Laura Bridgman began her Dhamma practice in her early teens, and eventually ordained as a nun with Ajahn Sumedho in 1995. She was resident at Amaravati and Chithurst monasteries for eighteen years until moving out to live as a solitary nun in 2010. She has spent extended periods of time with the Burmese teacher Sayadaw U Tejaniya. In 2015 Laura left the monastic tradition to pursue the Diamond Heart (Ridhwan) spiritual path alongside her Vipassana practice. There is much over-lap as it incorporates Buddhist principles and practices.
Leela Sarti has been a student of the Buddha's teachings and practices since she was 16 years old. She lives with her family in Sweden and in addition to teaching Insight Meditation retreats internationally works individually with students in her psychotherapy practice in Stockholm. She is a long term student of the Diamond Approach and part of a teacher training program in that tradition.
Leigh Brasington studied the jhanas with the late Ven. Ayya Khema, who authorized him to teach retreats on the jhanas. He was also empowered to teach by Jack Kornfield. He teaches numerous jhana retreats throughout the year, at venues that include Cloud Mountain, Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, Gaia House, Vallecitos, and Southern Dharma.
Booker brings her heart and wisdom to the intersection of Dharma, embodied practice, and activism. She began working with system-involved populations in 2005 and was a senior teacher and Director of Trainings with Lineage Project for 10 years, and facilitated an intervention on Riker's Island from 2009-2011 through NYU. Booker shares her expertise nationally on creating culturally responsive environments and changing the paradigm of self and community care. She has spoken at Mind&Life Institute’s International Symposium, Contemplative Minds in Higher Education, and Mindfulness in Education conferences, as well as at universities across the country. She is a co-founder of the Yoga Service Council at Omega Institute, and the Meditation Working Group of Occupy Wall Street. Booker is a co-author of Best Practices for Yoga in a Criminal Justice Setting, a contributor to Georgetown Law’s Center on Poverty and Inequality’s report on Gender & Trauma, YOGA: The Secret of Life, and Sharon Salzberg's book Happiness at Work. Booker is on faculty with the Engaged Mindfulness Institute and Off the Mat Into the World. She is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Mindful Yoga and Meditation training (2012), Community Dharma Leaders’ Training (2017), and will complete Spirit Rock’s Teacher Training in 2020.
Lienchi Tran was raised in a Buddhist family and began practicing meditation in 1984. With deep dedication to the path, she ordained and trained extensively, drawing wisdom from the teachings of Sayadaw U Tejaniya, her primary teacher. Her approach to meditation emphasizes intuitive awareness, practical insight, and compassionate understanding. Today, she shares the Dharma through retreats and teachings, helping others cultivate mindfulness and wisdom in daily life.
Kate Lila Wheeler began teaching meditation in the mid-1980s and continues to practice with teachers in Theravada and Tibetan Buddhist lineages. Writing is an important part of her life; she has recently completed a second novel.
Liz Powell has been practicing Vipassana meditation since 2004. Liz takes joy in teaching IMC's Eightfold Path Program online, the weekday Happy Hour brahmavihara practice, and the Thursday night online sitting, as well as classes in Mindfulness and other dharma fundamentals. She loves teaching retreats as well as sitting them. A 2025 graduate of the IMC (Insight Meditation Center) Dharma Teacher Training with Gil Fronsdal and Andrea Fella, as well as their Dharma Mentoring and Local Dharma Leadership Programs (a total of 8 years of formal training), Liz also completed the Dedicated Practitioners and Advanced Practitioners Programs at Spirit Rock. She co-led programs at IMC for children, families and parents for a decade, as well as offering Introduction to Meditation, half-day and daylong retreats for adults. For a number of years she served as IMC Board President and then Managing Director of the Insight Retreat Center in Santa Cruz, California.
