Susan began practicing meditation, and engaging in spiritual inquiry in the 1970s. Since 1991, she has been involved extensively in Buddhist study and practice in Asia, Europe and North America, with respected Dharma teachers, primarily in the Theravadan and Tibetan traditions of Buddhism. She has completed a three-year Buddhist teacher training program with Ken McLeod. She has professional training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction with Jon Kabat Zinn, and has studied Buddhist psychology and Buddhist ministry. Susan is the founder of The Waterloo Riverview Dharma Centre — a non-sectarian centre for meditative practice in the Buddhist tradition — where she is the spiritual coordinator and guiding teacher.
Laura was introduced to Buddhist traditions and practice by a former Tibetan Buddhist monk in 2009. She began attending the Dharma Centre in 2010 and has been practicing and receiving teachings from Susan Child since then. She has also attended teachings by Ken McLeod, a retreat for educators with Thich Nhat Hanh and trained with Soryu Forall in Mind the Music, an instructional technique for working with adolescents. Laura is currently instructing the 8-week Introduction to Mindfulness meditation course.
Anna Marie came to the centre to begin a meditation practice in 2002 and has been a student of Susan Child’s since that time. Anna Marie has been on retreat and studied with teachers including Ajahn Kusalo, Ajahn Viradammo, Ken McLeod, Molly Swan, Norman Feldman and Shinzen Young. She has professional training with Amy Saltzman in offering mindfulness instruction to children and adolescents.
