Teaching & Retreats
Alongside my work with executives, I teach Zen meditation and lead retreats. This contemplative practice has been central to my life for decades – and it deeply informs everything else I do.
Zen teaching
I'm an ordained Zen priest and received Dharma transmission in the Soto Zen lineage. I previously served as a Guiding Teacher at Jikoji Zen Center in the hills above Silicon Valley, and I'm now chair of the Board of Trustees at San Francisco Zen Center.
I teach monthly at the San Francisco Dharma Collective and lead annual retreats at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. I'm also a faculty member at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur and a trustee of Naropa University.
My teaching emphasizes the integration of practice with everyday life – how meditation and awareness can inform not just quiet moments on a cushion, but also work, relationships, and the full range of human experience.
Upcoming events
First Tuesday of every month, 7pm (next: August 4, 2026) · SF Dharma Collective, San Francisco (in-person and online)
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August 5, 2026, 7:55pm · Kannon Do Zen Meditation Center, Mountain View (in-person and online)
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August 12, 2026, 7:30pm · City Center, San Francisco (in-person and livestream)
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October 15–18, 2026 · Modern Elder Academy, Santa Fe
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I lead classes and retreats throughout the year. They're open to practitioners at all levels – you don't need any prior meditation experience.
The connection to coaching
Some people wonder how Zen teaching connects to executive coaching. For me, they're not separate at all.
The core of Zen practice is learning to be present – to see clearly, to respond rather than react, to act with intention rather than habit. These are precisely the capacities that make leaders effective.
I don't bring religious content into my coaching unless a client wants to explore it. But the skills I've developed through decades of contemplative practice – deep listening, comfort with silence, attention to what's not being said – inform every conversation.
A first conversation
If you're curious whether this work might be useful, we can start with a simple conversation. There's no preparation required, no obligation to continue, and no expectation that you already know what you want. We'll talk about what's going on for you and see whether it makes sense to work together.