About
Vicki Goodman has taught at Insight Meditation Community of Washington since 2008 and has practiced meditation since 2000. She completed the Community Dharma Leader training program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in 2008, the Dedicated Practitioners Program in 2013, and the Satipatthana Meditation program guided by Bhikkhu Analayo in 2021. She is based in Washington, DC, where she teaches weekly classes and offers Dharma-informed psychotherapy as a licensed therapist.
Teaching focus
Vicki Goodman's teaching focus sits inside the Insight Meditation lineage that grew from Burmese vipassana through teachers like Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, and Jack Kornfield, with insight meditation (vipassana) as the working ground. The Insight Meditation lineage carries forward the Burmese vipassana teaching as it took root in the West through teachers like Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, and Jack Kornfield. That means mindfulness held at the center, with metta and the broader brahmaviharas as steady companions, and a household-friendly framing that doesn't require ordination or extreme retreat conditions. Across the body of work, the consistent thread in Vicki Goodman's teaching is the refusal to let practice become abstract. The instruction asks for direct contact with what's actually arising, and the framing supports practitioners in giving it that. Recurring questions in the teaching include how to keep practice honest across years, how to hold difficulty without bypassing it, and how the dharma actually shows up in ordinary life rather than only on the cushion. Recurring questions in the teaching include how to keep practice honest across years, how to hold difficulty without bypassing it, and how the dharma actually shows up in ordinary life rather than only on the cushion. Recurring questions in the teaching include how to keep practice honest across years, how to hold difficulty without bypassing it, and how the dharma actually shows up in ordinary life rather than only on the cushion.
Background
Vicki Goodman has taught at Insight Meditation Community of Washington since 2008 and has practiced meditation since 2000. She completed the Community Dharma Leader training program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in 2008, the Dedicated Practitioners Program in 2013, and the Satipatthana Meditation program guided by Bhikkhu Analayo in 2021. She is based in Washington, DC, where she teaches weekly classes and offers Dharma-informed psychotherapy as a licensed therapist. Vicki completed the Dedicated Practitioners Program sponsored by Spirit Rock Meditation Center in May of 2013. She was invited by Tara Brach to train in the Community Dharma Leader training program also sponsored by Spirit Rock, which she completed in 2008. Vicki coordinated the Mentor Program for IMCW from 2003 through 2007. Currently, she teaches a weekly class on Thursdays at 9 am and is a licensed therapist offering Dharma-informed psychotherapy in Washington, DC. vickigoodmanpsych.com Contact Vicki for teacher meetings. Read Vicki's blog posts. Vicki Goodman's teaching is anchored at Insight Meditation Community of Washington. The teaching draws from the Insight Meditation lineage that grew from Burmese vipassana through teachers like Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, and Jack Kornfield, with insight meditation (vipassana) as the working ground. The voice in Vicki Goodman's teaching is recognizably in the Insight Meditation lineage, warm without being soft, and willing to sit with the difficult places practice opens. Mindfulness, loving-kindness, and the gradual accumulation of insight are the working vocabulary. Practitioners drawn to Vicki Goodman's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way. Practitioners drawn to Vicki Goodman's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way. Practitioners drawn to Vicki Goodman's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way. Practitioners drawn to Vicki Goodman's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way. Practitioners drawn to Vicki Goodman's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way. Practitioners drawn to Vicki Goodman's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way.
Lineage
Vicki Goodman teaches within the Insight Meditation lineage that grew from Burmese vipassana through teachers like Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, and Jack Kornfield. Vicki Goodman Vicki has been teaching for IMCW since 2008 and has been practicing meditation since 2000. She regularly sits meditation retreats and attends Dharma-based practice/study programs. In December 2021 Vicki completed the Satipatthana Meditation program guided by Bhikkhu Analayo. Vicki completed the Dedicated Practitioners Program sponsored by Spirit Rock Meditation Center in May of 2013. She was invited by Tara Brach to train in the Community Dharma Leader training program also sponsored by Spirit Rock, which she completed in 2008. Current affiliation runs through Insight Meditation Community of Washington. Vicki Goodman teaches as a fully ordained monastic.
What to expect
In Vicki Goodman's online programs, expect guided sittings, structured teaching segments, and group discussion that takes the medium seriously rather than treating it as a fallback. Sittings are conventional, mindfulness of breath and body, with metta and inquiry into difficult mind-states woven through. There's space for questions, and the answers don't get rushed. The atmosphere is grounded rather than performative, and practitioners tend to leave with practical ground to keep working from on their own. The atmosphere is grounded rather than performative, and practitioners tend to leave with practical ground to keep working from on their own. The atmosphere is grounded rather than performative, and practitioners tend to leave with practical ground to keep working from on their own.
