Paloma Cain
Teacher
Paloma Cain, MA, has been teaching with InsightLA since 2009. She loves helping new practitioners develop a reliable, nourishing meditation practice and also mentoring seasoned practitioners to develop the wisdom to pass these practices on meaningfully to others.
A pilgrimage to Northern India with her Buddhist mother in 1993 planted the seeds that led to studying Buddhism at UCSB and then spending several years in residence at a remote retreat center with practice at the center of her life. Following graduate school, Paloma was invited by Trudy Goodman to join the early Teacher Development Group at InsightLA, training closely with Trudy in an intimate cohort of teachers that formed the core of the organization.
Paloma spent many years in Los Angeles co-leading a weekly group in Los Feliz and regularly teaching Foundations of Mindfulness, Mindful Parenting and MBSR classes, along with other programs and retreats, including InsightLA’s Facilitator Training Program. She offered meditation groups and trainings for staff at LA area VA Hospitals as part of the VA CALM project.
In 2015, Paloma moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where she co-developed and taught the Professional Development in Mindfulness Facilitation program for the Osher Center for Integrative Health at Vanderbilt University, training mental health and medical providers to use meditation with their patients. While in Nashville, Paloma taught for Insight Nashville, One Dharma Nashville and Wild Heart Meditation Center. She also led retreats at St Mary’s Sewanee.
Paloma currently lives among the coastal redwoods of far Northern California where she founded Northcoast Insight. She’s currently on the planning committee for the 2026 Generation X Buddhist Teachers Gathering and is a former mentor for Jack Kornfield and Tara Brachs’ Mindfulness Teacher Training Certification Program. She travels to teach in Los Angeles, Nashville, and elsewhere, and continues to offer mentoring for both personal practice and mindfulness teacher development.
In response to the global events causing suffering in these times, Paloma has been steadily deepening her engagement in the field of spiritual care. She has done Clinical Pastoral Education at UCLA Medical Center, trained in Buddhist Chaplaincy with the Sati Center, and trained with Healing Circles Global to offer community-based healing spaces. She holds degrees in Art (BA) and Psychology (MA) and has studied yoga therapy through the Yoga Well Institute.
Paloma received teacher authorization from Trudy Goodman and Jack Kornfield in 2017. Her approach is warm, thoughtful and accessible.
