Hanna Hündorf, born 1960 in Germany, has been part of the core team of IEC since its inception in 2014. She helps develop the content, coordinates the workshops and presentations before and during the event, and is part of the main stage management.
Hanna has been a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism since 1982, living for 15 years in Samye Ling, Scotland, where she completed two traditional three year retreats.
In 1997, after her first retreat, she began translating Buddhist teachers from English to German and intensified her studies of Buddhist philosophy and meditation in Hamburg and Nepal. She also started teaching at that time, and begun developing her own style of transmitting the traditional teachings and methods in a way that is appropriate to the Western culture, but retains the depth and power. At the same time she began reading Ken Wilber and adopted the Integral View.
After her second retreat in 2006, she returned to Germany to look after her mother. She worked in an old people’s home for 2 years and nursed her mother for 11 years, so that she could grow old peacefully and in dignity and die at home.
During that time, Hanna began giving courses on Buddhism and meditation and individual coaching sessions. She also became involved in the Integral Movement in Germany and Europe, with a special emphasis on organizing large gatherings.
She lives with her husband Ralf in the countryside north of Hamburg, Germany. In 2017 she joined his gardening firm, which is now her main occupation.