About

How I came to this work

I got sober at 19, thanks to meditation. My Buddhist practice only deepened from there. I was trying to understand my own mind and find a different way to live. Practice, community, and the guidance of teachers became central to my life in ways I didn't expect.

I've practiced Buddhist meditation since 2003. My practice has included more than 200 days of retreat, time practicing with Thai Forest monastics in Thailand, and ongoing study with teachers in the Insight and Theravāda traditions. I'm currently in the four-year Spirit Rock / IMS Teacher Training Program.

I come from a multiracial, working-class background with deep roots in my Nuevomexicano family lineage, which also shapes how I think about culture, belonging, community, and practice.

Relational practice

I don't see mindfulness as only an inward or individual practice. Most of us don't lose our mindfulness while sitting quietly. We lose it in conversation, in conflict, in the presence of someone we love or fear or don't understand.

Relationship and community are central places where practice becomes visible and real. I care about how Buddhist practice meets the actual texture of life — relationships, belonging, culture, grief, joy, conflict, and the conditions that shape who we are.

I am a co-founder of Dharma Homies, a community centered on relational, trauma-informed Buddhist practice with a strong commitment to BIPOC communities and young adults.

Nature & ecodharma

Land, nature, and the more-than-human world are part of how I understand Buddhist practice — a dimension of what it means to be alive and awake, not a separate topic.

I have served as faculty for UC Berkeley's Personal & Collective Climate Resilience course, and I bring an ecodharma lens to retreats, groups, and individual work.

What shapes my teaching

My teaching is shaped by long-term practice and by years of working closely with young adults and BIPOC communities. Nervous-system awareness, cultural context, and attention to identity and belonging are woven into how I teach, not treated as add-ons.

I completed a three-year Organic Intelligence practitioner training in post-traumatic nervous system resilience. I also spent five years in psychophysiology and emotion research, including work related to the Cultivating Emotional Balance study. I graduated from UC Berkeley.

Get in touch

If you'd like to work together or learn more about what I offer, I'd be glad to hear from you.