About Ryan

I've been passionate about people and why we think what we think and do what we do, for as long as I can remember. 

For the last 20+ years I've been exploring transpersonal, self-development, authentic communication, group process and decision making arenas as a curious student, Mindset and Communication Coach, Transformational Workshop Leader, Group Facilitator, and explorer.

After I received my degree in Psychology, I spent the next decade traveling and immersing myself within personal development, mystic, non-duality, and religious (Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu) communities around the globe, looking past the dogma and connecting to the common thread that weaves through them all. During many of these years - 4 1/2 of which were spent living in the countryside of India while helping run a retreat center - I was largely living a monastic lifestyle steeped in meditation, community service, nature, community development and inner landscape explorations. 

However, it became clear that as expansive and peaceful "living in a cave and meditating" would be for the rest of my life, that that was an old approach to growth and spirituality and the real work was "in the world", in the culture I was born into.

Upon my return to the US, I incorporated this inner orientation with the inter-personal aspects of life. Thus began the journey for the next decade+ of integrating the "vertical" (self-realization) with the "horizontal" (relational/self-actualization) and sharing these insights with others. I owned a successful small marketing company, international coaching business serving clients in 22 countries, as well as worked and facilitated around the world for numerous international organizations in the realms of group process work, authentic communication, present-moment relational practice, meditation, conflict resolution, community building, and transformational workshops.

This time has also been spent continuing my passions for exploring the many layers of ourselves, seen and unseen. Such as a 21 day Dark Room Meditation retreat (24/7 in the pitch black for 21 days) for example, sitting with modern luminaries, and continuing my personal restorative practices. 

I've recently fallen in love with Tennessee and am currently working on a number of projects, including personal coaching and group facilitation (in-person or online), local community building, resiliency and sustainability, as well as other ventures.