Practice Guides
Denmo Ibrahim
Founder & Co-conspirator of TPM
I’ve been a student of meditation for 18 years and trained in the Tibetan Kagyu lineage of Vajrayana Buddhism. To date, I’ve completed ten month-long meditation retreats, numerous somatic retreats and dharma programs, and several solitary retreats. While practice has been the foundation for my life, my most transformative experiences arise off the cushion and in relationship.
I study the body-mind connection and believe in spirituality as an ordinary practice. My teachers are Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Reggie A. Ray, Bonnie Bainbridge-Cohen, Dr. Vasant Lad, Jiddu Krishnamurti, Alan Watts, Hafiz and my mom.
Norman Elizondo
Co-conspirator & Instructor
I’m a student of Reggie Ray and trained as a Meditation Instructor and Dharma Teacher in the Somatic Lineage of Chogyam Trunpga Rinpoche. A meditation practitioner of 28 years and a founding partner of Open Sky Wilderness Therapy, he is currently in the exploration of how his own BIPOC, immigrant experience can be held and experienced fully and how the Dharma as taught and practiced in America is influenced by her history of oppression and inequality. Norman lives and works in Durango, CO.
Wesley Cabral
Co-Conspirator & Instructor
Visual art and music were my first steps on a spiritual path. I began a focused meditation practice in 2011 through the teachings of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism. Since then I’ve become very interested in the role of creative expression on the path to awakening one’s heart and developing healthy relationship with ego. My practice includes somatic meditation rooted in the body and earth, along with regular retreats, guiding meditation, working with students, and also art as a practice in mindfulness. I’m passionate about how the teachings of Buddhism, at their core, show us how to dismantle bias towards others. When taken beyond a relaxation technique, these practices help us to hold our own suffering and the suffering of others in such a way that we respond spontaneously and creatively where there is need. My main training has come from the lineage of Kagyu Buddhist teachers, including Chogyam Trunpga Rinpoche, through the work of Dr. Reggie Ray. The sangha of fellow practitioners, from many traditions, have also been primary teachers for me.
Practice Hosts
Stefani Valadez
Stefani is a Singer-Songwriter-Musician who has been meditating daily with The Peoples Meditation since March 2020. Previously she had been a student of Reggie Ray’s for many years and loves the Somatic lineage that has been handed down from Chogyam Trungpa. Stefani started hosting sessions in May 2020. She is a certified Qi Gong Instructor and she has combined TPM’s Somatic Meditation practices with a Taoist tint incorporating QiGong moving meditative flows before we sit together to practice. As a certified Way of Council Trainer she provides community-based facilitation skills during post meditation talking circles. Stefani feels honored to hold this safe and enriching space for community as we continue to sit, learn and practice together. She has met wise wonderful new friends here at TPM. These mornings are a gift we give to each other. StefaniValadezMusic.com, DragonSongQiGong.life
April Yee
I began my meditation practice in 2011 with the platform offered by Oprah and Deepak Chopra. Throughout the past decade, I maintained a fairly regular daily practice; I then joined The People's Meditation in April 2020 and began the somatic practice daily. I started hosting recordings for TPM in November 2020. Previously, I worked in the private equity industry for over 10 years, being based in San Francisco and New York City. After undergoing emergency cardiothoracic surgery which saved my life in 2015, I now work part-time and am a holistic life coach focusing on self-care and well-being. Along with meditation, I enjoy reading, writing, learning, connecting, and practicing the handpan.
Denise (Denny) Jarman
Denny was introduced to Tibetan meditation by Geshela Phelgye, a Tibetan Gelupa monk and is a student of Reggie Ray, practicing somatic meditation since 2005. Denny has studied with other senior students of Chogyam Trungpa Rimpoche, including John Rockwell, David Schneider, Agnes Au, Richard John, Andy Carr and Barry Boyce and has studied with Tibetan teachers including Khenpo Kunga and Namkha Drimed Rabjam Rinpoche. She has completed a year-long study of the Hinayana, one 4 month study of the Mahayana and is beginning the third part of another year-long study of the Mahayana. She has taken refuge and Boddisattva vows. She currently lives outside of Davis, California and practices with her sangha at the Davis Shambhala Center. Denny has spent two years practicing daily with The People’s Meditation and is a member of the Ocean practice community where she regularly practices the Sadhana of Mahamudra and attends other classes.
Diana Justl
Diana Justl is a Somatic Psychotherapist and meditation practitioner immersed in the interface of Buddhism and psychological healing for the past 23 years. She is excited to offer space for this dynamic and supportive community to practice together consistently. It is through the consistency of showing up in our bodies and breath that we can truly be of benefit.
Click here to learn more about Diana.