Los Angeles

InsightLA

Founded in 2002 by Dr. Trudy Goodman Kornfield, InsightLA was the first center in the world to combine Vipassana meditation with secular, non-sectarian mindfulness — the model most studios now follow. A nonprofit for over twenty years, it offers classes, MBSR programs, and retreats, with a standing commitment to pay-what-you-can pricing. A cornerstone of the city's practice community.

Self-Realization Fellowship

Established in Los Angeles in 1925 by Paramahansa Yogananda, author of Autobiography of a Yogi, the SRF Mother Center on Mount Washington is one of the oldest meditation institutions in the Western hemisphere. Its Hollywood Temple is open for guided group meditation, kirtans, retreats, and study groups year-round. A profoundly historic place to practice.

Kadampa Meditation Center Hollywood

A modern Tibetan Buddhist temple in the heart of Los Feliz offering daily drop-in classes in Kadampa Buddhism and meditation. Resident Teacher Gen Kelsang Lekma has earned a devoted following for her lighthearted, clear, and contemporary approach to teaching wisdom and compassion. No prior experience required — or expected.

UCLA Mindful

The UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center has quietly become one of the most rigorous secular mindfulness institutions in the world. Its free weekly meditations at the Hammer Museum and the UCLA Mindful app (available in 19 languages) make evidence-based practice accessible to anyone. Directed by Diana Winston, whose work the LA Times called "among the nation's best," it's an institution most people walk right past.

Peace Awareness Labyrinth & Gardens

A turn-of-the-century Italian Renaissance villa in West Adams — once owned by Hollywood director Busby Berkeley — now home to a Chartres-modeled outdoor labyrinth, over 16 water fountains, a koi pond, and a meditation garden that the New York Times has called one of the most reverential places in Los Angeles. Half-hourly guided meditations for $6, zero pressure, free books on the way out. One of the city's best-kept secrets.

Angel City Zen Center

Soto Zen Buddhism in Echo Park — serious practice, no pretension. Founded in 2016, ACZC offers daily zazen, weekly dharma talks, koan discussions, monthly half-day retreats, and poetry nights, all on a donation basis. Practitioners sit twice daily before most of LA has had their coffee. Their tagline — "take our practice seriously, but ourselves a little less so" — tells you everything.

Unplug Meditation

One of the first secular drop-in meditation studios in the country when it opened. Unplug offers 30- and 45-minute guided sessions in mindfulness, breathwork, visualization, and sound. Phones go at the door. Its rotating roster of teachers means no two sessions are alike, and a deep virtual library keeps regulars practicing on the road.

The DEN Meditation

The DEN is the rare studio that blends reiki, sound bath, breathwork, tarot, and intuitive healing under one roof without feeling chaotic. Founded by Jami and Justin Pasheikin, it runs over 25 live virtual sessions weekly, an on-demand library of 1,000+ classes, and pop-up events across LA, Long Beach, and beyond. Come alone; leave with a community.

The Soundbath Center

Eagle Rock's dedicated sound healing studio specializes in deep-immersion sessions with crystal singing bowls, gongs, chimes, flutes, and wind instruments. DiscoverLA calls it "a sonic massage." Few experiences in the city are quite as accessible an entry point to altered meditative states — no experience, no stillness, no silence required. Just lie down and let the sound do the work.

CULTIVATE Meditation

A family-run studio in Atwater Village offering guided meditation, sound baths, and yoga nidra (yogic sleep) in an intimate two-room space. CULTIVATE's approach tilts toward cultivation rather than correction — building peace, focus, and compassion rather than fixing problems. Drop-in friendly, beginner-welcoming, and never crowded enough to feel anonymous.

The Breathing Room

Built for the person who can't "just sit still," The Breathing Room takes a nervous system science approach to calm. Its signature Reset session uses vibro-acoustic loungers, binaural beats, color therapy, and immersive sound to guide the body into parasympathetic rest without requiring you to quiet the mind first. Not a class, not a massage, not therapy — a category of its own.

Holotropic Breathwork LA

Founded by Stan Grof-certified facilitator Michael Stone, Holotropic Breathwork LA offers one of the most profound and underknown modalities in the city: a technique that uses accelerated breathing and evocative music to access non-ordinary states of consciousness — often described as more vivid than a decade of talk therapy. Not for every weekend, but unforgettable when you're ready for it.

Trudy Goodman Kornfield, PhD

One of the most respected mindfulness teachers in the United States, Trudy Goodman has practiced and taught Zen and Vipassana since 1973. She was among the earliest teachers of MBSR, trained directly alongside Jon Kabat-Zinn, and founded InsightLA — the first center to integrate Buddhist insight meditation with non-sectarian mindfulness. She also holds a Harvard graduate degree in developmental psychology. Her Sunday community sits are open to all.

Diana Winston

Called "one of the nation's best-known teachers of mindfulness" by the Los Angeles Times, Diana Winston has taught since 1993, spent a year as a Buddhist nun in Myanmar, and spent two decades building UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center into a global institution. She created the evidence-based MAPS curriculum and trained over 500 mindfulness teachers worldwide. Her weekly free sessions at the Hammer Museum and the UCLA Mindful app (19 languages) make her work available to everyone.

George Mumford

Known as "The Performance Whisperer," George Mumford has been teaching mindfulness since 1986 — in prisons, at Harvard Medical School, and as Phil Jackson's secret weapon across 11 NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls and LA Lakers. Kobe Bryant called him transformational. He has taught at InsightLA and continues to offer workshops that translate Buddhist practice into everyday peak performance. One of the most uncommon resumes in wellness.

Kelsey J. Patel

A former U.S. Senate staffer turned certified Reiki Master, meditation teacher, and author of Burning Bright (Penguin Random House), Kelsey Patel brings an unusual mix of institutional rigor and intuitive healing to her practice. Based in LA, she has led sessions for Goop, Free People, and Penn State, and co-teaches at The DEN. Sought after for her work on burnout — a topic she knows personally and treats practically.

Lisa Kring, LCSW

A licensed clinical social worker and Vipassana practitioner of over twenty years, Lisa Kring teaches at the intersection of psychotherapy and contemplative practice. A senior InsightLA teacher for fifteen-plus years, she has led MBSR and Mindful Self-Compassion programs while bringing mindfulness into unexpected places — including Hulu, Homeboy Industries, the Huffington Post, and ABC News. One of the most experienced practitioners in the city who most people haven't heard of yet.

Dave Cuomo

Dave Cuomo has been practicing Zen since 2007 and was a founding resident of Angel City Zen Center, ordained in the Soto Zen tradition in 2017. He leads daily zazen, dharma talks, koan study groups, and writing workshops — building one of the most quietly committed Zen communities in Southern California, entirely on donations. If you've been looking for a teacher who takes the practice seriously but keeps the ego out of it, he's worth finding.