Cultivating Refuge
The chaos isn’t going anywhere.
Your inner refuge is always there —
you just need the tools to find it
“The mind creates the abyss, the heart crosses it.”
— Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
“On the home page I spoke about beauty creation as the essential thread of this chapter of my life. In that beauty spirit, Cultivating Refuge sits at the top. It’s where purpose, meaning, and healing have the potential to come together and it’s the work I’m most passionate about.”
What is this?
The times we’re living in are extraordinary in their demands. Stress. Constant uncertainty. Political division. Economic anxiety. Technology pulling us in every direction. Our nervous systems were not built for this pace, and most of us feel it.
When we look outside for relief, we sometimes find it, but it’s always temporary. Circumstances keep changing. The ground keeps shifting.
What most people don’t know is that across thousands of years, in the great East Asian traditions, in the ancient practice of yoga in its truest sense, human beings developed sophisticated inner technologies specifically for times like these. Not random techniques. A complete path. Practices that work together to open the body, regulate the nervous system, reconnect you to the heart, and develop genuine equanimity, a steadiness that doesn’t depend on the world cooperating.
“This isn’t just about having a good experience for 90 minutes. It’s about learning tools that become yours; an inner refuge you can access anytime, anywhere.”
No prior experience needed. Just show up as you are. No performance required.
How This Came To Be
Cultivating Refuge was born at Maple Lane, a behavioral health facility where I have been leading a weekly mindfulness group since the summer of 2025. The residents there had mostly fallen through the cracks of society in one way or another, were in what most would consider pretty dire circumstances, and sitting still for thirty seconds was about all most of them could manage. It was just too intense.
Seeing this inspired a look at my own practice. And although sitting quietly in meditation is fundamental to my path, my path has always been a bit eclectic, breathwork, Qi Gong, chanting, harmonium are also pillars. Prior to Maple Lane I never fully realized it, but this isn’t simply personal preference. It’s intelligent design. Upregulate to downregulate. Prepare the body and the nervous system before asking it to be still.
So I bought a padded bag for my harmonium and started bringing this full approach to the weekly groups. And something shifted. People who couldn’t sit for half a minute were suddenly meditating, and I could feel a palpable stillness fill the room. It was clear that this combination, my own personal sadhana, was working in a way that sitting alone simply wasn’t for them.
That’s when I started to know I was onto something. Cultivating Refuge grew directly out of that experience, and creating and fine tuning this remains the work I am most passionate about.
What happens in the room
Settling Breathwork
We begin by arriving. Slower, deliberate breath practices that bring the nervous system down and cultivate a genuine sense of inner peace. The foundation everything else builds on
Activating Breathwork
Most of us are pretty freaking tense. These pranayama-based practices, the same ancient techniques Wim Hof helped bring mainstream — are designed to move that tension out of the body. Upregulate to downregulate.
Qi Gong-Inspired Movement
Simple, intuitive movement rooted in East Asian medicine, the same tradition that gave us acupuncture. Opens the body, moves stagnation, and prepares you to go deeper. Anyone can follow along.
Harmonium & Chanting
I play live harmonium while we chant together; relatively simple, repetitive, and for many this is a surprisingly powerful heart centered experience. And, the chanting is always optional. You’re welcome to simply listen and let the sound possibly open something that is often elusive to reach.
Guided Meditation
We close here. Not about emptying your mind, about developing the capacity to be with what’s here without being swept away by it. This is equanimity, and it’s a trainable skill
About Your Guide
More than 30 years on the path
I’m a licensed acupuncturist and longtime practitioner of meditation, breathwork, and contemplative practice. For over three decades, I’ve worked with breath, movement, sound, and stillness, not as techniques learned from a book, but as the actual gateways I’ve used to find balance, clarity, and freedom in my own life.
In 2022, I made a significant choice: I walked away from a thriving acupuncture practice in Alaska to spend several years in retreat and deep study, including facilitating groups in behavioral health settings. I studied meditation for 20 years under a single teacher, a depth of commitment that shaped everything I offer.
In 2024, I attended the annual Bearing Witness Retreat at Auschwitz-Birkenau, a deeply personal pilgrimage. I’m a first-generation American on my mother’s side, born of a Holocaust family whose members both perished in Auschwitz and survived it. That experience clarified something: it was time to come back into the world and make my life meaningful and purpose driven.
I relocated to Olympia and am now offering this work publicly for the first time here. Cultivating Refuge is what emerged.
Everything you need to know
Date & Time
Saturday, May 30
11:00am – 12:30pm
Doors open at 10:45am
What To Bring
Yoga mat, cushion, or anything that helps you sit comfortably
Location
Olympia Arts & Wellness
Studio A
1110 Jefferson St. SE
What To Wear
Comfortable clothes suitable for light movement and sitting
Suggested Donation
$25 · Pay what you can
(No one turned away)
Questions
(360) 431-4818
acumoxadoc@gmail.com
Ready to come?
This is a small, intimate gathering. Please sign up in advance so we know how many to expect.