An expert and author in the field of mindfulness and positive habit change, Hugh Byrne’s mindfulness and meditation offerings are guided by the vision of helping people shift from autopilot toward behaviors that create greater happiness and freedom of the heart. He is a senior teacher with the Insight Meditation Community of Washington (IMCW) and the Garrison Institute’s Contemplative-Based Resilience (CBR) program for humanitarian aid workers responding to the refugee crisis in the Middle East and Africa.
Hugh has been practicing, teaching and guiding trainings, workshops, intensive retreats for 20 years within the U.S. and internationally. He is trained in and teaches Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and mind-body somatic experiencing approaches to healing. Hugh earned a law degree from London University, a PhD from UCLA and worked for more than two decades in the field of human rights and social justice prior to teaching. Hugh is the author of The Here-and-Now Habit and Habit Swap: Trade In Your Unhealthy Habits for Mindful Ones (April 2020).
To get a feel for some of Hugh’s work, please listen to his talk and and accompanying meditation on bringing meditative practice into the world, titled, “Mindfulness Meditation for Difficult Times.” This talk explores the challenges of living wisely and compassionately in these times and the role mindfulness can play in providing skills and practices to meet the world wisely and open-heartedly. This meditation provides skills and practices to meet the challenges of these times with wisdom and compassion—by training the heart and mind to open to difficulties in our lives and in the world with acceptance and without judgment.
Hugh delivered a talk at the Insight Meditation Community of Washington’s 2017/2018 New Year’s retreat, titled, “The Bodhisattva in Difficult Times,” which explores the Buddhist archetype of the bodhisattva and its universal quality across spiritual and other traditions of commitment to the transformation and awakening of one’s own heart for the benefit and freedom of all beings. The civil rights movement in the U.S. and the role and courage of Rosa Parks and other ordinary people—is presented as a ‘bodhisattva movement’ and a model and encouragement for the challenges we face today.
For more information about Hugh and to watch his signature talk on “untangling the tangle” of our lives, read more here.