Joan Tollifson

Joan Tollifson writes and talks about the ever-changing, ever-present living reality Here/Now. She is interested in seeing through the imaginary problems that we think are binding us, the stories of lack and imperfection, and waking up to the aliveness of this moment, just as it is. Joan has a background in Buddhism and Advaita, but does not identify with any particular tradition. Her main teacher was Toni Packer, a former Zen teacher who left the tradition behind to work in a simpler and more open way. Joan has personal experience with addiction and compulsion as well as depression, and she has had a lifelong interest in how we meet these kinds of situations and what we can do to be free of them. Joan is the author of several books including Bare-Bones Meditation: Waking Up from the Story of My Life (1996), and Nothing to Grasp (2012).