Ken is a freelance technical writer and Web developer who's been meditating since 2003. He is trained as a Big Mind process facilitator, meditation teacher, and a Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coach. He is one of the founding members of Community Meditation. Ken has two children and a grandson. In his spare time, he writes, exercises, and plays music with friends.
Debbie is a long-time meditation and Buddhism student and teacher. She was a regional senior teacher for Ontario and Western New York in a large international community before helping to form Community Meditation in 2018. Debbie is particularly interested in how wisdom teachings can change our day-to-day lives for the better. In her spare time, Debbie loves to read and hang out with her three grown kids.
Jessica has been studying and practicing Buddhism since 2015. She is especially interested in the intersection of Buddhism, psychology and mental health. She works as a massage therapist and finds connecting with her body and connecting with nature to be fundamental to her practice.
Gordon Mackenzie is a meditator and a father of two. He enjoys discussing and reading about mindfulness, meditation, and the dharma.
Brenda works as a group facilitator in the mental health field. She began meditating about 20 years ago and continues to learn (and re-learn) how best to navigate the world through mindfulness and Buddhist teachings
Adam Wilkinson leads with his heart followed closely by some unique perspectives of the world, which has led him to many interesting occupations and places. Always wishing to be of benefit to all the living beings of our world, he has worked as an actor/entertainer, support worker, educator and recreational therapist to name a few. He is also very open to talk about a person dianosed with a neurodiversity. Adam began his meditation journey 10 + years ago in a time of great heartache and loss. He began with Zen and Tibetian buddhism. Feeling that these world views fit, he has taken buddhist vows as a layperson.
Sharon is a political science professor who finds that meditation helps keep her sane, especially these days! She is training as a Zen Buddhist chaplain and has taught meditation in a women's prison as well as at the Chautauqua Institution. When not meditating, she loves running and hiking with her husband and dog, poetry, and just looking at birds.
By day, Jim works as a career coach at a small college where he has also organized meditation retreats and led meditation sessions. He enjoys reading mysteries, running long distances, and spending time with his wife, dog, and friends.
Bob has been interested in awareness, consciousness and Buddhism since he was a teenager. He was authorized as a teacher in 2015, and was one of the founding members of Community Meditation. In his spare time he enjoys hanging out with the dogs and exploring the Marvel universe.
Tammy has been studying meditation and Buddhism since the early 2000s, and has been leading programs and giving meditation instruction since 2014. She is a founding member of Community Meditation. In her spare time, Tammy enjoys spending time with her family and friends, camping, and old movies.
Lauren Anastasi has taught yoga and meditation for almost two decades with her most current passion being mindfulness walks in nature. Lauren has studied with many wonderful meditation teachers and was fortunate to attend a retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh and his monastics in 2013 which deeply inspired her practice. Lauren works as a psychotherapist and in community development with a local distress centre.
Daniel has been meditating and studying Buddhism since age 11, having been born into that kind of family. :-) As a teenager he was authorized in the first stages of meditation instructor and teacher, and has been teaching programs since 2014. Daniel was one of the founding members of Community Meditation in 2018. He works as a business systems analyst and in his spare time enjoys hanging out with his wife, dog, and friends, playing games and listening to music.
Kaye-Lee has been studying Buddhism for several decades. She works in the mental health field using the tools of Buddhist psychology. She spends as much time as she can in the woods. She is the mother of two adventurous adult kids.
Sandi has been exploring her inner world for many years through daily meditation practice. More recently, she feels it is her good fortune to have found an engaged, intimate and contemplative group of like-minded travellers at Community Meditation. Curiosity, creativity and kindness continue to guide her.
Gloria has been interested in diverse spiritual approaches since her teenage years. She has been studying and practicing Buddhism and meditation since 1997. Gloria has a PhD in Phenomenological Clinical Psychology. She has worked as a psychotherapist and graduate psychology faculty and has had a number of academic leadership positions in Contemplative/Buddhist educational settings. Gloria has a particular interest in the intersection of Eastern Philosophy with Western Psychology. Gloria looks at the absolute (the divine, the Infinite etc) and our unfolding everyday life as two aspects of the same reality. She is the mother of an adult son and the grandmother of an energetic and funny three and half year old girl.
