Dianne Paquette, M.Div.

Dianne is a Hospice of London volunteer who visits clients' homes and teaches relaxation techniques to the seriously ill, caregivers, the bereaved and volunteers.  This CD is dedicated to those people.  Because of their persistence in asking for relaxation aids, the idea for this project was born.

Dianne started out as an elementary school teacher.  She returned to school and earned her Master of Divinity Degree from St. Peter's Seminary in  1996.  For the next three years, Dianne worked as a Catholic pastoral minister in London.

Dianne's interest in meditation began in the spring of 2000 when she attended a buddhist weekend retreat at King's University College in London.  There she met Yeshe Wangpo, the leader of the retreat.  Yeshe is a buddhist monk who was living in London (2000-2007) and who held daily sittings for meditators.  Dianne began to attend sittings regularly and experienced the practice and teachings of mindfulness from this very good man and teacher.

Each year Dianne has attended retreats lead by insight meditation teachers.  She has taken instruction from the following noted teachers:

• Joanne Broach (2 years)

• Molly Swan (4 years, Molly is now Dianne's teacher)

• Norman Feldman (4 years)

• Dr. Jon Kabat Zinn and Dr. Saki Santorelli (week long training retreat in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) at the Omega institute in Rhinebeck New York)