Kayla Falk

New York, New York, USA
Unified Mindfulness L2 Coach

Through my studies and explorations, I’ve been drawn to investigating the human condition through the lenses of public health, cognitive science, and contemplative practice. As an undergraduate student, I studied global challenges and change-making through my Public Policy & Global Health courses by day while exploring the nature of my own mind and inner experience through yoga, meditation, and Buddhist philosophy by night.

 

Diving deeper into both, I spent 2 years working at the forefront of health-tech at IBM Watson Health to better understand macro transformation of the human condition through healthcare innovation, while simultaneously pursuing a 200-hour yoga teacher training to approach these curiosities through my own inner world. My passion for democratizing holistic whole-person healthcare has recently merged with my love for spiritual inquiry and exploring the mysteries of the human mind. In the pursuit of inner development for outer change, these two worlds have come together in my graduate studies at Columbia University in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in Spirituality & Mind-Body Practice. In my current studies, I investigate the neurophysiology and transformative potential of contemplative practices, self-transcendent experiences (awe, interconnectedness, non-dual awareness), and pro-social emotions (compassion, empathy, altruism), and ultimately how strengthening our connection with ourselves, others, and the natural world broadens our capacity for living a meaningful and fulfilling life.

 

My mindfulness practice began with hatha yoga and a deeper attunement to the body and breath. Through exposure to spiritual philosophy in my yoga teacher training as well as the daily life challenge of working with chronic pain, I dove into an exploration of the dharma and philosophy of yoga through study of The Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita and spent time learning and living at an Ashram in the south of Bali. I then began exploring Vipassana ‘Insight’ tradition of Buddhist meditation through daily practice, self-study of the Satipatthana Sutta, silent retreat at Spirit Rock, and an MBSR intensive at New York Insight. In the past 2 years, my practice has been inspired by the Mahayana tradition of Tibetan Buddhism through formal study of the Prajnaparamita Sutras and the Lam Rim Gradual Path. I have deeply enjoyed finding a home for my diverse explorations of spirituality and contemplative practice in the system of Unified Mindfulness.

Alongside my sister Gigi Falk, I have brought together these studies and explorations in the form of an educational organization we call Art of Human Being. Through AHB, we work with groups and individuals to offer tools in mindfulness, mental wellbeing, and self-inquiry with the mission of cultivating awakened hearts and minds.

 

Art of Human Being Bookshop: We created the Art of Human Being Bookshop to house a curated collection of our favorite readings on everything from mindfulness to neuroscience to the memoirs & stories that have changed our lives! https://bookshop.org/shop/artofhumanbeing

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