Sharon Beckman-Brindley, senior teacher, has over 25 years of meditation experience. A clinical psychologist, she has for many years taught seminars and retreats that are specially designed for psychotherapists. She is also a senior meditation teacher with the Metta Foundation, with whom she teaches worldwide the relational meditation practice of Insight Dialogue. (see www.metta.org) She is a graduate of the Community Dharma Leaders Program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, CA.

Pat Coffey, MEd, Senior Teacher, began his meditation practice over 30 years ago and has taught meditation since 1996. He studied with numerous Asian and Western teachers in the Theravada, Tibetan and Zen traditions. Pat is founder of IMCC, co-founder of The Meditation Teacher Training Institute and co-founder of the Blue Ridge Prison Project. Pat was selected and trained as a meditation teacher in the joint teacher training program of The Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts and Spirit Rock Meditation Center under the tutelage of Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein. Down-to-earth real world practical dharma is the hallmark of his teaching. The father of two children, owner of several businesses and the holder of several patents, he draws on his varied and rich life experience to articulate the dharma.

Jackie Erskine, MSW, Associate Teacher, has been practicing Vipassana Meditation since 1992. Her major teacher has been Tara Brach and she has studied with many well-recognized Western Buddhist teachers. She has been teaching Insight Meditation classes and retreats for over 10 years and completed Spirit Rock’s CDL training course in 2003. Jackie is a retired social worker, with extensive experience as a psychotherapist for couples, families and groups.

Allie Rudolph, LCSW, Associate Teacher, served on the faculty of UVA Medical Center for over 25 years where she co-founded the UVA Mindfulness Center and MBSR Program. She has studied and practiced meditation for more than 25 years and is a graduate of Spirit Rock's Community Dharma Leadership Program.She applies principles of mindfulness in teaching, consulting, a psychotherapy practice and is currently involved in several meditation based research projects

Susan Carol Stone, PhD, Senior Teacher (on sabbatical). Susan has been engaged in Buddhist meditation for more than 25 years, living in monasteries for three years. A graduate of the CDL program sponsored by Spirit Rock Meditation Center and ordained as a Zen lay priest, Susan leads retreats and workshops in a multi-state area. She is author of The American Mosaic (1995) on workforce diversity and At the Eleventh Hour (2001) about mindfulness and caregiving. Her latest book, a historical novel, is The Kosambi Intrigue; A Tale in the Time of the Buddha, which Tara Brach praises as “a terrific read” and Stephen Bachelor describes as “dramatic, engaging, brilliantly done.” For a YouTube discussion, see  http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLufG2BWoez49sraRaJo4xx4WvfTEOjTpG Susan also teaches Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) at the University of Virginia. She has taught mindfulness in middle school and in women’s and men’s maximum-security prisons. Susan is a Reiki master who has worked with AIDs patients.