Stefan Zijlstra, M.A., RYT 500, has been practicing mindfulness meditation since 1996, and has been teaching since 2005. He has trained and studied with a wide variety of Buddhist meditation teachers. His approach to teaching emphasizes the cultivation of kindness and compassion, which leads to a gentler/softer meditation and yoga practice that is particularly beneficial for the typical ‘high stress/high anxiety’ culture of Western societies.
Stefan was certified as a yoga teacher in 2004 and is currently registered at the 500-hour level with ‘Yoga Alliance’. He has also completed an 18-month long teacher training for ‘Mindfulness Yoga and Meditation’ at Spirit Rock Meditation Center.
Stefan co-founded ‘Snow Buddha’ in 2005 and is the founder and current director of the ‘Alaska Center for Mindfulness’, which offers secular Mindfulness training, such as Jon Kabat-Zinn’s 8-week long ‘Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction’ (MBSR) program.
He holds a graduate degree in philosophy from the University of Amsterdam.
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Tara Lampert, M.A., RYT 500, has been practicing mindfulness meditation and yoga since 1999, and has trained under many different yoga and meditation teachers around the country. She has been teaching Mindfulness Meditation and Mindfulness Yoga in Alaska since 2014. In addition, Tara has been teaching 8-week long ‘Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction’ (MBSR) classes for the ‘Alaska Center for Mindfulness’ since 2015.
Tara has completed an 18-month ‘Mindfulness Yoga and Meditation Teacher Training’ at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and is currently registered with ‘Yoga Alliance’ at the 500-hour level.
Tara has a graduate degree in ‘Creative Writing’ from the University of Alaska Anchorage, and has been an associate professor in the ‘Women’s Studies’ Department at UAA since 2009.