Napa Valley Insight Meditation

Special Guest Teacher: Stephanie Noble
2024-11-12 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists, 1625 Salvador Ave, Napa, CA, 94559
This Tuesday, NVIM welcomes Stephanie Noble to our sangha. Stephanie is the author of three meditative books, including her most recent book “Invitation to Insight.” She has taught the Marin Insight women’s meditation group since 2004 and serves as a board member of the Buddhist Insight Network. Learn more about Stephanie here: https://stephanienoble.com/about-2/
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.

Meditation & Reflection with Lori Stelling
2024-11-19 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-03-11 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-04-01 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.

Meditation & Reflection with Mike Coughlin
2024-11-26 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-02-25 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-03-25 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.

Special Guest Teacher Melvin Escobar
2024-12-03 19:00 - 20:30 | Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists, 1625 Salvador Ave, Napa, CA, 94559
This Tuesday, NVIM warmly welcomes Melvin Escobar to our sangha.
Melvin is a core teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center, a licensed psychotherapist, and a certified yoga instructor. Melvin has walked the path of service for much of his life, drawing on his experiences as a queer man of color born and raised in Los Angeles, CA.
Having encountered the priceless wisdom embodied in Buddhism and Yoga, he continues daily to learn the revolutionary potential of body-centered contemplative practices for personal and social healing. You can read his latest article in Lion’s Roar Magazine “Loving-Kindness: May All Beings Be Happy,” and visit his website www.melvinescobar.com for more information.
NVIM COVID Guidelines for Attendance:

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.

Meditation & Reflection with Forrest Hill
2024-12-10 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-01-21 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-02-11 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.

Meditation & Reflections with Lori Stelling
2024-12-17 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-01-14 19:00 - 20:30 | Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists, 1625 Salvador Ave, Napa, CA, 94559

WINTER HOLIDAY BREAK
2024-12-24 - 2024-12-25
NVIM will be closed this Tuesday (1/24) for the holiday season. May you have joy, good health, and peace during this time of reflection and celebration.

New Year's Eve With Forrest Hill
2024-12-31 19:00 - 20:30 | Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists, 1625 Salvador Ave, Napa, CA, 94559
Come celebrate the New Year’s with 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.

Special Guest Fresh "Lev" White
2025-01-07 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-02-18 19:00 - 20:30 | Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists, 1625 Salvador Ave, Napa, CA, 94559
This Tuesday, NVIM welcomes back Lev to our sangha. Lev is a love and compassion activist. He offers mindfulness, coaching, mediation, and diversity trainings as tools for shifting towards more authentic, conscious and passionate living. He teaches and writes about how love and self-compassion are the ultimate gateways to loving and understanding others; thus, healing our communities, and planet. Lev is also co-author of Real World Mindfulness for Beginners, Ed. with Brenda Salgado and is mindfully grounded at the East Bay Meditation Center, as well as a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leadership program. Learn more about Lev here: https://affirmativeacts.org/about-us/
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.

BEFRIENDING MORTALITY - AWAKENING TO LIFE THROUGH MINDFULNESS OF DEATH
2025-01-16 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-01-23 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-01-30 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-02-06 19:00 - 20:30 | Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists, 1625 Salvador Ave, Napa, CA, 94559
CLASS SERIES: BEFRIENDING MORTALITY – AWAKENING TO LIFE THROUGH MINDFULNESS OF DEATH: Join Mike Coughlin at the Unitarian Universalist church in Napa for this immersive and interactive four part, in-person class series that will explore Maranasati practice, translated as Mindfulness of Death. This series will weave together both classic and contemporary approaches to leaning into, and possibly embracing, the essence of life’s impermanence. Each class will be held on select Thursdays in January and February from 7:00 – 8:30pm and will feature periods of meditation, short Dharma reflections, and time for interaction and discussion. If you are called to dig a little deeper into the essence of our human condition, then this series is for you. Although attendance at all four sessions is encouraged it is not mandatory. This series is suitable for both experienced and beginning practitioners and will be offered on a sliding scale of $10 – $20 per class. Class dates: Jan 16th, Jan 23rd, Jan 30th and Feb 6th. To register, simply email Mike at mike@napainsight.org and write, “Please register me for Befriending Mortality.”

MLK Day: Compassion, Peace, and Courageous Action
2025-01-20 09:30 - 22:15 | Justin Siena High School Chapel, 4069 Maher St, NAPA, CA, 94558, United States
NVIM invites you to join us for a special gathering on Martin Luther King Day, entitled “Compassion, Peace and Courageous Action,” featuring Forrest Hill and Kim Hester Williams.
As part of Napa’s MLK Day of Service: Building Bridges Together 2025, this contemplative session offers a space to connect with Dr. King’s vision of beloved community through meditation, dialogue and mindful reflection.
Location: Justin Siena High School Chapel
Date: January 20th
Time: 9:15am to 10:15am
Join us as we explore practices that cultivate compassion and nurture our capacity for peaceful transformation. Together, we’ll honor Dr. King’s legacy by strengthening our individual and collective aspirations for healing and positive change.

Meditation & Reflection with Debbie Darrin
2025-01-28 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.

Meditation& Reflection with Lori Stelling
2025-02-04 19:00 - 20:30 | Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists, 1625 Salvador Ave, Napa, CA, 94559

An Evening With Kevin Griffin
2025-03-04 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.

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

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.

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

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.
