retreat, or any event if the student is disruptive to the safe learning environment we maintain for all.

Cancellation & Refunds

We reserve the right to cancel a class or special event due to low enrollment or other circumstances which would make the event non-viable. If InsightLA cancels an event you’ve registered for, you will be offered a full refund. If an event has to be postponed for any reason, you will have the option to either receive a full refund or transfer your registration to the same event at the new, future date. If you cancel, we apply a 5% credit processing fee and the refunded amounts are listed below:

MBSR, MSC, & MBHC, Mindfulness for Beginners & Special Events

7 days – 95% Refund
<7 days – No Refunds – Credit given if requested or donation to InsightLA

Fee-Based Non-Residential Retreats (note: Donations are non-refundable)

>7 days – 95% Refund
<7 days – No Refunds – Credit given if requested or donation to InsightLA

Residential Retreats

> 8 weeks – amount paid less $100
4-8 weeks – amount paid less $175
2-4 weeks – amount paid less $300
< 2 weeks – No refund

Residential Retreats with Financial Support:

> 8 weeks – amount paid less $75
4-8 weeks – amount paid less $100
2-4 weeks – amount paid less $200
< 2 weeks – No refund

This is event is open to all! Join us for a conversation on Afrikan Wisdom!

Afrikan Wisdom represents an intersectional, cross-pollinated exploration of Black life–past, present, and future. Award-winning author and editor Valerie Mason-John (Vimalasara)’s collection of 34 essays–written by an eclectic and inspirational group of Black thought leaders and teachers–reflects on the unique and multilayered experience of being Black in the world today.
 
This anthology instills in readers the knowledge, awareness, validation, and spiritual tools necessary to nurture both individual and collective liberation. It is both an inspiration and a motivation for Black readers, as well as anyone else interested in reading about emerging spiritual voices. Topics include:

   • African and Afro-Diasporan cultures, histories, spiritualities, art, music, and literature
   • Black radical traditions of liberation and consciousness
   • Anticolonialism and antislavery
   • Buddhist philosophy
   • Social and environmental justice
   • The prison industrial complex and mass incarceration
   • (Kemetic) yoga, healing, and mindfulness
   • Intersections with Indigenous cultures
   • Addiction and recovery
   • Transgenerational trauma  

“A celebration and a cry, a rich treasure chest and a brilliant contribution to the awakening of all.”
—Jack Kornfield, author of A Path With Heart

“Afrikan Wisdom is such an important offering to and for African Diasporic people as we come to understand our traditional relationship to mindfulness and Buddhadharma. This book will help us continue dreaming and living into more liberated futures.”
—Lama Rod Owens, author of Love and Rage

“This is an important undertaking; a wealth of insights and resources that reminds us that contemplative practice must find unique expression within each culture and identity. To be truly liberatory in modern lives, ancient wisdom must also meet head-on the most pressing challenges of our times. This collection is a vital part of that work, and a gift to us all.”
—Jamie Bristow, author and clerk of the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Mindfulness

“This fascinating volume examines the topic of Black Liberation from a wide range of perspectives. Since it arose from a recent and historic gathering of Buddhist teachers and scholars of African descent, most of the contributions have a Buddhist slant but there are also essays from Christian, Muslim, and Rastafarian viewpoints. It is rich with eye-opening history and with different authors’ takes on such challenging issues as nonviolence, the balance between mediation and external activism, the whiteness of American Buddhism, spiritual bypassing, and how to deal mindfully with systemic racism. This is an important book that comes at a time when the influence of racism in the US has rarely been more overtly supported and new voices on Black Liberation more needed.”
—Richard Schwartz, PhD, developer of the Internal Family Systems psychotherapy and adjunct faculty, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

“The variety and breadth of offerings in this anthology will inform and inspire those who seek true liberation for all.”
—Lion’s Roar

CLICK HERE to purchase. 

_______________________

For those with one or more parents or grandparents from the Black African Diaspora and who self-identifies as Black and/or mixed heritage join Afrikan Healing and Wisdom every last Sunday of the month from 9-11am PT. 

Vimalasara Mason-John, MA Visiting Teacher

Dr. Vimalasara (Valerie) Mason-John MA is a TEDx speaker, author of 8 books including Detox Your Heart, Meditations for Emotional Trauma, and her award-winning books Eight Step Recovery – Using The Buddha’s Teachings to Overcome Addiction and her novel Borrowed Body. She is a senior teacher in the Triratna Buddhist Order, practicing for 27 years,... Read more

Trudy Goodman, PhD Founding Teacher

Trudy Goodman, PhD, is the Founding Teacher of InsightLA, the first center to combine training in Insight (Vipassana) Meditation and in non-sectarian mindfulness and compassion practices, including Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC). The fourth teacher ever of MBSR, Trudy taught with its creator, Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn and studied Buddhist meditation for 40... Read more

Thomas Davis Teacher

Thomas Davis IV, is a Contemplative Artist based in Los Angeles who explores the connections between the principles of the Dharma, Christian Mysticism, Jazz Ethics, Poetry, Art, Storytelling and Science for a multi-disciplinary exploration of who we are and what is possible for Us. Thomas self-identifies as a Contemplative Artist which allows for a consistent... Read more

Allyson Pimentel, EdD Teacher

Allyson Pimentel, EdD is a psychologist, yoga teacher, and long-time Vipassana meditation practitioner and teacher who works at the intersection of mindfulness, mental health, healing, and social justice.  Allyson has been teaching mindfulness in clinical, secular and spiritual settings, as well as in her private psychology and consulting practice, for close to two decades.  She... Read more

Pricing Options
Class Fee $35

Financial Support

Our mission is to make all of our programs accessible. Every fee-based offering has a limited number of pay-what-you-can spots available to support members of marginalized groups (people of color, queer people, people with disabilities) and those in financial need (those for whom the cost to attend is not financially possible).

These spots are offered on a first come, first served basis. Please pay at the highest level you can afford. In order for this support to be available, we rely on those who can afford to pay the full price to do so.

Register Now

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