Hugh Byrne

Hugh Byrne came to meditation after more than two decades working on human rights and development policy in Latin America and Africa. Buddhist practice changed how he saw that work: he came to feel that the way we pursue justice matters as much as the goal. He has taught mindfulness since 2000, completed the four-year teacher training led by Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein, and is one of the senior teachers at the Insight Meditation Community of Washington (IMCW). He holds a doctorate and lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.

His teaching joins the classic insight practices of mindfulness, loving-kindness and equanimity with everyday life and with care for the wider world. A particular thread is habit change: his two books, The Here-and-Now Habit (2016) and Habit Swap (2020), draw on Buddhist psychology and neuroscience to show how attention can loosen automatic patterns. He often uses poetry and humour in his talks. He leads a weekly online dharma class offered on a donation basis, gives one-to-one meditation guidance, and co-leads residential retreats with Rebecca Hines in the Washington area and abroad. His Insight Timer courses cover the Four Noble Truths and meditation with poetry.