Jessica Morey

Jess Morey is a meditation teacher and contemplative coach.

She began practicing meditation at age 14 on teen retreats offered by the Insight Meditation Society (IMS), and has maintained a consistent commitment to meditation since. Diving head first into meditation at such a key developmental stage makes the revelatory perspective of mindfulness & compassion her natural home turf, and gives her an easy, conversational teaching style anyone can relate to.

She is also a lead teacher, cofounder and former executive director of Inward Bound Mindfulness Education which runs in-depth mindfulness programming for youth, and the parents and professionals who support them across the US, and internationally.

Before dedicating her professional life to teaching mindfulness, Jess studied engineering and worked in clean energy finance. She has no doubt in the technical brilliance of humanity to solve the challenges facing us – including climate change and systemic injustice. Where she believes we need some help is in our inner & interpersonal intelligence.

Her published works range from the chapter ‘Ordinary Awakening’ in Blue Jean Buddha to Conflict Resolution of the Boruca Hydro-Energy Project: Renewable Energy Production in Costa Rica. She combined these areas of passion in an article in the Shambhala Sun, “Bodhi Trees,” about the potential of Buddhist practice to heal our relationship with the natural world. She holds a BA in Environmental Engineering from Dartmouth College and master’s degrees in Sustainable Development and International Affairs.

Training

I began practicing meditation at age 14 on teen retreats offered by the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) and graduated from the IMS Teacher Training in 2021. My primary training and study have been in Insight Meditation, particularly Burmese Vipassana in the Mahasi style. Since 2013, I have also studied intensively within Tibetan Vajrayana traditions. I have been leading meditation retreats since 2009 and am honored to serve as the Board Chair of the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies.

At this time, I am particularly interested in integrating nonviolence and social justice into my meditation practice and teaching. In this, I am deeply inspired and grateful to the work of my mentor Miki Kashtan. In the midst of the current global environmental crisis given my educational and professional background, I am committed to exploring the relationship between contemplative practice, nature and sustainability.

Finally, my journey has included healing from childhood trauma, sexual abuse and generational alcoholism through Somatic Experiencing, Attachment Therapy, Internal Family Systems and other contemplative, somatic therapeutic approaches. I bring to my teaching trauma-sensitive and healing practices.

All of these threads are inextricably linked for me – injustice, desecration of nature, disconnection from our bodies, lack of community and belonging, trauma, addiction, attachment disorders. My practice and teaching seek to address them in an integrated way – towards an embodied freedom and wisdom that manifests in deep integrity and care for the needs of the widest possible circle of beings, ourselves included.