About
West Philly Insight offers teachings and guided practice rooted in Vipassana (or Insight) Meditation. Insight meditation emphasizes practices that help us develop greater awareness of ourselves, our embodied and sensory experience, our defense mechanisms, and the true nature of reality. In this way, we begin to understand all the ways we try to bend life–ourselves, other people, and the world around us–to fit our preferences. We don’t practice in order to “fix” ourselves, but to learn to be more real.
Teachers
Cara Blouin (she/her)
Cara is a certified mindfulness instructor in the insight tradition through the MMTCP under Jack Kornfeild and Tara Brach. She has taught and led small meditations in partnership with the Shambhala Center, Calvary Center for Community and in educational and carceral settings. Cara is a psychotherapist in private practice, and the director of the Prison Education Program of Eastern University.
Emily Endres (she/they)
Emily is a humble student of meditation and Buddhist psychology. She finds it invaluable in all parts of her life, including in her work as a psychotherapist. The education and opportunities offered by the Insight Meditation Society and the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies have been instrumental in deepening her practice. Emme has her fingers in many pies in addition to co-organizing WPI, including community gardening and organizing community events.