My Bio

Kayla holds an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University with a concentration in Spirituality & Mind-Body Practice, where her research focused on ecopsychology. She also holds a B.A. from Duke University in Public Health. Kayla is a trained mindfulness teacher certified through Unified Mindfulness and a registered 200-hour yoga teacher, and also holds a certification in trauma-conscious mindfulness and nature-based mindfulness. She currently studies and practices Buddhist meditation with main two teachers: Mark Coleman through nature-based Vipassana practice; and Amita Lhamo in the Vajrayana tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Her explorations in Buddhism and meditation practice have also included training, monastic stays, and intensive retreat across Soto Zen, Insight, and Tibetan traditions. Alongside her sister Gigi, Kayla co-founded Art of Human Being to offer workshops, courses, coaching, and retreats that explore meditation, self-inquiry, and mental wellbeing. The goal of AHB is to cultivate awakened hearts and minds through deeper connection with self, others, and the natural world. Kayla is a passionate explorer of nature and contemplative practice, which have been her most trusted sources of healing and wisdom. She is dedicated to exploring within herself, and empowering others, to discover our greatest capacities for insight, joy, and loving connection with all of life.

 

My Story

I found contemplative practice my junior year of college, where my studies focused on improving the human condition through public policy and global health. I wandered into a restorative yoga class and quickly discovered the healing potential of embodied movement, mindfulness, and spiritual philosophy. I was hooked. Yoga practice showed me what a tangible shift in the human condition could feel like, from the inside out: moving through the world with more patience, equanimity, and kind attention. I was eager to learn more and share these practices with others, and soon became a teacher. In pursuit of understanding how spiritual practice can heal, this path led me to my Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology, with a concentration in Spirituality.

Right around this time, I discovered meditation and Buddhism. I was fortunate to find some incredible teachers, and I was drawn in by the wisdom and love that they embodied and shared. Meditation, dharma study, and the support of spiritual communities brought me home to myself. It felt like a reunion with the ideas and feelings I had always been trying to make peace with but never could put words to – the preciousness of life, overwhelming compassion for our world’s suffering, the fleeting nature of experience, and the imminence and promise of death.

I’ve spent recent years in close study with two incredible Buddhist teachers who’ve supported and guided my path: Mark Coleman and Amita Lhamo. I’ve studied the Insight tradition through nature connection with Mark Coleman, a senior teacher at Spirit Rock in the Insight Theravada tradition, influenced by Advaita Vedanta and Tibetan traditions as well as his deep love of nature as a wilderness guide and environmental activist. Most recently, I’ve taken on intensive study of Tibetan Buddhism in the Vajrayana tradition with my teacher Amita Lhamo.

Nature has been one of my greatest teachers. The more time I spent learning from the natural world, the more mindfulness practice, Buddhist Dharma, and the healing tools of psychology really opened up to me. Over the past few years, I’ve devoted significant time to immersing myself in nature-based contemplative practice and training environments – camping in the open wilderness on silent meditation retreats, practicing at nature-based Buddhist monasteries and retreat centers, and training at permaculture farms and medicinal gardens.

Remembering this connection to nature also came with heartbreak. I felt the pain of disconnection reflected all around me, in society and in the climate crisis. From here, I was led into two important directions: the first was training, work, and activism in regenerative agriculture, reforestation, and community gardening; the second was learning to lead others in contemplative nature-based practice to reawaken that lost connection.

To share these practices with others, I spent the past year immersed in a yearlong apprenticeship with Mark Coleman, through his teacher training program Awake in the Wild, which is focused on building a depth of personal nature practice and skills to lead others in contemplative healing immersions in nature. My previous training led me to become a Level Two Mindfulness Coach through Unified Mindfulness, a unique system of meditation with an emphasis on secular, research-backed teachings that are clear and accessible to anyone. I also hold a certification in teaching Trauma-Conscious Mindfulness through The Lineage Project.

I bring these experiences and training together through Art of Human Being, an organization my sister and I launched to share meditation practice and tools for mental wellbeing and self-inquiry, with the goal of cultivating awakened hearts and minds.

Today, the pursuits of my heart are: the inquiry of life's big questions, exploring my role in the reciprocal healing of humanity and the Earth, and sharing healing contemplative practice with others.

Training

M.A. Columbia University, Masters in Clinical Psychology, Concentration in Spirituality and Mind Body Practice

  • I hold an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University with a concentration in Spirituality & Mind-Body Practice, where my research focused on ecopsychology and the healing potential of contemplative practice and embodied connection to the natural world.

B.A. Duke University, Public Policy & Global Health

  • As an undergraduate student, I studied global challenges and change-making through my Public Policy & Global Health courses. I was passionate about understanding how the world works, how decisions are made, and what macro transformation of the human condition could really look like through the lenses of policy and technology.

Contemplative Training

  • I’ve trained in Buddhist practice with my teacher Mark Coleman, a senior teacher at Spirit Rock in the Insight Theravada tradition, influenced by Advaita Vedanta and Tibetan traditions as well as his deep love of nature as a wilderness guide and environmental activist. I’ve also explored Tibetan Buddhist practice with my teacher Amita Lhamo in the Vajrayana tradition. I’ve also previously studied with other beloved teachers: Hector Marcel and the Three Jewels community, Dr. Nida Chenagtsang at the Pure Land Farms community in the spiritual healing tradition of Tibetan Medicine.

Mindfulness Coach, Unified Mindfulness Level 1 and 2 Teacher Training

  • I am a trained mindfulness teacher certified through Unified Mindfulness, which offers a secular system of meditation practice inspired by the teachings of Zen master and neuroscience researcher Shinzen Young.

Certification in Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness, The Lineage Project

  • This 20-hour training intensive is designed to support competency in offering trauma-sensitive mindfulness practices. The training is designed for offering mindfulness techniques to youth facing challenges in homeless shelters, schools, and the justice system.

Nature Mindfulness Teacher, Awake in the Wild with Mark Coleman

  • I recently graduated from a yearlong apprenticeship with Mark Coleman through his teacher training program Awake in the Wild, which is focused on building a depth of personal nature practice and skills to lead others in contemplative healing immersions in nature.

Certification Training in Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), Pain Reprocessing Therapy Center LLC

  • Having experienced a year of chronic headaches and found healing through mind-body, psychological, and neuroplastic techniques, I was inspired to complete the 21-hour certification training in order to share these tools with others. Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) is a system of psychological techniques that retrains the brain to interpret and respond to signals from the body properly, subsequently breaking the cycle of chronic pain. The program incorporates psychoeducation on the neuroscience behind chronic pain and somatic mindfulness techniques.

Product Manager in Population Health Software, IBM Watson Health

  • I worked for 2 years in product management in the IBM Watson Health unit, with a focus on bringing AI technology into health software to manage chronic disease. I am also a co-inventor of an official USPTO Patent: Repetitive Stress and Compulsive Anxiety Prevention System.

Clinical Research Assistant, NYU Langone Integrative Medicine

  • In the Integrative Health department at NYU Langone's Rusk Rehabilitation Center, I supported research investigating: meditation for patients with autoimmune disease or neurological disorders, yoga for traumatic brain injury patients, energy healing for chronic pain. I supported preparation of guided meditation scripts and offered guided meditation to patients.

72-Hour Certification in Permaculture Design, Circle Permaculture

  • Having spent time living and working on farms and offering meditation and mindfulness workshops to farmers and activists, I also received my certification in Permaculture Design – a system of regenerative farming practices that promote ecological harmony between human beings and nature.

Certification in Folk Herbalism, School of the Sacred Wild with Marysia Miernowska

  • I am completing a certification training in folk herbalism and plant spirit medicine with teacher Marysia Miernowska through her School of the Sacred Wild. This training has been a re-immersion into the rhythms and languages of the natural world through nature-based meditation, medicine-making, ritual, and ceremony.