has practiced and studied Buddhism for over fifty years. She is a meditation instructor and the co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society and the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, both in Barre, Massachusetts, United States. She is the author of more than eleven best-selling books and hosts The Metta Hour podcast. She teaches internationally and actively collaborates with great figures in the mindfulness movement and Buddhism, such as Dr. Robert Thurman, Dr. Mark Epstein, Joseph Goldstein, Trudy Goodman, and Her Holiness the Dalai Lama.