Learn from some of the best meditation teachers alive

The Pioneers of Modern Mindfulness

Joseph Goldstein: A Leading Meditation Teacher Since the 70’s

Joseph is one of the most respected meditation teachers in the world -- a key architect of the rise of mindfulness in our modern society -- with a sense of humor to boot.

In the 1970's, he co-founded the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) alongside Sharon Salzberg and Jack Kornfield. Since its founding, thousands of people from around the world have come to IMS to learn mindfulness from leading mindfulness teachers in the field. Joseph has been a teacher there since its founding and continues as the resident guiding teacher. His teachings often emphasize the importance of maintaining meditation and mindfulness in daily life.

"Meditation is simple, but not easy" - Joseph Goldstein.

Sharon Salzberg: Sharing Mindfulness and Lovingkindness

A towering figure in the meditation world. Sharon Salzberg is a prominent teacher & New York Times best-selling author. She has played a crucial role in bringing mindfulness and lovingkindness practices to the West. 

Sharon co-founded the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) alongside fellow influential meditation teachers Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield and is the author of nine books, including Lovingkindness, Real Happiness, and Real Love.  Sharon lives in New York City and teaches meditation and mindfulness around the world.

George Mumford: The Athlete's Guide to Mindfulness

George is a world-renowned meditation teacher and the author of "The Mindful Athlete." He has worked with some of the best professional athletes in the world, including Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant during their championship runs.

In the early nineties, George collaborated with Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn to create the Inner City Stress Reduction Clinic, a free mindfulness-based stress reduction program for lower-income, inner-city participants. In more recent times, George has worked as the meditation coach of the New York Knicks and consults with professional athletes around the world.

Jeff Warren: Meditation for Every Mind

Jeff is an incredibly gifted meditation teacher. He's trained in multiple traditions, including with renowned teacher Shinzen Young. Jeff is the co-author of NY Times Bestseller "Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics," and the founder of the Consciousness Explorers Club, a meditation adventure group in Toronto.

He has a knack for surfacing the exact meditation that will help everyone he meets. "I have a meditation for that" is regularly heard from Jeff, so we've dubbed him the "Meditation MacGyver."

JoAnna Hardy: Bringing Meditation to All

JoAnna Hardy can talk about meditation to pretty much anybody. She not only teaches in traditional environments like meditation retreat centers, but also in both schools and jails. JoAnna has been studying meditation for nearly two decades and she's done some amazing work ensuring that the practice is available to people who might not otherwise have access to it.

JoAnna teaches at the Insight Meditation Society, at Spirit Rock, and is a Founding Member of The Meditation Coalition.

Alexis Santos: Leading the Insight Meditation Community

Alexis has practiced and taught Insight Meditation in both the East and West since 2001. He has been a long-time student of Sayadaw U Tejaniya (a well respected meditation teacher in Burma whose teachings have attracted a global audience), and his teaching emphasizes knowing the mind through a natural and relaxed continuity -- a style of practice that's particularly useful during our crazy lives.

Alexis has completed the Spirit Rock/IMS Teacher Training, teaches retreats across the globe, and currently lives in Portland, Maine.

Anushka Fernandopulle Portrait
Anushka Fernandopulle: Meditation Consultant and Leadership Coach

Anushka teaches meditation, works as an organizational consultant, and does leadership coaching with individuals and teams. She has practiced meditation for over 25 years, including four years in full-time intensive training in monasteries and retreat centers in the US, India and Sri Lanka.

Her work is informed by a BA in anthropology/religion from Harvard University, an MBA from Yale focused on leadership and organizational behavior, and certification in coaching from the Coaches Training Institute.

Sebene Selassie: Buddhist Meditation Teacher and Expert

Growing up, Sebene felt like a big weirdo. Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and raised in white neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., she was a tomboy Black girl who loved Monty Python and UB40. She never believed she belonged.

Thirty years ago, she began studying Buddhism and Buddhist philosophy as an undergraduate at McGill University where she majored in Comparative Religious Studies. Now, Sebene is a meditation teacher, author, and speaker who teaches that meditation can help us remember our inherent sense of belonging, that our individual freedom affects absolutely everyone and everything, and that our collective freedom depends on each and every one of us.

Sebene is a three-time cancer survivor of Stage III and IV cancer.

Oren Jay Sofer: Meditation Teacher and Leader in Nonviolent Communication

Oren Jay Sofer teaches mindfulness, meditation and Nonviolent Communication. He has practiced meditation since 1997, beginning his studies in Bodh Gaya, India and is a long-time student of famous meditation teachers Joseph Goldstein, Michele McDonald, and Ajahn Sucitto, and is a graduate of the IMS/Spirit Rock Teacher Training program.

He holds a degree in Comparative Religion from Columbia University and is the author of Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication.

Jessica Morey: Engaging the Youth in Meditation

Jess Morey is the executive director and lead teacher of Inward Bound Mindfulness Education which runs in-depth mindfulness programming for youth, and the parents and professionals who support them across the US, and internationally.

She began practicing meditation at age 14 on teen retreats offered by the Insight Meditation Society (IMS), and has maintained a consistent commitment to meditation since. Diving head first into meditation at such a key developmental stage makes the revelatory perspective of mindfulness & compassion her natural home turf, and gives her an easy, conversational teaching style anyone can relate to.

Diana Winston: Teaching the Science of Mindful Awareness

Diana Winston is the Director of Mindfulness Education at UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center where she also teaches mindfulness practices to the general public.

Her easy-on-the-ears west coast style rests on top of a rigorous scientific mind, and a vast amount of teaching experience. She has developed curriculum and taught mindfulness since the early 90’s in a variety of settings including hospitals, universities, corporations, non profits, and schools. She has taught mindful awareness to health professionals, leaders, teachers, activists, seniors, and adolescents in the US and Asia. A published researcher and author, Diana has also written for numerous meditation publications, where her daughter, Mira, often makes an appearance in her examples of bringing mindfulness to daily life.

Jay Michaelson, Ph.D.: Meditation Teacher of Many Talents

Dr. Jay Michaelson is the Editor of Wisdom Content at Ten Percent Happier, the author of six books on meditation, and, in his “other career,” the legal affairs columnist for The Daily Beast. Jay is an ordained rabbi and authorized to teach in a Theravadan Buddhist lineage. Jay has been a lawyer, a professor, an LGBTQ activist, and the founder of three nonprofit organizations.

Jay’s newest book, Enlightenment by Trial and Error, will be published in October, 2019.

Judson Brewer, Ph.D.: Mindfulness for Modern Challenges

A psychiatrist and internationally known expert in clinical mindfulness training, Jud has developed and tested novel mindfulness programs for addictions, including smoking cessation and overeating. He has also studied the neural mechanisms of mindfulness using standard and real-time fMRI, and is translating these findings into clinical use. (Translation: he knows his stuff.)

Jud is the Director of Research at Brown University Mindfulness Center, one of the leading meditation research institutes in the world.

David Vago, Ph.D.: On the Leading Edge of Science and Meditation

A Cognitive Neuroscientist by training, Dr. David Vago has been instrumental in developing leading edge science around meditation and the brain. He also has close to 20 years of experience with practicing and teaching mindfulness, including with renowned meditation teacher Shinzen Young. He has a number of research initiatives that are ongoing, including Mapping the Meditative Mind.

Dave is research director of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine and director of the Contemplative Neuroscience and Integrative Medicine (CNIM) Laboratory at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Matthew Hepburn: From Insights to Action

Matthew Hepburn is a straightshooting, clear thinking, and dedicated meditation teacher. His personal practice caught fire over the course of several extended meditation retreats in his early twenties, and for the last 5+ years he has been teaching meditation at the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center in Boston, MA.

Matthew is currently a participant in the four-year Insight Meditation Society Teacher Training Program, where he studies with renowned meditation teachers including Joseph Goldstein.

Cory Muscara: From Buddhist Monk to Renowned Meditation Teacher

Cory Muscara admits he first tried meditation because he wanted to impress his college girlfriend -- but it changed his life forever. Muscara, an econ major who considered a finance career, switched gears and spent six months practicing mindfulness meditation as a Buddhist monk.

Afterward, Cory completed numerous meditation training programs and eventually became the founder and head meditation teacher of the Long Island Center for Mindfulness, bringing meditation into school, healthcare, and corporate settings.


Types of Classes Taught by Our Meditation Teachers


Our teachers offer a range of courses designed to help people manage stress, build healthy habits, learn how to be happier, and tackle anxiety. Here's a brief overview of some of our key courses:

Stress Better: This 7-day course, featuring stress researcher Professor Modupe Akinola and meditation teacher Sebene Selassie, provides practical tools to manage stress. The course includes short video lessons and guided meditations, focusing on topics like the science of stress, hotions, and stress resilience​​​​.

Healthy Habits: Led by behavior change expert Kelly McGonigal and meditation teacher Alexis Santos, this 7-day challenge offers a new perspective on habit formation. It emphasizes mindfulness and curiosity rather than shame and self-flagellation. The course includes meditations on topics like changing how we think about change, motivation, waking up from autopilot, and self-compassion​​.

Taming Anxiety: Incorporating Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), self-reflection, and meditation, this course offers actionable, practical advice on changing behaviors that contribute to anxiety. It's led by Dr. Luana Marques, an expert in CBT, Leslie Booker, an experienced meditation instructor, and Dan Harris, co-founder of Ten Percent Happier. The course covers various aspects of anxiety management, including understanding the usefulness of anxiety, cognitive distortions, and facing fears​​​​.

The Dalai Lama's Guide to Happiness: this groundbreaking 10-day course from Ten Percent Happier that brings together the Dalai Lama and renowned neuroscientist Richie Davidson. Hosted by Dan Harris and Roshi Joan Halifax, the course explores the intersection of scientific research and ancient wisdom, teaching happiness as a skill. It includes sessions on themes like altruism, empathy, and relationship cultivation. Each session, covering topics such as "Taming The Monkey Mind" and "Wise Selfishness," combines insightful video lessons with meditative practices, offering a comprehensive approach to enhancing happiness and mindfulness​​​.

Our courses reflect Ten Percent Happier's commitment to practical, science-backed approaches to mindfulness and mental well-being.