MMTCP

LGBTQIA+ December '25 Gathering
2025-12-22 20:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York)
Let’s close out this year with some gratitude! Join us for our final sangha gathering of 2025 as we hold space for the theme of “Remembering Gratitude: A way to see clearly in troubling times.” Rita will guide us on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025 from 8-9 PM ET in this Zoom room: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/4049152340 Hope to see you there!

RISE: Refuge/Inspiration and Habits of the Heart
2026-01-04 12:00 - 13:30
Winter/spring series of monthly sessions on how Mindfulness can serve to heal our own hearts and the Heart of Democracy. We explore how Habits of the Heart can serve to ground, inspire and resource ourselves so that we can best contribute and serve our communities and world.
We will kick off the new year with a session on Sunday, Jan. 4 from 12 – 1:30 pm ET
The Zoom link is here – https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6770705919

MCMT Sangha: Opening to New Possibility - A New Year Practice
2026-01-10 12:00 - 13:30
Opening to New Possibility: A New Year Practice offers a gentle, spacious pause at the beginning of the year—an opportunity to slow down, listen inwardly, and reconnect with what matters most beneath habit, pressure, and expectation. Drawing from Buddhist teachings, accessible insights from neuroscience, and a deeply guided, trauma-sensitive meditation practice, this 90-minute live gathering invites participants to meet their experience with awareness and compassion, creating conditions for clarity and fresh possibility to emerge in their own time. Through reflection and shared inquiry, we’ll explore how listening itself becomes a doorway to wisdom, steadiness, and a more grounded way of meeting the year ahead.
Please join with your camera ON, if at all possible, and bring paper and pen for journaling.
Hope you can join us!

MINDFUL WRITING
2026-01-11 11:30 - 12:30
Mindful Journaling lets you discover your deeper thoughts, create your world, process your feelings or simply play with words. Everyone welcome.
We will be mindful and journal-ful together this new year on Sunday, January, at 11th at 11:30am/EST.
You are welcome as a dedicated writer or as a new journal-er.
Feel free to email if you wonder about this Sangha: audreybloom@bellsouth.net

Mentor-led Session | Rio Ellett
2026-01-13 11:00 - 12:15
Led by MMTCP Mentors, these sessions offer a place for you to bring any and all of your teaching and practice questions and to be in sangha with alumni peers. In each session, mentors will offer a short talk and then offer guidance and wisdom for whatever is coming up for you – much like we had in peer groups.

This session will be led by Rio Ellett and is from 11 am – 12:15 pm ET (rescheduled from December 2); the Zoom link is here
More About Rio
Rio Ellett (they/them) has been practicing meditation since their teens, studying with the sanghas of Thich Nhat Hanh, Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and Insight Meditation Society during years of intensive retreat practice. They began teaching meditation to young adults and environmental activists in 2013, and have since facilitated several sitting groups in Europe, including LGBTQIA+ sanghas. In 2014, they were ordained into Thich Nhat Hanh’s Order of Interbeing. They’ve been a MMTCP Mentor since 2021.
Influenced by their own experiences of disability (cystic fibrosis), trauma, and queerness, Rio is passionate about making dharma teachings accessible and welcoming to those with non-normative experiences, as well as creating safe(r) spaces. Their teaching style emphasizes easefulness, acceptance, and simplicity, as well as the practice of sangha and community building. They have roots in New Zealand and Germany and will offer groups in English and German.
Rio is a parent since 2022 and is finding parenthood to be the most challenging and transformative practice as of yet. They love tending their garden, traveling, being in the forest, and not taking themselves too seriously.

LGBTQIA+ Sangha
2026-01-22 20:00 - 21:00
Happy New Year dear Sangha! We kick off our first gathering of the year on Thursday, January 22nd from 8PM ET-9PM ET. Alyssa will guide us on the theme, “Making Space: What are you inviting in for 2026?” Come join us with a word, a theme, or a phrase about what you’re calling in for the near future. Join us in the Zoom room for all or part of the session:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81193401080?pwd=[REDACTED]

Hope to see you there!

Mindful Nonviolent Communication
2026-01-23 13:00 - 14:30
Happy New Year, Sangha! Please join us for our first 2026 monthly meeting with guest facilitator, Sunil Joseph. Sunil will present on how to use NVC to transform shame into remorse with the power of empathy.
——
“If you put shame in a Petri dish, it needs three things to grow exponentially: secrecy, silence, and judgment. If you put the same amount of shame in a petri dish and douse it with empathy, it can’t survive.” — Brené Brown
——
Join us in using our practice to bring light to corners too long in the dark…

Mentor-led Session | Deb Kerr
2026-01-27 19:00 - 20:30
These sessions offer a place for you to bring any and all of your teaching and practice questions and to be in sangha with alumni peers. In each session, mentors will offer a short talk, lead a reflective or practice exercise and then offer guidance and wisdom for any questions you have – much like we had in peer groups. This session is from 7 – 8:30 pm ET and will be led by Deb Kerr; Zoom link is here.

Please note: these sessions are not recorded. Now more than ever we need to be in community and though we can’t be together in person, please join us live for this valuable sangha.

more about Deb Kerr
Debra Kerr (she/her) identifies as a cisgender heterosexual white woman living with a disability. She is a partner, mother, grandmother, and retired speech pathologist who has meditated since 1991 and taught since 2002. Deb loves being in nature, community building, scuba diving, juggling, music, and humor. A graduate of Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leaders Program, Deb is a Core Teacher at East Bay Meditation Center, where she also guides the Every Body Every Mind Sangha for people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. Her meditation practice is influenced by both Theravada and Dzogchen teachings. Deb is dedicated to waking up as much as possible, and to using the tools of Buddhist practice to dismantle racism and other forms of oppression and exclusion. She loves maximizing well-being and human potential through the practices of lovingkindness, compassion, and wisdom.

Brahmaviharas -
2026-01-28 12:00 - 13:30
– I wish you, your families and friends wellbeing, inspiration and peace of mind throughout and beyond 2026. May our sangha bring us together more often in meaningful exchanges of insight, resources, ways to embrace and teach the 4 Divine Abodes.
– I would like to sit together on a date and a time that suit more of you. Last Wednesdays, noon-1:30 pm EST are not ideal for those of you who work full-time. I would appreciate your feedback, regarding preferred days and times, going forward.
– Until and unless I hear from those of you are listed as Members of this sangha, I will continue to open my portal on the last Wed./mo., noon-1:30 pm EST. Next session: Wed., January 28th. Rf: Zoom Link below. I am hoping to bring a delightful, unique guest speaker on this date; stay tuned for further details. (image: Aspiration (c) Linda J. Hirsch, 2018/2025. All Rts. Rsvd.)
Happy, Meaningful New Year to All!
Linda (508.202.2923)
Zoom Link:
Linda HIRSCH is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Linda HIRSCH’s Zoom Meeting
Time: Jan 28, 2026 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84136844470?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 841 3684 4470
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Mindful in Nature
2026-01-28 19:00 - 20:00
Greetings friends, we look forward to seeing you at this link for mindful in nature sangha!
https://meet.google.com/fmp-yofm-wsg

RISE: Refuge/Inspiration Sangha for teachers/Educators-Habits of the Heart
2026-02-04 19:00 - 20:30
Winter/spring series of monthly sessions on how Mindfulness can serve to heal our own hearts and the Heart of Democracy. We explore how Habits of the Heart can serve to ground, inspire and resource ourselves so that we can best contribute and serve our communities and world.
This session is on Wednesday, Feb. 4 from 7:00 – 8:30 pm ET
The Zoom link is here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6770705919

Mindful Writing/Mindful Journaling
2026-02-08 11:30 - 12:30
Mindful Writing/Mindful Journaling is a WHOLE hour to be with your thoughts and your creative imagination. Everyone welcome.
This meeting is from 11;30 am – 12:30 pm ET
Here is the Zoom information:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89079623957?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 890 7962 3957
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Awakening Together Sangha
2026-02-09 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-03-09 13:00 - 14:00
Awakening Together Sangha invites you to spend some time with each other as our unique journeys coalesce together in reverence to the oneness that is at our core. We cultivate our awareness by spending time together sharing experiences and practices that enhance our own understanding as we gather in spiritual friendship.

Mentor-led Session | Genevieve Tregor
2026-02-10 11:00 - 12:30
These sessions offer a place for you to bring any and all of your teaching and practice questions and to be in sangha with alumni peers. In each session, mentors will offer a short talk, lead a reflective or practice exercise and then offer guidance and wisdom for any questions you have – much like we had in peer groups. We have extended the sessions to allow time for skill-building and/or reflection time with peers.
This session is from 11 am – 12:30 pm ET and will be led by Genevieve Tregor; the Zoom link is here.
Please note: these sessions are not recorded. Now more than ever we need to be in community and though we can’t be together in person, please join us live for this valuable sangha.
More about Genevieve
Genevieve Tregor, MS, a mindfulness instructor and health educator, has been a committed mindfulness practitioner since 2008 with extensive long-term retreat experience. She teaches Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and other mindfulness courses and workshops — with a trauma-informed approach — through Solution Mindfulness, and serves as an adjunct instructor at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix where she teaches Cultural Aspects of Health and Illness. She is founding teacher of Insight Meditation Scottsdale community, SolutionMindfulness.com, and OneWorldMindfulness.com—creating and teaching classes, workshops, and retreats in secular and Buddhist contexts, and teaching alongside senior teachers in the Insight tradition. Learn more Genevieve’s offerings here

MCMT - Bodhicitta and the 5 Dimensions of the Heart
2026-02-14 12:00 - 13:30
Bodhicitta – is developing the awakening heart-mind.
The 5 Dimensions of the Heart is a simple framework that identifies the 5 unique aspects of the heart we all possess but aren’t necessarily aware of as discrete elements.
Facilitator for the February session: Steve Kaplan
You will have a new understanding and appreciation of this amazing organ by the end of the program.

There will be a lively, fun format: meditation, a talk, discussion, and more meditation.
This session is from 12 PM ET to 1:15 PM ET
If possible, we invite you to join the session with your camera on, as it helps support connection and presence in the space. This call will not be recorded.

Metta for Peace
2026-02-15 11:00 - 12:30, 2026-02-15 20:30 - 22:00
These dark, challenging times can fill us with despair and make us feel hopeless, unsure of what to do. But one thing we do know how to do is practice and one practice we know is metta – loving kindness that is directed inward and outward in multiple directions. Directed towards ourselves, metta reminds us of our intention of how we want to be in the world and enhances connection both to ourselves and of belonging to the world. In expanding the practice to include others, we reduce isolation, foster a sense of shared humanity, transform negative emotions, and promote empathy. Metta is a loving, intentional, emotional energy which can counteract hostility, fear, and anger.

On Sunday, February 15, let us pause and collectively put more of this radiant, heart-centered energy out into a world that could use more compassion and light. Wherever you are or whatever your daily practice is, please take time today to do a dedicated metta practice knowing that you will be in the company, and energy field, of other alumni around the world sending the same messages of loving-kindness. Let this be our offering to the world – holding all beings, everywhere, without exception in a field of love, protection, acceptance, and compassion.

You can do this solo on your own schedule; we will also be hosting several opportunities to be together:

Sunday, February 15 from 11 – 12:30 am ET; Zoom link is here
Sunday, February 15 from 8:30 – 10 pm ET; Zoom link is here

We are not alone – either in our pain of the moment or in our love and compassion for all beings. A friend once said to me, ‘hope is not just a feeling, it is something we do” This is something we can do, together.

Here is a pdf with some additional information.
Thank you for your contribution to the well-being of the planet and all beings.

Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness Teachers
2026-02-17 11:00 - 12:00
Facing Trauma in a Changing World
An international TSM sangha

Let’s explore how trauma shows up in our communities online and in person and the skillful means that we need as TSM teachers and/or facilitators to be of help in stormy days.
“Freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves,” Thich Nhat Hanh.

This sangha provides a grounded and safe space to be present with your peers who share one simple yet profound goal: Peace in every Step (á la Thich Nhat Hanh). Let us reclaim our deep listening and deep seeing into shared humanity. Let us discuss cross cultural sensitivities at the junction of trauma and mindfulness. Let us recenter, inquire and clarify what resources may be best to offer to our communities.

May this space be a home base for kindness, curiosity and inspiration amidst the chaos.

We will meet on the 3rd Tuesday of every month @ 11:00 am ET USA, which is

5:00 pm in Warsaw, Poland

6:00 pm in Jerusalem, Israel/Palestine

7:00 pm in Abu Dhabi, Emirates

11:00 am in Washington DC, USA

4:00 pm in London, UK

Please use the conversion app for your time zone, respectively.

Somatic Approaches to Mindfulness with Justine Dawson
2026-02-21 12:30 - 15:30
MMTCP Mentor Justine Dawson will lead this experiential dive into the fundamentals of nervous system regulation and its application to our mindfulness practice and teaching. In this 3 hour workshop:

Discover the principles of nervous system regulation and directly experience how it can enhance your mindfulness teaching and practice

Detect signs of hyper- and hypo-arousal – and the threat responses of fight, flight, freeze, fawn – in you and your students

Gain practical tools for supporting a return from activation to balance, on and off the cushion

Understand the place and importance of embodied pleasure as a foundation for healing and mindful awakening

Learn to balance invitations of equanimity with healthy aggression – for the liberation, rather than suppression, of life force energy

Help students build resilience inside of challenging experiences, including meditative ones

Leave with simple somatic inquiry practices you can immediately apply to your work with students to deepen their embodied awareness

This workshop will include lecture, dialog, supportive experiential exercises, and simple take-home practices to use in your teaching.

This session is from 12:30 – 3:30 pm ET; the Zoom link is here
More about Justine
Justine Dawson is a teacher and guide of intimacy and awakening. A 27 year practitioner of Buddhist meditation, she completed training as a dharma teacher under Jack Kornfield in 2012.
In addition to her training and practice in traditional meditation and Buddhist psychology, Justine is a board-certified Sexologist and fully qualified Somatic Experiencing (SE) Practitioner.
From the inside out Justine works with individuals and couples to unburden the trauma, fear, shame and judgment that prevents them from intimacy with all aspects of life. The therapeutic modalities of SE, Internal Family Systems and relational mindfulness are foundational to her liberating, embodied approach.
Justine currently keeps it real in Los Angeles, CA where she mentors new teachers through the MMTCP, assists at Somatic Experiencing professional trainings, and maintains a private practice working with individuals and couples around the world.

LGBTQIA+ Sangha
2026-02-23 20:00 - 21:00
Join us for our February gathering on Monday, February 23rd, 2026 from 8-9 PM Eastern Time. Loretta will guide us in this cozy Zoom room: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81314113078?pwd=[REDACTED] Hope to see you for all or part of the session!

Brahmaviharas Sangha hosts Carla Brennan
2026-02-25 12:00 - 13:30
– I am very pleased to share that Carla Brennan, our Guest Speaker in January, has accepted my invitation to continue her teachings on Wed., Feb. 25, noon-1:30 pm EST. Our momentum will be sustained and insights deepened. Bring tissues, a good quality writing pen and a journal. Words and feelings will flow freely once the portal to heart wisdom opens.
– The Zoom link is here
~~~~~~
– My love for Winter was challenged very seriously yesterday (Wed.). My husband and I drove ~8+ hours RT, through intense snow squalls, to deliver my art-work, juried into an exhibit at PhotoPlace Gallery in beautiful, Middlebury, VT. I was at the wheel when driving on a serpentine, icy, road through very narrow mountain passes (deemed the best, shortest route). The forecast for clear weather proved wrong. My MM breathing and soft music anchored and focused me; we arrived unscathed.
I can attest to the benefits of my daily sits practice and teaching.
– May you never lose sight of the Middle Way; it will take you further and more safely than you might imagine! I will post some images on our sangha page. Enjoy my prior ones too. They are all ©️Linda J. Hirsch. All Rts. Rsvd.

Reflections & Transformations: Pilgrims Share Their Buddha Path Journey
2026-02-25 19:00 - 21:00
Join alumni from our first pilgrimage to India this past December as they share reflections from their deeply meaningful journey. Hear how their practices, engagement with the Dharma, and relationships with themselves and sangha were transformed through this immersive learning experience.
Enjoy a visual slideshow of the sacred sites we visited – we were privileged to have an amazing photographer with us who captured our trip beautifully! Listen to stories and conversations that unfolded at some of Buddhism’s holiest places—on the bus, over meals, and along the path. You may feel as though you are traveling with us—and perhaps be inspired to join the next pilgrimage in February 2027 (more information and registration coming soon).
The session is from 7 – 9 pm ET; the
zoom link is here

MNVC Sangha
2026-02-27 13:00 - 14:30
Meeting from 1 – 2:30 pm ET

RISE- Mindfulness, Healing the Heart of Democracy/Habits of the Heart
2026-03-04 19:00 - 20:30
Join us for Refuge and Inspiration in Sangha with fellow teachers and Educators as we explore Habits of Heart to resource ourselves and best serve others.
This session is on Wednesday, Mar. 4 from 7:00 – 8:30 pm ET
The Zoom link is here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6770705919

MCMT Sangha: Peace, Equanimity and Balance
2026-03-07 12:00 - 13:30
How can we find peace in this troubled world? One of the most revealing ideas is, “ Peace cannot find you if you are not here.” We will work together to bring presence into our workshop that will carry over into our lives.

Mindful and Reflective Writing
2026-03-08 11:30 - 12:30
‘There are a thousand thoughts lying within a man (person, women, you, them, human being…) that he does not know till he takes up the pen to write.’
William Makepeace Thackeray
Join as and uncover some of those hidden thoughts!
This session is from 11:30 am – 12:30 pm ET
Zoom link is here
Meeting ID: 890 7962 3957 Passcode: [REDACTED]

How Adults Learn: Essential Principles for Mindfulness Educators
2026-03-09 12:00 - 14:00
How can diving into the psychology of how adults learn deepen both your mindfulness offerings and your own practice? This engaging 6-week course equips MMTCP alumni with essential adult learning principles that will provide you with new perspectives on your teaching, coaching, consulting, counseling, and facilitation.

In this co-created learning space, you’ll explore adult learning-aligned strategies for designing powerful learning experiences, adapting your teaching to different contexts, strengthening psychological safety, and building trust—learning not only from course content but from each other’s experiences and insights. Whether you’re leading 8-week courses, one-on-one coaching sessions, or workplace trainings, these foundations will sharpen your ability to plan from an adult learning perspective, meet adult learners where they are, support meaningful change, and maybe even enjoy your work more!

Instructor Alison Cohen, MMTCP mentor (2019-2025) and guiding teacher of Two Wings Mindfulness, is an enthusiastic adult learning and development nerd whose deep dives into this arena (including PhD coursework) have strengthened her own mindfulness-based teaching, coaching, and consulting—and she’s excited to share what she’s gleaned with fellow teacher-practitioners.

Registration for this series is now closed; we hope to see you at another one of our programs.

Session dates and times are:
Mondays from 12-1:45 pm ET (with +15 minutes of optional Office Hours): March 9, 16, 23, 30 (no class April 6) April 13 and 20.

Learn more Alison here

Mentor-led Session with Alexa Redner
2026-03-10 12:30 - 14:00
Led by MMTCP Mentors, these sessions offer a place for you to bring any and all of your personal practice and teaching questions and to be in sangha with alumni peers. In each session, mentors will offer a short talk, lead a reflective or practice exercise and then offer guidance and wisdom for any questions you have – much like we had in peer groups. We have extended the sessions to allow time for skill-building and/or reflection time in sangha.

This session is from 12:30 – 2 pm ET; the Zoom link is here
Please note: these sessions are not recorded. Now more than ever we need to be in community and though we can’t be together in person, please join us live for this valuable community.

More about Alexa
Alexa Redner has been practicing in the Insight Meditation tradition for twenty years. She is currently a mentor for Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach’s Mindfulness Meditation Certification Program and leads weekly groups for the online practice community, Banyan. Alexa lives in Oregon and teaches at the Portland Insight Meditation Center, leading their weekly Women’s Sangha, as well as offering talks, day-long retreats and rotating classes. She is currently in a 4-year Spirit Rock approved retreat teacher training cohort with her teacher of two decades, James Baraz.

Alexa brings a playful and soft approach to the sacred work of awakening, supporting practitioners in both groups and personal mentoring to use meditation, reflection and inquiry practices to cultivate insight within the unfolding of everyday living. Learn more about Alexa here.

Disability Affinity Sangha
2026-03-10 14:30 - 16:00
Our Sangha is an affinity group intended for those who identify as disabled (see our sangha page for more info). We meet the second Tuesday of each month at 2:30 p.m. ET for 1.5 hours. The recurring zoom link for our sangha is https://cuboulder.zoom.us/j/94776947948 or the Meeting ID is 947 7694 7948.
