Buddhist Meditation and Mindfulness Meditation Teacher, Author, and Mentor, and Somatic Experiencing™️ Practitioner-in-training.

Hi, I’m Dawn. Thanks so much for stopping by…

I graduated with a Bachelor’s of Commerce in Marketing and promptly started working at a Public Relations agency… But cried every Sunday for 9 months.

I couldn’t imagine spending decades working in a field that I was already crying weekly about.

I believed it could be different. It had to be different. My survival depended on it.

I quit my job and did what any mid-20s young adult would do: take a quarter-life crisis trip (and pay for it with my line of credit).
For four months, I backpacked solo through South East Asia.
The trip culminated in a 10-day silent meditation retreat on a Thai monastery.

Little did I know that trip would change the trajectory of my life.

From then on, I wanted to live a life with intention and purpose that focused on slowing down, listening deeply, living minimally, and choosing wisely—for ourselves and others.

Since 2005, I’ve trained extensively in both yoga and meditation.

As a yoga teacher, I had the privilege to teach groups up to 7,000 people (no, that’s not a typo!). I taught for 13 years, was a brand ambassador for several active wear brands, and retired from teaching movement when I started teaching Buddhist meditation.

As a meditation teacher, I was one of 20 people selected worldwide for the Spirit Rock Meditation 4-year Retreat Teacher Training, mentor hundreds of meditation teachers in training, create inclusive spaces for BIPOC practitioners, and have an active online mindfulness membership community.

P.S. My sun is in Leo, my moon is in Capricorn, and Libra rising ✨

  • I've been teaching since 2005, at first teaching yoga and mindfulness meditation full-time until 2018, before teaching Buddhist Dhamma and meditation mostly in intensive retreat settings.

    I teach with organizations such as Spirit Rock Meditation Centre, Sacred Mountain Sangha, True North Insight, the Omega Institute, Sounds True, All We Can Save Project, and appear on apps such as Happier Meditation and Insight Timer.

  • I teach in a playful, dynamic, and accessible way using a combination of Buddhist wisdom and personal stories. Whether teaching meditation, tending to the members in my mindfulness community, or in a Somatic Experiencing™️ one-on-one session, my upbringing as a 2nd generation Filipina-Canadian living on the unceded territory Tiohti:áke informs my approach, as well as being rooted in compassion and unconditional acceptance.

  • Although I'm based in Tiohtià:ke, colonially known as Montreal, my travel and teaching schedule means you can find me mostly online–my mindfulness community and Somatic Experiencing™️ one-on-one sessions happen in cyberspace, as well as many of my offerings.

  • I firmly believe that we all belong, and that individual and collective liberation is our birthright. As a result, I want to do what I can to move us–individually and collectively–in that direction. For me, this means sharing the unique combination of Buddhist wisdom, mindfulness meditation, and somatic therapy.

  • I have been taking trainings in yoga, meditation, trauma-sensitivity, and somatics since 2005, and there would be too manyyyy to list here, so here are some pertinent ones:

    • Somatic Experiencing™️ (2023-present)

    • Trauma of Money™️ (2024)

    • Coaching for Healing, Justice, and Liberation (2023)

    • Cloud Sangha Mindfulness Mentor Training Program (2022)

    • Trauma-Informed Education, LLC Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness Training (2021)

    • Spirit Rock Meditation Centre 4-year Retreat Teacher Training (2017-2021)

    • Spirit Rock Meditation Centre Dedicated Practitioners' Program (2014-2016)

    • True North Insight Teacher Mentorship Program (2013-2015)

    • Spirit Rock Meditation Centre Mindfulness Yoga and Meditation Training (2008-2010)

    • Spirit Rock Meditation Centre

    • Sacred Mountain Sangha

    • True North Insight

    • InsightLA

    • Hollyhock

    • The Omega Institute

    • All We Can Save Project

    • Happier Meditation (formerly Ten Percent Happier)

    • Sounds True

    • Inward Bound Mindfulness Education

    • Lolë Life

    • lululemon

    • SnapChat

    • Drexel University

    • Stanford University

    • Global News

    • and many more!

meditation sessions

Let’s deepen our connection–join the community

If you are craving a space where living with intention and purpose is the focus, and where you are encouraged to just be you exactly as you are, join us!

My online mindfulness membership community was created at the height of the pandemic in April 2020, and over the years, has become an uplifting and thriving space.

 
 

Subscribe to my newsletter

Once a month, get resources and reflections about slowing down, purposeful living, and waking up right where you are.
Thank you for subscribing!