B. Alan Wallace is president of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies. He trained for many years as a monk in Buddhist monasteries in India and Switzerland. He has taught Buddhist theory and practice in Europe and America since 1976 and has served as interpreter for numerous Tibetan scholars and contemplatives, including H. H. the Dalai Lama.  He has edited, translated, authored, and contributed to more than forty books on Tibetan Buddhism, medicine, language, and culture, and the interface between science and religion. He talks to Ellie Duke about Buddhism, the difference between Buddhism and secular mindfulness, and attention.

Before October 2013, Mindfulness First Founder and executive director Sunny Wight felt that a crucial component of child development was absent from the curriculum of central Arizona elementary schools: the concept of mindful awareness and social-emotional learning. Luckily, that month was the turning point — by the end of the year, the nonprofit Mindfulness First had kicked off its campaign of shifting the area’s educational standards toward an approach that favors the “whole child,” shaping kids to be more well-rounded, emotionally mature, and self-aware. Almost four years later, by the summer of 2017, Mindfulness First has achieved far-reaching, well-documented success in the Balsz school district of Phoenix, and this is just the beginning of a promising future, not only for the organization but also for students across Arizona.

When he is not busy traversing the country and hopping the globe to teach, Daniel is known for putting together the Mindfulness in Education Conference and Teacher Training at the Omega Institute each year, as well as for founding and directing the Mindful Education program. Designed for educators to expand their skill sets with understanding, mindfulness, and social-emotional learning, the Mindful Education system boasts a host of big names in its faculty and an innovative approach to teacher training. In addition to all this, Daniel released a documentary film a few months ago that captures his past experiences mentoring and collaborating with young students. Fortunately for us, Daniel kindly paused it all for a moment to provide his thoughts and observations on the mindfulness field.  Interviewed by AJ Urquidi

A former staff writer for Forbes magazine, Kelly Barron brings her journalistic sensibilities into her practice as a mindfulness teacher. She reads incessantly, gleaning information from a wide range of fields to inform her work. Her background in journalism also means she is familiar with stress, and all of the havoc it can wreak on the body. She started meditating in order to deal with that stress, and its benefits were so powerful and wide-reaching that she decided to devote her life to bringing the work to others.Interviewed by Ellie Duke

Based out of Culver City’s independent Echo Horizon School, Ellis Enlow has embarked on a noteworthy journey, having served as a Pre-K classroom teacher, a visiting classroom mindfulness teacher, an educator of parents, a preschool director, and (albeit briefly) a lawyer. She co-teaches in a holistic program for Pre-K students that she designed years ago that continues to evolve. Given the many professional hats Ellis has worn over the years, it's no surprise that she has plenty of stories to tell and wisdom to share. Interviewed by AJ Urquidi

Amidst those cold Wisconsin winters, Kelly Petrie brings warmth and energy to her practice of mindful education, bringing out the inner exuberance in all of her students. Before getting her Master of Arts in Contemplative Education from Naropa University, Petrie worked in education as a support person for children on the autism spectrum. She brings the awareness of and attention to inclusivity fostered in her previous career to her work as a mindfulness educator. Petrie strives to create a welcoming community in her workshop spaces, with a particular interest in creating an inclusive environment for students on the autism spectrum, and for transgender and gender nonconforming students. Interviewed by Eleanor Duke.