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By Jesse Wang (DAI co-founder) Reflections on An Evening of Art & Poetry: Yin Mountain 女冠子诗 October 23, 2026 · SIY Gallery, San Bruno Featuring Rebecca Nie, co-translator of Yin Mountain: The Immortal Poetry of Three Daoist Women On October 23, the literary-minded DAI community attended a poetry gathering at SIY Gallery, a San Bruno gallery. The evening centered on Yin Mountain: The Immortal Poetry of Three Daoist Women, a collection of English translations of poems by Li Ye,

Member Submission by Yanli Mi Prologue: Two Circumambulations, One Snowstorm, and an Encounter with the Axis of the World Written on October 18, 2026, aboard a high-speed train bound for Shenzhen. Last night, a friend in a chat group invited me to share my pilgrimage to Mount Kailash this year. I said that maybe today, on the train, I’d have time to write it down slowly. Coincidentally, my father also asked me last night: “You’ve been to so many places—why don’t you write dow

Most of us treat sleep as something that either happens or doesn't. We lie down, hope for the best, and feel vaguely cheated when the mind refuses to switch off. What we rarely consider is that winding down might be a skill — something the body can be taught, and practiced, rather than simply waited for. That is the quiet proposition behind sleep yoga: that rest is not only a state you fall into but a capacity you can cultivate. This piece looks at what sleep yoga actually is

What to actually expect at your first Sunday Community Meditation at Dharma Alive Incubator in Palo Alto — written for the meditation-curious who've never made it past the apps.

There is a particular quiet that settles over a group of people practicing Qigong outdoors — a quiet you can almost see. On a Saturday morning at Jikoji Zen Center, in the hills behind Palo Alto, a small circle of us stood among the trees while Dr. Claudia Wang led us slowly through the Eight Pieces of Brocade (八段锦, Ba Duan Jin). Arms rose to hold up the heavens; the breath lengthened; the mountain did what mountains do to a restless mind. By the third movement, something in

Most people who walk into a meditation hall for the first time have, in fact, already met meditation before — through apps, retreats, and books. Here's what to try when past attempts haven't held.

Almost every nonprofit website includes a line about accessibility. Here is what we mean by it at Dharma Alive Incubator, and what we have built into the operations to keep the phrase honest.

On Saturday, June 20th. The DAI took a small group up to Jikoji Zen Center for an outing From Palo Alto, it's about 45 minutes into the hills behind town. The cell signal drops one bar at a time until it's gone. In the carpool, the newer folks loosened first — once the bars disappeared, the conversation slid into the mode where nobody is starting a topic, and nobody is wrapping one up. Whatever surfaces, surfaces. Arriving We signed in at Jikoji and drifted into the zendo bef

Most yoga classes in the West teach a vigorous posture sequence. Mindful Yoga teaches something else — a slower way of moving in which the meditation is not separate from the asana.

Somatic healing has moved from the edges of the wellness world into clinical practice. A clear-eyed introduction to what the work actually is, what it is not, and how to begin.

Both Tai Chi and Qigong arose from the same ancient soil — but the practices take different shapes when they grow. A clear-eyed introduction for anyone deciding where to begin.

The meditation apps have done a real service. But there is a structural limit to what a solitary, mediated practice can sustain. Here is what a contemplative community offers that an app cannot.

Close your eyes. Picture yourself in a quiet, gentle, and safe space. Here in the heart of Silicon Valley — this relentlessly spinning hub — you can finally let your guard down completely. Starting with the first chime of the singing bowl, you are not hearing sound. You are feeling it. Deep, sustained sound waves wrap around you like ocean swells. Vibration passes through your skin, ripples through every cell, as if your brain were receiving a deep-tissue massage. Tense shoul