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 plant medicines, 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. In this time, I briefly worked as a Retreat Assistant and Facilitator in Training at Soltara, an Ayahuasca center in Costa Rica, and also did much of my writing in Santa Fe while living at Mountain Cloud Zen Center. In 2024, I moved to Berkeley, CA where I have begun training to become a licensed psychotherapist at The California Institute of Integral Studies.

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 - 2021

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

Somatic Experiencing Practitioner Training, February 2024 - Present

California Institute of Integral Studies, Masters in Integral Counseling Psychology, September 2024 - Present

Retreat Experience 

While the professional education has certainly helped, the many years I’ve spent in 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 6 years of weekly mentorship from Buddhist and plant medicine teachers.

Teachers

I’ve been blessed to work with and learn from a number of wise and compassionate teachers and mentors, who have guided and inspired me in my journey into the heart. The teachers and mentors that have been most influential to me are Jennifer Welwood, Kristina Hunter, Shinzen Young, Har-Prakash Khalsa, and Ryushin Marchaj.