About Us
Founded by Rodney Smith in 1980, Insight Meditation Houston (IMH) promotes the benefits of Vipassana or Insight meditation in Houston and environs. It has been meeting weekly since its founding. Our Community Dharma Leader currently is Ginger Clarkson, who was trained at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California, under Jack Kornfield and other Buddhist teachers.
In June of 2015, IMH was recognized as non-profit public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It is governed by a Board of Directors, whose policies are implemented by an Executive Director.
Board of Directors
Marilyn Jones, Retreat Coordinator
Pam Lewis, Community Coordinator
Rafi Rahman, Treasurer
Eva Zsigmond, Communication coordinator
Community Dharma Leader
Ginger Clarkson
Ginger Clarkson is a Community Dharma Leader, certified by Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California. She has practiced Vipassana meditation under the mentorship of Jack Kornfield and completed the Dedicated Dharma Practitioner program taught by Eugene Cash and other senior teachers at Spirit Rock. Ginger is author of A Silent Cure: Transforming Preverbal Trauma Through Meditation and Poems From the Heart of Silence, a compilation of poetry inspired by month-long silent meditation retreats. With her husband Mark Ryan, she founded the Cholula Vipassana Sangha, which she led for twelve years in the state of Puebla, Mexico, and since 2012 has led Insight Meditation Houston. She has completed the foundations course of the Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Program at the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care (NYZCCC), and is enrolled in a Contemplative Chaplaincy internship affiliated with NYZCCC, Omega House hospice, and the McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
Ginger is a Board Certified Music Therapist and a Fellow of the Association for Music and Imagery. In addition to her private practice, she has trained students internationally in the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM). She holds a B.A. degree in music from Wheaton College in Massachusetts, a M.A. in music therapy from New York University, and a M.S. in special education from Southern Connecticut State University. She has taught at Yale University and the Universidad de las Américas, Puebla and currently lectures and gives workshops at The C.G.Jung Educational Center.