My Story
After my sophomore year of college I spent my summer at a Theravadan Buddhist monastery in England, much to the chagrin of my parents, who would have rathered me get a job in consulting or finance like the rest of my friends. I had been in a class earlier that year on the History and Psychology of Buddhist Meditation, and the teachings of the Dharma and the practice of meditation moved me so deeply that I felt compelled to see where this path could go. I quickly realized that what I thought would be a brief dip into another world was actually the beginning of a long and winding, joyful and heart-wrenching path into the mystery of life and the unfurling of the heart.
Throughout the rest of college, I continued to explore spirituality both experientially and academically, honing in on my passions for Buddhism and psychedelics. I took classes in Positive Psychology, the Neuroscience of Religion and Atheism, and the Psychology of Mindfulness, and spent spring and summer breaks on silent retreats.
When I graduated Duke in 2018, I started working for a meditation teacher training company called Unified Mindfulness while I pursued my masters in Psychology and Spirituality at Columbia University. I furthered my studies in positive psychology and took a deep dive into psychedelic research, while completing my level 1 and 2 meditation teacher trainings with Unified Mindfulness and spending as much time as possible in silent retreats and at monasteries in the Vipassana, Zen, and Tibetan Gelug traditions of Buddhism.
In 2019 my sister Kayla and I launched Art of Human Being (AHB), where we started teaching workshops on mindfulness and open-hearted living. Eventually, I felt ready to deepen my path with psychedelics, and I decided to begin a yearlong psychedelic guide training with the Synthesis Institute in 2021. That same year, I traveled to South America, which began a period of deep study with indigenous, mestizo, and indigenous-trained healers, focusing on Ayahuasca and psilocybin mushrooms. Around that time, I began working on my first book (release date TBA), exploring the relationship between Buddhism and the plant medicine path, and including interviews with psychopharmacologist Roland Griffiths Ph.D., Zen Master Vanya Palmers, founder of Depth Hypnosis Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D., author of Altered States Douglas Osto, and many more.
I worked as the Retreat Assistant and Facilitator in Training at Soltara, an Ayahuasca center in Costa Rica, for a few months and then lived at Mountain Cloud, a Zen center in Santa Fe, for another couple months. I now reside in Los Angeles, where I’m continuing to work on my book and offer counseling in meditation and psychedelic integration.
Education and Certifications
Duke University, Cognitive Neuroscience and Entrepreneurship, BA, May 2018
Columbia University, Masters in Clinical Psychology, Concentration in Spirituality and Mind Body Practices, September 2018 - Present
Mindful Self-Compassion Core Skills Workshop with Kristin Neff and Chris Germer, January 2017
Koru Mindfulness Teacher Certification, Weekend Training, January 2018
Unified Mindfulness Level 1 and 2 Teacher Training with Julianna Raye, August 2019-May 2020
Synthesis Institute, Yearlong Psychedelic Practitioner Training, April 2021-2022
Zendo Project, Psychedelic Harm Reduction, August 2022
Retreat Experience
While the professional education has helped, the many years I’ve spent in and out of Buddhist monasteries, silent retreats, and plant medicine ceremonies form the well of wisdom from which I draw in my life and my work. All in all, I’ve completed 6000+ hours of intensive Buddhist & mindfulness training, including over 6 months of monastic residencies, 6 months of silent retreat training, and over 4 years of weekly mentorship from Buddhist and plant medicine teachers. Below I’ve listed the centers and teachers I’ve studied with over the years.
Mind and Life Summer Research Institute, 5-Day Retreat and Conference, June 2016
Amaravati Monastery, Monthlong Monastic Residency, July 2016
Schumacher College, 7-Day Gaia Theory Course, July 2016
Sharpham Trust, 7-Day Mindfulness Retreat, August 2016
Insight Meditation Society, 5-Day Silent Retreat, May 2017
Insight Meditation Society, 1o-Day Silent Retreat, May 2018
Community for Mindful Living with Shinzen Young, 7-day Silent Retreat, May 2019
Spirit Rock with Jack Kornfield, Weekend Retreat, May 2019
Monastic Academy with Soryu Forall, Weekend Retreat, August 2019
Community for Mindful Living with Shinzen Young, 7-day Silent Retreat, November 2019
Monastic Academy with Soryu Forall, 14-Day Silent Retreat, February 2020
Monastic Academy with Soryu Forall, 1-Month Co-Working Monastic Residency, April 2021
Monastic Academy with Soryu Forall, 10-Day Silent Retreat, May 2021
Solo Retreat, 7-Day, May 2021
Buddhist Ayahuasca Retreat, 14-Day Intensive, September 2021
Zen Mountain Monastery, Monthlong Residency, November 2021
Solo Retreat, 1-Month, February 2022
Sravasti Abbey with Venerable Thubten Chodron, 7-Day Retreat, May 2022
Zen Ayahuasca Retreat, 10-Day Retreat, July 2022
Zen Mountain Monastery, 7-Day Silent Retreat, August 2022
Synthesis Institute Psilocybin Retreat, 10-Day, September 2022
Mountain Cloud Zen Center, 2-Month Residency, June-July 2022
Teachers
I’ve been blessed to work with and learn from a number of deep, powerful teachers who have guided and inspired me in my journey into the heart. Below are just a few of the teachers who I’ve worked with.
Shinzen Young
Har-Prakash Khalsa
Jack Kornfield
Ryushin Marchaj
Venerable Thubten Chodron
Geoffrey Shugen Roshi
Soryu Forall
Sharon Salzburg
Kristin Neff