About Liz
Liz began her spiritual practice while living and working in the Russian Far East in 2010 on a Fulbright grant. Her first week in Vladivostok, she fell into a meditation/yoga class and has been devoted to practice ever since. After coming in touch with a wide variety of spiritual paths (Yogic Hinduism, Astrology, Zen, Tibetan and Theravadin Buddhism), Liz settled in the Buddhist tradition of Vipassana Insight with the realization that her practice needed greater connection and grounding in the body.
Training as an Alexander Technique teacher from 2017 to 2020 provided Liz with a deep appreciation for and gratitude to all the wisdom and insight our bodies can offer us. Since moving to Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2016, Liz has become a teacher in the Insight Meditation Community of Charlottesville and continues her dedication to issues of racial justice and environmental healing.
My Story
My deeper story is one of disconnection and healing, similar to many of us beings on this planet. I was born into a white-racialized body and grew up with very little awareness of my deep disconnection from my fellow human beings on this planet and from my body as a member of the natural world. After living primarily from my head/intellect for the first 22 years of my life, I was grateful (also discombobulated) by the process of coming into my body and heart since my spiritual practice began in 2010.
A student of racial and social inequity since college, I became a member of a Mindful of Race/racial affinity group in 2017 that began to connect avenues of individual and collective spiritual path for me. In 2018, I began facilitating groups of white-bodied folks in racial awakening and awareness work. And in 2021 I began to facilitate groups of spiritual practitioners towards greater action in environmental and climate justice.
I have been privileged to live and work in Japan, Russia, Tanzania, Greece, Germany and briefly Nepal in my short life. And I am grateful to all of the spiritual teachers, friends and mentors I have learned from over the years, grateful to all the tree, rock and river beings who have been my teachers in life and grateful to all beings who help steward our Earth, making space for the pain of the world while coming together in community and healing.
Contact
I'm always interested in developing connection and sharing resources around justice and spiritual practice. Please be in touch!