Christina Feldman

Christina Feldman

Vipassana · Theravada
Donate to Christina Feldman
Visit website →
684
Recorded talks
5
Retreats
Vipassana
Tradition
Mindfulness of breathing (anapanasati)
Primary practice

About

Christina Feldman teaches in the Vipassana tradition of Buddhism. She has given 684 talks and led 5 retreats. Her teaching addresses the relationship between personal experience and non-personal awareness, aloneness and intimacy, and emptiness and embodiment. Feldman presents meditation practice as a path that includes joy alongside the investigation of confusion and alienation. She emphasizes the continued relevance of Vipassana methods to contemporary life and their potential for individual and social transformation.

Teaching focus

Mindfulness of breathingBody-based awarenessInsight (vipassana)Retreat practiceHouseholder practice

Christina teaches in a theravada and insight register, and the recorded talks point back, again and again, to a small set of practices done carefully. The main work is mindfulness of breathing (anapanasati), supported by clear instruction in posture, attention, and the relationship between concentration and insight. A lot of the talks address everyday life directly, which is useful for practitioners who don't get to spend most of the year on retreat. The voice across Christina's talks is conversational rather than lecture-style. Sentences land with care, pauses are real pauses, and there's space left for the listener's own attention to do the work. There's a recurring trust that practice isn't about adding more to an already busy life. It's about subtracting noise until what's already there can be felt clearly. Christina's framing rewards re-listening: the same instructions land differently as practice matures, which is usually a sign of a teacher worth staying with. Christina's framing rewards re-listening: the same instructions land differently as practice matures, which is usually a sign of a teacher worth staying with. Christina's framing rewards re-listening: the same instructions land differently as practice matures, which is usually a sign of a teacher worth staying with. Christina's framing rewards re-listening: the same instructions land differently as practice matures, which is usually a sign of a teacher worth staying with.

Background

Christina Feldman teaches in the Vipassana tradition of Buddhism. She has given 684 talks and led 5 retreats. Her teaching addresses the relationship between personal experience and non-personal awareness, aloneness and intimacy, and emptiness and embodiment. Feldman presents meditation practice as a path that includes joy alongside the investigation of confusion and alienation. She emphasizes the continued relevance of Vipassana methods to contemporary life and their potential for individual and social transformation. Christina's recorded talk archive runs to 684 sessions, which makes it a substantial free library of theravada and insight teaching for anyone willing to work through it. Christina has led 5 retreats indexed in the source archives, which suggests a teacher who works in long-form formats rather than only one-off talks. Christina's teaching sits at the meeting point of classical Theravada and the Western insight movement that grew out of Mahasi-style and U Ba Khin-style practice in the 1970s. That lineage, carried into English by teachers at IMS, Spirit Rock, and Gaia House, is where most lay-friendly vipassana instruction in North America comes from. For listeners trying to find a steady teacher voice rather than a single great talk, Christina's recorded archive is the kind of place you can spend months and not run out of useful material. The talks tend to repay re-listening, especially as practice deepens and the same words land differently. As with any teacher in this lineage, the most useful next step is usually to listen to a handful of Christina's recorded talks back to back, notice which language and framings actually open the practice for you, and then sit with what's there rather than collecting more material. Reading and listening can substitute for practice for a while, but eventually the only useful thing is to put the headphones down and sit. As with any teacher in this lineage, the most useful next step is usually to listen to a handful of Christina's recorded talks back to back, notice which language and framings actually open the practice for you, and then sit with what's there rather than collecting more material. Reading and listening can substitute for practice for a while, but eventually the only useful thing is to put the headphones down and sit. As with any teacher in this lineage, the most useful next step is usually to listen to a handful of Christina's recorded talks back to back, notice which language and framings actually open the practice for you, and then sit with what's there rather than collecting more material. Reading and listening can substitute for practice for a while, but eventually the only useful thing is to put the headphones down and sit.

Lineage

Christina teaches within the theravada and insight tradition. Public records don't clearly state monastic or lay status, so practitioners curious about that detail should check the teacher's own site. Training links published in the source bio include Christina Feldman. For specifics on ordination, root teachers, or current sangha affiliations, the teacher's own website and recorded talks are the most reliable source. Christina's teaching reaches lay practitioners primarily through recorded talks and retreat invitations, which is how most English-speaking students of this lineage encounter the work. Christina's teaching reaches lay practitioners primarily through recorded talks and retreat invitations, which is how most English-speaking students of this lineage encounter the work.

What to expect

On a retreat or sit with Christina, expect long stretches of silent practice anchored in mindfulness of breathing (anapanasati), walking meditation done at an honest pace, and dharma talks that build slowly across days rather than packing everything into one session. Retreats are generally residential and silent, with a daily schedule that alternates sitting and walking from early morning into evening. Q&A or interviews with the teacher are usually built in. Expect quiet. Expect to be left alone with your own practice for stretches that feel longer than what most lay-life schedules allow. That's part of how the form works. The pace is slow on purpose. Practitioners who arrive looking for content density usually find that the real teaching shows up in the spaces between the words.

Who this teacher resonates with

Long-time sitters
Practitioners who've been on retreat before and want a steady, lineage-grounded voice to listen to between sittings.
Practitioners drawn to Theravada
For anyone curious about classical Theravada framing in English, the recorded talks open up that register without requiring travel to Asia.
Daily-life practitioners
For people whose practice has to live inside ordinary work and family life, the talks are pitched for real-world conditions.
The path is intimate, ethical, and embodied, or it isn't really the path.

Frequently asked questions

What tradition does Christina Feldman teach?
Christina teaches in the Theravada and Insight tradition. The core practice is mindfulness of breathing (anapanasati), supported by instruction in posture, attention, and ethical foundation. The framing stays close to recognized lineage forms while remaining accessible to lay practitioners who have no plans to ordain. For tradition-specific terminology and emphasis, the recorded talks are the clearest source.
Is Christina Feldman a monastic or a lay teacher?
Public records don't clearly state whether Christina teaches as a monastic or as a lay practitioner. Either pattern is common in the theravada and insight tradition as it's been transmitted in English. The teacher's own website is the most reliable source for that detail, and the recorded talks usually make the framing clear within a few minutes of listening.
Where can I hear Christina's talks?
The full recorded archive is hosted free at https://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/44/. 684 sessions are currently indexed there, ranging from short Q&A clips to full retreat dharma talks. Working through a handful of recordings in a row is the fastest way to tell whether Christina's voice and framing fit the kind of practice you're trying to build.
Does Christina lead retreats?
Yes. Christina has led 5 retreats indexed in the public archives, and continues to teach in retreat formats where scheduling allows. Retreats are typically silent, residential, and run from a weekend to a week or longer, following classical theravada and insight structure. Current schedules are posted on the teacher's home site.

Where to listen

Featured in

Related teachers

← All teachers