More than ever, the world is in need of the healing power of mindfulness, compassion, and the unifying force of community. What the world needs now is a refuge to weather the storm, resilience in the face of adversity, and the capacity to find joy and beauty even in the midst of great suffering.
We invite you to participate in InsightLA’s Annual Benefit and be nourished by practicing in community, while cultivating the qualities of mindfulness, resilience, compassion, wisdom, love and joy. This year’s all-day event was curated by our teachers and special guests to awaken our hearts to meet this moment and open our minds to new possibilities.
You are welcome to participate entirely or in part.
The price for the full day is $100 or you can select individual offerings on the registration page.
Open the day with a special heart opening practice to ground us in the day with the healing power of mindfulness.
Donation-based offering
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.
After the intentions of our day have been set, we will enjoy an inspiring dharma talk and practice around the ways that we can build resilience in the face of suffering.
Donation-based offering
Christiane loves teaching mindfulness with a good dose of humor, compassion, and science. She first encountered Insight and Loving-Kindness meditation in 1988. Before moving to Los Angeles in 2003, she worked as an Ob/Gyn at the Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany.
Christiane is a certified MBSR and MSC (Mindful Self-Compassion) teacher and co-founded InsightLA’s MBSR program with Trudy in 2005.
Trudy gave her teacher authorization in 2011 and she is a graduate of the 4 year IMS/Spirit Rock teacher training, and is authorized to teach in the Thai Forest Monastery tradition. She is the program director for mindfulness programs at InsightLA as well as the co-chair of the teacher council.
She is also a supervisor and trainer for MBSR teachers at the CFM (Center For Mindfulness) at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, the “mothership” of MBSR. She teaches retreats and trains people here in the US and also in Europe.
She is the program director and lead instructor for VA CALM, the national mindfulness facilitator training program for clinicians at the US Department of Veterans Affairs and the co-author of “A Clinician’s Guide to Teaching Mindfulness”, a seminal book that is used as required reading for several mindfulness facilitator trainings around the world.
She is currently writing her next book on how mindfulness helps with dealing with chronic pain.
When not teaching, writing or trying to stay calm while raising her three teenagers with her husband, Christiane can be found training and racing in long distance races and triathlons.
In difficult times, the skills and reflections offered from the Mindful Self Compassion (MSC) program can help you show up for yourself just as you would a friend. In this one-hour workshop, InsightLA’s MSC teachers will be offering you some experiential work, giving you a taste of how MSC could move from a concept to a living reality in your own life.
Join InsightLA teachers in one of two rooms to explore this work: (1) a beginners (or refreshers!) room, for those who would like an introduction to MSC and some beginning felt-sense MSC experiences and tools with some discussion time; and (2) a room for those who have taken the course before, where teachers will guide participants through the 3 core MSC meditations, mostly in silence.
Donation-based offering
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.
Heidi is a licensed clinical social worker and has provided psychotherapy to adults, adolescents, and children for 15 years; including a decade of experience as a school therapist. She has been trained in Mindful Self- Compassion (MSC) by the developers of the program, Kristin Neff and Chris Germer, and teaches the course as part of USC’s mindfulness initiative. She also participated in the inaugural training program for MSC for Teens, Making Friends with Yourself. She is excited to offer this class to teens, who often struggle with self-acceptance. Heidi believes that the earlier in life we can learn to love, appreciate and accept ourselves, the more joy, happiness, and love we can experience.
James has meditated for over 30 years, beginning in 1987 with James Baraz. He graduated from InsightLA’s Facilitator Training Program and Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach’s Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program (Inaugural Class). James is also a Trained Teacher for the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion.
James leads secular and Buddhist- based mindfulness training, sits, and affinity groups (LGBTQI, Mental Health Professionals, Anti-Racism Practices for White People). His interests are community building for the LGBTQI/LGBTQI senior mindfulness community and consciousness-raising around racism and heterosexism. He co-chairs InsightLA’s DEI Committee and sits on the Teacher’s Council. He is a student in Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioner Program. His primary teacher is Tempel Smith.
As a psychotherapist, James is the Director of Outpatient Programs for the UCLA Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital. He intensively trained in Dialectic Behavioral Therapy, Mentalization-based Therapy.
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 started practicing meditation at age 18, studying different traditions, including Buddhist, Hindu, and Advaita paths with various teachers. She has been practicing Vipassana meditation for the past 15 years, and has helped organize meditation programs in Long Beach for the past 10 years. She has trained with cognitive psychologist Zindel Segal to teach Mindfulness- Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT).
Wendy teaches MBCT, Mindful Self Compassion, and Buddha’s Path classes. She completed the Dedicated Practitioner’s Program at InsightLA and Spirit Rock Meditation Center. She has been teaching MBCT for Kaiser Permanente for the past three years. Wendy co-leads the Long Beach sitting group, as well as the North Orange County Sitting Group. Her teachers are Trudy Goodman, Beth Sternlieb and Victor Bryd.
She currently works as a therapist, integrating mindfulness and psychotherapy.
Cultivate wisdom from the profound teachings in Bruce Lee’s philosophy that encourage us to “Be Like Water” in these uncertain and challenging times. Bruce Lee’s daughter Shannon Lee, will be in conversation with InsightLA facilitator Nico Cary about her new book on her father’s teachings that are especially inspiring for this time. “A teacher is never a giver of truth—he is a guide, a pointer to the truth that each student must find for himself. A good teacher is merely a catalyst.” – Bruce Lee
Cost: $35 – includes Shannon Lee’s book, Be Water, My Friend
Shannon Lee is the CEO and Owner of the Bruce Lee Family Companies and President of the Bruce Lee Foundation, as well as the daughter of the legendary martial artist and cultural icon, Bruce Lee. Shannon’s mission is to provide access to her father’s philosophy and life through education and entertainment. She is the creator of Camp Bruce Lee through the Bruce Lee Foundation, and has spoken at TED, TEDx, and Creative Mornings, to name a few. Shannon lives in California with her daughter, Wren, where she co-hosts the Bruce Lee Podcast and executive produces Cinemax’s Warrior.
Join Rosamaria Segura, InsightLA’s Director of Insight-in-Action, for a bi-lingual Spanish/English meditation to open your heart. Loving Kindness (Metta) meditation strengthens feelings of kindness and connection towards others and works as an antidote to difficult mind states such as fear and anger.
Donation-based offering
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.
Join InsightLA’s founding teacher Trudy Goodman, Lily Dulan, founder of Kara Love Project and author of Giving Grief Meaning & former NBA World Champion, entrepreneur, philanthropist and co-founder of The Artest University, Metta World Peace for a conversation and practices on how to navigate through grief and trauma and transform it into love. “Discover ways to unleash the power in names and giving them special meaning to help move through the grief process in a thoughtful and transformative way”
Cost: $45 – includes Lily Dulan’s book, Giving Grief Meaning
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 years, with Asian and Western teachers. She is the Guiding Teacher and co-founder of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the first center in the world dedicated to integrating these two disciplines, and had a private psychotherapy practice there for 25 years.
Trudy co-founded Family Path and Growing Spirit, family mindfulness programs, with Susan Kaiser Greenland in Los Angeles, and has worked with kids and families throughout her career.
Trudy teaches retreats and workshops worldwide; often teaching with her husband, Jack Kornfield.
Trudy is a contributing author: Clinical Handbook of Mindfulness (Springer, 2008); Compassion and Wisdom in Psychotherapy, (Guilford Press, 2011); Mindfulness and Psychotherapy, (Guilford Press, 2013).
Lily Dulan is an MFT Psychotherapist with a masterʼs degree in Psychology and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Antioch University, Los Angeles. She played an instrumental role in starting the LGBTQ Affirmative Psychology specialization at Antioch University. Ms. Dulan holds a Master of Arts Degree in Teaching from Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts and she is a certified Heart of Yoga Teacher. She studied Spiritual Coursework at Agape International Spiritual Center under the tutelage of Reverend Michael Bernard Beckwith.
Lily drew on her studies of both Eastern and Western disciplines to create a heart centered system of healing and moving through trauma that she calls The Name Work.
After her first daughter, Kara Meyer Dulan, died at home from SIDS at two months old, Lily started a foundation in her childʼs memory called The Kara Love Project. The Kara Love Project has teamed with local, national and international organizations such as the Unatti Foundation in Nepal, Venice Arts in Los Angeles and Foster Nation to serve marginalized youth. It has also developed and supported programming to benefit the mental and physical wellbeing of seniors in Los Angeles county. Ms. Dulan facilitates The Name Work workshops and educational events
in the greater Los Angeles area for universities, organizations, corporations, and small private groups. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two daughters.
Metta World Peace is an American former professional basketball player. He played for six teams in the NBA and gained a reputation as one of the league’s premier defenders. He won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2004, when he was also named an NBA All-Star and earned All-NBA honors. He won an NBA championship in 2010 as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Metta World Peace has made a life reducing the stigma surrounding Mental Health and encouraging others to seek help. Join this former NBA World Champion, entrepreneur, philanthropist and co-founder of non-profit The Artest University, as he shares his personal story of healing and living with mental illness.
To close out the day, we’ll be creating joy together in community! Relational games, joyful “show and tell”, open-mic sharing, and maybe even a dance party finale are all on the table. Bring your songs, poetry, performance art, but most of all, your open heart!
Donation-based offering