Free Online Meditation Series: The Power of Community

Thomas Cole, Ph. D., is Emeritus Professor of Humanities and Ethics at McGovern Medical School and serves as Spiritual Director at Temple Beth Israel in Houston. He is the author or editor of 14 books, most recently "Old Man Country: My Search for Meaning Among the Elders." He has also produced four documentary films, including "The Strange Demise of Jim Crow: How Houston De-Segregated Its Public Accommodations," which aired on 66 PBS stations.

Becky Dodds, MS, LPC, is a psychotherapist based in Houston, TX. Becky holds an MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and is a Certified Practitioner with the Center for Mind-Body Medicine where she worked with trauma recovery and healing. Her interest in the healing power of connection has informed her work in the community with Healing Circles, The Council on Recovery, and The Jung Center's Community for Conscious Aging and Mind Body Spirit Institute. More information can be found on her website: https://www.houstonareatherapy.com/

Ann Friedman, PhD, is a Psychologist and Certified Mindfulness Facilitator from UCLA. She has also completed classes through Mindful Schools A Still Quiet Place and other programs. Through Emory University, she is a certified teacher of Cognitively Based Compassion Training®. In 2015 she opened  Mindful Being, a company which provides training in schools, corporations, and nonprofits. With Mental Health America and UNICEF, she has taught mindfulness to those affected by hurricanes across Southeast Texas, Puerto Rico, and Florida.

Stanley Merrill earned a Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification through the Awareness Training Institute of the University of California at Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center in 2019. The two-year program was taught by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach through Sounds True. He attended a teacher training class “Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction” taught by Jon Kabat-Zinn through the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Stanley has taught meditation techniques at the Veterans Administration, the Houston Area Parkinson’s Society, the West University Seniors Center, Luna Recovery Center, MD Anderson in Sugarland, and Chevron. For 23 years he worked at IBM where he was a Systems Engineer Systems Engineer Manager and an Application Development Consultant. He has studied Buddhist philosophy and meditation since 1995.

Jasmine Shah holds an M.A. in Psychology with a focus on Spirituality, Mind, and Body Medicine from Columbia University, specializing in spirituality, consciousness, and transpersonal psychology. She works with organizations to help with workplace wellness and burnout through coaching and consulting, and continues to facilitate workshops in professional and private settings. She is passionate about restorative justice and finds joy in writing poetry and dancing.

Claire Villarreal received her PhD from Rice University’s Department of Religion and has taught academic courses at Rice and UH Clear Lake and led meditation sessions at Dawn Mountain the Jung Center Discovery Green and various other settings in Houston and Fort Worth. She now adapts traditional Buddhist wisdom for online and in-person spiritual instruction.

All times are CT. Please contact onlinelearning@junghouston.org with any questions.

Please register early. Programs with four or fewer participants are subject to cancellation, 48 hours prior to their start.