JD Doyle
Heartmind Teaching
When we engage fully with our heart and mind, we are capable of more than we possibly know. With mindfulness, we nurture our heartminds and become more aware of how we are in the world. With loving awareness and compassion, we learn to cultivate a way of being that reflects our deepest beliefs. As we understand how deeply connected we are to each other and the planet, we commit ourselves to cherishing radical inclusivity and creating courageous communities. The liberatory practices of the Buddha provide powerful tools to address and disrupt legacies of racial injustice and other violent forces of oppression.
About Me:
I live in the Oakland, CA and teach meditation with a focus on radical inclusivity and liberation for all beings. I served as Core Teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC) for 5 years. I have worked and practiced at EBMC in many roles including: Board Member, Program Committee Member, Development Committee Member, and White Awakening Sangha Teacher. I founded the LGBTQIA2+ Meditation Group (what EBMC now calls the Alphabet Sangha) with my teacher Larry Yang in 2004. One of the main reasons for this group was to create a welcoming space for people of all genders and sexualities which wasn't available in other places at that time. EBMC has been celebrated as "one of the most diverse Buddhist sanghas in the world" and I am grateful that I have been one of many people who have helped sustain and nurture this amazing place. Here is a link to a video about the EBMC.
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I teach trauma-informed Buddhist meditation, which emphasizes the heart and is founded in the Therevadan lineage. I teach at various meditation centers (both in person and online), including: Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Insight Western Massachusetts, True North Insight, Alameda Sangha and Insight LA. I co-led the first residential meditation retreats for transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive people. I also served as the guiding teacher at Insight Santa Cruz while it was reopening after the pandemic.
I started meditating in1997 and have attended retreats in the U.S., Thailand, and Burma. I received certification to teach through Spirit Rock Meditation Center where I completed the Community Dharma Leader and the Dedicated Practitioner Programs and the 4 year 2020 Spirit Rock Teacher Training Program.
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I worked for over 23 years in public schools, focusing on access and equity, in a variety of positions: Elementary Instructional Coach, 4th & 5th grade bilingual Spanish-English teacher, Middle School Science teacher, English Language Development Teacher, and mindfulness teacher. I have taught mindfulness to more than 400 teachers and students in the Mt Diablo Unified School District.
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I identify as Genderqueer and nonbinary and as part of the
I use the pronouns they, their, and them.
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I am grateful for the connection that the Lisjan
Ohlone people have had and continue to have
to the east bay which is their ancestral homeland.
Their courage and resilience in the face of colonialism
and white supremacy inspire me. I am part of a community that contributes
"Shummi Land Tax." The Shuumi Land Tax is a voluntary annual contribution that non-Indigenous people living on traditional Lisjan Ohlone territory make to support the critical work of the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust.
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