From the Teaching Mindfulness Summit April 24.

• The need for standardization and professionalization in the field.
• The realities of livelihood for mindfulness teachers.
• Mindfulness teacher training and continuing education.
• The evolution of mindfulness teaching and the need for reassessment.

Diana Winston is the Director of Mindfulness Education at UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center (MARC). She is the author of The Little Book of Being and co-author of Fully Present: The Science, Art, and Practice of Mindfulness. She has taught mindfulness for health and well-being since 1999 in a variety of settings including in healthcare, universities, businesses, non-profits, and schools in the US and internationally. Her work has been mentioned in the New York Times, O Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Allure, and Women’s Health, among others. She created the evidence-based Mindful Awareness Practices Program (MAPs), UCLA’s Training in Mindfulness Facilitation, which she has taught since 2011. She is a founding board member of the International Mindfulness Teachers Association. The LA Times calls her one of the nation’s best-known teachers of mindfulness.” A former Buddhist nun, you can find her on the UCLA Mindful, Waking Up and Ten Percent Happier apps. https://dianawinston.com/

From the Teaching Mindfulness Summit April 24.

• Buddhist perspective on teaching and overcoming imposter syndrome.
• Teaching meditation and embodiment.
• Teaching Buddhism and preparing audiences for more profound teachings.
• Mindfulness teaching and practice.

Gil Fronsdal is the senior guiding co-teacher at the Insight Meditation Center (IMC) in Redwood City, California, and the Insight Retreat Center in Santa Cruz, California. He started Buddhist practice in 1975 and has taught for IMC since 1990. Gil is an authorized teacher in two traditions: the Insight Meditation lineage of Theravada Buddhism of Southeast Asia and Japanese Soto Zen. He holds a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from Stanford. He is a husband and the father of two sons. https://www.audiodharma.org/speakers/1

From the Teaching Mindfulness Summit April 24.

• The evolution of MBSR & mindfulness facilitation.
• Improving access & promoting inclusiveness.
• Criteria for assessing and developing mindfulness teaching skills

Lynn Koerbel serves as the Assistant Director of MBSR Teacher Training and Curricula Development at the School of Professional Studies at Brown University. In this capacity, Lynn continues the work she began at the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Center for Mindfulness, nurturing MBSR teachers and teachers in training and supporting the integrity of the MBSR curriculum and best practices in teaching. Lynn spent 25 years as an integrative bodywork therapist with a focus on supporting individuals who had experienced early trauma. This work influenced Lynn’s deep trust in the body’s wisdom, the power of presence, and the human capacity to meet injury, trauma and stress with resources reflecting the inherent wholeness in each person. Lynn has practiced and taught Siddha Yoga Meditation since 1986, a non-dual tradition that draws from Advaita Vedanta and Kashmir Shaivism, and has been practicing Western Insight Meditation since 2003. Currently, she also serves on the international committee supporting the development of trainings for The Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Teaching Assessment Criteria (MBI:TAC), the only evaluation and training tool for Mindfulness-Based Teachers; she has co-authored several articles on this topic. https://www.brown.edu/public-health/mindfulness/people/lynn-koerbel-mph

From the Teaching Mindfulness Summit April 24.

• Navigating tensions in bringing mindfulness into academia and mainstream institutions.
• Teaching mindfulness and inquiry in a structured yet flexible way.
• Criteria for mindfulness-based teaching.
• Adapting mindfulness programs for diverse populations.

Professor Rebecca Crane, Ph.D., is the former director of the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at Bangor University and a trustee for The Mindfulness Network. She has written numerous peer-reviewed articles on how mindfulness-based programs can be implemented with integrity into mainstream practice settings and how they can support inner change that contributes to collective and systemic societal shifts towards a more equitable and sustainable world. She has written Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Distinctive Features, co-authored Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy with People at Risk of Suicide, co-edited Essential Resources for Mindfulness Teachers, and is a Principal Fellow with the Higher Education Academy. https://training.mindfulness-network.org/our-trainers/rebecca-crane/

From the Teaching Mindfulness Summit April 24.

• Mindfulness teaching capacities and math metaphors.
• Language, communication, and technology.
• The impact of AI on communication and spirituality.
• Mindfulness, neuroscience, and technology.

Shinzen Young is a mindfulness teacher, neuroscience research consultant, and co-director of the Science-Enhanced Mindful Awareness (SEMA) Lab at the University of Arizona. His systematic approach to categorizing, adapting and teaching meditation, known as Unified Mindfulness, has resulted in collaborations with Harvard Medical School, Carnegie-Mellon University and the University of Vermont in the burgeoning field of contemplative neuroscience. Shinzen is known for his interactive, algorithmic approach to mindfulness, and often uses mathematical metaphors to illustrate meditative phenomena. He is the author of The Science of Enlightenment, Natural Pain Relief and numerous audio offerings. https://www.shinzen.org/

From the Teaching Mindfulness Summit April 24.

• Defining contemplative practices, meditation, and mindfulness.
• Integrating mindfulness and nonviolent communication for better conversations.
• Elements of effective communication.
• Cultivating inner strength and joy in challenging times.

Oren Jay Sofer teaches meditation and communication internationally. He holds a degree in comparative religion from Columbia University and is a Certified Trainer of Nonviolent Communication and a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner for the healing of trauma. He is the author of several books, including the best-seller Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication and his latest book, Your Heart Was Made for This: Contemplative Practices to Meet a World In Crisis with Courage, Integrity, and Love. His teaching has reached people worldwide through his online communication courses and guided meditations. https://www.orenjaysofer.com/

From the Teaching Mindfulness Summit April 24.

• Mindfulness origins and secular applications.
• Ethics in mindfulness practice.
• Mindfulness and attention in meditation.
• Mindfulness meditation practice and teaching.

Christiane Wolf, MD, PhD, is a former physician and internationally known mindfulness and Insight (Vipassana) meditation teacher. She is board-certified as an OB/GYN and holds a PhD in psychosomatic medicine from Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. Dr. Wolf is the lead consultant and teacher trainer for the National Mindfulness Facilitator Training at the US Department of Veteran Affairs. She is the “Outsmart Your Pain - Mindfulness and Self-Compassion to Help You Leave Chronic Pain Behind” and the co-author of the classic training manual for mindfulness teachers “A Clinician’s Guide to Teaching Mindfulness”. http://www.christianewolf.com

From the Teaching Mindfulness Summit April 24.

• Teaching online vs. in-person.
• Embodiment & improvisation in teaching.
• Approaching difficult topics in mindfulness teaching.
• Mindfulness, ethics, and not knowing.

Melissa Blacker served as an MBSR teacher and programs director at the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, MA, USA, established by Jon Kabat-Zinn, from 1992 to 2012. She is also a Zen teacher (Roshi), co-founder, guiding teacher, and Abbot of Boundless Way Zen, a multi-lineage Zen community-based in New England. Boundless Way Zen is dedicated to adapting Buddhist practices for contemporary Western contexts, aligning with the modern mindfulness movement. Melissa maintains a private practice in contemplative counseling and offers supervision for mindfulness teaching. More about her work can be found at https://worcesterzen.org/teachers/