Naropa Community
Who Are We?
Through its incredibly vibrant and welcoming community, "Naropa offers a home for those who aren’t willing to conform to convention—the mystic, the healer, the prophet, the rebel, the artist, the revolutionary, the oddball—those who are incredible contributors to the evolution of society and of our planet.”
At Naropa University, we are an inclusive community (and working to become more so) of artists, seekers, peacemakers, activists, scholars, and people for whom the status quo is not an option.
Composed of people practicing the world’s great religions and wisdom traditions, agnostics, international students, local high school graduates, career changers, LGBTQIAP students, BIPOC, transfers, veterans, and elders, the Naropa community will both hold you—and hold you accountable—while you learn and grow.
The first day of school I was surrounded by excited students—students who had a desire to speak about mindfulness, conscious living, and transformation within themselves and the community. I felt I found my tribe. Naropa students bring such a healing essence to the campus. I felt safe, secure, heard, and appreciated by those who surrounded me at Naropa.
Amanda Coleman
Meet the Humans of Naropa
🌼 Humans of Naropa: Moudi Sbeity
“I`m a fairly open book, quite literally. I talk about what I`m passionate about quite obsessively: I love writing and poetry as mindfulness and transpersonal practices. I see writing as an archeology of soul and the pen is your digging tool. You dig through your experiences to process them, and throughout that process you get to take a step back and witness what you`ve experienced, and find beautiful gems from the past that have shaped you.
What feels important to me most days is language. So true to writing and poetry, language shapes our experience. It`s how we can show who we are. There`s a saying in Lebanon that a vessel spills what it contains. I care about this world a lot, and I love this world in a way that it`s painful at times to see what`s happening and how cruel and violent we can be. And I find that it all comes back to language and story. The way we show up in our words and our actions really shape the reality we experience. Writing and poetry are a way to refine not just how we think, but how we express what we feel and I think that has the power to create a more possible world for everybody.”
Moudi is a writer, poet, and grad student currently in his second year of the MA in Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling program. He is author of the forthcoming memoir Habibi Means Beloved: a spirited queer memoir about stuttering, war and belonging. Originally from Lebanon his life has taken remarkable turns—he sued the state of Utah for the right to marry his former husband over a decade ago which paved the way for legalization of same-sex marriage in 5 states after a Supreme Court ruling. He also co-owned a Lebanese restaurant in Salt Lake City and currently facilitates poetry and writing workshops. Having grown up with a stutter, Moudi has found language and public speaking to be an empowering process of visibility and revolution. He describes himself as a Sufi at heart.
🌼 Humans of Naropa: Moudi Sbeity
“I`m a fairly open book, quite literally. I talk about what I`m passionate about quite obsessively: I love writing and poetry as mindfulness and transpersonal practices. I see writing as an archeology of soul and the pen is your digging tool. You dig through your experiences to process them, and throughout that process you get to take a step back and witness what you`ve experienced, and find beautiful gems from the past that have shaped you.
What feels important to me most days is language. So true to writing and poetry, language shapes our experience. It`s how we can show who we are. There`s a saying in Lebanon that a vessel spills what it contains. I care about this world a lot, and I love this world in a way that it`s painful at times to see what`s happening and how cruel and violent we can be. And I find that it all comes back to language and story. The way we show up in our words and our actions really shape the reality we experience. Writing and poetry are a way to refine not just how we think, but how we express what we feel and I think that has the power to create a more possible world for everybody.”
Moudi is a writer, poet, and grad student currently in his second year of the MA in Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling program. He is author of the forthcoming memoir Habibi Means Beloved: a spirited queer memoir about stuttering, war and belonging. Originally from Lebanon his life has taken remarkable turns—he sued the state of Utah for the right to marry his former husband over a decade ago which paved the way for legalization of same-sex marriage in 5 states after a Supreme Court ruling. He also co-owned a Lebanese restaurant in Salt Lake City and currently facilitates poetry and writing workshops. Having grown up with a stutter, Moudi has found language and public speaking to be an empowering process of visibility and revolution. He describes himself as a Sufi at heart.
🌼 Humans of Naropa: Lodi Siefer
“Recently in the larger field, social justice and earth justice have people looking deeper and saying, oh, the same extractive and exploitive systems underlie both and then that ripples out into everything. This is our collective home, there is no other planet, and we`re all in this together, whether we agree with each other or not. So to me, when I say climate justice, it is all of it— it`s food systems, it`s transportation, it`s housing, it`s wage theft, it`s immigration issues, it`s all of those things that are part of a particular narrative that sees us as separate from one another and that it`s possible for someone to benefit while others are oppressed. That’s just not how things actually work long term; it’s wonderful that we live on a planet where that just isn`t the truth. We have to realize we are completely inseparable and dependent upon each other. Both on other humans but also every breath I take is a gift from the trees and every out breath, without any effort on my part, is food for them. We were built to be co-developing and we evolved to be a keystone species on this planet. Some things I’ve learned from Indigenous scholars like Lyla June is that in the geological record wherever humans appeared in a place, biodiversity grew. We are capable of being caretakers of this planet and I think we`re actually wired for that much more than we’re wired for fear or loss of that sense of connectedness.”
Lodi is an alumnx of the MA of Contemplative Psychotherapy program and former adjunct faculty for the MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in the Somatic-based and Buddhism-Informed concentrations. They are now the co-director of the Climate Justice Hive—a Boulder organization that acts as the connective tissue for many local climate justice organizations, making it easier for them to coordinate and collaborate across sectors. Through the lessons the Hive learns in movement organizing and fiscal hosting for grassroots efforts, the model will be offered and extended to further cities across the US and beyond.
🌼 Humans of Naropa: Lodi Siefer
“Recently in the larger field, social justice and earth justice have people looking deeper and saying, oh, the same extractive and exploitive systems underlie both and then that ripples out into everything. This is our collective home, there is no other planet, and we`re all in this together, whether we agree with each other or not. So to me, when I say climate justice, it is all of it— it`s food systems, it`s transportation, it`s housing, it`s wage theft, it`s immigration issues, it`s all of those things that are part of a particular narrative that sees us as separate from one another and that it`s possible for someone to benefit while others are oppressed. That’s just not how things actually work long term; it’s wonderful that we live on a planet where that just isn`t the truth. We have to realize we are completely inseparable and dependent upon each other. Both on other humans but also every breath I take is a gift from the trees and every out breath, without any effort on my part, is food for them. We were built to be co-developing and we evolved to be a keystone species on this planet. Some things I’ve learned from Indigenous scholars like Lyla June is that in the geological record wherever humans appeared in a place, biodiversity grew. We are capable of being caretakers of this planet and I think we`re actually wired for that much more than we’re wired for fear or loss of that sense of connectedness.”
Lodi is an alumnx of the MA of Contemplative Psychotherapy program and former adjunct faculty for the MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in the Somatic-based and Buddhism-Informed concentrations. They are now the co-director of the Climate Justice Hive—a Boulder organization that acts as the connective tissue for many local climate justice organizations, making it easier for them to coordinate and collaborate across sectors. Through the lessons the Hive learns in movement organizing and fiscal hosting for grassroots efforts, the model will be offered and extended to further cities across the US and beyond.
🌼 Humans of Naropa: Drew Grindley
“It really makes me think about my favorite therapy modality, which is Internal Family Systems. I love it because it helps bring this view of ministering care to yourself as you would another person. Like, what would you do if there was a child here in front of you? You would care for them. You would give them what they need. Sometimes, it’s hard for people to recognize the child that we were still lives in us. In IFS, you get to find the different parts of yourself, the different selves with different ages that are within you and start caring for them. And it`s really beautiful knowing that I don`t have to be all the same person, I can be so many different aspects. Its like what Whitman says: I contain multitudes. I can say that I hate my dad and I can say I love my dad, because they’re each part of it. And I`m passionate about sharing that with other people and letting them see that vision of the 13-year-old, or 6-year-old version of you that’s still alive. In cases with trauma it`s more pronounced, but we all have these multitudes that are there and waiting on you. There`s no one else that can come in and say: you`re okay, I`m here for you now, your suffering isn`t over, but I`ll be in it with you. That older, mature you can be the parent, the provider and the caretaker that younger you needed and maybe didn`t have. And you can say to those parts of you—it`s okay, I`m here. And that`s part of being a healthy adult is learning how to hold myself in my youth and in that insecurity and keep moving.”
Drew is a graduate student of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling: Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal track. She is an avid writer, rock climber, gamer, and reader. She’s interested in getting involved in the applied research of human sexuality with Naropa professors and AASECT and making a career of helping others on their healing path to authenticity, integrity, and wholeness.
🌼 Humans of Naropa: Drew Grindley
“It really makes me think about my favorite therapy modality, which is Internal Family Systems. I love it because it helps bring this view of ministering care to yourself as you would another person. Like, what would you do if there was a child here in front of you? You would care for them. You would give them what they need. Sometimes, it’s hard for people to recognize the child that we were still lives in us. In IFS, you get to find the different parts of yourself, the different selves with different ages that are within you and start caring for them. And it`s really beautiful knowing that I don`t have to be all the same person, I can be so many different aspects. Its like what Whitman says: I contain multitudes. I can say that I hate my dad and I can say I love my dad, because they’re each part of it. And I`m passionate about sharing that with other people and letting them see that vision of the 13-year-old, or 6-year-old version of you that’s still alive. In cases with trauma it`s more pronounced, but we all have these multitudes that are there and waiting on you. There`s no one else that can come in and say: you`re okay, I`m here for you now, your suffering isn`t over, but I`ll be in it with you. That older, mature you can be the parent, the provider and the caretaker that younger you needed and maybe didn`t have. And you can say to those parts of you—it`s okay, I`m here. And that`s part of being a healthy adult is learning how to hold myself in my youth and in that insecurity and keep moving.”
Drew is a graduate student of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling: Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal track. She is an avid writer, rock climber, gamer, and reader. She’s interested in getting involved in the applied research of human sexuality with Naropa professors and AASECT and making a career of helping others on their healing path to authenticity, integrity, and wholeness.
Humans of Naropa: Austin Gates 🌼
“If I had one spiritual belief, it would be that the point of nature and evolution is authentic expression. There is no such thing as the optimization of nature. Nature isn`t evolving to be optimized and perfect. It is optimized to be good enough so that it can be free to express itself—like birds dancing, or flowers doing what they do, or the way certain seeds move through the air or can attach to animals or spread out from their roots. There`s this one particular plant in the Amazon that looks like half a coconut, and it sheds off these little paper thin layers with its seed in the middle, and then it takes off like a paper airplane that flies through the jungle until it lands. And just the fact that it’s been evolved to do that is such a beautiful thing. What a full expression, like little paper planes that descends everywhere. Things like that are just absolutely to be admired about nature. That`s definitely a spiritual belief I hold. That and the view that the ground of all being is ultimately good and that evil is the distortion of the good. So I think the ground that allows for existence to express itself fully is ultimately good.”
Austin completed his Bachelor’s in Psychology at Naropa in 2023 and is a first year graduate student of the Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling program. Outside of Naropa he’s a neuro-feedback technician, practices jujitsu, likes hiking, and takes trips in his truck. He leads the Radical Futurist Student Group, and even helped initiate a new class next semester that will be offered to students by Naropa professors in the Spring on Radical Futurism: an intensive weekend class for creating collaborative dialogue and creative solutions for moving forward in an increasingly complex world.
Humans of Naropa: Austin Gates 🌼
“If I had one spiritual belief, it would be that the point of nature and evolution is authentic expression. There is no such thing as the optimization of nature. Nature isn`t evolving to be optimized and perfect. It is optimized to be good enough so that it can be free to express itself—like birds dancing, or flowers doing what they do, or the way certain seeds move through the air or can attach to animals or spread out from their roots. There`s this one particular plant in the Amazon that looks like half a coconut, and it sheds off these little paper thin layers with its seed in the middle, and then it takes off like a paper airplane that flies through the jungle until it lands. And just the fact that it’s been evolved to do that is such a beautiful thing. What a full expression, like little paper planes that descends everywhere. Things like that are just absolutely to be admired about nature. That`s definitely a spiritual belief I hold. That and the view that the ground of all being is ultimately good and that evil is the distortion of the good. So I think the ground that allows for existence to express itself fully is ultimately good.”
Austin completed his Bachelor’s in Psychology at Naropa in 2023 and is a first year graduate student of the Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling program. Outside of Naropa he’s a neuro-feedback technician, practices jujitsu, likes hiking, and takes trips in his truck. He leads the Radical Futurist Student Group, and even helped initiate a new class next semester that will be offered to students by Naropa professors in the Spring on Radical Futurism: an intensive weekend class for creating collaborative dialogue and creative solutions for moving forward in an increasingly complex world.
🌼 Humans of Naropa: Celeste Da Silva Cunha
“As a first-generation student, I am the first in my immediate family of grandparents, parents, and siblings to go to university. I feel that a lineage chain of education for the women in my family has been broken, and I am grateful to be the generational chain breaker having received the opportunity to attend Naropa as a mature age international student. The students and faculty are what make Naropa the magical institution that it is. It has given me the freedom to expand on previous knowledge, enhance my career and life interests, integrating both Eastern and Western philosophy into a mindfulness-based practice. It takes courage, confidence, and discipline to go back to college and enter spaces where everyone is half your age. Naropa has offered just the right amount of sanity and chaos for creativity to emerge, as most students who attend are not your average age and are looking for diversity in a liberal arts education to transform their lives. I would like to encourage those who are entering the next stage of life and have been thinking of going back to college to take a leap into the unknown. Challenge yourself, ask questions, speak up, don’t be afraid to stand out, you were born to be different, that is the only way to experience this one precious human life you have been given.”
Celeste is a senior with a double major in Psychology and Creative Writing and Literature. She co-chairs the Student Union of Naropa (SUN), is a Resident Assistant, and founded the student group InterNations in 2021, for international and out of state student to connect which she is now an administrator for. Also a former yoga teacher, her interests lie in somatic mind-body movement and embodied, experimental poetry and children’s literature. She is in the middle of publishing her first children’s book this year on yoga and mindfulness. She is a mother of 4 adult children and in her spare time, enjoys yoga practice, walking, hiking, reading, writing and traveling. She is a life-long learner and believes that everyone deserves a chance to be educated and pursue their dreams.
🌼 Humans of Naropa: Celeste Da Silva Cunha
“As a first-generation student, I am the first in my immediate family of grandparents, parents, and siblings to go to university. I feel that a lineage chain of education for the women in my family has been broken, and I am grateful to be the generational chain breaker having received the opportunity to attend Naropa as a mature age international student. The students and faculty are what make Naropa the magical institution that it is. It has given me the freedom to expand on previous knowledge, enhance my career and life interests, integrating both Eastern and Western philosophy into a mindfulness-based practice. It takes courage, confidence, and discipline to go back to college and enter spaces where everyone is half your age. Naropa has offered just the right amount of sanity and chaos for creativity to emerge, as most students who attend are not your average age and are looking for diversity in a liberal arts education to transform their lives. I would like to encourage those who are entering the next stage of life and have been thinking of going back to college to take a leap into the unknown. Challenge yourself, ask questions, speak up, don’t be afraid to stand out, you were born to be different, that is the only way to experience this one precious human life you have been given.”
Celeste is a senior with a double major in Psychology and Creative Writing and Literature. She co-chairs the Student Union of Naropa (SUN), is a Resident Assistant, and founded the student group InterNations in 2021, for international and out of state student to connect which she is now an administrator for. Also a former yoga teacher, her interests lie in somatic mind-body movement and embodied, experimental poetry and children’s literature. She is in the middle of publishing her first children’s book this year on yoga and mindfulness. She is a mother of 4 adult children and in her spare time, enjoys yoga practice, walking, hiking, reading, writing and traveling. She is a life-long learner and believes that everyone deserves a chance to be educated and pursue their dreams.
🌼 Humans of Naropa: Cari Lewis
“I had never got involved with my community in this way before. I didn’t want to be part of the stereotypes. I grew up around politics. I grew up in the D.C. metropolitan area, my stepdad worked for the government at one point and so politics were part of my experience growing up and it was terrible. The energy was heavy, and it was overwhelming. So for awhile, I just thought, I`m going to focus on my bubble and what I can control and live life peacefully. However, when MCIC spoke at orientation, and I mean all of MCIC: JEDI, the Joanna Macy Center, CACE, it was like, wait, I want to be part of this. I want to help my community for the first time. My heart strings were pulled.”
Cari is a first year graduate student in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program with a Mindfulness-based Transpersonal focus. They serve as a behavioral health specialist doing boots on the ground work at a UC Health rehabilitation facility working with addictions and disorders, and are also the Mission Culture and Inclusive Community (MCIC) graduate assistant work-study. Their dream is to open a wellness center after completing a graduate degree where people can come for mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional health.
🌼 Humans of Naropa: Cari Lewis
“I had never got involved with my community in this way before. I didn’t want to be part of the stereotypes. I grew up around politics. I grew up in the D.C. metropolitan area, my stepdad worked for the government at one point and so politics were part of my experience growing up and it was terrible. The energy was heavy, and it was overwhelming. So for awhile, I just thought, I`m going to focus on my bubble and what I can control and live life peacefully. However, when MCIC spoke at orientation, and I mean all of MCIC: JEDI, the Joanna Macy Center, CACE, it was like, wait, I want to be part of this. I want to help my community for the first time. My heart strings were pulled.”
Cari is a first year graduate student in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program with a Mindfulness-based Transpersonal focus. They serve as a behavioral health specialist doing boots on the ground work at a UC Health rehabilitation facility working with addictions and disorders, and are also the Mission Culture and Inclusive Community (MCIC) graduate assistant work-study. Their dream is to open a wellness center after completing a graduate degree where people can come for mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional health.
🌼 Humans of Naropa: Robi Robichaud
“I definitely wasn`t asked to put this amount of hours into the Naropa recording studio, but it was something that gave me infinite energy—one of those moments in my life where I feel like I`m tapping into some type of purpose or dharma. It`s always an ever changing relationship with how much time that I`m able to spend making music, but there`s just this drive there. I don`t know where it comes from, but it makes me really happy to do it. And it`s been really fun to learn to use the technology and bring ideas to life in a tangible way.
I see music as a really powerful force for bringing people together. They could be divided in so many ways that they perceive, and then there they are singing to the same song. It’s a great feeling. So I see that as one purpose in this life to bring people together around music. I`ve had a lot of fun with the community at Naropa where we`re doing just that, so I`m grateful to be tapping into some of that magic.”
Robi is a junior Interdisciplinary major focusing on music, meditation, yoga and teaching. She is a student work-study at Naropa’s recording studio and is passionate about helping others bring their creations to life. She produced an album called The River, which can be found on Spotify, featuring Naropa students and Boulder local singer-song writers, rappers, and spoken work poets. Outside of her music passions, she also runs a free food kitchen that goes to regional events and feeds the people with the help of food donations and other volunteers.
🌼 Humans of Naropa: Robi Robichaud
“I definitely wasn`t asked to put this amount of hours into the Naropa recording studio, but it was something that gave me infinite energy—one of those moments in my life where I feel like I`m tapping into some type of purpose or dharma. It`s always an ever changing relationship with how much time that I`m able to spend making music, but there`s just this drive there. I don`t know where it comes from, but it makes me really happy to do it. And it`s been really fun to learn to use the technology and bring ideas to life in a tangible way.
I see music as a really powerful force for bringing people together. They could be divided in so many ways that they perceive, and then there they are singing to the same song. It’s a great feeling. So I see that as one purpose in this life to bring people together around music. I`ve had a lot of fun with the community at Naropa where we`re doing just that, so I`m grateful to be tapping into some of that magic.”
Robi is a junior Interdisciplinary major focusing on music, meditation, yoga and teaching. She is a student work-study at Naropa’s recording studio and is passionate about helping others bring their creations to life. She produced an album called The River, which can be found on Spotify, featuring Naropa students and Boulder local singer-song writers, rappers, and spoken work poets. Outside of her music passions, she also runs a free food kitchen that goes to regional events and feeds the people with the help of food donations and other volunteers.
🌼 Humans of Naropa: Stephan Taylor
“What’s made me stay at Naropa is the people. A lot of the students I`ve met and worked with have been awesome people, and I’ve had some really great supervisors and coworkers here. I think the thing that I love about our students and everyone here is how open to change Naropians are or at least accepting of change. And we may not necessarily be happy that it’s happening, but we roll with it, we process our feelings, and we go with it. Because that’s life. I think that`s an amazing quality and it’s a strength to be built upon. And you don`t find that capability in many other places. I think there`s such a wanting to hold on to things, even to the point where it`s unhealthy—like in other places where I`ve been there is a trying to get back to something, and we can`t go back to that and maybe the thing we’re trying to get back to was never what it was. For example, I went to school at LSU which was founded in 1860 and our first president was General Sherman, who was a union general who burnt Atlanta, and there were people there who really wanted to hold on to things from the past that were just never true.
The other thing I love is that so many people here are seekers and they want to find truth and that`s a really cool thing. Now sometimes that leads them into places that I`m like…maybe that part is not the best, but you live and you learn. At the same time, the fact that people are actively wanting to seek truth, particularly in a world where so many people are perfectly fine with a comfortable lie is also another strength to be built upon.”
Stephan is the Director of Campus & Residential Life at Naropa. He’s worked in Higher Ed institutions since 2013, and prior to that his jobs included being a film extra in movies and TV! When not working he loves karaoke, tabletop role playing games, nature, science and history documentaries, and is currently working on a Doctorate in Higher Education & Student Affairs.
🌼 Humans of Naropa: Stephan Taylor
“What’s made me stay at Naropa is the people. A lot of the students I`ve met and worked with have been awesome people, and I’ve had some really great supervisors and coworkers here. I think the thing that I love about our students and everyone here is how open to change Naropians are or at least accepting of change. And we may not necessarily be happy that it’s happening, but we roll with it, we process our feelings, and we go with it. Because that’s life. I think that`s an amazing quality and it’s a strength to be built upon. And you don`t find that capability in many other places. I think there`s such a wanting to hold on to things, even to the point where it`s unhealthy—like in other places where I`ve been there is a trying to get back to something, and we can`t go back to that and maybe the thing we’re trying to get back to was never what it was. For example, I went to school at LSU which was founded in 1860 and our first president was General Sherman, who was a union general who burnt Atlanta, and there were people there who really wanted to hold on to things from the past that were just never true.
The other thing I love is that so many people here are seekers and they want to find truth and that`s a really cool thing. Now sometimes that leads them into places that I`m like…maybe that part is not the best, but you live and you learn. At the same time, the fact that people are actively wanting to seek truth, particularly in a world where so many people are perfectly fine with a comfortable lie is also another strength to be built upon.”
Stephan is the Director of Campus & Residential Life at Naropa. He’s worked in Higher Ed institutions since 2013, and prior to that his jobs included being a film extra in movies and TV! When not working he loves karaoke, tabletop role playing games, nature, science and history documentaries, and is currently working on a Doctorate in Higher Education & Student Affairs.
Fun Naropa-Style
There’s no football, no fraternities, and no Homecoming King or Queen. But that doesn’t mean there’s no fun.
On any given day, we’re attending concerts, spoken-word performances, gallery openings, and open-mike nights. We’re organizing to make Naropa more inclusive. Hosting food drives to support our own Food Pantry. Caring for Naropa’s garden. Or hiking Boulder’s Flatirons.
Acquire leadership skills through Naropa’s student government. Practice free yoga courtesy of Team Ananda. Or join our Sustainability Council, where you can help us continue our commitment to reducing Naropa’s environmental impact.
Want to make a real difference? Commit to starting your own organization to fill an unmet need in our community. And we’ll walk the path you.
The Naropa Bow
It is a tradition at Naropa University to begin and end our classes and meetings with a bow. The bow acknowledges and honors the qualities of warriorship—that brave path of gentleness and wakeful intelligence we’re all working to achieve.
It also binds us together in a mindful moment of community before the start of the next adventure.
Community Practice Day
Every semester Naropa suspends classes for Community Practice Day. During Community Practice Day, Naropa students, faculty, and staff participate in a variety of contemplative practices attend lectures and experiential workshops, and perform service in the community.
It’s our way of taking a time out to refresh ourselves and our community. Check out the offerings for our most recent Community Practice Day.Â
