Fern Dorresteyn
Dharma Teacher, Program Director & Co-Founder of Morning Sun Mindfulness Center
Fern Dorresteyn is a Dharma teacher in the Plum Village tradition and co-founder of MorningSun. She has spent her life exploring more sustainable ways of living, personal transformation and the ideal of working with others to create positive change. Fern is the Program Director at Morning Sun, travels to lead retreats, and is continuously learning as she brings the practice into her daily life with her community and her three children. As a young adult she traveled to Plum Village Monastery in France, together with her future husband Michael Ciborski, where they lived for nine years, seven of them as ordained Buddhist monastics. They were fortunate to live and work closely with Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh to offer meditation retreats around the world. In 2003 they returned to lay life and established Morning Sun.
Joaquin Carral
(Bio coming soon)
Laurie Rabut
Laurie enjoyed a creative, outdoor childhood with her parents and three siblings in Southern Connecticut, and spent her adult life studying, teaching and performing music in Boston and Western Massachusetts, including 32 years teaching in the Amherst schools. She borrowed a tape of Thich Nhat Hahn’s teachings from her local food coop in 1995, when her son was 5 years old, and has been on the Mindfulness practice path ever since. Laurie moved to Southern Vermont in 2014 to be near MorningSun while continuing to pursue her creative, community and musical projects. She is currently a board member and trainer with a local Restorative Community Justice organization and has experience serving on two other boards. Laurie brings organizational, relational and communication skills to the table along with a good measure of energy. She is grateful for every opportunity she has to practice with and support the MorningSun Mindfulness community here in Alstead!
Wayne Gersen
Wayne served for 29 years as a public school superintendent, concluding his career in 2011 after leading a district in Hanover NH and Norwich VT for seven years. After retiring, Wayne worked as an education consultant, assisting school boards and administrators with school district consolidation and collaboration issues. His interest in the Plum Village tradition began in 2004 when he and his wife, Gail Kuhl, attended the weekly Days of Mindfulness held at Green Mountain Monastery. Wayne and his wife live in Etna, NH and are members of the Heart of the Valley Mindfulness Practice Center. Wayne serves on several nonprofit boards, writes occasional op-ed pieces for the local newspaper, and writes a blog on public education policy issues. He and his wife have taught meditation courses for Osher’s adult education program and participated in choral groups in the Upper Valley.
Bruce Nichols
(Bio coming soon)