Metta Prayer
May all beings be peaceful.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings awaken to the light
of their true nature.
May all beings be free.
Metta Earth Institute
The Resident Team
Gillian Kapteyn Comstock, Co-Director of Metta Earth Institute, Inc., is dedicated to creating sanctuaries for others to experience vibrant presence. With a passion for discovering the wild in mind, body, and earth, she has led yoga retreats, wilderness quests, and trainings in nature sanctuaries around the world. A yoga practitioner for more than 30 years and long time yoga guide, she is certified in Kripalu, Jivamukti, and Advanced Interdisciplinary Yoga. She is a founding member of the Green Yoga Association and serves on the Green Yoga Council. As a holistic psychotherapist in private practice for nearly 20 years, Gillian also offers mentoring, quest guiding, and leadership trainings. She holds an MA in Counseling Psychology and a BA in Human Ecology, and is certified as a Wilderness First Responder. Inspired by wholesome service, her teaching is infused with ways to find balance and a deepening quietude. For nearly two decades she has been a participant in the Assisi Institute community, which engages in a highly dynamic interdisciplinary investigation of Jungian psychology, creative process, mythology, and the new sciences. She is a mother of three grown sons, weaving family and community sustainability with the contemplative path.
To send an e-mail to Gillian click here
Russell Comstock, Co-Director of Metta Earth Institute, Inc., has given his life to living, learning, and loving. As stepfather of twenty five years to three grown sons, Russell is dedicated to fathering, family, and community life. Always moved by the soul of earth, he holds an MA in Contemplative and Ecological Leadership and a BA in Human Ecology. A practitioner of yoga for more than twenty years, he is certified in both Interdisciplinary and Jivamukti Yoga, and brings to all his teaching a spirit of embodied devotion. Russell is a founding member of the Green Yoga Association and serves on the Green Yoga Council. With extensive experience directing programs in wilderness, adventure, and experiential education, Russell integrates a steady intention to help humans connect more compassionately with earth and with each other. He has trained as a quest and wilderness guide with Earth Rise Foundation, School of Lost Borders, and Outdoor Leadership Training Seminars. He has been a nationally certified Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician (WEMT) for many years, and now maintains a Wilderness First Responder certification. He has recently completed a handbook called: Metta Earth Yoga - Contemplative Ecological Practices for a Sustainable Future.
To send an e-mail to Russell click here
Chessy Kelley is currently a working team member helping with administrative tasks, leading yoga and meditation retreats, and cooking for the current team and program participants at Metta Earth Institute. Chessy has been practicing yoga for over 13 years. She has experience with various styles including Ashtanga, Iyengar, Sivananda and Anusara. Chessy received her 200 hr teacher training certificate at Yogavermont, Burlington, in 2012. Passionate about meditation from an early age, she traveled to India in 1988 to study and practice Tibetan Buddhist meditation and philosophy with many high Lamas, including His Holiness, The 14th Dalai Lama. In 1990 she returned to the U.S. to help open The Land of Medicine Buddha in Soquel, CA where she led spiritual practices for chronically ill people. Since 2000, Chessy has led meditation classes to individuals and groups throughout Vermont for people of all ages and faiths. Chessy holds a BA in Social Work. Her commitment to the practice of Tibetan Buddhism is an integral part of her life. As The 14th Dalai Lama says, meditation is essential to developing peace of mind and a good heart.
