Filipino American Mindful Meditation Experts to Follow

Written by Jennifer Redondo

The sun sets earlier, it’s getting darker and colder, and everyone seems to be getting hit with a cold or still has a lingering cough. How many of you are experiencing the “winter blues”? Are you feeling anxious or depressed? With all the stressors in life, it’s important to find healthy and productive ways to manage negative emotions and frustrations. One effective way is to practice meditation!  

Meditation isn’t something that you easily learn, especially growing up Filipino, where most of us have no idea how to express or deal with our feelings. Meditation is not a brand new concept, and it’s not something that we’ve necessarily been exposed to. However, in recent years, there has been a shift where we are starting to focus on mental health. Mental health is key to overall well-being – mind, body, and soul.  

Here are four meditation specialists within the community that you might want to follow and incorporate into your daily self-care routines: 

1. Dawn Mauricio 

Dawn Mauricio is a Filipina-Canadian Buddhist Meditation and Mindfulness Meditation Teacher, author, and mentor. She has been practicing meditation since 2005. She graduated from the first teacher development group of True North Insight, and Spirit Rock's Mindfulness Yoga and Meditation Training, Dedicated Practitioners' Program, and 4-year Buddhadharma Retreat Teacher Training. 

Mauricio has a playful, dynamic, and heartfelt approach to meditation, which resonates with people of color and folks of all backgrounds. Mauricio leads daylongs, retreats, multi-year programs, and workshops in Canada and the U.S. for Spirit Rock and True North Insight BIPOC practice group. She is also on the leadership council for Sacred Mountain Sangha. 

Mauricio is a contributing meditation teacher for the app, Ten Percent Happier. She also has a podcast and is the author of “Mindfulness Meditation for Beginners''. For more information, visit her website to check out one of her self-paced meditation courses, membership community, classes, or retreats.  

2. La Sarmiento 

La Sarmiento is an immigrant, non-binary, Filipinx-American, uke-playing, Lego-building servant of the Dharma (teaching of the Buddha)! Sarmiento graduated with a Biology degree from Goucher College and is also a licensed massage therapist. After many years of self-discovery, Sarmiento transitioned into teaching, mentoring, and producing meditation workshops and retreats. 

Sarmiento always roots for the underdogs and those who feel invisible in the world. Sarmiento’s practice focuses on being fully alive, letting go of needing to be in control and the unknown. Sarmiento is a teacher supporting the Vipassana/Insight Meditation in Washington, D.C., Cloud Sangha, and the Ten Percent Happier app. In addition, Sarmiento serves as a mentor in the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program led by Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield. 

For more information, visit Sarmiento’s website. Sarmiento is also available to support you with your mindfulness practice through a teacher meeting on a donation basis via Zoom or phone.  

3. Joseph Gabriel Ilustrisimo 

Joseph Gabriel Ilustrisimo is a meditation coach, sound healer, yogi, and personal trainer. Ilustrisimo is an emotional support human helping people heal the body through yoga. He also uses meditation to help himself and others find peace during a busy day, calm the mind, and find healing. Ilustrisimo uses a multi-instrument approach sprinkled with breathwork and meditation prompts to heal the mind and chakras with sound healing.  

Head to his website for more information about IRL events. You can also find some guided meditations for times when you need it most. For example, he has practical guided meditations for when you want to slap someone or for when you are about to lose it. He keeps it real and bases his meditations on real-life scenarios.      

4. Romeo Marquez Jr. 

Romeo Marquez Jr. is the Head of Kollective Hustle, amongst other things! He is a sought-after international speaker, author, podcaster, and meditation practitioner. Marquez graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Theater, Film, and Television. His dedication to his self-development helped him manage the chaos of Hollywood and daily life. Meditation is part of Marquez’s morning ritual which he begins upon rising at 4 AM. Without fail, every day, he makes sure to drink lemon water, pray, journal, read, and meditate before heading to the gym to exercise. 

They say that it takes 21 days to form a new habit so if you’re interested in meditation, Marquez has a free 21-Day Guided Meditation to Manifest the Decade You Desire. You can get free access here. He has daily meditations throughout the span of three weeks which he’s grouped by the following: 1. Gratitude, Intentions, and Clarity, 2. Focus, Inspired Action, and Self-Care, and 3. Inner-Peace, Expansion and Abundance. 

In addition to his meditations, you can access inspirational music that he’s created for you to listen to when you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, when you need that extra pep in your step to get your day started on the right foot, or if you just want to feel good and be happy! 

The key is consistency! For you to be, do, and feel good… you have to infuse discipline and consistency into your daily routine. Every day you have to prepare, practice, and have grace on yourself for those days when you don’t feel your best. However, you must not stop and give up! You have to keep it moving to keep growing and glowing. If you need that extra motivation, then you should definitely look into meditating and/or working with the individuals that we’ve introduced to you above.   

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Written by Jennifer Redondo

Co-Founder and Co-Author of In Her Purpose

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