2024 Teachers
Yong Oh
Yong Oh serves as a teacher on the Dharma Council for the Durango Dharma Center and has sat on the board of directors since 2019. He is also a core teacher for Sacred Mountain Sangha. Yong began meditating through the Soto Zen tradition and eventually transitioned to study, practice, and teach in the Insight tradition. […]
RETREAT POSTPONED SMS Awakening Activism: A Dharma Response to Gaza,
Elaine Yeh
Elaine Yeh met Master Hua when she was studying computer science at the University of Texas in 1989 and was inspired to become his monastic disciple. During her 33 years as a Buddhist nun, she worked on translating Chinese Buddhist texts, served as principal at Instilling Goodness and Developing Virtue Schools, and taught at Dharma […]
RETREAT POSTPONED SMS Awakening Activism: A Dharma Response to Gaza,
Thanissara
Thanissara is the co-founder and co-guiding teacher of Sacred Mountain Sangha. She started Buddhist practice in the Burmese school in 1975. She was inspired to ordain after meeting Ajahn Chah and spent 12 years as a Buddhist nun, where she was a founding member of Chithurst Monastery and Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in the UK. She […]
RETREAT POSTPONED SMS Awakening Activism: A Dharma Response to Gaza,
Djuna Devereaux
Djuna is a core teacher and board chair for Sacred Mountain Sangha, supporting her primary Dharma teachers, Thanissara and Kittisaro. She teaches on retreats and daylong events at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and leads their Dharma and Yoga Teacher Training. Djuna is faculty for Prajna Yoga and offers workshops and teacher training internationally. She is […]
RETREAT POSTPONED SMS Awakening Activism: A Dharma Response to Gaza,
Bhava Jaya
Bhava Jaya embarked on his yoga journey in 2013, delving into Vinyasa flow classes for two years before earning his initial 200-hour yoga teacher certification at Dharma Yoga in Austin, Texas. The intensive training infused him with Buddhist dharma teachings and meditation practices, fueling his dedication to self-discovery and altruism. Following his intuition, Bhava relocated to […]
Rashid Hughes
Rashid Hughes serves as the Lead Facilitator of the Inaugural Cohort of the Howard University Contemplative Justice Fellowship. Rashid is passionate about bridging the worlds of contemplative practice, spirituality, and collective care. He is a proud graduate of the Howard University Department of Music and the Howard University School of Divinity. Rashid is a certified Mindfulness […]
Reggie Hubbard
Reggie Hubbard is the founder and Chief Serving Officer of Active Peace. He is a gifted strategist, teacher, and communicator with an innate ability to inspire change and simplify chaos. His work is guided by a commitment to truth-telling, healing, social justice, and holding space for transformation. His contemplative practices have been a refuge of […]
Nicoya Helm (Assistant)
Nicoya Helm is a certified Unified Mindfulness Pathways coach and Mental Health First Aid Instructor. She began meditating in 1999 as part of recovery from a serious health challenge; now she offers mindfulness and mental health education to help others look deeper, dream bigger, and live better. Since 2018, she’s served as a lead instructor […]
Denise Ackert
Denise has been practicing Insight Meditation since 1986, training in the US, India, and Nepal and teaching meditation at the Salida Insight Meditation Community since 2012. Her core teachers include John Travis, Brian Lesage, Susie Harrington, Erin Treat and many other Spirit Rock and IMS teachers. Denise has studied with teachers from other Buddhist lineages […]
Piero Falci
Piero Falci teaches Mindfulness Meditation and Mindful Living. He is certified to teach the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, the Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM) model, and Mindfulness in Schools (MiSP) programs for teenagers. He received his MBSR teacher training at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and at the Brown University School of Public Health. He is a board member […]