Russell Delman

Russell Delman, founder of <a href="http://www.russelldelman.com/" rel="noopener">The Embodied Life</a>™ School has been practicing Zen and studying somatic psychology since 1970. "The Embodied Life"™ focuses on the deep integration of meditation, movement, and inner inquiry.

Doug Shear

Doug Shear is a writer, playwright and stand-up comedian. He is author of the memoir: American Karma - Twilight of the Marijuana Gods, the novel Rhubarb Culture, and the recently performed play Saint Peter at the Gate. He has been interested in Buddhist philosophy all his life, but has no real hope of achieving enlightenment. His website is http://dougshear.net. Anyone is welcome to email him at dougshearaol.com.

Suzi Wizowaty

Suzi Wizowaty lives in Burlington, Vermont, with her partner of thirty years, a cat and a dog. She writes novels for adults and children and teaches part-time at St. Michael's College and at Champlain College in Burlington, Vt. She also leads book discussions for the Vermont Humanities Council in public libraries, hospitals, prisons—wherever readers assemble to talk about books and ideas. In 2008, she was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives.

James Ure

James Ure is the author of The Buddhist Blog and practitioner.

Jerry Kolber

Jerry Kolber

Jerry Kolber has been writing, producing and directing television, film, and theater in NYC since 1989. He lives on the Lower East Side and has been meditating since he joined the IDP in 2007. His site is at <a href="http://www.jerrykolber.com/" rel="noopener">www.JerryKolber.com </a>and he is also the author of <a href="http://www.threedollardinner.com./" rel="noopener">www.ThreeDollarDinner.com</a>. He also writes for the IDP's blog, One City. Click <a href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/onecity/author/jerry-kolber-1/2009/07/index.html" rel="noopener">here</a> to read his posts, including his latest, "Top 10 Reasons to Start Meditating Today."

Marianne Elliott

After a decade working as a human rights advocate in New Zealand, Afghanistan, the Gaza Strip and Timor-Leste, Marianne returned to New Zealand in 2008 to write down some of the extraordinary stories she had gathered along the way. Today she divides her time between writing, working as a policy advisor and advocate for Oxfam (a not-for-profit international development agency dedicated to finding lasting solutions to poverty and injustice) meditating and teaching yoga. Her current writing project is a memoir about her life and work in Afghanistan. You can read more about her experiences at "Zen and the Art of Peacekeeping,"  <a href="http://www.zenpeacekeeping.typepad.com" rel="noopener">www.zenpeacekeeping.typepad.com</a>