Who We Are

Advisory Board

Darren Rhodes has been the director of YogaOasis in Tucson, Arizona since 1999. He is the founder of YogaHour and is the author and model of the Yoga Resource Practice Manual eBook featuring photographs of  400 yoga poses with instructions. Yoga Journal named him one of the "21 Talented Young Teachers Shaping the Future of Yoga."

Darren lives in Tucson, Arizona with his wife Bronwin and two sons Dagda and 
Rev. Mary Lindquist is a priest in the Episcopal Church and is the Rector of St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Brattleboro, Vermont.  Mary has degrees from Brown University, Princeton Seminary and General Seminary and has studied in India, Nepal, Tibet and Germany.  She is a student of   contemplative practice across many traditions and is interested in the creation of new forms of practicing, religious communities.  Mary lives in Brattleboro with her husband, three children, dog and cat. 
Rev. Konrad Ryushin Marchaj, Sensei is a Zen priest in the tradition of Zen Buddhism, and a Dharma heir of the late John Daido Loori, Roshi. Ryushin Sensei was the Abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery in the Catskill Mountains of New York. Born in Warsaw, Poland, he immigrated to the United States in 1967. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology from Yale University in 1976. He received his medical degree from Albany Medical College in 1980, working first as a pediatrician in Portland, Maine, and then serving in the US Navy as a physician for three years. He then returned to Albany for postgraduate training in psychiatry. After completing his residency, he served as medical director for a community psychiatric outreach program, the Mobile Crisis Team, which served Albany County’s disenfranchised and homeless population. He entered full-time residential training at the Monastery in 1992. In addition to his roles as the Monastery’s Abbot and Director of Operations, he explored contemplative practices in higher education, collaborating with several liberal arts educators and administrators in the Northeast to look at ways for college students to engage religious practice as part of their education. He has been practicing Buddhism since 1983. Drawing on his background as a physician and psychiatrist, Ryushin’s infectious interest and thorough training in the workings of the mind, combined with his skill at translating complex concepts into the accessible, everyday language, characterize his unique teaching style.
Hali Wong received a B.Sc. from Simon Fraser University. While managing the teacher trainings for one of Vancouver’s largest yoga studios she developed a strong passion for the preservation of ethics in business. This passion lead her to the Berlin School of Creative Leadership where she is finishing getting an Executive MBA. Currently Hali works for Benevity on the Business Operations Team as a Charity Relations Coordinator, vetting charitable organizations from all over the world into the Benevity Causes Portal.
Jeanette Renouf, D.Min., Phd. Is a retired clinical psychologist and educator. She is a member and former head of the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross, whose headquarters is at the Society’s  retreat and conference center, Adelynrood, in Byfield, MA. She trained as a spiritual director when she was working for the Church of England in London, England and taught in that same training program. She has been involved in the formation and development of three more schools for spiritual direction, two of which are for the training of interfaith directors. Tacheria Interfaith School for Spiritual Direction was started by Lupon Claude DeEstree and Jeanette Renouf, and Jeanette continues to serve on the board of that program. She has lead retreats and taught in Europe, Asia, the U.S. and Latin America.
She lives in Tucson, AZ

Board of Directors

Will Duncan - Director
Will has a degree in Psychology from Prescott College and has worked with at-risk youth at both; West Yavapai Guidance Clinic in Prescott, AZ and Brewers-Porch Children's Center at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, AL. He is a graduate of the Ali Akbar College of Music, in San Rafael, CA and also studied classical music and dance under the guidance of Parashu Ram Pandi-Gi in Benares, India. He began his Buddhist studies at Zen Mountain Monastery in 1987. Between 1993 and 2010 he completed an intensive study of the classical literature of Mahayana Buddhism in the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. He has completed almost 4 accumulative years of silent and solitary meditation practice and teaches Buddhist, Christian and Yogic scripture throughout the world including; Asia, Europe, Eastern Europe, South America and throughout the United States. He completed his yoga teacher training at Mount Madonna under the guidance of the legendary yogi Baba Hari Dass.
Ann Curry, PA
Ann is a Physicians Assistant in Palliative medicine at the Yavapai Regional Medical Center. A long term meditator and yoga practitioner, Ann has spent years in solitary and silent prayer. When she can fit it in, she teaches workshops on yoga for physical and mental health. 
Matthew Immergut Ph.D
Matthew works as a professor of sociology at Purchase College, SUNY.  He is also the second author of "The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science for Greater Mindfulness". Matthew teaches meditation and has studied with some of the greatest living masters of our time. He is currently working on a collection of in-depth interviews with many of these modern adepts.   

Members - Residents (past and present) who have been vitally involved in the day-to-day formation of the Sofia community

Douglas Smith
Ann Curry (see above)
Will Duncan (see above)
Bliss Griffith
Joram Van Zyverden