MEETING DIFFICULT TIMES WITH SELF-COMPASSION

Rebecca D'Onofrio

Rebecca is the Director of Operations & Programming at Dharma Moon where she enjoys creating and organizing programs that support people along their meditation journey. Additionally, she serves as a Senior Teacher, providing training and mentoring support to the Dharma Moon teaching team and she serves as a head teacher of the Metta (Loving-Kindness) Meditation Teacher Training. 

Rebecca is also the Director of RDYoga, LLC, a company she founded in 2014 that creates tailored wellness programming for a variety of organizations to help transform workplace culture and work life balance by integrating mindfulness and somatic practices. Rebecca is a certified meditation, yoga and fitness coach with over 15 years of teaching experience.

Rebecca is a dedicated Buddhist practitioner, having completed The Sacred Path of the Warrior, which is a series of in-depth trainings, courses, and meditation retreats based on the unique teachings of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, as well as extensive study and practice of the three-yana Buddhist path within the Karma Kagyu lineage since 2013. 

Rebecca is passionate about integrating meditation as part of the dying process and has provided hospice care and end-of-life services to actively dying people and their families since 2015. Rebecca is passionate about normalizing the concept of death in society and considers it a sacred transition.  

Rebecca also serves as a Special Education Advocate for neuro-diverse and transgender/queer youth in the US public school system. This provides her with the ability to integrate and provide specialized learning support to the programs she creates and teaches.

Rebecca is an avid hiker & nature lover and spends much of her free time exploring the White mountains region of New England with her family.

Noel Coakley

Noel is an independently licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) with a Master's degree in Counseling from Lesley University and Special Education from UMass Boston.

He is also a certified yoga instructor, supporting a holistic, mind & body approach to wellness. His experience from years as a special education teacher benefits his ability to support differentiated learning styles and needs.

Noel has been practicing meditation since 1996, beginning initially with the Indo-Tibetan traditions and then the Yundrung Bön tradition since 2013. Over the years, Noel has been fortunate to learn from over 100 teachers, including HH the Dalai Lama and HH the 34th Menri Trizin. 

HIs first teacher was Lama Tsering Ngodup Yodsampa, from the Karma Kagyu lineage. He later studied with the psychologist and meditation teacher, Dan P. Brown, who introduced him to Mahamudra, Dzogchen, and a Rime style of practice. 

Noel’s main practice lineage is currently the Yundgrung Bön tradition, with his root lama, Geshe Tenzin Gelek Rinpoche, studying Bonpo Dzogchen from the Zhangzhung Nyengyud. 

Noel has been given the refuge name “Zhen Phen Gelek” - ‘Zhen Phen’ meaning ‘to bring benefit to others’ and ‘Gelek’ meaning ‘positive virtues, everything good'.’ 

In addition, Noel is a student of David Nichtern, founder of Dharma Moon, with whom Noel works as a Senior Teacher for the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training program as well as other offerings. 

As the founder and director of the Boston Center for Contemplative Practice, Noel has created a welcoming space where individuals can explore their own paths to healing, recovery, development, and flourishing.

Beyond his professional life, Noel is a loving father, husband, brother, musician, and friend to his dog, Clementine.