Alisa Dennis, PhD

Alisa Dennis, Ph.D., discovered meditation through her study of metaphysics and ancient mystical traditions during the 1980s.  Since then, she’s trained in the Soto Zen tradition, MBSR, and most recently in the Theravada tradition.  Alisa completed Spirit Rock’s intensive 4-year teacher training program and is an authorized teacher in the Theravada lineage.  Alisa gravitated toward Insight meditation because of its emphasis on liberatory heart-opening practices and its growing community of practitioners committed to embodied awakening and transformative justice.  

Appreciating the connections across diverse wisdom traditions, Alisa weaves varied ways of knowing and being together in her life and teachings.  She has worked with shamans and medicine women and considers Nature one of her wisest teachers.  Her study and practice of inquiry, as taught in the Diamond Approach has supported a deeper exploration into the nature of consciousness, spirit and qualities of being.  

A clinical psychologist in Los Angeles, Alisa supports people as they move through transitions, deepening, expansion, or letting go in their lives.  She specializes in somatic therapies, including trauma release and integration work, all of which inform her Dharma teaching. She enjoys the creative arts and invites creativity into her practice and teaching of the Dharma.  

Alisa is a teacher at InsightLA in southern California where she’s recently enjoyed facilitating workshops on creativity, embodying feminine energy, and mindful self-compassion.  She teaches at Spirit Rock, and other retreat centers in North America.  Alisa also offers trainings in mindfulness for community-based organizations and corporations around the world.