Napa Valley Insight Meditation

Thursday Morning Online Meditation
2025-07-03 09:00 - 10:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | https://www.napainsight.org/event/thursday-morning-online-meditation-8/2025-07-03/
NVIM will continue to host our Thursday morning meditations by Zoom. Morning meditation is led by Debbie Darrin, and others, and begins promptly at 9:00am. All are welcome.
Thursday morning sits begin with an inspirational reading, followed by a 30-minute mostly silent meditation period and a short 10-minute period in which individuals may comment on their own practice while the group listens in silence.
To receive the Zoom link one day in advance, sign up for our mailing list at: https://www.napainsight.org/contact/newsletter/

Meditation & Discussion with Forrest Hill
2025-07-01 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-06-17 19:00 - 20:30 | Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists, 1625 Salvador Ave, Napa, CA, 94559
The evening will be led by Forrest Hill. Forrest has been practicing Insight Meditation since 2004, starting at the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland CA. He is the founding member of Napa Valley Insight Meditation (NVIM) and has served as a facilitator at NVIM since its inception in 2011. Forrest is a graduate of the two-year Community Dharma Leaders Program, a Buddhist teacher training program sponsored by Spirit Rock Meditation Center. He is also a singer-songwriter and over the past ten years has released 6 albums inspired by the dharma and his meditation practice. He has a PhD from MIT in Biological Oceanography and currently works as a socially responsible financial advisor.
COVID Recommendations For Gathering Safely
(recommended by https://covid19.ca.gov “Current Safety Measures”):

If you have recently been exposed to COVID, it is recommended that you wear a mask indoors through day 10.
If you test positive for COVID without symptoms, please do not attend sangha for at least 5 full days and wear a mask indoors through day 10.
If you test positive for COVID and have symptoms, please do not attend sangha for at least 5 full days; and then do not return until your symptoms are mild, improving, and you are fever-free for at least 24 hours. Wear a mask indoors through Day 10.

Thursday Morning Online Meditation
2025-06-26 09:00 - 10:00 | https://www.napainsight.org/event/thursday-morning-online-meditation-8/2025-06-26/

An Evening with Special Guest Richard Shankman
2025-06-24 19:00 - 20:30 | Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists, 1625 Salvador Ave, Napa, CA, 94559
Richard Shankman has been a meditator since 1970 and teaches internationally. He is the guiding teacher of the Metta Dharma Foundation, a non-residential meditation center in Berkeley, CA that offers a weekly meditation group, as well as monthly daylongs, classes, workshops, and residential retreats. Richard is the co-founder of Mindful Schools, a leading organization training educators to learn mindfulness and teach it to youth. He is also co-founder of the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies. Richard is the author of The Experience of Samadhi: An In-Depth Investigation of Buddhist Meditation (Shambhala Publications, 2008), and The Art and Skill of Buddhist Meditation (New Harbinger Publications, 2015). Learn more about Richard at: http://richardshankman.org/about/
COVID Recommendations For Gathering Safely
(recommended by https://covid19.ca.gov “Current Safety Measures”):

If you have recently been exposed to COVID, it is recommended that you wear a mask indoors through day 10.
If you test positive for COVID without symptoms, please do not attend sangha for at least 5 full days and wear a mask indoors through day 10.
If you test positive for COVID and have symptoms, please do not attend sangha for at least 5 full days; and then do not return until your symptoms are mild, improving, and you are fever-free for at least 24 hours. Wear a mask indoors through Day 10.

Thursday Morning Online Meditation
2025-06-19 09:00 - 10:00 | https://www.napainsight.org/event/thursday-morning-online-meditation-8/2025-06-19/

Thursday Morning Online Meditation
2025-06-12 09:00 - 10:00 | https://www.napainsight.org/event/thursday-morning-online-meditation-8/2025-06-12/

Meditation & Discussion with Mike Coughlin
2025-06-10 19:00 - 20:30 | Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists, 1625 Salvador Ave, Napa, CA, 94559
This Tuesday evening sangha will be led by Mike Coughlin. Mike is a public school administrator, trained mediator, and has been practicing mindfulness in the vipassana tradition for over 15 years. He has received training through Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Mindful Schools and is a Certified Mindfulness Facilitator through the Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior at the University of California, Los Angeles. Mike has over 20 years of experience working with high-risk youth, most specifically in residential and day treatment programs, as well as years of mediation experience in Alternative Dispute Resolution.
COVID Recommendations For Gathering Safely
(recommended by https://covid19.ca.gov “Current Safety Measures”):

If you have recently been exposed to COVID, it is recommended that you wear a mask indoors through day 10.
If you test positive for COVID without symptoms, please do not attend sangha for at least 5 full days and wear a mask indoors through day 10.
If you test positive for COVID and have symptoms, please do not attend sangha for at least 5 full days; and then do not return until your symptoms are mild, improving, and you are fever-free for at least 24 hours. Wear a mask indoors through Day 10.

Thursday Morning Online Meditation
2025-06-05 09:00 - 10:00 | https://www.napainsight.org/event/thursday-morning-online-meditation-8/2025-06-05/

Meditation & Discussion with Lori Stelling
2025-06-03 19:00 - 20:30 | Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists, 1625 Salvador Ave, Napa, CA, 94559
This Tuesday evening sangha will be led by Lori Stelling. Lori has practiced Insight Meditation since 2002 and serves as a local teacher and Board member for NVIM. She has received mentoring from vipassana teachers since 2007, is a Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher through UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, and has engaged in on-going Buddhist Studies through Aloka Vihara, Sacred Mountain Sangha, Dharmagiri, Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and others, for two decades. Lori is a certified life coach, with advanced Enneagram training, offering life coaching for women, and community meditation classes for adults of all ages.
COVID Recommendations For Gathering Safely
(recommended by https://covid19.ca.gov “Current Safety Measures”):

If you have recently been exposed to COVID, it is recommended that you wear a mask indoors through day 10.
If you test positive for COVID without symptoms, please do not attend sangha for at least 5 full days and wear a mask indoors through day 10.
If you test positive for COVID and have symptoms, please do not attend sangha for at least 5 full days; and then do not return until your symptoms are mild, improving, and you are fever-free for at least 24 hours. Wear a mask indoors through Day 10.

Thursday Morning Online Meditation
2025-05-29 09:00 - 10:00 | https://www.napainsight.org/event/thursday-morning-online-meditation-8/2025-05-29/

Meditation & Reflection with Mike Coughlin
2025-05-27 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-04-22 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-03-25 19:00 - 20:30 | Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists, 1625 Salvador Ave, Napa, CA, 94559

Thursday Morning Online Meditation
2025-05-22 09:00 - 10:00 | https://www.napainsight.org/event/thursday-morning-online-meditation-8/2025-05-22/

Meditation & Reflection with Forrest Hill
2025-05-20 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-04-15 19:00 - 20:30 | Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists, 1625 Salvador Ave, Napa, CA, 94559
The evening will be led by Forrest Hill. Forrest has been practicing Insight Meditation since 2004 and is a founding member of Napa Valley Insight Meditation. He is a graduate of the the 2 year Community Dharma Leaders Program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center.
COVID Recommendations For Gathering Safely
(recommended by https://covid19.ca.gov “Current Safety Measures”):

If you have recently been exposed to COVID, it is recommended that you wear a mask indoors through day 10.
If you test positive for COVID without symptoms, please do not attend sangha for at least 5 full days and wear a mask indoors through day 10.
If you test positive for COVID and have symptoms, please do not attend sangha for at least 5 full days; and then do not return until your symptoms are mild, improving, and you are fever-free for at least 24 hours. Wear a mask indoors through Day 10.

Thursday Morning Online Meditation
2025-05-15 09:00 - 10:00 | https://www.napainsight.org/event/thursday-morning-online-meditation-8/2025-05-15/

Meditation & Reflection with Lori Stelling
2025-05-13 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-04-01 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-03-11 19:00 - 20:30 | Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists, 1625 Salvador Ave, Napa, CA, 94559

Thursday Morning Online Meditation
2025-05-08 09:00 - 10:00 | https://www.napainsight.org/event/thursday-morning-online-meditation-8/2025-05-08/

An Evening with Kevin Griffin
2025-05-06 19:00 - 20:30 | Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists, 1625 Salvador Ave, Napa, CA, 94559
This Tuesday we warmly welcome Kevin Griffin back to NVIM. Kevin is an author, longtime Buddhist practitioner who trained as a Community Dharma Leader at Spirit Rock, and innovator in the field of addiction treatment. His newest book is Buddhism & the Twelve Steps: Daily Reflections – Thoughts on Dharma and Recovery. Learn more about Kevin and his books here: https://www.kevingriffin.net/
NVIM COVID Guidelines for Attendance (updated 10/1/22):

Full vaccination (2 COVID shots and at least booster) is strongly recommended.
Social distancing between chairs will be maintained for those who choose.
Masks are OPTIONAL. If you feel comfortable, you do not need to wear a mask. If you are a vulnerable person, or live with a vulnerable person, consider wearing a well-fitting mask during sangha.

Thursday Morning Online Meditation
2025-05-01 09:00 - 10:00 | https://www.napainsight.org/event/thursday-morning-online-meditation-8/2025-05-01/

Meditation & Reflection with Debbie Darrin
2025-04-29 19:00 - 20:30 | Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists, 1625 Salvador Ave, Napa, CA, 94559
This Tuesday evenings sangha will be led by Debbie Darrin. Debbie has explored various aspects of mindfulness and meditation since the early 1980’s. In 2014 she began attending Napa Valley Insight Meditation sangha and became an active member on the NVIM board in 2017. Debbie regularly attends residential and non-residential insight meditation retreats, continuing to cultivate her personal practice and to grow her teaching experience. In 2021 she graduated from the 2-year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program developed and offered by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. Debbie facilitates a variety of weekly mindfulness talks and meditations as well as offering daylong retreats. She has co led residential retreats of Dharma & Recovery with Kevin Griffin. She believes that the heart practices of lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity play a significant role in balancing, healing and navigating a complex
New NVIM COVID Guidelines for Attendance:

Full vaccination is strongly recommended.
Social distancing between chairs will be maintained for those who choose.
Masks are OPTIONAL. If you feel comfortable, you do not need to wear a mask. If you are a vulnerable person, or live with a vulnerable person, consider wearing a well-fitting mask during sangha.

Thursday Morning Online Meditation
2025-04-24 09:00 - 10:00 | https://www.napainsight.org/event/thursday-morning-online-meditation-8/2025-04-24/

Daylong Retreat: The Dance of Joy and Sorrow with Lev White and Forrest Hill
2025-04-19 09:30 - 16:00 | Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists, 1625 Salvador Ave, Napa, CA, 94559
The daylong retreat will weave together periods of silent meditation and walking meditation, as well as group discussion and musical Dharma to explore the profound relationship between joy and sorrow in our lives.
We have drawn inspiration for this retreat from Kahlil Gibran’s poem On Joy and Sorrow (https://poets.org/poem/joy-and-sorrow) in which he writes “The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.” We’ll create space to acknowledge both personal and collective emotions. We’ll also explore how mindful awareness can help us respond with wisdom rather than reactivity, especially in today’s challenging social and political landscape.
To register please go to: https://events.humanitix.com/riding-the-waves-of-joy-and-sorrow.
Please bring a lunch, a beverage, and appropriate clothing for outdoor walking meditation. Hot tea and water are provided. Chairs and cushions are available, but you are welcome to bring your own.
Bios:
Fresh “Lev” White is a love and compassion activist. He offers mindfulness, mediation, and diversity training as tools for shifting towards more authentic, conscious, and passionate living. As a certified coach, and professional trainer, Lev has offered over 400 diversity trainings in the San Francisco Bay Area and Beyond. He earned his coaching and leadership certifications through the Co-Active Training Institute. Lev is also mindfully grounded at the East Bay Meditation Center, and a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leadership and DPP programs. Lev offers secular mindfulness, and non-secular meditation in addition to Spiritual Counseling, mentoring, and talks on Self-Compassion in corporate, spiritual, or other private settings. Lev credits their ability to reach diverse audiences to his years growing up in multi-ethnic communities in New York.
Forrest Hill has been practicing Insight Meditation since 2004, starting at the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland CA. He is the founding member of Napa Valley Insight Meditation (NVIM) and has served as a facilitator at NVIM since its inception in 2011. Forrest is a graduate of the two-year Community Dharma Leaders Program, a Buddhist teacher training program sponsored by Spirit Rock Meditation Center. He is also a singer-songwriter and over the past ten years has released 6 albums inspired by the dharma and his meditation practice. He has a PhD from MIT in Biological Oceanography and currently works as a socially responsible financial advisor.

Thursday Morning Online Meditation
2025-04-17 09:00 - 10:00 | https://www.napainsight.org/event/thursday-morning-online-meditation-8/2025-04-17/

Special Guest Eve Decker
2025-04-08 19:00 - 20:30 | Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists, 1625 Salvador Ave, Napa, CA, 94559
Eve has been singing, song writing, and performing since she was 8 years old! In her 20’s she co-founded, played, recorded and toured with the feminist folk trio Rebecca Riots for 15 years. Rebecca Riots was dubbed “Best Band with a Conscience” by the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Eve has also released two CDs of original, dharma based music, and will release a third in September 2015.
Eve began practicing Vipassana meditation in 1991 and has been a Buddhist teacher since 2006. She am a graduate of UC Berkeley, and the Community Dharma Leader training programs at Spirit Rock Center in California. She has travel throughout California and internationally to teach mindfulness, lovingkindness, compassion and gratitude directly and through music.
COVID Recommendations For Gathering Safely
(recommended by https://covid19.ca.gov “Current Safety Measures”):

If you have recently been exposed to COVID, it is recommended that you wear a mask indoors through day 10.
If you test positive for COVID without symptoms, please do not attend sangha for at least 5 full days and wear a mask indoors through day 10.
If you test positive for COVID and have symptoms, please do not attend sangha for at least 5 full days; and then do not return until your symptoms are mild, improving, and you are fever-free for at least 24 hours. Wear a mask indoors through Day 10.

Mediation & Reflection with Forrest Hill
2025-03-18 19:00 - 20:30 | Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists, 1625 Salvador Ave, Napa, CA, 94559
