Jodie Lea

Beginning when I was a teen, I developed an interest in meditation, and throughout my career sought to understand the causes and solutions for the mental health crisis facing humanity during my lifetime.

As a student of Dr. Wallace for nearly fifteen years, I had been preparing to enter long-term retreat since I first heard Dr. Wallace speak about his vision to build Contemplative Research Observatories around the world. I felt inspired to participate in this groundbreaking vision, and fortunately I was able to join the first cohort of contemplatives to enter full-time retreat in December, 2020.

I arrived in long-term retreat after raising a family and developing a career as a counseling psychologist, yoga instructor, and student of Tibetan Buddhism.

Two years of solitude and meditation gave me the priceless gift of time and the skill it takes to sift through and digest a lifetime of experience in a way I never dreamed possible.