Dr Valerie (Vimalasara) Mason-John M.A (hon.doc) has been hailed by Dr. Ken Hardy as "one of the premier social, cultural, and psychological healers of our time."

They are an award-winning author of 11 books, including her debut fictional memoir novel, Borrowed Body, and Detox Your Heart, Meditations for Emotional Trauma, and Eight Step Recovery Using The Buddha’s Teachings to Overcome Addiction. They are a co-founder of the secular 8-week course Mindfulness-Based Addiction Recovery MBAR and is one of the new leading African Descent Voices in the field of Mindfulness Approaches for Addiction. They are currently an advisor for the international organization Buddhist Recovery Network, which promotes Mindfulness and Buddhism as a complementary approach working with addiction, craving, recovery, harm reduction and abstinence.

Valerie has been working in the field of inquiry over the past 15 years, as a trainer in conflict resolution and restorative justice, and as a guide with Liberation Unleashed, and a mentor in Direct Pointing. They live in BC.