Sharda Rogell began her practice in 1976 and has been teaching worldwide since 1987. She is a Teacher Emerita at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California. Along with her training in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, she has been influenced by many other spiritual teachers and traditions. She has been a student of A. H. Almaas in the Diamond Approach for over 20 years and her primary interest is awakening the heart/mind with embodied presence in order to live a fully awakened life.