/ Writer / Teacher / Artist
About
I am a writer, teacher and artist.
While formally schooled in history and international affairs at Tufts University and Johns Hopkins University-SAIS, I have always preferred creativity and connection. My life's work thus far has been centered around inspiring deep personal inquiry and collective conversation in order to awaken change, connection and growth.
In 2016, I dreamt up Last Cut Project, a multidisciplinary writing and remembering project, exploring identity and transformation. The project has received press coverage across wellness, culture and creative media and informs my reflective writing workshops. This body of work culminated in an ad campaign for Equinox's 2017 Commit to Something campaign, featuring my mastectomy scars proudly on display, and the publication of my memoir, LAST CUT, in 2019.
After becoming a 200-hour certified SKY (Shamanic Kundalini Yoga) practitioner, I now teach yoga and writing. I combine SKY and my LAST CUT® framework to support folks in going within for answers so that they can create lives that feel like their own and be the fullest expression of their unique selves in the world.
Currently based in Los Angeles, California, I offer in-person and online group and private classes, workshops and retreats here and around the world.
As a queer, non-binary/trans person, I love curating spaces that feel welcoming, inclusive and inspiring to all individuals.
I also write a weekly newsletter called Notes from Sam and serve on the board of Amplify Arts Project. I have previously worked with Get Lit - Words Ignite and Tribal Trust Foundation.
When I am not teaching, I enjoy exploring the world and connecting with people through travel, art, music and dance.
I believe that by engaging in open, honest dialogue, conscious movement and community building, we can advance the revolutionary change we wish to see within ourselves and in the world.
The time is now. I look forward to connecting with you.
/ What guides the work
Core values
01
Individuality
Your uniqueness is the point. This work rejects narrow, prescribed ideas of beauty, success and worth, and celebrates every identity, body, background and belief that makes you who you are.
02
Growth
Growth is vulnerable and edgy, and it is where real change begins. It comes from honest reflection and conversation, with extra support for underrepresented voices and communities, on and off the mat.
03
Truth
Truth already lives within you. Asking pointed questions and sitting with the answers, on and off the mat, makes it easier to move through this wild thing called life. That truth belongs to everyone.
04
Creativity
Movement and writing turn what is inside into something you can see, share and say out loud. Creativity is an outlet, a way to connect and a language for the conversations that are hardest to start.
05
Vulnerability
You are a full-spectrum being, and every feeling belongs. Honest sharing takes courage, and that risk looks different for everyone, so every space here is held as a brave space for raw, real exchange.
Passionate about peace, justice and expression for all, I donate 5% of proceeds from each offering towards scholarships for Amplify Arts Project's incredible creative arts and music programming for female-identifying and non-binary youth.
/ Land acknowledgment
I live on stolen land originally and still inhabited and cared for by the Chumash, Tongva (Gabrieleño) and Fernandeño Tataviam people. I honor and pay respect to their elders and descendants, past, present and emerging, as they continue their stewardship of these lands and waters. I commit to decolonizing myself and my work with ongoing dedication.