This workshop is an exploration of presence—as a lived practice that can shift culture from the inside out. Rooted in the Mind Body Awareness Project’s healing-centered approach, this session explores how presence can restore connection and build the inner conditions for transformation across self and systems. Drawing from years of work in youth detention centers, schools, and community spaces, Oscar Paul Medina and Micah Anderson guide participants through grounding, listening, and relational tools that support young people—and those who walk beside them—in opening pathways toward liberation.

This session is one of a three-part series by Mark DiPerna, Micah Anderson, and Oscar Medina in the Contemplation By Design Summit. The other sessions include a lecture by Mark and Micah titled Uncovering the Gold: Presence, Compassion, and Education in Times of Crisis on October 20 and a guided practice with Oscar titled Uncovering the Gold: A Guided Journey for Educators, Justice Advocates, and Community Leaders on October 22. 

Micah Anderson, MA, LMFT is a mindfulness teacher and is the Clinical Director at the Mind Body Awareness Project, where he leads trauma-informed contemplative programs for incarcerated youth and adults, educators, and first responders. With over two decades of experience, he helps design and deliver mindfulness-based programming nationally and internationally to underserved communities and the professionals who support them. His work integrates transpersonal psychology, somatic trauma healing, and mindfulness—both in his private psychotherapy practice in the Bay Area and in broader systems transformation—to foster resilience, belonging, and the inner resources needed to meet suffering with courage and care. 

Oscar Paul Medina is a transformative leader whose work bridges contemplative practice, cultural restoration, and systemic change. Raised between East LA and the Mojave Desert, he carries an embodied understanding of complexity that informs his work across the education, justice, and health sectors. As a Dalai Lama Fellow and Culture of Health Leader with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Oscar explored how mental health and collective care are foundational to reimagining our social systems. That arc gave rise to Conscious Cultura, an initiative bringing culturally rooted healing practices to Latino communities.

He now serves as the Executive Director at the Mind Body Awareness Project, where he develops healing-centered programs for youth, educators, and incarcerated populations. He also maintains a private practice as a leadership development consultant and guide, supporting mission-driven leaders and bi-cultural communities. His work integrates somatic, ancestral, and presence-based practices to support those navigating change in embodying their wholeness and service.

This sessions is part of the FREE Contemplation by Design Summit, Oct. 15-27, 2025.

The full summit schedule is posted at: https://med.stanford.edu/contemplation/summit.html.

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/stanford-contemplation-by-design-summit-2025-online-oct-15-27-registration-1520413249959