Retreat Center Practice Leaders
Nancy Boler
Bookkeeper
Nancy Boler is our bookkeeper! Email her at bookkeeper@commongroundmeditation.org to talk about donating and more!
She is also our main yoga teacher. She has been teaching since 1999. She draws from her background in Kripalu yoga, Iyengar yoga, and mindfulness meditation. Her class instruction focuses on physical alignment, breath awareness, yoga philosophy, and development of wholesome mind states. For additional yoga offerings visit https://boleryoga.com/
Mary Clark
Mary Clark became committed to a meditation practice after attending a heart-opening Thich Nhat Hanh retreat in 2009. Retreat practice continues to be a source of enhanced mindfulness, ease, and joy for her. She has guided a community group for Mental Health practitioners and leads meditation at a local prison. She has taught Mindful Self-Compassion at the center and at the University of Minnesota, where she works as a psychotherapist. She is continually grateful to the Dharma for enabling her to translate her direct experience into wise understanding and is committed to contributing to communities of growth and transformation.
Risa Cohen
Before she knew about the Dharma and Common Ground, Risa Cohen found a copy of Jack Kornfeld’s book, The Wise Heart, in the gift shop of a yoga studio. After reading it, she went on her first silent retreat at Spirit Rock. Many retreats and years later, she feels grateful for the communities of practitioners that have supported and sustained her commitment to the Dharma and for her wise teachers. She participates on the Board of TCVC, at Common Ground in the Children’s Program and Buddhist Studies (Sutta Studies in the past), with Minneapolis Insight, and on retreat at CG Retreat Center. Her daily practice includes standing meditation and qigong, and she completed a qigong teacher mentorship with Mimi Kuo-Deemer.
Tony Fernandez
Moved by the Buddhist commitment to non-harming and aspiration to awaken, Tony Fernandez has made daily practice central to his life since 1998. He began practicing in the Theravadan tradition in 2000, sitting several residential retreats each year since then, led by a wide variety of lay teachers or monastics in the Thai Forest Tradition. Many of these he helped organize as an officer and member of the original Board of Madison Vipassana (MVI) for more than seven years. Inspired by the teachings of Ajahn Sucitto, he tries to keep his own practice simple and heart-centered while committing to social justice and standing against oppression based on race, gender, or sexual orientation.
He continues to assist MVI and frequently leads the Sunday night sitting group in Madison. For the last five years, he has taught weekly meditation groups in prisons with the Wisconsin Prison Mindfulness Initiative. Tony greatly appreciates his connection with the Common Ground community and guiding teachers. He is especially grateful for the opportunity to do independent practice at the beautiful Prairie Farm retreat center and is honored to assist as a practice leader.
Pietro Ferrero
Pietro Ferrero was born and raised in Northern Italy and moved to Minneapolis in 2008 to pursue a postgraduate degree in engineering at the University of Minnesota. He started practicing meditation in 2012 during a challenging period in his life. Pietro is very grateful for being part of the Common Ground community since 2016 and having had the chance to sit at numerous residential retreats at both the Prairie Farm and Metta meditation centers. His greatest inspiration is the teaching of the Buddha about the truth of suffering and the possibility to end it. He’s deeply committed to follow the path of practice and he strongly believes that, regardless of one’s circumstances, the mind can be trained and the heart can be opened. In 2023 Pietro successfully completed the two-year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program offered by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach.
Matthew King
Matthew King has sat a variety of teacher-led retreats at Insight Meditation Society, Spirit Rock, and the Metta Meditation Retreat Center, including two three-month retreats. He has also sat self-retreats at Prairie Farm and Kevala Retreat. His focus is on a relaxed and receptive awareness, with the intention of opening the heart to love more fully. Matthew served as the retreat manager for the 2019 Common Ground Labor Day retreat and besides serving as a practice leader, he will be spending a number of months each of the coming years as a caretaker at Prairie Farm helping to ensure retreatants have a space conducive to self-contemplation and an opening of the heart. When not sitting in formal practice, Matthew volunteers with the Wisconsin Prison Mindfulness Initiative, New Community Shelter, and Unity Hospice. He currently resides in Appleton, Wisconsin.
Jane Reyer
Jane Reyer first took refuge in Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha in 1983 and has had a committed, daily meditation practice since 2001. She left her environmental law practice and her home in Grand Marais in 2006 to become a Dharma bum and has spent a total of seven years at various Zen and Theravadan retreat centers and hermitages, including four years at Tassajara Zen Center. She has been connected to the Common Ground community since 2008. Jane remains itinerant, but currently splits her time between Minneapolis and Yachats, Oregon, working from home as an environmental advocate. Jane is dedicated to the liberation and joy of all sentient beings.
Jennifer Stewart
Jennifer Stewart found her way to Common Ground Mediation in 2004, when she committed to both regular daily and retreat practice. Since then, she has attended annual 10-day retreats, often serving in the capacity of retreat manager, kitchen assistant, or registrar. She has spent up to a month at the Forest Refuge at Insight Meditation Society on self-retreat, as well as month-long retreats at her family cabin. Supporting space and holding the container for yogis at Common Ground Retreat Center to experience the Dharma brings her great joy. Her practice also supports and deeply informs her professional work as a psychotherapist.