Free Online Summit, April 20-26, 2023

Ginny Jiko Whitelaw Roshi is an 86th generation Zen master, Chosei Zen priest, and founder of the Institute for Zen Leadership. For more than 25 years, she’s combined a rich scientific background, senior leadership experience, and mind-body practices in developing whole leaders. She co-developed FEBI, a validated personality test linking mind, body, and essential leadership behaviors. An executive coach and faculty director, she has taught leadership programs in nonprofits, universities, healthcare systems, and top global companies, including Novartis, Merck, Dell, Bank of America, and JP Morgan Chase. Formerly a senior leader at NASA, she led the integration of the Space Station Program and was awarded NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal. 

Dr. Whitelaw holds a Ph.D. in biophysics, B.S. in physics, B.A. in philosophy, and a 5th degree black belt in Aikido. She is the author of 4 books, including The Zen Leader and Resonate, and is a regular contributor to forbes.com.

Black American and Yoruba Elder, Iya Tahirah Abubakr, was born River Lee Adams in Pocahontas, Mississippi. She was initiated by Ifa Priestess Yamanja in the ancestral traditions of the Yoruba people of western Africa and studied and trained with Malidoma Some’ in shamanism. Iya is a medicine woman, diviner, shamanic practitioner, founder and co-founder for the St. Croix Council of Elders. Iya’s life purpose and dedication are to the service of humanity as a whole and to leave the earth in a greater place than she found it.

Dr. Katharine Wilkinson is a bestselling author, strategist, and teacher, working to heal the planet we call home. Time magazine featured her as one of 15 “women who will save the world.”

Dr. Wilkinson has written several books on climate, including co-editing the bestselling anthology All We Can Save.  She leads The All We Can Save Project, a non-profit she co-founded with Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. The Project's mission is to nurture the leaderful climate community we need for a life-giving future, using the tools of narrative change, community building, deep learning, and tending the emotional-spiritual root from which climate leadership grows. She is the creator of All We Can Save Circles, a unique model for deep dialogue about the climate crisis and building community around solutions, and Climate Wayfinding, a program that supports people in finding or deepening their place in climate work.

Previously, Dr. Wilkinson was the principal writer and editor-in-chief at Project Drawdown. A noted speaker, her TED Talk on climate and gender equality has nearly 2 million views. She serves on several boards and advises for numerous climate-related initiatives.

A homegrown Atlantan, Dr. Wilkinson holds a doctorate in geography and environment from Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar, and a BA in religion from Sewanee. Formative months spent in the Southern Appalachians as a student shaped her path; she is happiest on a mountain or a horse.

Christiana Figueres is a Founding Partner of Global Optimism, co-presenter of the climate podcast, Outrage + Optimism, and co-author of The Future We Choose: The Stubborn Optimist's Guide to the Climate Crisis. She is a Costa Rican citizen and an internationally recognized leader on climate change. She was Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from 2010 to 2016, leading the process that secured the landmark Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

During her tenure at the UNFCCC, Ms. Figueres brought together national and sub-national governments, corporations and activists, financial institutions and NGOs to jointly deliver the historic Paris Agreement on climate change, in which 195 sovereign nations agreed on a collaborative path forward to limit future global warming to well below 2°C, and strive for 1.5°C, in order to protect the most vulnerable. 

Since then Ms. Figueres has continued to accelerate the global response to climate change. She sits on multiple executive and advisory boards and is a frequent public speaker and media commentator. She is a graduate of Swarthmore College and the London School of Economics. She lives in Costa Rica and has two fantastic daughters.

Roshi Joan Halifax, Ph.D. is a Buddhist teacher, Founder and Head Teacher of Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  She is a social activist, author and, in her early years, was an anthropologist at Columbia University (1964-68) and University of Miami School of Medicine (1970-72). She is a pioneer in the field of end-of-life care. She has lectured on the subject of death and dying at many academic institutions and medical centers around the world. She received a National Science Foundation Fellowship in Visual Anthropology, was an Honorary Research Fellow in Medical Ethnobotany at Harvard University, was a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Library of Congress, received the Pioneer Medal for Outstanding Leadership in Health Care by HealthCare Chaplaincy, the Sandy MacKinnon Award from Covenant Health in Canada, Pioneer Medal for Outstanding Leadership in Health Care, received an Honorary DSc from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. 

Her books include: The Human Encounter with Death (with Stanislav Grof); The Fruitful Darkness, A Journey Through Buddhist Practice; Simplicity in the Complex: A Buddhist Life in America; Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Wisdom in the Presence of Death; Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet; and Sophie Learns to Be Brave. She has been involved with the Mind and Life Institute since its inception and is founder of the Varela International Symposium.

Bayo Akomolafe (Ph.D.), rooted with the Yoruba people in a more-than-human world, is the father to Alethea and Kyah, the grateful life-partner to Ije, son and brother. A widely celebrated international speaker, posthumanist thinker, poet, teacher, public intellectual, essayist, and author of two books, These Wilds Beyond our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity’s Search for Home (North Atlantic Books) and We Will Tell our Own Story: The Lions of Africa Speak, Bayo Akomolafe is the Founder of The Emergence Network and host of the online postactivist course, ‘We Will Dance with Mountains’. He currently lectures at Pacifica Graduate Institute, California and University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont. He sits on the Board of many organizations including Science and Non-Duality (US) and Local Futures (Australia). In July 2022, Dr. Akomolafe was appointed the inaugural Global Senior Fellow of University of California’s (Berkeley) Othering and Belonging Institute. He has also been appointed Senior Fellow for The New Institute in Hamburg, Germany.

Ginny Jiko Whitelaw Roshi is an 86th generation Zen master, Chosei Zen priest, and founder of the Institute for Zen Leadership. For more than 25 years, she’s combined a rich scientific background, senior leadership experience, and mind-body practices in developing whole leaders. She co-developed FEBI, a validated personality test linking mind, body, and essential leadership behaviors. An executive coach and faculty director, she has taught leadership programs in nonprofits, universities, healthcare systems, and top global companies, including Novartis, Merck, Dell, Bank of America, and JP Morgan Chase. Formerly a senior leader at NASA, she led the integration of the Space Station Program and was awarded NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal. 

Dr. Whitelaw holds a Ph.D. in biophysics, B.S. in physics, B.A. in philosophy, and a 5th degree black belt in Aikido. She is the author of 4 books, including The Zen Leader and Resonate, and is a regular contributor to forbes.com.

Glynnis Rengger is the founder and CEO of the Immersion Lab, which brokers learning exchanges between leaders around the world on a diverse set of business, organizational and leadership issues. These exchanges deliver immediate and inspiring insights that rapidly shift thinking and stimulate new ideas and practices. Immersion Learning's power is in its trifecta of intentional preparation, carefully constructed immersion experiences, and robust reflection and debrief sessions. Glynnis and her team have delivered thousands of immersion learning experiences around the globe for many of the world's most valuable companies, both virtual and in-person.

Glynnis is proud to be a Bio-Leadership fellow.  She loves working from a home-office location on a beautiful part of the Niagara Escarpment - Georgian Bluffs, Ontario. She is involved in two very meaningful permaculture projects, one on the gorgeous property she inhabits and the second being a leader framework inspired by permaculture: Perma Leadership.

Ginny Jiko Whitelaw Roshi is an 86th generation Zen master, Chosei Zen priest, and founder of the Institute for Zen Leadership. For more than 25 years, she’s combined a rich scientific background, senior leadership experience, and mind-body practices in developing whole leaders. She co-developed FEBI, a validated personality test linking mind, body, and essential leadership behaviors. An executive coach and faculty director, she has taught leadership programs in nonprofits, universities, healthcare systems, and top global companies, including Novartis, Merck, Dell, Bank of America, and JP Morgan Chase. Formerly a senior leader at NASA, she led the integration of the Space Station Program and was awarded NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal. 

Dr. Whitelaw holds a Ph.D. in biophysics, B.S. in physics, B.A. in philosophy, and a 5th degree black belt in Aikido. She is the author of 4 books, including The Zen Leader and Resonate, and is a regular contributor to forbes.com.

Glynnis Rengger is the founder and CEO of the Immersion Lab, which brokers learning exchanges between leaders around the world on a diverse set of business, organizational and leadership issues. These exchanges deliver immediate and inspiring insights that rapidly shift thinking and stimulate new ideas and practices. Immersion Learning's power is in its trifecta of intentional preparation, carefully constructed immersion experiences, and robust reflection and debrief sessions. Glynnis and her team have delivered thousands of immersion learning experiences around the globe for many of the world's most valuable companies, both virtual and in-person.

Glynnis is proud to be a Bio-Leadership fellow.  She loves working from a home-office location on a beautiful part of the Niagara Escarpment - Georgian Bluffs, Ontario. She is involved in two very meaningful permaculture projects, one on the gorgeous property she inhabits and the second being a leader framework inspired by permaculture: Perma Leadership.

Dr. Bob Caron spends his days consulting top universities and higher education systems throughout the United States on their most pressing challenges. Before working for Deloitte Consulting, he was an academic dean in a small New England college, and he was an Assistant Professor and Researcher in the field of Human Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences before that. In parallel with these myriad career changes, Bob has trained in Zen meditation and Aikido since he was 17 years old and taught these disciplines for many years as the Chief Instructor of a world-class dojo that he adopted after his first teacher passed away. Bob is a long-time Zen student of Ginny Whitelaw, Roshi, and a board member at the Institute for Zen Leadership. He has three school-aged children and is a partner in his wife’s holistic medical center, called Body Therapeutics in Worcester, Massachusetts. He lives among the woods in a rural town about 30 miles west of Boston and enjoys working his land, climbing mountains in the summer, snowboarding in the winter, sharing time with his wife and kids and guiding people in their transformative journey to realize their authentic selves. 

Kenneth Setsuzan Kushner founded the forerunner of Chosei Zen (formerly Chozen-ji Betsuin/International Zen Dojo of Wisconsin) in 1982. Kushner Roshi received inka shomei (“mind stamp”, designation as Zen Master) from Tenshin Tanouye Rotaishi. He is the principal instructor of the Madison Dojo as well as the Head Master of the Chozen-ji School of Kyudo (“Zen Archery”). Kushner Roshi serves on the Board of Directors of the Zen Dojo of Wisconsin and of the Institute for Zen Leadership and is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin. He is the author of One Arrow, One Life: Zen, Archery and Enlightenment and co-author of Zen Kyudo. In recent years, Kushner Roshi has been concentrating on hara development and writes a blog on the subject.

Peter Appel, Finland, is a yoga teacher in four traditions, a dance facilitator, meditator, mental trainer, and writer. He is also the founder of MOVINGNESS – a new way of exploring the body and mind through conscious movement. In his experience, reconnecting with the felt sense of the body makes it easier to connect with other people and ultimately with all living beings. It can bring us into a state of mind that is highly receptive, creative, and open. However, to interpret the fleeting sensations in the body, we also need frames. So Movingness also includes perspectives from (human) evolution, old wisdom traditions, trauma therapy, and brain science. As Peter says: “It’s about integrating the feeling body with the thinking mind and creating a new form of dialogue. Hopefully, this can help us reframe our narratives and come together as individuals and communities.”

Dr. Adam Potts first started to practice tai chi, yoga and meditation in 2008. He wanted to become more flexible physically. He was surprised to discover that these practices held healing benefits that went far beyond the physical. He currently runs the free Facebook™ Group "Begin with Breath Tai Chi and Therapy" with a free tai chi class every week and is director of the online tai chi and yoga studio "Begin with Breath Connect" with 5 live classes every week, monthly workshops, and online courses.​

After serving in the U.S. Marines for 4 years, Adam studied Physical Therapy (PT) at UMass Lowell and earned his Doctor of Physical Therapy degree (DPT).​ While in PT school, Adam enrolled in a yoga teacher training at Kripalu Center in Massachusetts which changed his life. He met his amazing wife Laura there. They did several more trainings together in yoga, tai chi, and meditation since then. After practicing Tai Chi for many years, Adam became certified as a teacher and trained with many teachers in traditional Tai Chi. He loves to integrate physical therapy knowledge with tai chi to help people reduce stress while improving strength, flexibility, and balance of body and mind.

Adam and his family currently live in Asheville, NC with their wonderful daughter and amazing son.

Paul Sevett BC-DMT, LICSW is a Dance/Movement Therapist and Body Worker committed to being with others on the journey of healing. His 40 year career has brought him into healing relationships with scores of people. It is Paul's honor and privilege to be allowed into the lives of those whose desire is to move past the roadblocks within keeping them from knowing and being their authentic, true selves. 

Paul began Zen practice in 2012 on attending his first Zen Leadership course. Ten years later, he became certified as a Zen Leadership Instructor with the Institute for Zen Leadership.

Kate Watters is the chair of the board of the Institute Zen Leadership. She is a student of Zen and a graduate of the Institute for Zen Leadership curriculum. An RYT 500, E-RYT 200 yoga instructor, Kate is also certified in trauma informed yoga. She is the co-founder and executive director of Crude Accountability, an environmental and human rights nonprofit, and she is committed to justice, sustainability, and co-creating community to hold us all.

Dr S. Ama Wray is the creator of Embodiology® - a movement method, based on West African principles of human communications, that leads to human flourishing. She is also a Professor of Dance and founder of the Africana Institute for Creativity recognition and Elevation at UC Irvine. Embodiology’s distinctive breath-informed, rhythmic movement and music concepts have shown evidence-based efficacy in elevating vitality, wellbeing and resilience, along with emboldened activation of community responsibility. Her virtual classes, Joy in Motion, begin with breathwork, supporting everyday people to transform their indoor spaces into experiences of 'co-liberation'. Embodiology® is being taken up by a variety of sectors including wellness, STEM educators, corporate leadership, professional development and community health, in Buffalo NY, California, Florida and North Carolina, to change social, educational and business outcomes. Wray has been a guest speaker/lecturer at the United Nations, Institute of Advanced Studies, TEDx and other globally renowned organizations. Her roots in art making have been informed by collaborations with artists including Wynton Marsalis, Bobby McFerrin, Mojisola Adebayo and Derek Bermel. Embodiology® is a rendering of ubuntu, a liberation technology, grounded by ancestral African-Atlantic wisdom, operating to optimize thriving for the individual and the group. Embodiology®  is registered as a trademark, rendering its creator and beneficiaries’ ethical responsibility to  reciprocally return acknowledgement and resources to the Ewe community in Ghana, where its principles were uncovered - each time this work is shared. Her work is published by Routledge and Oxford Books.

Miles Kessler Sensei is a dual lineage holder in both Buddhist meditation and the martial art of Aikido. He is a meditation teacher, Aikido Sensei, and director of The Integral Dojo, which is an online school of meditation, aikido and integral practices. For over 25 years, Miles has been teaching meditation and the embodiment of spiritual awakening to thousands of people around the world. Miles is the former director of “Aikido Without Borders” through which he established dojos in Israel and Palestine, and facilitated cross-cultural trainings in Aikido. His work now focuses on helping people get established in the practice of mindfulness, progressing through the development of meditative insight, and evolving our embodied expression of the Dharma in today’s world.

Bernard is a purpose-driven start-up innovation and development support professional. He is passionate about being a success catalyst and bridge for startup teams and venture founders using the power of technology and entrepreneurship to change the world. Thrilled and fulfilled to lead innovation, technology and entrepreneurship for disability inclusion in Africa, Bernard leads Global Disability Innovation Hub's Innovate Now project - Africa’s 1st Assistive Technology Accelerator based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Sherifa is a Gender Transformative Approach professional, a Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) advocate and digital health enthusiast.  She has over 10 years experience in grassroots organizations, as well national and international SRHR and human rights advocacy and programming. She is specifically interested in social emotional learning, the rights, protection and safety of children, adolescents, women and girls, and marginalised populations.

Sherifa aims to utilize accessible platforms in establishing partnerships with stakeholders working in SRHR and Gender Empowerment, and to harmonize these efforts in achieving quality of life for vulnerable groups in Ghana. She was formerly part of trainers4life in the global Dance4life project.

Dr. Nicolene is a research-driven professional who understands that effective education requires initiative, self-motivation, and a wide range of skills from teaching to administration. She is the co-founder of Open Flow Learning Centre, a business leader, and a passionate researcher who guest lectures at universities in Indonesia. Nicolene helps equip undergraduate students with the skills and tools they need to succeed in their future careers. She has vast experience in teacher training and has implemented high-level, professional development in many education and non-education organizations. Dr. Nicolene has presented workshops in America, the Philippines, South Africa, Indonesia, and Singapore.

Alex Kruger is a dynamic teacher and pioneer in the field of Permaculture. She has been teaching Permaculture Design Certification (PDC) for over 20 years and has trained thousands of students. She did her first PDC at Fambidzanai Centre in Zimbabwe in 1993 and has been transmitting the joy of Permaculture to others since then. Alex is a prominent figure in the Permaculture movement in South Africa, where she has designed a wide range of Permaculture systems from urban gardens to eco-villages, farms, regional level action plans for marginalized communities and projects for NGOs.

For the past 10 years, Alex has been living and teaching at the Berg-en-Dal Permaculture Training Centre and Sustainable Dryland project in the semi-arid area of the Klein Karoo in South Africa. This is a 405 hectare, off-grid farm in a very challenging environment and provides the ideal testing ground for the effectiveness of Permaculture systems.

Gayatri Schriefer is a co-founder of Living Somatics, offering training programs world-wide in the clinical hands-on work and movement lessons of Living Somatics. She is the educational director of the Ingle Institute for Somatic Education. Gayatri holds a bachelor’s degree in education, with the focus on health promotion and education. She is a certified Hanna Somatic Educator from the Novato Institute for Somatic Research and Training in California, USA. Gayatri counsels clients and delivers trainings and workshops internationally. 

From an early age, Gayatri inquired into the field of conscious movement. For the last twenty years she has been studying and practicing embodied movement, including Hanna Somatics, Equine Somatics, the Feldenkrais Method, biodynamic craniosacral therapy, Body Mind Centering, Qi-gong, and several styles of yoga.

Gayatri guides her clients and students into greater embodied freedom, self-love and natural self-expression. She has spent her adult life inquiring into systems that bring about transformation, well-being and spiritual awakening. Gayatri is a firm believer that each person is self-responsible, self-regulating and self-healing. She teaches the principle of awareness with slow mindful movement, creating a field to reconnect with oneself and discover how the light of one’s own awareness enhances integration, authenticity and freedom.

From more than a decade of experience across traditional, independent and progressive schools and learning centres, to his roles in marketing, strategic planning and content creation, Peter Philips is well-positioned to bring conscious change to the world of education, strategic planning, communication and leadership. 

Peter is a communicator, a deep listener and one who sees many creative possibilities through curating visual content imbued with storytelling, emotion, and personal truths. He communicates with embodied understanding of how 'East' unites with the 'West' through his Balinese and European ancestral heritage, and works to mimic Nature's wisdom in building human-centered systems and processes. He invites people into the responsibility to model a new way for humanity and nature through quality, place-based education models and self-actuating human beings.

Vanessa Aires is passionate about humans & nature and helping people unleash their full potential. She has a Master's in Educational & Developmental Psychology, and has traveled and lived in communities in Switzerland, Italy, Nepal, and Portugal, with a focus on youth and childhood development. She’s worked as a psychologist and counselor for several NGOs and beneficiary groups, including children, families and adults in homeless situations. Her mission is to foster the development of thriving, regenerative communities, through the empowerment of their individuals from an early age.

Vanessa is the founder of KETI KETA (www.ketiketa.pt), a social profit organization for (re)connecting humans, small & grownup, with (their) nature, which is a reference in the revolution of the Portuguese educational system. Together with her team,, she’s successfully implemented the first nature-based kindergarten designed under Permaculture Principles in Portugal. She is also the Creative Psychologist Leader for TORKECC, a creative consultancy agency.

Mark Tabbron is internationally recognized for his innovative approach to the empowerment of people. In 1994, he co-founded RedZebra Global, a Social Enterprise that has offices in the UK, USA, Spain and South Africa and has worked in over 80 countries in 6 continents. As the International Director for Actitud Creativa, Mark takes care of global expansion for the Creativity Certification Program in the English-speaking business world. He is also the co-founder and Board member of the RedZebra Youth Empowerment Foundation based in Cape Town, South Africa. 

Mark has presented globally in numerous classrooms and conferences, business schools and boardrooms. Using a dynamic toolkit of rhythm, music and creativity to actively engage & empower people in communities and companies, Mark helps people discover their potential fueling purpose with passion. 

An experienced Creative Director, Facilitator, and Master Trainer, Mark has designed and delivered hundreds of experiences around the world that focus on Creative Leadership and Innovation. Sharing a wealth of experience in both Personal, Corporate and Community Development, Mark is known for his ability to enhance human performance in life, in business and on stage.

Highlights in Mark’s career include his involvement with the Global Youth Campaign, dance4life! In collaboration with dance4life International, Mark and the RedZebra team successfully rolled out a global training program that inspires peer educators to use dance as a medium to motivate and unite young people as change agents in the fight against AIDS/HIV. To date, over 2.6 million youth in schools, reaching over 33 countries have joined the dance4life movement.

Michael Lee is a creative professional who is also trained and skilled in facilitating creativity and innovation breakthroughs for leaders, entrepreneurs, teams, and coaches. He is a heavily accredited coach, certified as a Master of Creativity and Innovation Coaching, Master NLP Practitioner, Hypnotherapist, Team Coach, and in these additional disciplines: Executive, Recovery, Thought Leadership, Intercultural, Laughter, and Abundance.

As a filmmaker his shows have won 5 South African Film and TV Awards (SAFTAs). He worked for more than two decades as a producer and director of documentary and reality programming in Africa, the US, and Europe. He began his career as a Story Editor for Castle Rock Pictures in Hollywood, and continues to empower other filmmakers today as an approved Script Editor for the SA NFVF and KZN Film Commission.

As an editor of text, he co-founded the seminal literary magazine TRAFIKA in Prague in 1993, which was featured in the NY Times Magazine and on NBC News, publishing authors from over twenty countries. He is currently editing several non-fiction works as the Senior Editor of Ripple Impact Publishing. He is a member of the Creativity Community of Practice (C-COP) executive committee for the BIC Foundation and an international Advisory Board Member of World Creativity and Innovation Week.

NikkiJackmanJOY has graced many conference rooms, boardrooms, stages and screens with her passion for helping people to live joyful lives. She is actively inspiring and emotionally uplifting humankind and doing her part in co-creating a thriving world. 

She creates spaces for expansive self expression, as she facilitates movement, talks, retreats and workshops, in person and online. As a Southern African inspirational speaker and facilitator, she draws from her knowledge, her skills as a Performance Heartist and Impact Producer, as well as her heart for philanthropy to inspire and emotionally uplift others.

Her résumé includes actress in the South African television series Isidingo (1998-2001) as well as other local and international films; a host of inspirational conferences and speaker at TedX Cape Town (2014); She’s the creator of the Naledi nominated one-woman show MAfrika, and was awarded Glamour Magazine’s ‘Women of the Year’ in 2013 ~ for her philanthropic work with The Upliftment Programme (TheUP.org.za), an NGO she started. She’s also an active trainer of facilitators with Secret Sunrise - an active joy movement in 14 cities around the world.

Heather Meikyo Scobie is the head of the Chosei Zen Virtual Dojo. She began Zen training in 2001, was ordained in 2006, and received inka from Kushner Roshi in 2020. She practices kyudo (archery) as part of her Zen training. Scobie Roshi holds a doctorate degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology and a Masters of Public Health. She currently lives in Georgia where she works in global health. Her current focus is on developing the Virtual Dojo and writing her first book about her personal experience in Rinzai Zen training.

Dr. Kristi Crymes, DO is a practicing family medicine physician and faculty with CoxHealth Family Medicine Residency in Springfield, MO. She serves on the Board of Directors and as the Vice President for the Institute for Zen Leadership. Dr. Crymes' medical practice is grounded in her zen practice and the wisdom of nature. She is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, Medical Society Consortium for Climate and Health, and the Society for Teachers of Family Medicine. Dr. Crymes is also an aspiring permaculturist and micro-farmer with interest in the intersection of climate change, healthcare and her local food system.

Alexandra (Alex) Adams, MD, PhD has worked in partnership with multiple Native American communities for over 25 years to promote family and community health and wellness combining  scientific rigor and crucial community knowledge. She works on the effects of climate change in human health, recently producing the Montana Climate Change and Human Health report and films (www.C2H2.org).  She also uses storytelling, filmmaking, and other outreach strategies to engage communities and impact health. She currently serves as the Director of the Center for American Indian and Rural Health Equity (CAIRHE), at Montana State University, an NIH funded center focusing on building research partnerships with rural and Native communities and mentoring junior investigators.

Gail Hockachka has 20 years of experience bridging research and practice in sustainable development in Africa, Latin America and North America, with the past five years focusing on climate change. Her enduring interest is on how to better understand and integrate the human dimensions of global environmental change, in approaches that are commensurate with the complexity of the issues today. Her PhD at University of Oslo focused on meaning-making in climate change adaptation and how to enact pathways of transformative change, with field work in Guatemalan coffee communities and across the global coffee value chain. 

At present, Gail is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver studying how to accelerate climate action through transdisciplinary research and multistakeholder partnerships. She has academic teaching experience at the graduate level at John F. Kennedy University (2006-2013) and at the undergraduate level at the University of Oslo (2017-2019). She has extensive experience working in the NGO sector (1998-2012), co-founded Integral Without Borders where she remains a member of the board of directors. She has also worked in leadership development in the private sector in cross-cultural settings. She has publications in many journals as well as a book Developing Sustainability, Developing the Self: An Integral Approach to International and Community Development.

Miles Kessler Sensei is a dual lineage holder in both Buddhist meditation and the martial art of Aikido. He is a meditation teacher, Aikido Sensei, and director of The Integral Dojo, which is an online school of meditation, aikido and integral practices. For over 25 years, Miles has been teaching meditation and the embodiment of spiritual awakening to thousands of people around the world. Miles is the former director of “Aikido Without Borders” through which he established dojos in Israel and Palestine, and facilitated cross-cultural trainings in Aikido. His work now focuses on helping people get established in the practice of mindfulness, progressing through the development of meditative insight, and evolving our embodied expression of the Dharma in today’s world.

Ginny Jiko Whitelaw Roshi is an 86th generation Zen master, Chosei Zen priest, and founder of the Institute for Zen Leadership. For more than 25 years, she’s combined a rich scientific background, senior leadership experience, and mind-body practices in developing whole leaders. She co-developed FEBI, a validated personality test linking mind, body, and essential leadership behaviors. An executive coach and faculty director, she has taught leadership programs in nonprofits, universities, healthcare systems, and top global companies, including Novartis, Merck, Dell, Bank of America, and JP Morgan Chase. Formerly a senior leader at NASA, she led the integration of the Space Station Program and was awarded NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal. 

Dr. Whitelaw holds a Ph.D. in biophysics, B.S. in physics, B.A. in philosophy, and a 5th degree black belt in Aikido. She is the author of 4 books, including The Zen Leader and Resonate, and is a regular contributor to forbes.com.

Gordon Hakuun Greene is the Abbot of Chosei Zen, a Rinzai Zen Buddhist training organization, and the Head Priest of Spring Green Dojo, its rural training center. He received inka from Tenshin Tanouye Roshi of Chozen-ji in 1996 and founded Spring Green Dojo in 2006. Greene Roshi serves on the Board of Directors for Chosei Zen and the Institute for Zen Leadership.

Dr. Greene received his Ph.D. in Physical Geography in 1981 from the University of Michigan. His formal monastic training took place at Chozen-ji from 1984 – 87, and he was ordained as a priest in 1988. He joined the faculty of the John A. Burns School of Medicine as a medical educator in 1991, serving in both the Department of Family Medicine and the Office of Medical Education until moving to Wisconsin in 2006. Within that Office, he founded the Program for Medical Education in East Asia and has maintained teaching and consulting ties with medical schools and hospitals in Japan ever since.

In Wisconsin, he is affiliated with the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, serving as Clinical Professor of Family Medicine. He has also served as a hospital chaplain and is the author of Facing Suffering, which is an account of his training experience.

He also trains in Zen calligraphy (shodo) and has exhibited his work.

John D. Liu is a journalist, filmmaker, and ecologist whose work with CBS documenting the restoration of China’s Loess Plateau helped to show that it’s possible to restore large scale ecological systems. He is currently Ecosystem Ambassador for the Commonland Foundation, which has been pioneering privately invested ecosystem restoration around the world. John also is the founder of the Ecosystem Restoration Camps Movement that has, together with many partners, created more than 55 Ecosystem Restoration Camps throughout the world. 

John has traveled to more than 90 countries, produced, filmed, written, directed, and presented dozens of films on Environment and Ecology that have aired on the BBC, National Geographic, Discovery, PBS, and other networks. Most of John’s published and broadcast works are collected at:  ttps://knaw.academia.edu/JohnDLiu

Several of John’s films are featured on  https://ecoflix.com/

John D. Liu is a journalist, filmmaker, and ecologist whose work with CBS documenting the restoration of China’s Loess Plateau helped to show that it’s possible to restore large scale ecological systems. He is currently Ecosystem Ambassador for the Commonland Foundation, which has been pioneering privately invested ecosystem restoration around the world. John also is the founder of the Ecosystem Restoration Camps Movement that has, together with many partners, created more than 55 Ecosystem Restoration Camps throughout the world. 

John has traveled to more than 90 countries, produced, filmed, written, directed, and presented dozens of films on Environment and Ecology that have aired on the BBC, National Geographic, Discovery, PBS, and other networks. Most of John’s published and broadcast works are collected at:  ttps://knaw.academia.edu/JohnDLiu

Several of John’s films are featured on  https://ecoflix.com/

Vishwas Satgar is an Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. He edits the book series Democratic Marxism and serves as principal investigator for the Emancipatory Futures Studies in the Anthropocene project. He is the co-founder of the South African Food Sovereignty Campaign and is currently participating in the development of a Climate Justice Charter for South Africa.

Alex Kruger is a dynamic teacher and pioneer in the field of Permaculture. She has been teaching Permaculture Design Certification (PDC) for over 20 years and has trained thousands of students. She did her first PDC at Fambidzanai Centre in Zimbabwe in 1993 and has been transmitting the joy of Permaculture to others since then. Alex is a prominent figure in the Permaculture movement in South Africa, where she has designed a wide range of Permaculture systems from urban gardens to eco-villages, farms, regional level action plans for marginalized communities and projects for NGOs.

For the past 10 years, Alex has been living and teaching at the Berg-en-Dal Permaculture Training Centre and Sustainable Dryland project in the semi-arid area of the Klein Karoo in South Africa. This is a 405 hectare, off-grid farm in a very challenging environment and provides the ideal testing ground for the effectiveness of Permaculture systems.

Bernice Roeland freelances and volunteers across a range of interests, causes and passions in service of healing and transformative change. She is a life-long learner, changemaker, trainer/facilitator, mentor, life coach, aromatherapist, gardener, mother, food justice activist and self-care-as-community-care activist.

Gayatri Schriefer is a co-founder of Living Somatics, offering training programs world-wide in the clinical hands-on work and movement lessons of Living Somatics. She is the educational director of the Ingle Institute for Somatic Education. Gayatri holds a bachelor’s degree in education, with the focus on health promotion and education. She is a certified Hanna Somatic Educator from the Novato Institute for Somatic Research and Training in California, USA. Gayatri counsels clients and delivers trainings and workshops internationally.

From an early age, Gayatri inquired into the field of conscious movement. For the last twenty years she has been studying and practicing embodied movement, including Hanna Somatics, Equine Somatics, the Feldenkrais Method, biodynamic craniosacral therapy, Body Mind Centering, Qi-gong, and several styles of yoga.

Gayatri guides her clients and students into greater embodied freedom, self-love and natural self-expression. She has spent her adult life inquiring into systems that bring about transformation, well-being and spiritual awakening. Gayatri is a firm believer that each person is self-responsible, self-regulating and self-healing. She teaches the principle of awareness with slow mindful movement, creating a field to reconnect with oneself and discover how the light of one’s own awareness enhances integration, authenticity and freedom.

Kate Watters is the chair of the board of the Institute Zen Leadership. She is a student of Zen and a graduate of the Institute for Zen Leadership curriculum. An RYT 500, E-RYT 200 yoga instructor, Kate is also certified in trauma informed yoga. She is the co-founder and executive director of Crude Accountability, an environmental and human rights nonprofit, and she is committed to justice, sustainability, and co-creating community to hold us all.

www.zenleader.global

https://www.facebook.com/instituteforzenleadership

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNCNm1qnMoZeFx0-FAwTXyQ?view_as=subscriber

https://www.instagram.com/zen.leader/

https://twitter.com/thezenleader

https://www.linkedin.com/institute-for-zen-leadership?_l=en_US

Tiphani Palmer is a Partner with the Leadership Embodiment Organization. She is an executive coach, speaker and facilitator with 15 years teaching and working with Leadership Embodiment, a model for cultivating leadership presence. Tiphani is known for her warm, clear, accessible approach to sharing the LE principals. This dynamic model offers the individual, group or organization tools and practices to develop presence, confidence and the ability to act from a more effective, centered state.

Tiphani has studied Martial Arts and Mindfulness for over 20 years and received her 2nd Degree black belt in Aikido, a non-violent Japanese martial art. Some of the companies and venues she has worked with include, George Washington University, Accenture, Comcast, The Gates Foundation, Oracle, Genentech, Gap, Salesforce, NVW Coaching programs, Eileen Fisher, Central California Women Facility, Mindful Leader Summit, UCSF Chaplain services, UC Hastings College of the Law, The Schusterman Foundation & Capital Health in Canada.

Tiphani lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her husband and two children.

Kosha Anja Joubert, serves as CEO of the Pocket Project, dedicated to restoring a fragmented world by addressing and healing personal, ancestral, and collective trauma. She holds an MSc in Organizational Development and is an experienced facilitator, coach, and consultant, and has worked extensively in the fields of systems regeneration, intercultural collaboration, and trauma-informed leadership. 

Kosha grew up in South Africa under Apartheid and has been dedicated to transformational edgework ever since. She has authored several books and received the Dadi Janki Award (2017) for engaging spirituality in life and work and the One World Award (2020) for her work in building the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) to a worldwide movement reaching out to over 6000 communities on all continents. 

Kosha served as CEO of GEN from 2015-2020, significantly scaling up their work to catalyse communities in regenerating their natural, social, cultural, and economic environments. She presented at 12 UN Conferences and multiple other online and offline events. Kosha also co-founded the European Network for Community-led on Climate Change and Sustainability (ECOLISE) and Gaia Education. She co-authored the Ecovillage Design Education curriculum, which was endorsed by UNITAR, with courses run in over 50 countries since 2006.

She has worked in 46 countries and facilitated 27 conferences & festivals over the past 15 years. She now co-hosts the annual Collective Trauma Online Summit with Thomas Hübl.

Robert Byron, MD, MPH, is an internist in Hardin, Montana.   He worked for over two decades on the Crow Indian Reservation, then worked as a hospitalist at St. Vincent’s Healthcare in Billings and helped start Bighorn Valley Health Center, now called OneHealth, a federally qualified health center in Hardin. He was appointed to the Montana Board of Environmental Review by the Governor from 2015-2017. 

A former governor of the Montana Chapter of the American College of Physicians, Dr. Byron, has been a strong advocate for addressing climate change, particularly as relates to the public health and environmental justice aspects. Along with Dr. Lori Byron, his wife, he co-chairs the Citizens Climate Lobby Health Team and is a member of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health. Dr. Byron is one of the lead authors on the recently released Climate Change and Human Health in Montana: A Special Report of the Montana Climate Assessment.

Lori G. Byron, MD, practiced pediatrics for 27 years on the Crow Indian Reservation. Now retired from Indian Health Service, she continues to work as a Pediatric Hospitalist in a private hospital and work largely on environmental issues. She and her husband, Robert Byron, work through several organizations on climate advocacy. She co-leads the Citizen’s Climate Lobby Health Team with Robert. She is on the Children’s Health Advisory Committee to the EPA and the Executive Committee of the Environmental Health Council at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). She organizes a group of pediatrician climate advocates representing every AAP Chapter.  She earned a MS from Johns Hopkins in Energy Policy and Climate in 2020. She is an avid bicyclist, gardener, and cook.

Jonathan Patz, MD, MPH, is the Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor & John P. Holton Chair of Health and the Environment, and served as inaugural director of the Global Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2011-2022. His faculty appointments are in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and the Department of Population Health Sciences.  

Dr. Patz co-chaired the health report for the first Congressionally mandated US National Assessment on Climate Change and for 15 years, served as a lead author for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – the organization that shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.  Some of his other awards include: the Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellows Award; shared Zayed International Prize for the Environment; Fulbright Scholarship; American Public Health Association’s Homer Calver Award for environmental health leadership; Case Western School of Medicine Alumni Special Recognition award; Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars; Chanchlani Global Health Research Award; and elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Professor Patz has taught and conducted research on the health effects of climate change and global environmental change, “Planetary Health,” for more than 25 years and has published over 200 science publications and several textbooks on the subject. 

Fleet Maull, PhD, CMT-P, is the founder and CEO of Heart Mind Institute, Windhorse Seminars & Consulting and also a senior partner and principal in New Line Consulting. He is an IMTA certified professional mindfulness teacher and an Acharya (senior meditation teacher) in the Tibetan tradition and Roshi (Zen master) in the international Zen Peacemaker Community.

While serving 14 years in a federal prison on drug charges (1985 - 1999), Fleet co-founded the first inside-prison hospice program anywhere in the world and launched two national movements, the prison hospice movement through the National Prison Hospice Association and the prison Dharma/mindfulness movement through the Prison Dharma Network and Prison Mindfulness Institute. Today, there are over seventy-five prison hospice programs in the U.S. and several hundred prison Dharma and prison mindfulness projects and programs. 

Fleet has written many articles and has given numerous interviews on a variety of mindfulness and leadership related topics in Inc Magazine, Lion’s Roar, Tricycle, Tikkun, and Turning Wheel. He is a frequent contributor to The Huffington Post and Forbes Magazine and made guest appearances on NPR’s Fresh Air program and the national syndicated E-Town.

He is the author of Radical Responsibility: How to Move Beyond Blame, Fearlessly Live Your Highest Purpose and Become an Unstoppable Force for Good and Dharma In Hell, the Prison Writings of Fleet Maull. Fleet leads prison programs, meditation retreats, chaplaincy and hospice trainings, leadership trainings, bearing witness retreats and transformational seminars throughout the world.

Nichole Quick, MD, MPH has over a decade of governmental public health service and healthcare leadership focusing on population health. Dr Quick is an advocate for underserved populations through outreach, education, and resource alignment within public and private sectors. 

Cindy Haq is Professor and Chair of Family Medicine at the University of California, Irvine.  She has practiced as a family physician and champion for health equity for more than 30 years.  

Dr. Haq has designed and led medical education programs to prepare health professionals to promote health within medically underserved communities. She has developed programs in Pakistan, Uganda, Ethiopia, with the World Health Organization, and with governmental and non-governmental organizations.  She was the founding director of the University of Wisconsin Global Health Institute. She established Training in Urban Medicine and Public Health (TRIUMPH) in Milwaukee, WI to prepare medical students to become community-engaged physician leaders. She practices and teaches in the UCI Family Health Center, a federally qualified health center in Santa Ana, California. Dr. Haq has also been active in the Institute for Zen Leadership from its inception, serves on its Board, and teaches in its Healthy Embodied Agile Leadership (HEAL) programs. 

Alexandra (Alex) Adams, MD, PhD has worked in partnership with multiple Native American communities for over 25 years to promote family and community health and wellness combining  scientific rigor and crucial community knowledge. She works on the effects of climate change in human health, recently producing the Montana Climate Change and Human Health report and films (www.C2H2.org).  She also uses storytelling, filmmaking, and other outreach strategies to engage communities and impact health. She currently serves as the Director of the Center for American Indian and Rural Health Equity (CAIRHE), at Montana State University, an NIH funded center focusing on building research partnerships with rural and Native communities and mentoring junior investigators.

Dr. Kristi Crymes, DO is a practicing family medicine physician and faculty with CoxHealth Family Medicine Residency in Springfield, MO. She serves on the Board of Directors and as the Vice President for the Institute for Zen Leadership. Dr. Crymes' medical practice is grounded in her zen practice and the wisdom of nature. She is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, Medical Society Consortium for Climate and Health, and the Society for Teachers of Family Medicine. Dr. Crymes is also an aspiring permaculturist and micro-farmer with interest in the intersection of climate change, healthcare and her local food system.

Tom Mansfield is the founder at Pale Blue where he offers services of Coaching, Consulting and Communications all in service of Planetary Health. Self taught in many subjects as an autodidact, he naturally creates systems, spaces and programmes for participatory learning.

As a generalist he has a broad range of professional experience from Sustainable Construction and Carbon Removal consulting to Public Events, Arts & Entertainment. He has certified training in NLP, Permaculture and Ecolinguistics. Drawing on 15 years of experience in the built environment from design to fabrication he works with clients to find low-carbon and low energy solutions. His passions are for writing and performing poetry and creating containers for men’s work. He recently became a Bio-leadership fellow where he now leads the All Fellows programme and continues to deepen his practice of nature connection and life centered leadership

Heather is an experienced guide into our emotional waters and shares how emotions are a vital aspect of our psyche that show up to help us in our lives. Contributing to the growing wave of allowing emotions space within our healthcare is a passion for Heather, as there are far too few methods and places that support the value of emotion. Using a combination of empathy, curiosity and humour as a teaching style, Heather brings a lightness into emotion work and loves to meet the intrinsic awareness of each of her clients to support their growth. Being inspired by nature and the way our mind, body and spirit interact is a living question inside Heather's acupuncture practice and emotion work. 'Emotions are everywhere yet allowed nowhere' was something Heather realized, and it is her daily intention to show by embodying another way forward that reflects how emotional integration only elevates authenticity in being her complete self.

Kosha Anja Joubert, serves as CEO of the Pocket Project, dedicated to restoring a fragmented world by addressing and healing personal, ancestral, and collective trauma. She holds an MSc in Organizational Development and is an experienced facilitator, coach, and consultant, and has worked extensively in the fields of systems regeneration, intercultural collaboration, and trauma-informed leadership. 

Kosha grew up in South Africa under Apartheid and has been dedicated to transformational edgework ever since. She has authored several books and received the Dadi Janki Award (2017) for engaging spirituality in life and work and the One World Award (2020) for her work in building the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) to a worldwide movement reaching out to over 6000 communities on all continents.  

Kosha served as CEO of GEN from 2015-2020, significantly scaling up their work to catalyse communities in regenerating their natural, social, cultural, and economic environments. She presented at 12 UN Conferences and multiple other online and offline events. Kosha also co-founded the European Network for Community-led on Climate Change and Sustainability (ECOLISE) and Gaia Education. She co-authored the Ecovillage Design Education curriculum, which was endorsed by UNITAR, with courses run in over 50 countries since 2006.

She has worked in 46 countries and facilitated 27 conferences & festivals over the past 15 years. She now co-hosts the annual Collective Trauma Online Summit with Thomas Hübl.

Sonita is combining her role at The Pocket Project with her Masters in World Heritage Studies. She is a passionate food grower, Permaculture designer and facilitator. For over 10 years, she was the Administrator of Better World Cameroon and co-initiator of Bafut Ecovillage, an off-grid learning center North West of Cameroon. As Executive Secretary of the Global Ecovillage Network Africa, she brings regenerative community and social enterprise development to several African communities.  In 2017, Sonita received the Gender Just Climate Solutions Award by the Women and Gender Constituency for empowering women on the earthen cook stove technology. Driven by her passion for healing colonial trauma, Sonita took the Principles of Collective Trauma Healing course with Thomas Hübl.

Sarah is a regenerative solutions designer weaving experiences in environmental education, cultural heritage, peacebuilding, and humanitarian assistance. Her life-long practice is in restoring and re-storying narratives of place and belonging through ecosystem restoration and leadership. After responding to conflict and natural disasters, she was inspired to form Green Releaf Initiative to support community leaders in regenerative solutions after emergencies in the Philippines. Sarah co-designed REGEN NATIONS, a design lab on regeneration in Asia and the Pacific with the Global Ecovillage Network. She also crafted the proposal for Principle 0, to formally acknowledge traditional ecological knowledge in permaculture. Keeping to her path as creative, she founded  Living Story Landscapes, harnessing cultural memory and imagination in climate and conflict vulnerable communities. 

Margarita is an activist for life. She works to create places, programs and life change experiences that bring together care for Mother Earth and the wellbeing of humanity. Biologist with MSc in Conservation and Rural Development, founder and codirector of Falun Natural Reserve in the Andean region and the UBUNTU Center for experimentation and training in Sustainability in the Rosario Islands, in Colombia. For the last 25 years she has been involved in the development of several alternative programs, including ecotourism, environmental education projects, creation of new private reserves, ecovillages and educational strategies developed by local communities in the face of Climate Change and highly violent environments. Currently does the representation of the Council of Sustainable Settlements of Latin America CASA in the Global Ecovillage Network GEN.

Barry Robbins is a senior teacher and Vice President of Integral Transformative Practice International (ITPI), the ground-breaking program which helped initiate the Integral Movement in the West, co-founded by human potential visionaries George Leonard and Michael Murphy. He is also the co-founder of the Evolutionary Sport Collective, an organization focused on the cutting-edge of sports, athletics, exercise, fitness and movement. Both organizations focus on realizing one’s greatest potential, by bridging integrated principles of body, mind, heart and soul into various disciplines, including education, research, sports, counseling, the workplace, and other venues. Both organizations also champion the need to address climate change by taking an integral approach to involvement and action.

Robbins is a contributing author of Sports, Energy and Consciousness: Awakening Human Potential Through Sport. The focus of his work is somatic, body-based learning, lifelong transformation and actualization. He is a certified LET (Leonard Energy Training) teacher and former nationally-ranked athlete who teaches workshops at Esalen Institute, IONS and other venues, and participates in learning organizations dedicated to serve individuals, groups and effect positive change in the world.

Norma Ryuko Kaweloku Wong Roshi is a Zen teacher and strategy thought partner who lives near the place of her birth in Kalihi Valley, O'ahu, in the Hawaiian Islands. Her ancestors are Native Hawaiian and Hakka. She is a former state legislator and worked for Governor John Waihee on many Native Hawaiian issues. Her current work includes applied zen, the art of waging peace, the art of war, leaping forward in a spacetime of collective acceleration, and the arc of seven generations. She is an 86th generation Zen master of Daihonzan Chozen-ji, and abbot of Anko-in, an independent branch temple of Chozen-ji. Her arts include shodo, kado, Zen cooking, and Mu-i Tai Ji Zen developed by Dogi Kow Roshi.

Rosie Abriam Roshi is the COO for The Leader Project (O’ahu, HI) in their Metro DC office. She is the past President/CEO for The Center for Asian Pacific American Women. Her career has spanned roles in government and corporate entities. At a startup in Silicon Valley she developed patents for laser and manufacturing applications; leading projects across four continents. Previously, Rosie wrote code for atmospheric models while at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where she received the Distinguished Physics Award. 

Rosie serves numerous national organizations including Forward Together, Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project, National Japanese American Memorial Foundation, and is the Metro DC co-chair of Asian American and Pacific Islands in Philanthropy. She recommends for ALY Fund, a donor advised fund with the East Bay Community Foundation.

She has taught martial arts for over 30 years and is a Gura Fifth Degree of the Kamatuuran School of Kali. She was honored as one of the 100 Most Influential Filipinas in America and received the Who’s Who in Asian American Communities Award. She is a Fellow of the Asian Pacific American Women’s Leadership Institute (APAWLI) and, in her APAWLI project, co-founded Rosemary Pai, Inc., a small business focused on marketing and distributing products from artists and startup businesses.  

Rosie is an 87th generation Zen master of Daihonzan Chozen-ji in Honolulu, HI.  She currently lives in the Metro DC area with her husband.

Mark Walsh (“Mr. Embodiment”) is the Director of Embodiment Unlimited, and the author of Embodiment, Working with the Body in Training and Coaching, and Embodied Meditation. He hosts The Embodiment Podcast (1 million + downloads), and led The Embodiment Conference (1000 teachers, 500,000 delegates). He founded the Embodied Facilitator Course, and has trained over 2000 embodiment coaches in over 40 other countries.

Mark gained an honors in psychology and has taught widely in the corporate world, NGOs, police officers and several militaries. He has worked in war zones, and entertained over 50,000 children. He has headlined International Coach Federation events, taught at Moscow State University, lived with the circus in Ethiopia, taught celebrities and kissed a princess.

Mark is an Aikido black belt, and also has 25 years of experience in martial arts, yoga, bodywork, improv comedy, conscious dance, and meditation. Embodiment is his obsession and life’s work. Unfiltered, Mark dances like your dad at a wedding, overshares about his gorgeous Ukrainian wife, and offends pirates with his swearing.

Dr. Amanda Blake is the author of the award-winning book Your Body Is Your Brain, and creator of the Body = Brain course on the neurobiology of experiential leadership learning.  In addition to teaching about the art and science of embodiment, she works with progressive leaders worldwide to help them become their best self, enjoy life more, and make a bigger contribution. Once an internationally competitive athlete, Mandy is skilled at cultivating high performance in herself and others. She is a Master Somatic Leadership Coach, holds a degree in Human Biology from Stanford University, and is both a Fetzer Scholar and a Research Fellow at the Fowler Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit.  She’s also a longtime yoga enthusiast, mountaineer, musician, and celebrator of life. Learn more at embright.org.

Dr. Maya Soetoro is a Faculty Specialist in the College of Social Sciences at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. She also serves as the University’s liaison to the Obama Foundation and works with the Foundation’s Leaders program and Global Girls Alliance on initiatives in Hawai‘i and the Asia-Pacific region. Previously, she was the Director of the Matsunaga Institute for Peace at the University of Hawai‘i, where, in addition to leading outreach and development initiatives, she also taught Leadership for Social Change, Peace Movements, Peace Education, and Conflict Management. For many years, she worked at the College of Education at the University, where she taught Multicultural Education, Social Studies Methods, and Peace Education at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Maya sits on several voluntary boards and is the Co-Founder of the non-profits Ceeds of Peace, The Peace Studio, and the Institute for Climate and Peace. In 2021, Maya launched a podcast entitled “The Bravethrough Series: Courageous Conversations on Community'' in partnership with KTUH Honolulu.

Sabrina Wong is a third-year student at the University of Toronto studying Earth & Environmental Systems and Economics. She is interested in the intersection between science and the social sciences and how to integrate them when it comes to research and policy. She is also passionate about issues related to gender, youth and education, climate change, and sustainability. Sabrina has been an intern at the Institute for Climate and Peace based out of Honolulu, Hawaiʻi since May of last year, where she has worked on an interdisciplinary research project entitled “The Cost of Climate Change in the Hawaiʻi-Pacific-Asia Region” and assisted with program development and communications. She is also a columnist for her campus newspaper, The Varsity, where she reports on academic research activities at the university.

Katie Waters, a recent International and Global Studies graduate from Middlebury College, centered her undergraduate work around understanding climate security, climate justice and policy-making at the local, national, and international level.  Katie has worked for EPA, campaigned for political candidates back home in Virginia, and is thrilled to be a current program analyst for ICP.  She spent her final semester with Sea Education Association, where she sailed aboard a tall ship and conducted climate justice and place-based research with communities of seven islands across the Tuamotu Archipelago, the Marquesas, and Society Islands.  Katie is excited to be pursuing a career in climate security and positive peacebuilding and is passionate about working towards a more just, peaceful, and climate-resilient future. 

Andres Roberts is the founding partner of the Bio-Leadership Project and programme director of the Bio-Leadership Fellowship, two initiatives supporting regenerative people and projects across the world. His work combines transformative leadership development, wisdom from ancient cultures, and deep work with nature to support new forms of progress that care for all of life. His deepest work is the practice of guiding Nature Quests – profound experiences in nature supporting resilience, connection and creativity for navigating these urgent times.

Andres works with people to shape better ways to live and work, as whole people and whole systems, by working in partnership with nature. He does this as a coach, facilitator, leadership and change advisor and as co-founder of The Bio-Leadership Project and Way of Nature UK. Andres’ work brings together more human ideas about leadership and innovation, a special understanding of nature, and wisdom from ancient traditions from around the world.  His work is based on principles of interconnection, presence, relaxation, flow, compassion and connection to ‘source’. His professional and life practice is rooted in questions around wholeness, reconnection and balance. Andres believes that we need a revolution not only in what we work on, but how we work together to help systemic change. He has been guiding Nature Quests for ten years and transformative learning experiences for 18 years. Today he works with many groups and inspiring organizations including Patagonia, The World Benchmarking Organisation, THNK and the Amani Institute. He has studied with respected wisdom teachers and elders from across the world and holds a MSc in Sustainable and Responsible Busines

Christiana Figueres is a Founding Partner of Global Optimism, co-presenter of the climate podcast, Outrage + Optimism, and co-author of The Future We Choose: The Stubborn Optimist's Guide to the Climate Crisis. She is a Costa Rican citizen and an internationally recognized leader on climate change. She was Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from 2010 to 2016, leading the process that secured the landmark Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

During her tenure at the UNFCCC, Ms. Figueres brought together national and sub-national governments, corporations and activists, financial institutions and NGOs to jointly deliver the historic Paris Agreement on climate change, in which 195 sovereign nations agreed on a collaborative path forward to limit future global warming to well below 2°C, and strive for 1.5°C, in order to protect the most vulnerable. 

Since then Ms. Figueres has continued to accelerate the global response to climate change. She sits on multiple executive and advisory boards and is a frequent public speaker and media commentator. She is a graduate of Swarthmore College and the London School of Economics. She lives in Costa Rica and has two fantastic daughters.

Yael Zeligman-Merculieff | Jewish-Israeli ancestry with Yemen, Syrian, Lithuanian & German roots. 

In 2016, Yael was a struggling single mom in Israel, an alternative educator by day, and a TED volunteer translator by night. One night, in her little Kibbutz apartment, Yael saw a video of a man, speaking about things her womb whispered to her when she gave births. He was Ilarion 'Kuuyux' Merculieff, a traditional messenger of his people, the Indigenous Unangan (Aleut) people in Alaska. Yael contacted him to ask to translate it, and... today they are married, living in Alaska, raising Yael's two girls. Yael assists her spouse with his work for Wisdom Weavers of the World and the Global Center for Indigenous Leadership and Lifeways, and also participates and facilitates “Wombs-of-Peace” circles and other circles in the Middle East and beyond.

Ginny Jiko Whitelaw Roshi is an 86th generation Zen master, Chosei Zen priest, and founder of the Institute for Zen Leadership. For more than 25 years, she’s combined a rich scientific background, senior leadership experience, and mind-body practices in developing whole leaders. She co-developed FEBI, a validated personality test linking mind, body, and essential leadership behaviors. An executive coach and faculty director, she has taught leadership programs in nonprofits, universities, healthcare systems, and top global companies, including Novartis, Merck, Dell, Bank of America, and JP Morgan Chase. Formerly a senior leader at NASA, she led the integration of the Space Station Program and was awarded NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal. 

Dr. Whitelaw holds a Ph.D. in biophysics, B.S. in physics, B.A. in philosophy, and a 5th degree black belt in Aikido. She is the author of 4 books, including The Zen Leader and Resonate, and is a regular contributor to forbes.com.

Israeli-American Elder DeAnna L’am is of Romanian birth and ancestry. Fondly known as ‘Womb Visionary,’ DeAnna is an author, speaker and trainer, who has been in the forefront of the Global Red Tent Movement since its beginning. She has trained women in over 30 countries.

Black American and Yoruba Elder, Iya Tahirah Abubakr, was born River Lee Adams in Pocahontas, Mississippi. She was initiated by Ifa Priestess Yamanja in the ancestral traditions of the Yoruba people of western Africa and studied and trained with Malidoma Some’ in shamanism. Iya is a medicine woman, diviner, shamanic practitioner, founder and co-founder for the St. Croix Council of Elders. Iya’s life purpose and dedication are to the service of humanity as a whole and to leave the earth in a greater place than she found it.

Dr. Anita Sanchez, PhD, Nahua (Aztec) and Mexican American, is an International award-winning author, consultant, trainer and executive coach who has worked with tens of thousands of global leaders and teams around the world. Anita inspires people to discover and trust their gifts so that they become a life-giving force to all people, nature, and the planet.  She

specializes in weaving Indigenous wisdom and science for results in diversity and inclusion,leadership, culture and promoting transformational change in our world. 

Heather Meikyo Scobie is the head of the Chosei Zen Virtual Dojo. She began Zen training in 2001, was ordained in 2006, and received inka from Kushner Roshi in 2020. She practices kyudo (archery) as part of her Zen training. Scobie Roshi holds a doctorate degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology and a Masters of Public Health. She currently lives in Georgia where she works in global health. Her current focus is on developing the Virtual Dojo and writing her first book about her personal experience in Rinzai Zen training.

Rebecca Ryan, founder of the Association of Professional Futurists (APF), believes the future is ours to create. Ryan combines her Zen training and foresight training to show how we make the world, starting with our breath and posture.

Rebecca Yakumei Ryan is a Zen Leadership instructor focusing on social change and has served previously as Board chair of the Institute for Zen Leadership. Ryan began Zen training with Whitelaw Roshi in 2004 and was ordained in 2019, and received inka from Whitelaw Roshi in 2021. Ryan is a futurist, economist, and strategist serving local and state governments, and economic and community development organizations through her company, NEXT Generation Consulting. She is the author of numerous books and papers and has held residencies at the Alliance for Innovation, CEOs for Cities, the Association of Government Risk Pools (AGRiP), the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, and the Local Government Institute. She has been named: Top 50 Futurists by Ross Dawson, Top 100 Most Influential People by Accounting Today, Communicator of the Year by Women in Communication, and Entrepreneur of the Year by the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

Rosie Abriam Roshi is the COO for The Leader Project (O’ahu, HI) in their Metro DC office. She is the past President/CEO for The Center for Asian Pacific American Women. Her career has spanned roles in government and corporate entities. At a startup in Silicon Valley she developed patents for laser and manufacturing applications; leading projects across four continents. Previously, Rosie wrote code for atmospheric models while at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where she received the Distinguished Physics Award. 

Rosie serves numerous national organizations including Forward Together, Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project, National Japanese American Memorial Foundation, and is the Metro DC co-chair of Asian American and Pacific Islands in Philanthropy. She recommends for ALY Fund, a donor advised fund with the East Bay Community Foundation.

She has taught martial arts for over 30 years and is a Gura Fifth Degree of the Kamatuuran School of Kali. She was honored as one of the 100 Most Influential Filipinas in America and received the Who’s Who in Asian American Communities Award. She is a Fellow of the Asian Pacific American Women’s Leadership Institute (APAWLI) and, in her APAWLI project, co-founded Rosemary Pai, Inc., a small business focused on marketing and distributing products from artists and startup businesses.  

Rosie is an 87th generation Zen master of Daihonzan Chozen-ji in Honolulu, HI.  She currently lives in the Metro DC area with her husband.

Ellen McKenzie, C-IAYT, is a Yoga Therapist and Chosei Zen student who uses Hanna somatics and other somatic tools to support integration, regulation and healing. She works with Red Beard Somatic Therapy which is based in Madison, WI and Boulder, CO, and trains under Ken Kushner Roshi in the Chosei Zen lineage.

Rebecca Ryan, founder of the Association of Professional Futurists (APF), believes the future is ours to create. Ryan combines her Zen training and foresight training to show how we make the world, starting with our breath and posture.

Rebecca Yakumei Ryan is a Zen Leadership instructor focusing on social change and has served previously as Board chair of the Institute for Zen Leadership. Ryan began Zen training with Whitelaw Roshi in 2004 and was ordained in 2019, and received inka from Whitelaw Roshi in 2021. Ryan is a futurist, economist, and strategist serving local and state governments, and economic and community development organizations through her company, NEXT Generation Consulting. She is the author of numerous books and papers and has held residencies at the Alliance for Innovation, CEOs for Cities, the Association of Government Risk Pools (AGRiP), the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, and the Local Government Institute. She has been named: Top 50 Futurists by Ross Dawson, Top 100 Most Influential People by Accounting Today, Communicator of the Year by Women in Communication, and Entrepreneur of the Year by the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

Raised on the St. Paul Island in the Bering sea, Ilarion was given his traditional Unangan (Aleut) name, “Kuuyux” at the age of four. There is only one Kuuyux in each lifetime, and Ilarion was selected by the previous Kuuyux as a carrier of ancient knowledge into modern times; a bridge, a messenger.

In his youth, Ilarion started climbing up the conventional leadership ladder, becoming co-chair and head of 17 boards and councils, until he "jumped" into fully living the legacy of his traditional name: Kuuyux .

Ilarion has over 50 years of experience serving his people, and others around the world in a number of leadership capacities. He is president of GCILL - Global Center for Indigenous Leadership and Lifeways, and co-founder and key speaker for the Wisdom Weavers of the World, working to help humanity shift our consciousness from the mind to the heart.

Dr Ihirangi Heke is a native New Zealand Māori, who was raised in the mountain environment of the Southern regions. Over the past 25 years he has been active in helping Māori and other indigenous groups abroad, build their own health and wellness activities based on traditional environmental knowledge i.e., removing people from health and replacing it with environmental connections. Dr Heke was previously awarded a research grant to compare Systems Science and Maori Environmental Connections by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He holds an Honorary Research Fellow position at the University of Auckland’s Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and was recently contracted to consult to Google X’s diversity initiative to address unconscious bias. 

Raised on the St. Paul Island in the Bering sea, Ilarion was given his traditional Unangan (Aleut) name, “Kuuyux” at the age of four. There is only one Kuuyux in each lifetime, and Ilarion was selected by the previous Kuuyux as a carrier of ancient knowledge into modern times; a bridge, a messenger.

In his youth, Ilarion started climbing up the conventional leadership ladder, becoming co-chair and head of 17 boards and councils, until he "jumped" into fully living the legacy of his traditional name: Kuuyux .

Ilarion has over 50 years of experience serving his people, and others around the world in a number of leadership capacities. He is president of GCILL - Global Center for Indigenous Leadership and Lifeways, and co-founder and key speaker for the Wisdom Weavers of the World, working to help humanity shift our consciousness from the mind to the heart.

Also known as Harrison Caicedo Santibanez, Elder Pacha’s ancestral name, Pacha K’anchay, means “the sun-glint that penetrates the earth.” He has spent his life learning spiritual practices of his ancestors and elders. He has also walked many of the territories of his native land, learning and sharing with many different native, ethnic groups. Today, he is a speaker on the Great National Council of Indigenous Elders in Columbia, representing his Yanakuna tribe. He travels a great deal sharing and teaching on how to coexist in harmony with the spirit and wisdom of Mother Earth.

Edward Sparks (Ed Holy Pipe Canunpa Wakan Hunka) is Oglala Lakota of the Red Cloud family of Pine Ridge, South Dakota. He has been following the Lachol wichokan, or Lakota way of being, since boyhood. He is a traditional dancer and ceremonial pipe carrier after the Mato wicasa (Bear man or vision of the Bear) way of life. Ed has been conducting the traditional Oinikaga of initipi (sweat lodge) and pipe ceremony in Alaska for the last 30 years. 

Ed was a captain in the US Army, and is a retired member of the Alaska Army National Guard. He has traveled all over Alaska and has lived in Anchorage, Chugiak, and Wasilla. He now resides in the Trapper Creek area.

Auntie Puna is a shining community figure and is pivotal in supporting numerous programs, events and organizations that celebrate diversity and Hawaiian cultural values. From seed exchanges to surf meets and festivals to sacred ceremonies, Puna brings a gift of ancient Hawaiian wisdom and a family lineage that traces back through many island generations.

As one of the founders of Kanuikapono Charter School, in Anahola, Puna delights in her work with the keiki (children) and kumu (teachers). Puna has been involved in spearheading numerous community organizations, and is the former president of both the Canoe Association and the Mokihana and Emmalani Festivals. She was also a founding member of Leadership Kaua‘i and the Kaua‘i Planning and Action Alliance (KPAA) − to name just a few.

Puna Kalama embodies a pure, Hawaiian essence and delights in sharing her ancient lineage while infusing the message of aloha from her heart to humanity.

Israeli-American Elder DeAnna L’am is of Romanian birth and ancestry. Fondly known as ‘Womb Visionary,’ DeAnna is an author, speaker and trainer, who has been in the forefront of the Global Red Tent Movement since its beginning. She has trained women in over 30 countries.

Black American and Yoruba Elder, Iya Tahirah Abubakr, was born River Lee Adams in Pocahontas, Mississippi. She was initiated by Ifa Priestess Yamanja in the ancestral traditions of the Yoruba people of western Africa and studied and trained with Malidoma Some’ in shamanism. Iya is a medicine woman, diviner, shamanic practitioner, founder and co-founder for the St. Croix Council of Elders. Iya’s life purpose and dedication are to the service of humanity as a whole and to leave the earth in a greater place than she found it.

Dr. Anita Sanchez, PhD, Nahua (Aztec) and Mexican American, is an International award-winning author, consultant, trainer and executive coach who has worked with tens of thousands of global leaders and teams around the world. Anita inspires people to discover and trust their gifts so that they become a life-giving force to all people, nature, and the planet.  She

specializes in weaving Indigenous wisdom and science for results in diversity and inclusion, leadership, culture and promoting transformational change in our world. 

Ellen McKenzie, C-IAYT, is a Yoga Therapist and Chosei Zen student who uses Hanna somatics and other somatic tools to support integration, regulation and healing. She works with Red Beard Somatic Therapy which is based in Madison, WI and Boulder, CO, and trains under Ken Kushner Roshi in the Chosei Zen lineage.

Geoff Ashton is a Zen Roshi and Associate Professor of Asian Philosophy at the University of San Francisco. He began his Zen training in 2004, learned the form of Mu-I Tai Chi from Stephen Dogi Kow Roshi, and received inka from Gordon Greene Roshi in 2020. He leads a Zen training group in San Francisco.

Formerly at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Prof. Ashton has studied Sanskrit, Thai, and Spanish, and conducted research at numerous institutions abroad, twice as a Fulbright scholar, including Jawaharlal Nehru University (India), Deccan College (India), the Jñāna-Pravaha Institute (India), Chiang Mai University (Thailand), Chulalongkorn University (Thailand), and La Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain). He has also been invited to present his research in India, Thailand, China, Singapore, Austria, Iceland, Poland, and England.

He has authored numerous articles, book chapters, and essays on Indian Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Comparative Ethics, and Comparative Aesthetics. He currently has three main research agendas: Indian Philosophy of Religion, Buddhist Philosophy and Comparative Ethics, and Comparative Aesthetics.

Peter Appel, Finland, is a yoga teacher in four traditions, a dance facilitator, meditator, mental trainer, and writer. He is also the founder of MOVINGNESS – a new way of exploring the body and mind through conscious movement. In his experience, reconnecting with the felt sense of the body makes it easier to connect with other people and ultimately with all living beings. It can bring us into a state of mind that is highly receptive, creative, and open. However, to interpret the fleeting sensations in the body, we also need frames. So Movingness also includes perspectives from (human) evolution, old wisdom traditions, trauma therapy, and brain science. As Peter says: “It’s about integrating the feeling body with the thinking mind and creating a new form of dialogue. Hopefully, this can help us reframe our narratives and come together as individuals and communities.”

Ginny Jiko Whitelaw Roshi is an 86th generation Zen master, Chosei Zen priest, and founder of the Institute for Zen Leadership. For more than 25 years, she’s combined a rich scientific background, senior leadership experience, and mind-body practices in developing whole leaders. She co-developed FEBI, a validated personality test linking mind, body, and essential leadership behaviors. An executive coach and faculty director, she has taught leadership programs in nonprofits, universities, healthcare systems, and top global companies, including Novartis, Merck, Dell, Bank of America, and JP Morgan Chase. Formerly a senior leader at NASA, she led the integration of the Space Station Program and was awarded NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal. 

Dr. Whitelaw holds a Ph.D. in biophysics, B.S. in physics, B.A. in philosophy, and a 5th degree black belt in Aikido. She is the author of 4 books, including The Zen Leader and Resonate, and is a regular contributor to forbes.com.

Dr. Kelly Bannister is a fun-loving spirit who is enjoying being unmade and remade through Aikido and Zen practice. She is a busy working professional who is working on being not too busy, a mom of two and wife for over 30 years, a daughter-in-learning of parents in their golden years, a respecter of the natural world, gardener, amateur photographer and a committed aikido and zen student-practitioner affiliated with Shawnigan Lake Aikikai, Chosei Zen and the Institute for Zen Leadership.

She holds undergraduate and masters degrees in biochemistry and microbiology, a doctorate in botany (ethnobiology and phytochemistry) and a postdoc in applied ethics. For over two decades, she has been devoted to understanding how we can work well across different worldviews and knowledge systems to address pressing social and ecological issues and inequities of our time. She works as an independent consultant, facilitating teamwork and evolving policy and practice related to biodiversity and biocultural ethics. She also holds a part time position as Co-Director of the POLIS Project on Ecological Governance in the Centre for Global Studies at the University of Victoria (B.C., Canada). She is an Instructor with the Institute for Zen Leadership and a committed Zen student.

Kelly was inspired to create and steward the One Earth Pledge process for the Summit, as an encouraging reminder of our collective commitments to our one-and-only Earth.

Rebecca Ryan, founder of the Association of Professional Futurists (APF), believes the future is ours to create. Ryan combines her Zen training and foresight training to show how we make the world, starting with our breath and posture.

Rebecca Yakumei Ryan is a Zen Leadership instructor focusing on social change and has served previously as Board chair of the Institute for Zen Leadership. Ryan began Zen training with Whitelaw Roshi in 2004 and was ordained in 2019, and received inka from Whitelaw Roshi in 2021. Ryan is a futurist, economist, and strategist serving local and state governments, and economic and community development organizations through her company, NEXT Generation Consulting. She is the author of numerous books and papers and has held residencies at the Alliance for Innovation, CEOs for Cities, the Association of Government Risk Pools (AGRiP), the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, and the Local Government Institute. She has been named: Top 50 Futurists by Ross Dawson, Top 100 Most Influential People by Accounting Today, Communicator of the Year by Women in Communication, and Entrepreneur of the Year by the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

Ginny Jiko Whitelaw Roshi is an 86th generation Zen master, Chosei Zen priest, and founder of the Institute for Zen Leadership. For more than 25 years, she’s combined a rich scientific background, senior leadership experience, and mind-body practices in developing whole leaders. She co-developed FEBI, a validated personality test linking mind, body, and essential leadership behaviors. An executive coach and faculty director, she has taught leadership programs in nonprofits, universities, healthcare systems, and top global companies, including Novartis, Merck, Dell, Bank of America, and JP Morgan Chase. Formerly a senior leader at NASA, she led the integration of the Space Station Program and was awarded NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal. 

Dr. Whitelaw holds a Ph.D. in biophysics, B.S. in physics, B.A. in philosophy, and a 5th degree black belt in Aikido. She is the author of 4 books, including The Zen Leader and Resonate, and is a regular contributor to forbes.com.

Raised on the St. Paul Island in the Bering sea, Ilarion was given his traditional Unangan (Aleut) name, “Kuuyux” at the age of four. There is only one Kuuyux in each lifetime, and Ilarion was selected by the previous Kuuyux as a carrier of ancient knowledge into modern times; a bridge, a messenger.

In his youth, Ilarion started climbing up the conventional leadership ladder, becoming co-chair and head of 17 boards and councils, until he "jumped" into fully living the legacy of his traditional name: Kuuyux .

Ilarion has over 50 years of experience serving his people, and others around the world in a number of leadership capacities. He is president of GCILL - Global Center for Indigenous Leadership and Lifeways, and co-founder and key speaker for the Wisdom Weavers of the World, working to help humanity shift our consciousness from the mind to the heart.