Kasumi grew up in northern Japan, where she learned to meditate from a young age. She has received extensive training in meditation and yoga, including over a year spent in solitary meditation retreats as well as numerous group retreats. She currently oversees Tergar’s activities in Japan and translates for Mingyur Rinpoche. She holds two Master’s degrees, and spent 15 years teaching Japanese at the University of Wisconsin.  She now works for Tergar International as a curriculum expert. In her spare time, she loves to travel and spend time meditating in retreat.

Tim Olmsted is a Tergar Instructor with decades of experience teaching meditation. He began his Buddhist studies in 1977; in 1981 he moved to Kathmandu to study with Mingyur Rinpoche’s father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. During the twelve years that he lived in Nepal, Tim studied with many of the renowned meditation teachers living there and worked as a psychotherapist serving the international community. Tim is one of the founders and senior instructors of the Tergar Meditation Community, for which he regularly travels around the world leading retreats and teaches online. He lives with his wife Glenna in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where he leads an active community that follows Mingyur Rinpoche’s teachings and those of his family lineage. Tim is the founder and president of the Pema Chödrön Foundation. He is known for the down-to-earth warmth, practicality, and humor of his approach to teaching meditation.