Michael Zittel

Michael Zittel has over 30 years of training and practice in Buddhist meditation, Secular Mindfulness, and the Dharma. In 2015, Michael was empowered to teach meditation and Buddha Dharma by Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society. He has studied at Kopan Monastery in Nepal, Mount Baldy Zen Center, and Theravadan Sutta studies under Venerable Dhammananda Bikkhu of Maithree Vihara. He considers Shinzen Young as his primary teacher.

Michael’s passion is to re-engage the deep essence of the Dharma in a secular context that is relevant to healing and self-actualizing in today’s world. Michael works as an EMDR therapist in the field of addiction and trauma resolution in residential treatment centers. He incorporates Buddhist Psychology as an essential framework for individual therapy by leading daily meditations, facilitating groups on Mindfulness Psychoeducation, and utilizing meditation practices of Concentration (Samatha), Insight (Vipassana) & Heart Practices (Brahma Vihara), as significant tools for clients in early recovery to gain skills in self regulation, meta-awareness, and affect tolerance.