Help Tiffany Wong Empower Our Mindfulness Community

Hi there. My name is Phoenix, and Tiffany Wong is my spouse. As you may know, Tiffany has been a big supporter of the Watsonville Insight community. She has started several sitting groups, including a Tuesday night sit that started from our living room, and then went on to become a regular Tuesday night sit on Zoom when Covid started. For many years, Tiffany co-led that sit with Chris Basiletti, and Chris continues to lead that sit to this day.

Almost two years ago, Tiffany, with the help of Oscar Flores, began an in-person BIPOC and Allies sit on Thursday evenings at the Watsonville Yoga Center on East Lake Avenue in Watsonville. That sit has become a vital space for BIPOC and Allied individuals to come and be a part of a meditation and mindfulness community that is inclusive and supportive. Tiffany has supported the group by planning community outings, day-long sits and events, potlucks, and gatherings. Additionally, she has started a women's meditation and support group that meets once a month at our house.

In all of these sits and events (and more), she has only ever asked for Dana (i.e. donations) to offset the cost of rent for the Yoga studio, some internet-related costs for the website, and the events that she has organized. She has never taken any of that money for herself, and in fact has supported much of her community efforts out of her own pocket. This also includes funding her own development and training as a mindfulness and Dharma instructor - many costs of which were not insignificant.

She now has a unique opportunity to participate in the Community Dharma Leaders Program offered by Spirit Rock. This is a 3-year-long training program offered only to a small select group of individuals who have a demonstrated commitment to leadership in the mindfulness community. The cost for this is not insignificant - even with a scholarship the cost is roughly $7500, not counting things like transportation, time, and other expenses. Tiffany is taking the training so that she can deepen her practice and community leadership, and so that she can continue to offer more support for our Watsonville Insight community. The cost of the training is currently coming out of her own pocket.

So I am asking you, our Watsonville Insight community, our friends, family, and our sibling Insight communities elsewhere, to give something to support Tiffany in taking the Community Dharma Leaders Program, so that she can then take what she learns and offer it to the community. Your generous offer of support can help make this easier for her, and will translate directly into Tiffany being able to support the community more effectively, offering more programs, events and ideas for the community to participate and engage with.

Thank you in advance for your generous donation to support Tiffany in taking the Community Dharma Leaders Program offered by Spirit Rock.

The total cost for Tiffany to take the Community Dharma Leaders Program at Spirit Rock is $7,350. I have rounded that up to $7,500 to cover the cost of incidentals, such as travel costs for the in person retreats that are required by the program, and other small fees. That said, the entirety of any donations up to the first $7,350 will go straight to pay for the fees charged by Spirit Rock for this program. Any remainder over that will be used for incidentals, or will be put back into ongoing costs for supporting the Watsonville Insight community (such as rental costs for the Yoga Studio, event costs, etc). No part of any donations will be used for personal gain.