Each month, we invite the teachers at WITHIN to offer wisdom and inspiration around a particular topic. In November, we’re talking about enjoyment: how mindfulness and meditation can amplify our enjoyment of life.
On November 6th, three of our teachers will get together for an informal conversation on Zoom exploring this month’s theme: Shundo David Haye, Desiree Matloob and Ranga Jayawardena. Whether you join them live 4-5pm PST / 7-8pm EST, or listen to the recording afterwards, you’re sure to get a variety of perspectives and ideas to nourish your meditation practice.
Anyone can submit a question ahead of time for the teachers - just fill out this quick form. We also welcome your questions live! Please note, during the conversation we will record both the questions submitted and the responses from the teachers. If you’d prefer that we not mention your name, be sure to indicate that on the form or when you type your question in the Zoom chat.
This conversation will be held online via Zoom; the link will be provided to you via email when you register. RegistraRegistrationion is $15.
If you’re a WITHIN Member, this is included in your membership - email us for the promo code!
Shundo David Haye
Shundo is an ordained Zen priest. He came from England in 2000 to live at the San Francisco Zen Center, and spent fifteen years in residential training, including five years of monastic practice at Tassajara. He helped found and run the successful Young Urban Zen practice group at the Zen Center. Although he loves the robes and the formal rituals, he is interested in reaching people who will never set foot inside a Zen temple. He has taught at tech companies, schools and colleges, yoga studios, retreat centers, and the county jail. He loves being outside, especially on a bike, and leads regular mindful hikes around San Francisco, as well as a weekly outdoor meditation.
Desiree Matloob
Desiree is a leadership coach, national board certified health & wellness coach, and mindfulness teacher who is passionate about using mindfulness and coaching to help people clarify what matters most to them, work through limiting beliefs, and take action in their lives. She has been practicing meditation since 2009, and since 2016 has made a yearly 10-day silent meditation (Vipassana) retreat a part of her personal practice. She has led mindfulness workshops, classes, and strategy within various workplaces and community-based organizations.
In addition to her work with individuals, Desiree is passionate about the power of groups to create connection and catalyze personal transformation. She is currently a group health coach for One Medical's stress management and metabolic health programs, a career & leadership coach at The Grand, and hosts regular women's circles and mindful communication groups in San Francisco. She is passionate about creating environments -- whether in her meditation classes, her coaching, or her group work -- that encourage self-reflection, authentic connection, and insights that lead to growth.
Ranga Jayawardena
Ranga sees meditation as playing with perception. We can learn how to adjust perception, and therefore experience, towards more enjoyment, strength and freedom.
He began his training with formal meditation practice at age 10, and has been on a journey of discovery ever since. After years of climbing the corporate ladder and later co-founding startups, he has shifted his career towards sharing his enthusiastic approach to meditation practice.
Ranga's teaching style entails bringing the ancient wisdom of the Buddha to the modern ear, through personal stories and contemporary similes. Rather than offering a singular, rigid view, he believes that we each hold the authority to find our authentic path in life and to deeply free ourselves up from worrying, anger, doubt, dullness and a sense of lacking. As such, he approaches his role as a teacher with an open heart; open to all the particularities, experiences and uniqueness of each student.
He draws on over 20 years of meditation practice and a lifetime of learning from Buddhist (and a few Daoist) meditation masters to guide friends on their personal journeys towards what they yearn for.