Andrés Thomas Conteris` family background is from North and South America. His uncle, Hiber Conteris, was a political prisoner for eight years under the military dictatorship in Uruguay beginning in 1976. Andrés organized a worldwide campaign on behalf of him and worked closely with organizations such as Amnesty International, Americas Watch, and the Committee to Protect Journalists.He graduated with honors with a B.A. in Peace and Global Studies from Earlham College in 1984 focusing on Gandhian nonviolence, human rights advocacy, and intentional faith-based communities of justice and peace. He was awarded the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to pursue the topic “Theology of Resistance”. He has an M.A. in religious studies from the Howard University.In 1985, Marcos Conteris, first cousin of Andrés, was gunned down by U.S.-backed contra rebels in Nicaragua. This led Andrés to dedicate much of his life to bring change to U.S. foreign policy in Central America. He participated in a nonviolent direct action in front of the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa in 1987 and the following year he initiated and organized an international nonviolent protest at U.S. embassies in Guatemala City and Tegucigalpa as well as the headquarters of the Pentagon´s Joint Task Force Bravo at the Palmerola Airbase in Honduras.Andrés lived and worked in Honduras from 1994-99 and worked as a Human Rights Advocate. He served as an active member of the Commission of Guarantors, assigned to monitor compliance of an accord signed between the Honduran President and leaders of indigenous peoples. For his efforts, Earlham College, honored him in 1997 with the Sesquicentennial Alumni Peacemaker Award.He is a Co-Producer of “Hidden in Plain Sight” (2003), an award-winning feature-length documentary film narrated by Martin Sheen that looks at U.S. Policy toward Latin America through the prism of the School of the Americas, the controversial military school that trains Latin American soldiers in the United States.Andrés has led a number of educational and action delegations throughout the Americas. He has been active with worldwide movements including the World Student Christian Federation, the International Network for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases, and the World Social Forum.Since initiating Democracy Now! en Español in 2005, Andrés has worked to build a network of over 500 radio stations throughout the Americas and Spain which air the headline news in Spanish of Democracy Now!´s War and Peace Report, a daily, grassroots, global, unembedded, international, independent news program.When the military coup expelled the president of Honduras on June 28, 2009, Andrés travelled there the following day to lead the first post-coup international fact-finding delegation. On September 21, 2009, he entered the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa to cover the return of President Manuel Zelaya to the country. For the next four months, Andrés filed stories from inside the embassy for dozens of independent media around the world and worked as a stringer photographer for Agence France Presse. By the time President Zelaya left the embassy on January 27, 2010, Andrés was the only member of the media left in Brazil´s diplomatic headquarters in Honduras. On that day, he was interviewed on Democracy Now! by Amy Goodman.Since 2006, Andrés has been part of the Philosophy, Cosmology and Consciousness program of the California Institute of Integral Studies. His passion for cosmology is something an elder traditional woman from the Oneida nation recognized when he was a child and granted him the name, “Shooting Star.” He is now working on a writing project which weaves the wisdom of the cosmos with the need for revolutionary change on planet earth.

The founder of Arunachala Yoga & Ayurveda, Arun has the pleasure of serving both the National & State Ayurvedic Associations: NAMA & CAAM. Currently he heads NAMA’s Committee on creating Standards for Ayurvedic Yoga Therapists.Arun teaches internationally, lectures at conferences, writes articles for different publications, has been featured on both radio and television, and has a clinic for consultations and various treatments including panchakarma and yoga therapy in Los Angeles/West Hollywood. He also teaches the Ayurveda and Yoga modules for many Teacher Training Programs around the world and is Director of Ayurveda at LMU’s YTRx Program.Arun has presented at both the NAMA and SYTAR Conferences. Born in India, where he began his studies as a child, Arun has made his home in Los Angeles for the past 35 years.

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.www.bayoakomolafe.net www.emergencenetwork.org

Bex has dedicated her life’s work to yoga and women’s health and focuses on inclusivity, trauma work and social and environmental justice. Bex has been a full time yoga teacher at the Yoga Barn, since 2009 where she teaches hatha, vinyasa, yin/restorative and women’s balance yoga classes. Originally from Scotland, she has a love for the wilderness and with an MPhil graduate degree in Development Studies from Oxford University she has an insatiable curiosity for exploring life in all its dimensions; including the study of Yogic thought and history. Her personal journey with menstrual health, stress and anxiety has led her to birth  workshops and trainings designed to support women's holistic health. Her work is born from lived experience and dedicated research. With her commitment to social and environmental justice as well as commitment to yoga studies, research and mythology means that her classes offer fresh new insights and spins on ""Yoga"" that are beneficial to the modern practitioner and teacher."

Brooke Medicine Eagle is an indigenous Earthkeeper, wisdom teacher, mentor, healer, visionary, singer/songwriter, shamanic practitioner, sacred ecologist and catalyst for wholeness. She has taught at centers, conferences and gatherings across the USA; created EagleSong wilderness retreats 1987-95; and is now teaching internationally. She is an enrolled member of the Crow Tribe, and was raised on her father’s original Crow Indian allotment homestead ranch in Montana. When she is not traveling, her home base is on the original ranch, now Sacred Ground, International center for sustainable living.

Brother Phap Dung is a senior teacher in Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village community. Born in Vietnam in 1969, he escaped at the age of 10 with his family and became a refugee in the U.S. He studied architecture at the University of Southern California and worked as an architect/designer for four years before becoming a monk in 1998 in Plum Village France. He received the Lamp Transmission to become a Dharma Teacher in 2004 and was the former abbot of Deer Park Monastery in California. He has helped bring a spiritual dimension to ecological activism and the climate movement, representing his community at the COP21 talks in Paris and recently at the Glasgow COP26; raising an awareness of the spiritual human crisis that underlies the imbalance in the ecosystem. He has led mindfulness retreats in North and South America, China, Hong Kong, India, Bhutan and Germany. In the US, Br. Pháp Dung has offered mindfulness workshops for organizations like Google, Facebook, Salesforce, and the World Bank. He is passionate about offering the mindfulness practice and community living to young people as an alternative and sustainable way to engage themselves with the social, racial and environmental challenges of our times.

Cat McCarthy meets people where they are and supports them to where they want to go.  She respects and holds space in which others can safely explore the heart-mind-body terrain, integrating the practice of yoga and empathy skills of Nonviolent Communication (NVC).   A dedicated yoga practitioner and international trainer, Cat holds certifications in Anusara Yoga, Kripalu Yoga, and NYCNVC Facilitation.  She has studied extensively within the traditions of Rajanaka Yoga, Neelakantha meditation, BMC’s Embodied Anatomy, and currently with Dr. Gabor Mate’s Compassionate Inquiry Training.  Cat offers entertaining education with vulnerable humor, dynamic clarity, and compassionate presence, so that all humans can live a more aware and fulfilling life.  When not traversing the globe to teach yoga, this Emmy-nominated filmmaker directs/produces non-fiction projects.  You can hear her practical wisdom in her podcast The Upside of Over, https://www.theupsideofover.com.  For more info, please visit: www.catmccarthyyoga.com

Charlotte, co-founder of Listening Inspires, has been working on food systems and nutrition for two decades with the UN, NGOs and governments, in particular in Afghanistan and Africa. An instructor of Ananda Yoga and meditation, she promotes the synergies between personal well-being, consciousness and systems transformation through Listening Inspires, the Conscious Food Systems Alliance (hosted by UNDP) and collaboration with 4SD.

Christiana Figueres is an internationally recognized leader on climate change. She was the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 2010 – 2016, delivering the Paris Agreement in 2015. She is the co-author of the book The Future We Choose and co hosts the popular podcast Outrage and Optimism. She is a Costa Rican citizen.

A former Buddhist monk in Thailand and India, Christopher is a senior Dharma and Mindfulness teacher in the West. He has given more than 700 retreats/courses and led many pilgrimages in the past 50 years.Christopher gives teachings on mindfulness, insight meditation and liberation. A poet, blogger, photographer and social critic, Christopher is the author of 20 books.His books include Light on Enlightenment, Mindfulness for Everyday Living and Ten Years and Ten Days (a memoir of his time in the East).He has lived in Totnes, Devon, England since 1982.

Claire Warmenbol has been working in the field of sustainable development and freshwater conservation for over 20 years. She currently leads communications work for IUCN water projects and manages public-private partnerships for IUCN’s freshwater programme. This has led her to work with communities on water issues across Africa, Asia, South America and the Middle East. A graduate from Melbourne University, Claire previously worked on the BBC series 'Nature Inc' in London, helped establish an IUCN water programme in Fiji and held posts in Brussels for the United Nations and the European Environment Bureau. Claire is an active member of 'She Changes Climate' aiming for more women participation in the global climate change fora, and locally Claire is a politician for the City of Nyon in Switzerland where she strives for urban sustainability and social integration. A keen yogi, Claire – through her own health struggles – has found strength and resilience in  Vipassana meditation, spiritual practice and plant-based medicine. “Whilst working to protect nature, I know nature is there to protect and recharge me too, if only I let it”, says Claire. She will join the @Zenrocksmani Session ‘New Paradigms for Climate Action--Between the Yin and Yang, the Earth balances’ .

Cory Muscara is a former monk, host of the Practicing Human podcast (5MM), and bestselling author of the book, Stop Missing Your Life. With over 500K followers across his social media channels, Cory has gained popularity for his down-to-earth, engaging, and accessible teachings on mindfulness, wellbeing, and mental health. He has taught Mindful leadership at Columbia University, is an instructor of Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, and for the last ten years has offered mindfulness keynotes, workshops, and retreats around the world to companies like Bank of America, Prudential, Johnson & Johnson, Principal, Travelers, BlackRock, and more. Cory’s meditations have been listened to more than 25 million times in over 150 countries, and his goal is to share wisdom teachings in a practical and accessible way.

Dr Athena Despina Potari is Fellow at the Center for Hellenic Studies at HarvardUniversity (2022/23). She received her PhD from the University of Oxford, specializingin Political Philosophy, and holds an MA in Political Theory summa cum laude from theLondon School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). In 2020, she was the youngestfemale scholar to receive the Academy of Athens Award of Philosophy. She is a boardmember of the Galileo Commission.Remembering since early childhood that Hellenic Philosophy is not just an area ofintellectual knowledge, but a lived spiritual path to awakening, parallel to her academicpursuits Athena devoted herself to the study of spirituality. For twenty years she studiedwith teachers in the traditions of Orphism, Pythagoras, Platonism, Kriya Yoga, BuddhistDzogchen and Advaita Vedanta. The insights, methods and realizations from this longcross-cultural examination eventually led her back home, to her own indigenousspiritual tradition. She realized that all core spiritual teachings are already present andalive in the Hellenic scriptures, and that it is a ripe cosmic time for their reintegrationwithin our modern civilization.Since 2012, Athena has been teaching Hellenic Philosophy as a lived wisdom tradition,combining textual study, discursive rigor and scientific reasoning with non-duality andembodied meditative practices inspired by the ancient scriptures.In 2019 she founded Atheonoa- a School of Hellenic Philosophy based in Athens,Greece, devoted to the continuation of the Hellenic spiritual lineage with the aim ofspiritual awakening and eudaimonia ~ the wholeness and happiness which can only bederived from realizing our true being.She is the author of “A Call for a Renaissance of the Spirit in the Humanities” publishedby the Galileo Commission.

Emilia Roig is a nonfiction author and political scientist. Her bestselling book "Why We Matter. The End of Oppression" was published in 2021 and her upcoming book "The End of Marriage. For a Revolution of Love" will be released in March 2023. She is co-author of numerous books, including Unlearn Patriarchy (Ullstein, 2022), Glückwunsch (Hanser Berlin, 2023), and Das Paradies ist weiblich (Kein & Aber, 2022). She is the Founder of the Center for Intersectional Justice (CIJ), a nonprofit organization that advocates for justice, equality, and lives free from systemic oppression for all. Emilia Roig is dedicated to inspiring people to divest from systems of oppression and to shift collective consciousness. She has taught at universities in France, Germany, and the U.S. on intersectionality theory, postcolonial studies, critical race theory, queer feminism, and international and European law, including at the Hertie School in Berlin and DePaul University of Chicago. After earning a Master of Public Policy and an MBA in International Law, she completed her PhD in Political Science at Humboldt University and Science Po in France. Prior to her PhD, she worked extensively on human rights issues at the UN in Tanzania and Uganda, at the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Cambodia, and at Amnesty International in Germany - and then decided to leave the field of international development to focus on social justice in Europe. She was a jury member of the German Nonfiction Prize in 2020, was appointed Ashoka Fellow in 2019, and received the Edition F Award in 2021. She was elected "Most Influential Woman of the Year" in the Impact of Diversity Award in 2022.

Rather than offering quick-fix solutions to these complex issues, Dr. Maté weaves together scientific research, case histories, and his own insights and experience to present a broad perspective that enlightens and empowers people to promote their own healing and that of those around them.After 20 years of family practice and palliative care experience, Dr. Maté worked for over a decade in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side with patients challenged by drug addiction and mental illness. The bestselling author of four books published in over thirty languages, Gabor is an internationally renowned speaker highly sought after for his expertise on addiction, trauma, childhood development, and the relationship of stress and illness. His book on addiction received the Hubert Evans Prize for literary non-fiction. For his groundbreaking medical work and writing he has been awarded the Order of Canada, his country’s highest civilian distinction, and the Civic Merit Award from his hometown, Vancouver. His books include In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction; When the Body Says No; The Cost of Hidden Stress; Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder; and (with Dr. Gordon Neufeld) Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers. His next book, The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture is due out on September 13, 2022. His second next book, Hello Again: A Fresh Start for Parents and Their Adult Children is expected in 2023. Gabor is also co-developer of a therapeutic approach, Compassionate Inquiry, now studied by hundreds of therapists, physicians, counselors, and others internationally. More on his books and programs can be found here.

Dr. Larry Ward is the co-founder and Executive Director of The Lotus Institute and a senior teacher in Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village tradition. He has a PhD in Religious Studies with a Buddhism emphasis, and is the author of America’s Racial Karma. His teachings are focused on integrating Buddhist psychology and practices with neuroscience, trauma resiliency work, indigenous wisdom and social imagination. As a teacher, Dr. Ward interweaves insights with personal stories and resounding clarity that express his Dharma name, “True Great Sound.”

Ronald A. Alexander, PhD is a psychotherapist, leadership coach, and international trainer in the fields of Mindfulness Meditation, Core Creativity, Gestalt Therapy, Ericksonian Mind-Body Therapies and Somatic Experiencing. He is the Executive Director of the OpenMind® Training Program, that offers personal and professional training programs in mindfulness-based mind-body therapies, transformational leadership, and meditation for over forty years. Dr. Ron was ordained in the lay Zen Buddhist and Mindfulness traditions. His yoga and meditation studies include extensive practice in Buddhist and yoga psychology, Tibetan Buddhism, Vipassana, Zen, Vedic (non dual), and Hatha, Ashtanga and Vinyasa yogas. He was certified as one of the early Kundalini yoga teachers and was a co-founder of the Kundalini Research Institute. Dr. Ron specializes in utilizing mindfulness meditation in his professional and corporate work to help people access the mind states that open the portal to their core creativity. He is the author of the new book Core Creativity: The Mindful Way to Unlock Your Creative Self, a practical and engaging guide to achieve clarity and profound transformation in one's life. He is also the author of Wise Mind, Open Mind: Finding Purpose and Meaning in Times of Crisis, Loss, and Change.

Roxy’s experience as an Afro-Caribbean immigrant to the US and academic training and professional work as a licensed clinical psychologist and CNVC Certified Trainer and Assessor fuel her passion for work supporting social change at the personal, interpersonal, and systemic levels. A San Francisco based psychologist and an Assessor with CNVC, Roxy delights in helping opposing voices hear each other and see past individual hurt and struggles to the structures that contribute to those challenges.

Elise Buckle has been working in the field of climate and sustainability for over 20 years. She is Co-Founder of SHE Changes Climate, CEO of Climate & Sustainability and Board Member of the Climate Action Accelerator.She is a globally recognized expert in climate policy, partnership building, systemic change, and public participation facilitation.She has a strong track record of building successful global alliances to deliver positive impacts for climate, people and nature, including the Planetary Emergency Partnership, the Nature-Based Solutions Coalition hosted by the UN, the Leaders Pledge for Nature and the G7/G20 Summit alliances for sustainable finance.She is able to bring together and align a wide range of stakeholders including business CEOs, UN, governments, unions, NGOs and local authorities. She led and facilitated several successful local participatory Citizens Forums.Elise is professor at the Glion Institute and the Graduate Institute in Environmental Policy and Executive Leadership for Sustainability. She is also the mother of the children, Lucas and Leïla and an active yoga and meditation practitioner.

Esther's yoga exploration began in the heart of NYC at the former Jivamukti Yoga School auspiciously landing her in the jewel of the Middle East at her teacher's home city of Beirut. What was to be a 3-month teaching residency in 2019 continues to be a journey in the growth of the yoga community in Lebanon and of herself. After a deadly blast in 2020 that nearly destroyed the studio and much of the nation's capital, and amidst the height of COVID, Esther remained steadily in place raising funds and helping rebuild the shala and the students she serves.

The ground on which she stands is where Esther meets all practitioners on their own trek through life's peaks and valleys. Her personal practice of meditation, asana, and karma yoga inform her classes and retreats, offering students a rooted and uplifting quality for personal and collective transformation. Along with an Advanced Certification in Jivamukti Yoga, Esther is certified in Trauma Informed Yoga, Restorative Yoga, Sivananda Yoga, and Yoga + Mindfulness for youth.
 Esther's 14 years as a volunteer camp counselor for children/teens living with and/or affected by HIV/AIDS and her time as a hospice volunteer have deeply shaped her understanding of interconnectedness. While teaching internationally, Esther maintains a steady karma yoga practice offering free weekly yoga sessions to young girls living in an orphanage in Beirut. Esther is immensely grateful for the teachings of yoga and meditation, and the continued guidance of her teachers Rima Rabbath, Deepak Chopra, and most beloved Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.

Gaiea learned Sanskrit in London since the age of 4, and has a degree in Sanskrit from Oxford University, where she also had a choral scholarship. She was a stand up comic, wrote musicals, and many songs, and went onto a Masters in Music Theatre and later qualified as a teacher of The Alexander Technique. This was just the first of many drops in the ocean of learning that continues every day. She embarks upon yearly visits to India to study music and Sanskrit, and maintains regular contact with great teachers here in UK and India.

Helge Løvskar (MSc) is a marine entrepreneur, author and passionate freediver from Norway. He grew up next to the deep fjords in Western Norway and has since childhood been intrigued by marine life. As an adventurous diver he witnessed the severe human impact on the underwater world. So, he dedicated his life to solving complex marine challenges.He has founded two NGOs that specialize in solving marine problems in a long-term perspective. One of them is a marine hub in Oslo connecting the public and companies to the ocean. Giving children and youths an unusual experience of marine life – which stimulates curiosity and creates another kind of learning.Today, he is engaged politically as a board member of the Norwegian Divers Federation and through his NGOs, but he still likes to get his hands wet with the local activities. Helge came to Zenrocks as a guest in 2021, fell in love with the place, and has been a helping hand since then.He has founded two NGOs that specialize in solving marine problems in a long-term perspective. One of them is a marine hub in Oslo connecting the public and companies to the ocean. Giving children and youths an unusual experience of marine life – which stimulates curiosity and creates another kind of learning.Today, he is engaged politically as a board member of the Norwegian Divers Federation and through his NGOs, but he still likes to get his hands wet with the local activities. Helge came to Zenrocks as a guest in 2021, fell in love with the place, and has been a helping hand since then.

Jo Confino is an executive coach, facilitator, journalist, sustainability expert and Zen mindfulness practitioner.He works at the intersection of personal transformation and systems change; working with several organizations including Leaders’ Quest, Future Stewards and the United Nations Development Programme.He is on the board of advisors for The Climate School as well as Force of Nature, a youth climate activist organization. Jo has worked closely for the past 14 years with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and his monastic community in Plum Village, France and is a member of the Order of Interbeing. He is chair of the board of Parallax Press, which publishes books on mindfulness in daily life, and is co-founder and co-presenter of the acclaimed podcast series 'The Way Out Is In; The Zen Art of Living.'Besides chairing and facilitating events and conferences all over the world for the past 20 years, he also runs smaller workshops and roundtables.Until recently, he was executive editor, Impact & Innovation and Editorial Director of What’s Working at the HuffPost in New York. During his five years there, he developed long-term editorial projects based on social, environmental and economic justice and was a member of the HuffPost senior leadership team as well as the senior leadership team of Verizon Media.Before joining HuffPost, he was an executive editor of the Guardian and chairman and editorial director of the Guardian Sustainable Business website. During his 23 years at the Guardian, he set up and managed a unique multi-stakeholder development project in the Ugandan village of Katine, and helped create the Guardian’s environment and global development websites.Jo also created and managed the sustainability vision and strategy for the Guardian and its parent company Guardian Media Group.He is a fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce and completed an MSc in Responsibility and Business Practice at the University of Bath.

John taught literature, film, composition, and humanities for twenty years at American universities, principally the University of Nevada, Reno, and he is an award-winning documentary filmmaker.  He also spent ten years as a counselor in the social services and mental health system in New York and San Francisco.  As a young man, he was a Peace Corp volunteer in Mauritaunia, Africa. And he has been an actor, sawyer, carpenter, and personal trainer.  Since he was a teenager, he has participated in many athletic activities, such as baseball, American football, Ultimate Frisbee, beach volleyball, weightlifting, running, rowing,and long-distance hiking at elevation—and training for triathlons and natural bodybuilding contests.  In recent years, he has turned to Pilates, and become a certified instructor, because he believes that Pilates, particularly the BASI method, is an essential tool to strengthen the core and improve balance, posture, and flexibility.

Kazu Haga is the co-director of the Embodiment Project, a core member of theAhimsa Collective and the Fierce Vulnerability Network and author of the bookHealing Resistance: A Radically Different Response to Harm. He is an experiencedtrainer, certified in several methodologies of nonviolence and restorative justice.Having received training from elders including Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Rev. JamesLawson and Joanna Macy, he teaches nonviolence, conflict reconciliation, restorativejustice, organizing and mindfulness in prisons and jails, high schools and youthgroups, and with activist communities around the country.Kazu was introduced to the work of social change and nonviolence in 1998, when atthe age of 17 he participated in the Interfaith Pilgrimage of the Middle Passage; a 6-month walking journey from Massachusetts to New Orleans to retrace the slavetrade. He spent a year studying nonviolence and Buddhism while living inmonasteries throughout South Asia, and returned to the US at age 19 to begin alifelong path in social justice work.He spent 10 years working in social justice philanthropy, while directly beinginvolved in and playing leading roles in many movements. He became an activenonviolence trainer in the global justice movement of the late 1990s, and has sinceled hundreds of workshops worldwide.He is the recipient of several awards including the Martin Luther King Jr. award andthe Gil Lopez Award for Peacemaking.Kazu is an avid meditator and enjoys being in nature. He is a die-hard fan of theBoston Celtics and of mixed martial arts, the latter of which he is still sometimesconflicted about.He resides in Lisjan Ohlone land, a.k.a Oakland, CA.

Krishna Das began leading chanting in 1994 in NYC, and has been traveling all around the world ever since, developing his signature style, fusing traditional kirtan of the East with western harmonic and rhythmic sensibilities. The audiences have been ever growing, responding to his remarkably soulful voice, which touches the deepest chord in even the most casual listener. He’s taken the call-and-response chanting out of yoga centers and into concert halls, is a Grammy-nominee and has become a worldwide icon. He continues to travel and to share online his chanting and stories of his guru Neem Karoli Baba. and the best- selling western chant artist of all time. Krishna Das has released over 15 albums, authored 2 books, has his own podcast and is the subject of the documentary – One Track Heart: The Story of Krishna Das. More information on KrishnaDas.com

Kristoffer is a deputy MP for the Green Party in the Norwegian Parliament. Having spent many years being active in several activist organizations, including leading the Norwegian Climate Network, Kristoffer is now working as a politician - trying to bring a measure of consciousness into a world that is too often dominated by partisanship, short term thinking and appeals to division and conflict.

Marcela Lobos has been initiated in the healing and spiritual traditions of the Amazon and Andes. She is author of Awakening Your Inner Shaman: A Woman's Journey of Self-Discovery through the Medicine Wheel. Born and raised in Chile, Marcela graduated from a prestigious journalism program. Later she pursued studies in yoga and wellness and graduated from the Healing the Light Body School of the Four Winds Society in 2005. Soon she became a senior teacher of the same school and since 2009 she directs its Spanish division.Today Marcela travels internationally to teach shamanic wisdom and leads sacred journeys for women to awaken their own power and grace.

Michael Sapiro, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist, psychedelic psychotherapist, writer, meditation teacher and researcher, and former Buddhist monk. He is a transformational coach for world-class and world-renowned musicians, athletes, former special operations veterans, scientists, authors, and playwrights. He is currently writing a book on psychedelic psychotherapy to be published by the Mayo Clinic Press.  He is trained by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), is on faculty at Esalen Institute, is a Fellow at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, and is core faculty in the Psychedelic’s Today Vital psychedelic certification program.  He recently completed a study on time travel, hope, and love with Dr. Julia Mossbridge of The Institute for Love and Time.  Dr. Sapiro teaches nationally on the art and science of transformation, expanded human capabilities, psychedelic therapy, and futuremaking. He is the integrative psychologist at the Boise Ketamine Clinic where he offers Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy sessions for first responders and community members.  He is an integrative coach and consultant with Seal Future Foundation and Sabot Foundation, helping former Navy Seals and other special operations team members recover from combat exposure with psychedelic-assisted therapy and integration coaching. He also works therapeutically with first responders (Police, SWAT, and Fire). He hosted a syndicated radio program on expanded human potential called Radio Awakened out of KRBX now found on Soundcloud. His work is dedicated to personal awakening for the sake of collective and planetary transformation. He can be found at michaelsapiro.com and on Instagram as @dr_mike_boise

Mindahi Bastida is the Director of the Original Nations Program of the Fountain and until July 2020 has been the Director of the Original Caretakers Program, Center for Earth Ethics, Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (2015-2020). Spoken person of the Eagle and Condor Council. He is also General Coordinator of the Otomi-Toltec Regional Council in Mexico and caretaker of the philosophy and traditions of the Otomi-Toltec peoples, and has been an Otomi-Toltec Ritual Ceremony Officer since 1988. He is consultant with UNESCO around Sacred Sites and Biocultural issues.

Morgan Goodlander is a meditator and international consultant working in the field of Organizational & Executive Development. He is founder of Goodlander Experience Training ( GET). In addition, his background includes 25 years as the Director of the Gestalt Institute of San Francisco & 4 years as a Co- Director of Gestalt Training at world famous Esalen Institute. You can find  more about his work at: https://youtube.com/@Getraining

Nina Rao learned traditional chants (bhajans) from her grandfather in a village in south India when she was nine years old. The chants quietly stayed with her until she rediscovered chanting with Krishna Das in New York in 1996. In 1998 she met her guru, Sri Siddhi Ma in the foothills of the Himalayas and spent time with her regularly for 19 years. Her childhood was spent living in and moving between many countries around the world and when she settled in New York her working life began in the banking world, moved into organizing and leading photographic wildlife safaris in Africa and India, and now since 1996, is Krishna Das' business manager and accompanist as well as chant leader on her own.

Paz Perlman’s early life was shaped by war, loss and migration. This has created an urge, through her works, to heal the space where time and events leave their traces and scars; a fragile and unfolding process of discovery.A media profile in the HuffPost said that “Perlman’s multimedia sculptures and bricolage…..are born of a desire to piece together history. Not just her history, but a blanket of past trauma and pain that’s wound its way in and out of Perlman’s life.”Paz’s artistic practice is influenced by her spiritual quest. She left Israel, her home country, at the age of 19 to spend a year in an Indian Ashram before moving to Los Angeles to train in Tai Chi and has studied with Buddhist masters in various traditions for the past three decades. She is a member of the Order of Interbeing in the lineage of the world-renowned Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh.Paz began her career as a dancer and changed direction to become a visual artist with an initial emphasis on representational and abstract sculpture using traditional methods and materials such as carving stone and casting bronze.Fifteen years ago, a radical change in her artistic practice transformed her subject matter and process, resulting in works that express fragility and impermanence, represented in installations, collages, painting and prints using a broad range of mixed media and found objects.Currently, Perelman is integrating the existential challenges faced by the climate emergency into her work.Perlman trained initially at the Beeldhoudenschool art school in Amsterdam and after moving to the UK, completed a two year course at the Art Academy, London, before graduating with a BA in Fine Arts from Central St Martins, University of Arts, London.Paz moved to New York, opening a studio in 2015 and exhibiting in a number of group and solo shows in galleries in the city, as well as continuing to show internationally. Her work is held in public and private collections in the US and Europe.In 2020 she moved to live next door to the Plum Village Zen monastery of Thich Nhat Hanh, where she works from her studio, converted from an old winery.

From his early teens Rupert Spira was deeply interested in the nature of reality and the source of lasting peace and happiness. At the age of seventeen he learnt to meditate, and began a twenty-year period of study and practice in the classical tradition of Advaita Vedanta.

Since then he has spent over forty-five years studying and practising the philosophies and methods of many of the world’s great religious and spiritual traditions, particularly Sufism, Mystical Christianity and the Tantric path of Kashmir Shaivism.

For the past twelve years Rupert has been distilling the understanding contained in these traditions, through his writing, talks and retreats, into a simple, easy path that leads directly to the recognition of the peace and quiet joy that are our essential nature.

Rupert lives in the UK and holds regular meetings and retreats in the UK, Europe and the USA

Sat Dharam Kaur has been practicing as a naturopathic doctor since 1989, with a focus on women’s health, cancer and mind-body approaches to healing.              

Sat Dharam has been studying, hosting, working and teaching with Dr. Gabor Maté since 2012, and structured his work in a format that could be taught to others, which is now the Compassionate Inquiry Professional Online Training. Since 2019, much of her naturopathic practice has included Compassionate Inquiry.              

Her educational background includes a BA with a major in psychology and English literature, and a B.Sc. in biology from the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. She completed postgraduate studies in naturopathic medicine at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in Toronto and taught stress management and women’s health at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine for 10 years. She has written three books on women’s health and has presented at numerous conferences.                

Sat Dharam is an expert instructor in Kundalini Yoga, which she has practiced and taught for over 45 years. She has developed yoga-based curriculums in addiction recovery, trauma and breast health and trains teachers globally in those specialties.                

Sat Dharam lives with her husband in an off-grid home on 105 acres of beautiful land and takes care of fruit trees and a large garden. She enjoys hiking, cycling, and communing with plants. She has three adult children and two grandchildren.

Spiritual guide and author, Shakti is known internationally as one of the most authentic and profound voices in contemporary spirituality. Presenting the message of Advaita and non-dual Tantra within a contemporary framework, Shakti offers, with compassion and great clarity, an inner technology for dissolving the contraction of suffering that traditionally accompanies each of our lives. Her invitation is to come to the space of inner peace and unconditional love which resides at the heart of us all. Her key teachings are the love for transcendence, or spiritual awakening, followed by its deep integration, into everyday living, so that each moment can be met as a precious opportunity for spiritual growth. Her students are left with the joy of an open heart and an authentic sense of freedom within the recognition of our being as one with everything.

As founder of Prana Vinyasa and the Samudra Global School for Living Yoga, Shiva integrates the roots of vinyasa, yoga, Ayurveda, and tantra in creative, life-transforming courses and trainings. Her studies in Tantra, Ayurveda, Krishnamacharya lineage, Kalaripayattu from CVN Kalari, World Dance and somatic movement infuse her approach to living yoga and embodying the flow.

Staci has been experimenting at the intersections of personal and social transformation for the last 30 years through the work of somatics, trauma healing, embodied leadership, and transformative justice. Staci is the author of "The Politics of Trauma: Somatics, Healing and Social Justice" (North Atlantic Books 2019) and "Healing Sex: A Mind Body Approach to Healing Sexual Trauma" (Cleis 1999, 2007), which has been translated into German, Japanese and Spanish.Staci is a leader in the field of Somatics focusing on how it can bring transformative capacity to social and climate justice movements, and help to heal the impacts of trauma and oppression.  She runs programs and teacher training, and partners with social change organizations. She is a senior teacher at Strozzi Institute, and the co-founder, and prior executive director, of generative somatics, a multiracial social justice capacity building organization. In 1999 Staci founded generationFIVE, a non-profit whose mission is to end the sexual abuse of children within five generations, using transformative justice approaches.

Jenkinson teaches internationally and is the creator and principal instructor of the Orphan Wisdom School, co-founded the school with his wife Nathalie Roy in 2010, convening semi-annually in Deacon, Ontario, and in northern Europe.He has Master’s degrees from Harvard University (Theology) and the University of Toronto (Social Work).He is the author of Reckoning (co-written with Kimberly Ann Johnson (2022), A Generation’s Worth: Spirit Work While the Crisis Reigns (2021), Come of Age: The Case for Elderhood in a Time of Trouble (2018), the award-winning Die Wise: A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul (2015 and translated into Hebrew and Turkish), Homecoming: The Haiku Sessions (a live teaching from 2013), How it All Could Be: A workbook for dying people and those who love them (2009), Homecoming – The Haiku Sessions (Angel and Executioner: Grief and the Love of Life – (a live teaching from 2009), and Money and The Soul’s Desires: A Meditation (2002). He was a contributing author to Palliative Care – Core Skills and Clinical Competencies (2007).Stephen Jenkinson is also the subject of the feature length documentary film Griefwalker (National Film Board of Canada, 2008, dir. Tim Wilson and translated into five languages), a portrait of his work with dying people, and Lost Nation Road, a shorter documentary on the crafting of the Nights of Grief and Mystery tours (2019, dir. Ian Mackenzie). Read more about Stephen at orphanwisdom.com/about

Sue Elkind is a teacher and mentor of yoga and meditation with over three decades of teaching experience. She is steeped in the ancient wisdom traditions of Tantra and Ayurveda, and enjoys incorporating many other Eastern and Western teachings into her work including somatic movement, qigong, energy medicine and herbalism. She is the co-owner of Dig Yoga in Frenchtown, New Jersey, along with her husband Naime Jezzeny, where they are ‘yoga parents’ to hundreds of students and teachers, and known for creating community as a sanctuary to gather and grow.As a parent, nurturer and provider, Sue is deeply motivated to ‘feed the holy’ in her everyday life. She is a folk herbalist and ally of the Earth, taking her cues from Nature and its medicine, and believes as stewards of this planet, we should leave things in better shape than when we arrived, and create more beauty while we’re here. Sue loves to share her passion for herbal medicine through her yoga classes (indoors and outside) where students come together in sacred space, to move, breathe, create magic, drink medicine, reflect & meditate.

The quest to harmonize body/mind/spirit started from an early age. For over 40 years Tara has experimented with all forms of movement flow - from dance, Tai Chi, movement improvisation and yoga, looking for experiences that bridge embodiment and flow.   Originally certified in the hatha Anusara™ method, the teachings of Kashmir Shaivsim as taught by Sally Kempton and Carlos Pomeda shifted the quest from asana to bridging the felt sense of meditation in movement. Since 2008 the somatic sensibility of embodied anatomy inspired by Body Mind Centering® drastically shifted the emphasis on teaching form with philosophy, to inhabiting the felt sense of the inner experience guiding and filling out the corporeal information. In a quest to bring the living essence of the classic tantric teachings into an embodied journey Tara co-created the School of Embodied Flow™ in 2014 to bring her current passions together into a modern movement of Yoga.  Embodied Flow is a continuum of movement that integrates somatics, tantric philosophy, asana, and free movement to bring awakeness to the whole body mind.  Embodied Flow has certified and inspired teachers in 20 countries, and is practiced by students from over 40 joining the quest to create the harmony of living, movement and flow.

Thais Corral is the founder and currently the director of Instituto Sinal do Vale, a center for regeneration of people, communities and planet. She was a global pioneer in the field of women and sustainbility. Together with Nobel Peace Winner Wangari Mathaai , Vandana Shiva, Bella Abzug and others they founded WEDO (Women, Environment and Development Organization). She is currently a member of the World Future Council and the network of Homes for Humanity.

With a degree in Psychology from the University of Coimbra, Vasco is the author of the book "Aqui e Agora - Mindfulness". Works globally as a facilitator and speaker in the areas of conscious leadership and human potential, in all private, public and voluntary sectors, having reached directly more than 30 thousand people all over the world. His main interest lies is in the integration of different contemplative practices, such as Mindfulness, Heartfulness or Presencing, with proven practices of psychotherapy, neuroscience and others, at the service of highest human potential applied for a greater good. He is certified by several renowned institutes such as the Presencing Institute, Heartfulness Institute, Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute, IFS Institute, among many others. With his presence and service all over the world, he holds the intention of inspiring change and transformation towards a more human and compassionate world for all living beings.

Verena is a creative director, an embodiment and mindfulness teacher and holds a master’s degree in fine arts and educational sciences. She grew up in Southern Germany and pursued a career in the film and TV industry until her journey has been shaped by a near-death experience in her late 20s, which sparked a soul-stirring quest to unravel the mysteries of existence.Verena has delved into the depths of consciousness, drawing on ancient traditions such as Vedantic, Nondual and Tantric philosophy, Tibetan and Zen Buddhism, Western psychology and the neuroscience of mindfulness. Her studies and practices are revealing to her a deeper truth that transcends the limitations of the conditioned body and mind, opening up new dimensions of awareness and understanding.An avid yogi and mindfulness practitioner, Verena has integrated her personal ethos with her creative acumen to support spiritual teachers in amplifying their voices on the global stage. Over the past decade, she has traveled to over 15 countries, living and working in diverse communities, dedicating herself to the pursuit of spiritual awakening and community renewal.She works with individuals and groups to facilitate embodied and ritual based experiences that foster personal growth, intuitive wisdom, connection with the sacred, and expansion of consciousness.

Vivi is a strong and charismatic Yoga teacher and educator, and a passionate creator of visionary projects. In Greece she is known as “the teacher of teachers” for many wonderful yogins and yoga teachers. Having taught in the traditions of Ashtanga, Anusara, and Vinyasa Yoga, Vivi finally created Abhaya Yoga - a style that combines dynamic asana with strong alignment, vinyasa flow, and an empowering transformational philosophy rooted in Tantra and Buddhism. Abhaya Yoga is strongly focused on therapeutics, providing effective tools for healing trauma and finding our wholeness as complete and confident human beings.Vivi’s greatest joy is to share this empowering path with others, acting as a mirror for people to discover and embody their power, beauty, and hidden potential. Through Yoga and the intimate environment of a training, Vivi loves to witness this catalytic prosses at work, where the individual and the team are mutually uplifted.

Yogeswari is a world renowned Senior Jivamukti Yoga teacher and one of the most senior teachers in this method. She is traveling and teaching Jivamukti Yoga all around the world and is featured as one of the 100 most influential yoga teachers in the US. Her trademark is her vigorous, seamless Vinyasa Sequencing and her thought provoking philosophical teachings. Her whole life is dedicated to inspire other human beings (and she is doing such an amazing job) – no matter if it is during her classes, workshops or the Jivamukti teacher trainings which she is leading as a facilitator.

She is also the founder of AZAHAR – Foundation (her Karma Yoga Project of the heart) – a not-for-profit organisation to promote PEACE BUILDING and CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION through YOGA, MEDITATION & ARTS and supporting methodologies in post conflict and developing countries.