I am an Insight Meditation and Mindfulness teacher mostly specialising in teaching residential retreats in the UK and internationally. I also teach frequent day retreats and occasional courses to the general public (including eight-week MBCT and Mindful Self-Compassion courses, and college-based courses for Oxford University students) and lead a weekly sitting group in Oxford. I am an Associate of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, and teach regularly at Gaia House in Devon, as well as the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) and Spirit Rock Meditation Centers in the USA.
Qualifications
- Graduate of Spirit Rock and IMS’s four-year Insight Meditation teacher training led by Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein
- Certified to teach MBCT by the Oxford Mindfulness Centre
- Trained teacher of Mindful Self-Compassion with the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion (Chris Germer and Kristin Neff)
- MBSR Teacher Training Retreat Level 1 with CMRP Bangor
- Postgraduate diploma in Integrative Psychotherapy and Counselling University of Wales
Retreat Lead Experience
- In 2010, I co-founded Go Mindfully mindfulness teaching partnership with Zoe Shobbrook–Fisher. We have co-taught regular residential Mindfulness retreats since 2012, aimed at supporting graduates of our own and other eight-week mindfulness courses to maintain and deepen practice.
- In 2013, I began teaching residential retreats in Insight Meditation. Some of these are small retreats with a single teacher and others very large retreats with a teaching team of up to six, varying in length from a weekend to several weeks.
Retreat Specialisms
- My retreat teaching includes teaching on retreats at Gaia House in the UK and Insight Meditation Society in the USA specifically designed for people using mindfulness-based interventions in their professional work.
- I am also currently pursuing an interest in teaching retreats for teenagers and young people.
Personal Practice
I began meditating over 30 years ago and have been involved with mindfulness and Buddhist meditation one way or another ever since. From 1996-2005 I was an ordained member of the community at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery (Thai Forest Tradition) with Ajahn Sumedho as my main teacher. Since that time, in addition to my daily life practice I have continued to sit regular retreats including the three-month retreat at IMS in 2014, several month-long retreats and many shorter ones. I regard my teaching work as an extension of my personal practice. Yoga and qigong have been important supports for my meditation practice over the years and I like to include movement practices in my retreats where possible.
Research Activities and Interests
I am particularly interested in discovering how the ancient teachings from the Buddhist tradition and modern secular approaches can nourish and inform one another. I enjoy the challenge of trying to share practice with people of different nationalities, backgrounds and ages.
Further info
Jaya’s website: www.jayarudgard.co.uk
