Carole Melkonian
Description
About Carole Melkonian
Carole Melkonian has devoted decades to meditation practice. Her path includes four years living at Zen Mountain Monastery and 12 years of close study with Thich Nhat Hanh, during which she also helped launch his publishing company, Parallax Press. She has taken part in many three-month Winter Retreats at monasteries in the Ajahn Chah lineage in the UK, and spent all of 2015 practicing meditation in monasteries. She is a graduate of the Spirit Rock/IMS Community Dharma Leader Program.
She feels a deep connection to the nuns and monks of Ajahn Chah’s Forest Tradition, and is especially inspired by the teachings of Ajahn Sucitto and former nun Willa Thaniya Reid, with whom she continues to study.
Current Work and Practice
Today, her work includes leading residential retreats, offering meditation programs in hospitals, and mentoring students in the online Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training Program led by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. Alongside this, she works in hospice as an RN and Licensed Acupuncturist, supporting patients and families through end-of-life transition, a role she has held for more than 15 years.
Meditation Approach
Her teaching centers on embodiment, metta, and energy-based body practices such as qi gong and yoga. She brings the liberating teachings of the Buddha into the realities of everyday life, encouraging students to meet practice with faith, curiosity, and kindness.