Sunshine Coast Trail, Jun. 2023, BC
Bio
Richard is a proponent of creating community support networks with an emphasis on in-person engagement. With an M.S. in Food Science from UC Davis and a long career in food and beverages, hospitality and event planning, his appreciation harks back to the deep cultural legacy we share as current caretakers of the greater worldwide human community, and of the natural world which buoys it. Richard is a winemaker, owns a tea brand, imports and consults. But most of all, he values the human thread of connection implicitly embodied by these ceremonial and historic beverages that ultimately traversed the globe, and in their own way made the world turn.
As a lifelong champion of the fundamental importance of nature, Richard utilizes the contextual practice of recentering the mind to frame our lives in continuity with the natural world. His advocacy for proactive improvement in environmental responsibility is rooted in renaturing, whereby participants discover their time-honored connection laying deep within us all as beings of nature. In turn, strengthening this personal bond while immersed in nature by the simple practice of mindful awakening.
He enjoys daily endurance activities, and this routine has been a crucial component of his physical and mental well-being for years. It not only challenges the body and mind, but also offers the benefit of reflective attunement. Richard hikes and runs often, and not rarely, seeks out weeklong excursions to semi-remote areas. Through IWB Portland, Richard started the Meetup group, An Invitation from Outside by which he organized and led local hikes on trails within the surrounding Pacific Northwest forests to foster the benefits of mindfulness in nature. He is certified in Wilderness First Aid and is also certified in MBSR, having completed Dave Potter’s Palouse Mindfulness program. Additionally, Richard has participated in helping to orchestrate TREK Family Adventure Camp with the Salish Sea School.
He seeks to expand our sense of collective stewardship. To renew ourselves with clarity and purpose by creating a wealth of vitality for families and communities, as well as the living sustainment of diverse ecosystems. His favorite mindfulness quote is, “The mind creates the abyss, and the heart crosses it.” – Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.