Mindfulness

I am a mindfulness instructor trained in both secular and Buddhist meditation and mindfulness practice. I am a Certified Mindfulness Teacher – Professional Level (CMT-P) through the International Mindfulness Teachers Association, which I qualified for after completing the 300-hour Mindfulness Teacher Training program through the Engaged Mindfulness Institute. I have also received training in mindfulness from Authentic Yoga Scottsdale (RYT-200), Mindfulness First (Teaching Mindfulness I & II), and MNDFL‘s Certification and Training with Rev. angel Kyodo williams.

Professionally, I have taught mindfulness to K-5 students, and trained K-12 teachers, counselors, and administrators from across the country in practicing and sharing trauma-informed mindfulness. With Mindfulness First, I also designed a six-part trauma-informed mindfulness curriculum for corporations and have taught to clients like the Bureau of Land Management and General Motors.

In 2024 I created and implemented four cohorts of a new six-week secular mindfulness curriculum, “Mindfulness, Virtue, and Justice,” which aims to pair contemplative mindfulness-based practice with ethical reasoning in order to emphasize the transformative nature of mindfulness in a secular environment.

I believe empirically-informed and secular mindfulness practice can play an essential role in fostering personal and collective flourishing, at least when combined with ethical reflection and liberatory aims. I work hard to make sure my secular mindfulness pedagogy would not be classified as “McMindfulness.”

I am also a Buddhist practitioner in both the Insight tradition and the Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism, founded by Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. In June 2021, I was ordained as a lay member of the Order of Interbeing with the dharma name True Continuation of Compassion (Chân Tiếp Bi). I serve as a co-founder and facilitator of Joyful Mountain Sangha, an online sangha that has met weekly since 2020 (you’re welcome to join 😉), and am a member of the Care-Taking Council for the North American wing of Wake Up, the youth movement of Plum Village.

I have spent over two months in retreat practice in both the Plum Village and Insight traditions and continue to regularly spend time on retreat. I recently helped to organize a retreat for Buddhist practitioners in their 20s and 30s and have begun mentoring young people aspiring to join the Order of Interbeing. I am committed to deepening my personal mindfulness practice while working to help create a more inclusive and welcoming sangha for all beings.