Upcoming Gathering Dates (30 min )
Each monthly gathering offers a gentle blend of mindfulness, self-compassion, guided practice, and reflection, specifically designed for adult adoptees. No prior meditation experience is needed.

Join our community for a space of practice, reflection, and connection. All gatherings are held virtually via Zoom monthly. Once you register, you will receive a confirmation email with details on how to join the gathering.

• Saturday, August 29 — 9:00 am - (Arizona Time) 

           Topic: Learning to Be Your Own Friend
           Discover the foundations of self-compassion and begin developing a kinder relationship with yourself.

• Saturday, September 26— 9:00 am (Arizona Time) 

           Topic: Meeting Yourself with Kindness
           Learn practical ways to respond to self-criticism with understanding and care.

• Saturday, October 24 — 9:00 am (Arizona Time) 

           Topic: You're Not Alone
           Explore the healing power of common humanity and connecting with others who understand the adoptee experience.

• Saturday, November 21— 9:00 am (Arizona Time) 

           Topic: Being with Difficult Emotions
           Practice mindfulness skills for meeting difficult thoughts and emotions with greater steadiness.

• Saturday, December 19 — 9:00 am (Arizona Time) 

           Topic: Looking Back with Compassion
           Reflect on your journey so far, celebrate growth, and set compassionate intentions for the year ahead.

Time Zone Converter 

Note on the Zoom Link: To ensure a safe and private space for all participants, a secure Zoom link will be emailed to you 48 hours before each gathering.

Adoption is often described as a beginning

For many adoptees, it also begins with loss. Over time, that early experience can shape how we relate to ourselves, others, and the world around us — sometimes in ways that are hard to understand or fully put into words.

This series was created as a gentle space to explore those experiences with greater awareness, compassion, and care.

​Adoption is not just a story — it's a lived emotional experience that continues to unfold over time. The Mindful Adoptee Gathering is a monthly offering created to support adult adoptees in exploring the deeper emotional layers of being an adoptee through mindfulness, self-compassion, and emotional awareness.

Hi, I'm Chris.​
I'm a late-discovery adult adoptee and mindfulness and self-compassion teacher, and my work is rooted in both lived experience and mindfulness-based practice.

My personal healing journey as an adoptee has led me to explore mindfulness, self-compassion, and emotional awareness as tools for healing and integration. These practices have been a steady support in helping me understand my own experience of loss, identity, and emotional regulation.

I am trained in Mindfulness Facilitation from the UCLA Mindful Awareness Center and Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), and I am also trained in trauma-sensitive mindfulness.

This gathering idea was created out of my own lived experience and ongoing healing journey, and is offered as a space for reflection, awareness, and gentle emotional support for other adoptees walking a similar path.

My training:

• Training in Mindfulness Facilitation – UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center
• Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) – Professional Training
• Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness – Professional Training
• Coach Training Program Graduate – Coach U

A gentle, guided journey through the emotional experience of being an adoptee

This is not about fixing yourself.
It's not about rushing healing.
It's about slowing down… and learning how to be with your experience in a new way.

Each month, we explore one of the core emotional themes of the adoptee experience. Together, we gently bring awareness to patterns that often live beneath the surface — creating space for insight, understanding, and compassion.
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This gathering offers a regular and supportive rhythm as you move through these experiences at your own pace. You're welcome to join at any point — and to attend one session or continue through the entire series. There's no pressure to do it all.

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"As long as you are breathing, there is more right with you, no matter what is wrong."
​Jon Kabat-Zinn

Monthly Theme A focused theme rooted in the adoptee healing experience, explored with care each month.	Guided Practices Mindfulness and self-compassion practices are designed to be simple, practical, and approachable at your own pace.
Reflection Prompts Healing-centered content and reflection prompts are shared through email to deepen personal insight between sessions.	Live Zoom Gathering A free, 30-minute live Zoom session each month for practice, exploration, connection, and gentle community support.

A Different Way to Heal

​Rather than trying to "solve" or "fix" difficult emotions, this series helps you build a more grounded, steady relationship with yourself.
Over time, this creates space for insight, regulation, and deeper compassion for your own experience.
This series helps you:

• Build emotional awareness
• Strengthen self-compassion
• Develop nervous system regulation skills
• Stay present without becoming overwhelmed

​Mindfulness Gently notice thoughts, emotions, and patterns with curiosity instead of judgment.

Self-Compassion Respond to yourself with kindness rather than criticism — especially when it's hardest.

Emotional Awareness ​Better understand what's happening internally, so you can meet yourself where you truly are.

This Gathering is for you...

If any of this resonates, you're in the right place. You don't need prior experience with mindfulness or meditation — just a willingness to show up as you are.
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- You feel the emotional impact of being an adoptee, but aren't always sure how to work with it.
- You want to develop a more compassionate relationship with yourself.
​- You're curious about mindfulness but want it applied in a meaningful, relevant way.
- ​You're looking for a gentle, non-overwhelming path toward deeper understanding and healing.

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“Whether we realize it or not, it is our woundedness, or how we cope with it, that dictates much of our behavior, shapes our social habits, and informs our ways of thinking about the world.”
Gabor Maté

What is Offered

Monthly Focus A focused emotional theme rooted in the adoptee experience, explored with care and depth each month.	Guided Practices Mindfulness and self-compassion practices designed to be simple, practical, and approachable at your own pace.
Reflection Prompts Healing-centered content and reflection prompts shared through social media to deepen personal insight between sessions.	Live Zoom Gathering ​A free, 30-minute live Zoom session each month for practice, exploration, connection, and gentle community support.

Many adoptees carry feelings that were never fully seen, named, or supported.

Be with your story in a new way without pressure to have it all figured out.

Feel less alone in your experience, and know that what you carry makes sense.

​Begin relating to yourself with more understanding, care, and compassion.

It's not your fault what happened to you, but it is only you that can to heal.