Imee first discovered meditation when she was 16 years old, around the time when she faced one of the most impactful crossroads in her life.  She spent a large part of her younger years growing up in the United States and after experiencing a traumatic deportation process, she is now based in her motherland; The Philippines.  After decades of searching, she discovered herself and a true sense of belonging in motherhood, yoga, and mindfulness meditation.

She is the founder of Mindfulness Asia and co-founder of the Philippine Insight Meditation Community.  She is a UCLA-Trained Mindfulness Facilitator, a Community Dharma Leadership Program graduate of Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and the Membership Coordinator of International Mindfulness Teachers Association.  She is a board member of Braided Wisdom, a core leader of Deep Renewal Women’s Gathering, and a visiting teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center.  She develops and facilitates innovative mindfulness programs for international companies, schools, and events.  She volunteers to teach incarcerated women serving life imprisonment in the Correctional Institution for Women and supports sexually abused women and children being sheltered in Bahay Tuluyan.

Imee mentors with a unique blend of traditional yet progressive, Eastern yet Western, and gentle yet firm approach.  She works in Buddhist, secular, and cross-cultural settings that intertwine harmoniously within the mindfulness field.  She believes that everything belongs when exploring one’s own mind and heart.  Hence, it takes courageous and compassionate enthusiasm to meet ourselves fully.  She loves engaging in relaxed, meaningful conversations that build relationship and cultivate connection.

Imee is mixed-race, adopted, and raised by hard-working, lower middle-class, immigrant Filipinos.  The best thing she’s ever done is to give birth naturally at home.  She’s a mom to two boys whom she aspires to raise as respectful, kind, and dignified human beings.  She loves dancing to live music, nature hikes and campfires, and soaking in warm ocean waters.  She’s a health and wellness advocate, an organic gardener, and a yoga therapist.