InsightLA's Annual Benefit | Saturday, December 12, 2020What the World Needs Now

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 and fluid commitment to personal authenticity; and for the exploration of voicing one’s emerging ideas, concepts and individual expressions of personal and collective Liberation.

Thomas’s immersion into the Dharma began 10 years ago at the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, CA, and was proceeded by over 10 years of service as a Lay Minister and Teacher at the Olivet Missionary Baptist Church, Oakland, CA. 

He is currently a Mentor in the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program, and was the Core Teacher for the InsightLA BIPOC Sangha for the past 3 years 2018-2021.

Thomas is the Founder of Avant-Dharma which is the present expression of his cumulative years of practice and service. ( www.avant-dharma.com )

Thomas offers personal mentoring sessions and also offers workshops and residential retreats for a further immersion into one’s own practice. 

Berlin to Los Angeles to InsightLA
I started my professional life as a Gynecologist at the University Hospital in Berlin, Germany.

I had fallen in love with the universality of the Buddhist teachings as a searching teenager and it surely helped me stay sane through medical school and residency.

In 2003 my husband, baby daughter and I moved to Los Angeles “for just one year” as I enjoyed my maternity leave. I met Trudy Goodman when she had just started an organization called “InsightLA” a few months prior.

MBSR, secular mindfulness, clinical trainings
Trudy and I deeply connected and she encouraged me to train as an MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) teacher to share with my patients once back home in Berlin. While we were still in LA, we started teaching MBSR together – which turned out to be a very high-in-demand class, which Trudy and I enjoyed teaching immensely.

We ended up staying in LA and I was a part of growing InsightLA from its tiny beginnings into a thriving, wonderful big community.

I trained as a Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) teacher, became an MBSR teacher trainer, and the head consultant and trainer for the national mindfulness facilitator training for the Department of Veterans Affairs. I realized that the combination of my medical and mindfulness training is a powerful combination to train fellow clinicians to teach mindfulness as well as helping patients cope with their health issues.

Writing
In 2015 my dear friend and colleague from the VA, Dr. Greg Serpa, and I published the book “A Clinician’s Guide to Teaching Mindfulness”, which became required reading for numerous mindfulness teacher programs around the world.

I wrote another book, “Outsmart Your Pain” on practicing mindfulness for chronic pain, combining all of my trainings. I’m also a regular contributor to the German mindfulness magazine “Moment By Moment”.

Buddhist teachings
On the Buddhist side, I received teacher transmission from Trudy in 2011 and then also completed the 4-year Dharma/Retreat teacher training through Spirit Rock Meditation Center and IMS (Insight Meditation Society) under Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein. I teach silent meditation retreats in the US and around the world.

What else?
When I’m not meditating, teaching, or writing I can be found exploring the amazing nature of Southern California on foot, bike or swimming. All of this helps me to be a more sane and centered parent, partner and friend.

www.christianewolf.com

Angelike Dexter shares mindfulness and Mindful Self-Compassion tools with students of all ages in the Los Angeles area and now, on Zoom, around the world. Trained by Susan Kaiser Greenland (author of “The Mindful Child” and “Mindful Games”) and a graduate of Susan’s 2013 Inner Kids Facilitator Training, Angelike teaches mindful awareness to children, parents, teachers, administrators, and families through Insight In Schools, as well as directly through public and private schools, camps, community organizations, and on an individual basis.

Angelike is a Certified Mindful Self Compassion (MSC) teacher (trained in and teaching MSC since 2015) and a graduate of the inaugural MSC for teens, “Making Friends With Yourself (MFY),” teacher training in 2016, and regularly teaches series of or skills from both courses, including at USC (through Mindful USC), through the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion’s Circles of Practice, and through Insight LA, where she is also the co-facilitator of the Mindful Parent Sitting Group, teaches a weekly sitting group focused on training in compassion and resilience, is a member of the Teacher Development Group, and is a graduate of Insight LA’s Third Facilitators Training in 2018.  Additionally, she deeply enjoys helping parents create intentional vision around and mindfulness and compassion strategies for their families, both through individual sessions and through her Mindful Parenting classes at USC, The Keck School of Medicine, and Insight LA.

A long-time secular mindfulness meditator, Angelike’s personal practice has more recently focused on the Tibetan Lojong practices (since 2016) and with the teacher and teachings of Dza Kilung Rinpoche, a Tibetan teacher and master in the Nyingma lineage and author of “The Relaxed Mind,” since 2017.  A former attorney, Angelike continually delights in her current life as a mindfulness and compassion teacher!

Dina is an educator and mindfulness teacher with a doctorate degree in education and teaches methods and social emotional learning professionally at the college level and to elementary school faculties throughout Los Angeles, CA. She is a founding teacher with the Insight in Schools program and has a passion for supporting teachers with mindfulness and self-compassion. She received certification as a Mindful Self-Compassion teacher from UC San Diego’s Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute and the Center for Mindful Self Compassion.

She is also a graduate of InsightLA’s Facilitator Training Program and received training in mindfulness facilitation from the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center. She has been a team leader in the work of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging and Justice (DEIBJ) at the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion and at InsightLA, where she is co-chair of the Ethics and Reconciliation Council. She teaches mindfulness and compassion courses at universities, public schools, insight and wellness centers internationally, spaces for the unhoused, NGOs supporting refugees, and for other organizations as well as individuals privately. You can contact her at dinaaish@gmail.com. 

James has meditated for over 30 years, beginning in 1987 with James Baraz. He graduated from InsightLA’s Facilitator Training Program, InsightLA’s Dedicated to the Dharma Program, and  Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach’s Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program (MMTCP Inaugural Class). James is also a  Trained Teacher for the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion. He is a Spirit Rock Dedicated Practitioner Program graduate and a Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leaders Program student. His primary teacher is Tempel Smith. His primary influences are Phillip Moffitt, Venerable Analayo,  Sally Armstrong, Kaira Jewel Lingo, Bonnie Duran, John Martin, Leslie Booker, and Jack Kornfield.  He is a Mentor at Self-Compassion.org.  He has also co-led retreats at Big Bear Retreat Center.

James leads secular and Buddhist-based mindfulness training, practices, community building, and affinity groups (LGBTQIAP2S+, Mental Health Professionals, Anti-Racism Practices for White People).  He is a member of InsightLA’s Board of Directors and works at UCLA’s Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital.

JD Lloyd is a long-time member of the InsightLA Meditation Community, where he completed four years of dedicated Dharma study programs and received training to facilitate mindfulness classes. He completed additional training to conduct courses in Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), and he has also received specialized education in chaplaincy support, contemplative caregiving, and trauma-sensitive mindfulness.

JD facilitates mindfulness courses and meditation groups at InsightLA, Mindful USC, and the Cancer Support Community. He also serves corporate and private clients and volunteers to provide mindfulness instruction to deserving populations in the Los Angeles area.

JD is particularly drawn to Lovingkindness and Mindful Self-Compassion meditation practices as paths toward self-acceptance and open-hearted connection with others. He appreciates the outdoors and the arts – especially film, photography, and poetry. He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing and enjoys weaving poetry and storytelling into his teaching.

Wendy N. Block began practicing meditation at age 18, studying different traditions, including Buddhist, Hindu, and Advaita paths. She has been practicing Vipassana meditation for 20 years, and has helped teach and organize meditation programs in Long Beach for Long Beach Meditation and Insight LA. She is dedicated to supporting and nurturing the practice of meditation in small community settings and health organizations.

She has trained with cognitive psychologist Zindel Segal to teach Mindfulness- Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and facilitated mindfulness programs at Kaiser Permanente for adults and teens for many years.

Wendy teaches MBCT, Mindful Self Compassion, MICBT, (Mindfulness-integrated CBT) and Buddha’s Path classes. She completed the Dedicated Practitioner’s Program at InsightLA and Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and recently the MICBT program from UC San Diego. Her teachers are Trudy Goodman, Beth Sternlieb and Victor Bryd. She was authorized to teach Theravada Buddhism by Trudy Goodman and Sharon Salzburg.

She is a long-term student of the Diamond Approach.

She currently works as a therapist, integrating mindfulness and Buddhist psychology with psychotherapy and co-leads the InsightLA Long Beach sitting group.

Rosamaría leads the Insight in Action program, bringing a life commitment to social justice and meditation, and experience in managing non-profit programs.

Her dedication to meditation has inspired her to mitigate suffering using insights from mindfulness-based practices. She is passionate about sharing meditation practices with groups dedicated to changing injustices in environmental, socio-economic, and political arenas and in communities that have limited exposure to the benefits of meditation.

She facilitates meditation groups in Spanish for refugees in shelters in Tijuana, Mexico, in Spanish and English in East Los Angeles and East Hollywood.

Rosamaría is a graduate of the mindfulness meditation teacher program with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach, and a graduate of InsightLA’s Facilitator Training Program with Maureen Shannon-Chapple and Trudy Goodman. She continues studying under the guidance of Jokai Blackwell Sensei. She has also practiced with various teachers in different institutions, including Spirit Rock, InsightLA, Long Beach Meditation, Deer Park Monastery, and Yokoji Zen Mountain Center.

Before becoming dedicated to mindfulness teaching, her career was dedicated to working for just health care access, immigrant rights, grassroots and labor organizing. Rosamaría holds a Master’s in Geography, Bachelor’s in Cultural Geography and Urban Analysis, and an AA Degree in Human Services.