Our Team

The key to our vision lies in careful curation. We select teachers and community leaders who offer complementary strengths rather than competing modalities. We screen for authentic lineage transmission, depth of training, and most importantly, non-ego-driven collaborative spirit. No teacher claims their tradition as superior. No lineage holds power over others. We build equitable partnerships into the foundation.

Genuine: authentically certified and transmitted teachers from diverse traditions together under one roof
Connecting seekers by providing mediation instructions, spiritual guidance, and coherent context to everyone seeking wellness and spiritual connections.
Inclusive: generous giving ensures services reach all socioeconomic levels without barriers
Growth-based mindset: cross-pollination benefits everyone and all traditions involved.

Teaching Team

Highly qualified master teachers

Joy Ravelli, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500, YACEP

Serial Entrepreneur • Education Architect • Senior Yoga Educator

Joy Ravelli brings over 30 years of experience designing education systems in yoga, movement, and holistic health, integrating classical philosophy with contemporary biomechanics and nervous system regulation.

As Owner of Holistic Joy Yoga and Founder of Purusha Yoga in San Francisco, she has trained over 1,000 teachers and yoga therapists. Her programs span higher education (Smith College, Worcester Polytechnic Institute), healthcare (Veterans Health Administration), public institutions (San Francisco Unified School District, San Quentin State Prison), and corporate environments, including Intel, Raytheon Technologies, and Cigna — consistently achieving exceptional engagement, including 100% VA cohort participation and fully subscribed programs with waitlists.

She founded the Purusha Seva Project, a nonprofit expanding access to yoga for underserved populations, and co-founded The Spiritual Action Initiative. She currently leads trainings with Purusha Studio, Integral Yoga Institute, and Dharma Alive Incubator. Joy is the author of Threads, an exploration of the Yoga Sutras for contemporary life.

Yan Li, Ph. D.

Master Instructor of Tai-Chi

Yan Li, Ph.D., is a Tai Chi teacher, social psychologist, and embodiment coach whose warmth and grounded presence make the ancient art of Taijiquan genuinely accessible to everyone — from complete beginners to experienced practitioners. A Stanford graduate, she has taught Tai Chi and Qigong at Stanford University's Health Improvement Program and has won gold medals at regional Chinese martial arts competitions. Yan is certified as a Mid-Level Chen Family Taijiquan Instructor by the late Grandmaster Chen Qingzhou in 2011 and as a Master Instructor by the American Chen Taiji Society in 2019.

Rebecca D. Nie, Zen master, M.S., M.Div (28)

Meridian Yoga & Zen Teacher

Zen Master Rebecca Dawn Nie is the founder of Diamond Mountain Sanctuary and Vice President of the Maitreya Association for Buddhist College Chaplains, providing resources for contemplative spiritual care professionals across universities such as Stanford, Harvard, Yale, etc. As Stanford’s Chaplain-Affiliate, Rebecca oversees the spiritual life for students, faculty, and staff. Her programs range from Continental Zen to Meridian Yoga, offering healing wisdom for contemporary life through dharma teaching, translation, and new media art.

Elaine Peng

Feldenkrais Somatic Integration Teacher

Elaine is a certified somatic instructor based in Silicon Valley and the founder of Nature Somatic. Specializing in the Feldenkrais Method, she guides individuals toward deep self-connection and nervous system regulation. With a background in Education and Psychology from UCLA, her approach helps the participants deeply connect with their inner selves and build self-awareness. It also addresses anxiety, sleep deprivation, chronic pain, and so forth. Elaine’s practice is rooted in a personal journey of profound reintegration, blending somatic education with Yoga and contemplative arts. She creates a supportive space for individuals to release deep-seated tension, refine self-awareness, and reclaim their capacity for healing.

Andy Acker, M.S.

Zen Priest

Andy has been walking the Dharma path since 1999, ordained as a Japanese Soto Zen priest under Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi — the same teacher who guided Steve Jobs. He completed monastic training at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center and holds a Master's in Traditional Chinese Medicine. His practice weaves together somatic inquiry, neuroscience, philosophy, and music — not as additions to Zen, but as expressions of it. He carries a conviction Dharma Alive Incubator deeply shares: when meditation becomes a genuine response to this moment, it illuminates every corner of how we rest, act, and meet one another in ordinary life.

Leadership Team

Dedication. Expertise. Respect.

The Dharma Alive Incubator community holds deep gratitude and respect for its leader team — whose wisdom, care, and steady dedication make possible the flourishing of so many teachers and traditions.

Founder, President of the Board

Rebecca D. Nie

Zen master Rebecca Dawn Nie is the founder of Diamond Mountain Sanctuary and Vice President of the Maitreya Association for Buddhist College Chaplains, providing resources for contemplative spiritual care professionals across universities such as Stanford, Harvard, Yale, etc. As Stanford’s Chaplain-Affiliate, Rebecca oversees Buddhist life for students, faculty, and staff.

Co-founder, Director of Operations

Jesse Wang

Jesse’s path began with a rupture from inherited faith and a deep awakening in 2019. Influenced by non-dual and Zen teachers , she has since hosted nature retreats, dialogue circles, and embodied practices across urban and natural settings. Her focus is sustaining awareness in daily life, through shared rhythms, honest presence, and spaces where practice remains intimate, lived, and quietly transformative.

Co-founder

Elaine Peng

Elaine is a certified somatic instructor based in Silicon Valley and the founder of Nature Somatic. Specializing in the Feldenkrais Method, she guides individuals toward deep self-connection and nervous system regulation. With a background in Education and Psychology from UCLA, her approach helps the participants deeply connect with their inner selves and build self-awareness. It also addresses anxiety, sleep deprivation, chronic pain, and so forth. Elaine’s practice is rooted in a personal journey of profound reintegration, blending somatic education with Yoga and contemplative arts. She creates a supportive space for individuals to release deep-seated tension, refine self-awareness, and reclaim their capacity for healing.

Treasurer of the Board

Cindy Jiang

Secretary of the Board

Guoqiong Song

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