DAMBI

My partner @yochanting and I held our first workshop at @esalen Institute, surrounded by the vast landscape of Big Sur. Named after the Esselen, the Indigenous people of this land, Esalen still carries traces of their presence. Founded in 1962 by Michael Murphy and Dick Price, it became a starting point for many early modern spiritual practices and psychological movements. It has also been a birthplace for practices like holotropic breathwork and 5Rhythms by Gabrielle Roth. Many thinkers like Alan Watts, Fritz Perls, and Joseph Campbell explored human potential by merging Eastern philosophy and Western psychology as lived, embodied, transformative experience within a community. I also met a resident herbalist @micha_merrick whom I’ve followed for almost ten years at her beautiful herbal bundle workshop at Buddha Garden. Hoping to come back to this sacred land in the near future again to share my wisdom. 🙏🏻 #Esalen #HumanPotential #5rhythm #breathwork

I had a beautiful Sunday at Green Gulch Farm with our city center crew. Founded in 1972 to carry forward the spirit of Suzuki Roshi, this place brings Zen practice into everyday life through zazen, soji, farming, food, and the rhythm of nature. 🌱👩‍🌾🧹🧘🏻‍♀️ We began with an inspiring Sunday Dharma talk by Kiku Christina, shared a simple, nourishing lunch, then wandered slowly through the teahouse, garden, and organic farm, all the way down to the beach. Grateful for each moment in this way of living. 😌🙏🏻 #GreenGulch #ZenCenter #SlowLiving #ZenPractice #ZenBuddhism

Sujata was the woman who offered milk rice to the Buddha before his enlightenment—an act of nourishment, care, and quiet generosity. It symbolizes feeding not just the body, but awakening of the mind itself. First week of quiet practice and mindful cooking at the San Francisco Zen Center 🙏🏻 Grateful to be in the kitchen as a guest student. Next week, we’ll be preparing Asian temple food to share with the community 😇 Sujata는 부처가 깨달음을 얻기 전 우유죽을 올렸던 여인으로, 이는 먹임(nourishment), 돌봄, 그리고 고요한 나눔의 행위를 의미합니다. 불교에서는 단순히 몸을 먹이는 것을 넘어, 깨어남 자체를 돕는 상징으로 여겨집니다. 조용한 수행과 마음을 담은 요리를 통해, 게스트 스튜던트로서 부엌에 서며 San Francisco Zen Center에서의 첫 주를 보냈습니다. 다음 주에는 커뮤니티를 위해 사찰 음식을 준비합니다. 😇🙏🏻 Sujataは、ブッダが悟りを得る前に乳粥を捧げた女性であり、 それは nourishment（養い）、思いやり、そして静かな分かち合いの行為を意味します。仏教においては、単に身体を養うだけでなく、目覚めそのものを支える象徴とされています。 静かな修行と心を込めた料理を通して、ゲストスチューデントとしてキッチンに立ち、San Francisco Zen Centerでの最初の一週間を過ごしました。来週は、コミュニティのために精進料理を準備します。 😇🙏🏻 #shojinryori #buddhistcuisine #精進料理

I first encountered Buddhism in 2016 through tea and incense ceremonies rooted in East Asian traditions, and through Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi — the Japanese Soto Zen priest who founded the San Francisco Zen Center and helped root Zen practice in the West. Around that same time, Akasaka was ordained. Without knowing then, we were already moving along the same current. Years later, it feels quietly profound that our paths meet here. We’re honored to host our first event together at the San Francisco Zen Center this May, before returning to Asia. Looking forward to seeing you there. 🌸 A Living Zen Ceremony : Tea, Scent, Breath, and Voice as Practice With Yogetsu Akasaka and Dambi Kim Sunday, May 3, 2:00-4:00 pm @sanfranciscozencenter A Living Zen Ceremony is a contemporary, practice-based gathering that invites participants to experience Zen not as a concept, but as a lived, embodied practice. This offering is designed specifically for San Francisco Zen Center, aligned with its tradition of practice, simplicity, and depth, while gently opening space for new forms of embodied inquiry. Visit the SFZC calendar: Link in bio #zenbuddhism #sanfranciscozencenter #禅仏教 #선불교

The very first place we visited in LA was the @freedomlafes on Easter weekend which is organized by MINMIさん from the Japanese Reggae and dancehall music 🌿 Surrounded by Japanese performers and street food, it felt like we were back in Japan during Hanamatsuri flower festival season 🌸 A familiar atmosphere in a completely different land 🇺🇸🇯🇵 Thank you to everyone who made it feel like home 🫶

Touch down in San Francisco 🇺🇸 What a beautiful meditation center we visited, where Yogetsu was performing for Sacred Sounds at @spirit_rock Spirit Rock Meditation Center founded in 1987 by teachers like Jack Kornfield, is a leading Meditation center bringing Vipassana practice into modern Western life. The week we arrived, there was an opening ceremony of a stupa, which felt like a blessing or a welcoming gift. Can’t wait to come back and go deeper into meditation here.

As soon as the retrogrades of Mercury and Jupiter came to an end this month, the first project right after the Spring Equinox called me in with the Day Rave team in the year of Fire Horse 🔥 Interestingly, each of us carries at least one Yang Fire energy in our Chinese astrology charts and we were constantly surrounded by red energy throughout the preparation — a truly synergetic alignment and energetic synchronicity with the natural law of the universe 🔥🐎✨ I also had a beautiful surprise offering 1:1 Chinese astrology session at @joyspace_berlin in my favorite quiet corner of Berlin. 🔮 The client was entering a 10-year Yang Wood luck pillar and was seeking guidance from me as a Yang Wood Day Master. It was a short but intense trip to Berlin, shared with my soul family who embody this vibrant Yang Fire frequency. Grateful for everyone who made this journey so special ♥️ #chineseastrology #firehorse

🪩 Premier of Day Rave: For Other Time (2018/2026) I am so happy to return to the art world after a long hiatus— closing the festival together with the Day Rave team. With deep gratitude to Maerz Musik and the @berlinerfestspiele team for the trust and support 🤍 Curated by @kamilametwaly @voytek_blehash Spatial Design by @dirkbell69 Sound & Performance by @lou__drago Somatic Hosting, Sound, Performance by Isabel Lewis Somatic Hosting, Sound, Performance by @margheritaddm Tea Ceremony, Sound by @dambistearoom #berlinerfestspiele #dayrave #contemporaryart #performanceart #immersiveart

Touch down in Berlin for Maerzmusik at @berlinerfestspiele 2026 🥨 I’ll be taking part as an artist with tea ceremony and sound as part of I Am All Ears, co-curated by Kamila Metwaly and Wojtek Blecharz — as a closing event with a 6-hour day rave immersive somatic listening session with my ‘DAYRAVE: For Other Time(2018/2026)’ team like Lou Drago, Isabel Lewis, Dirk Bell and Margherita D’adamo. Stoked to be part of this alongside some of my favorite female avant-garde contemporary composers — Eliane Radigue, Pauline Oliveros, Ellen Fullman, Meredith Monk, Okkyung Lee and many more, who have been great sources of inspiration for my musical and artistic journey. Before it all begins, stopping by @playtronica HQ to pick up some biofeedback gear that will be launched soon in April. If you’re in Berlin, tickets are available via Berliner Festspiele 🌟 I AM ALL EARS 29 March 2026 16:00 - 21:00, the house opens at 15:00 Haus der Berliner Festspiele #berlinerfestspiele #contemporaryart #contemporarymusic #newmusic #deeplistening

Closing my very first trip to Costa Rica. I began my spiritual journey in 2021, seeking to move beyond the material life I once knew. I didn’t know where it would lead and at times, I felt the absence of companionship, until I met my other half last year. Meeting so many beautiful couples on this trip, I was reminded that the next step is simple to remain in Divine Union: with my partner, with nature, and in presence. Grateful for all the souls we crossed paths with along the way. Pura vida 🌿✨

Excited to make a comeback to Berlin for the Day Rave (2018) to co-create the last day of 6-hour long immersive journey of the festival at @berlinerfestspiele ✨ For Other Time (2026) By Lou Drago, Dambi Kim and Isabel Lewis A continuation of the conversation that Lou Drago, Dambi Kim and Isabel Lewis began last summer in Martin Groupius Bau about embodied listening to music; listening that increases sensitivity to perception. They are interested in long-term commitment to embodied activities that make it possible to connect with others over a single subjectivity of the self. Both the music and the atmosphere of ‘Day Rave’ create space for playful exploration of blurred identities and recognition of peripheral perceptions. The goal is to actively go beyond the limits of “I”, establish contacts through dance as a form of spiritual closeness and friendly relations - not only interpersonal relations, but also relationships with all the things with which we coexist. The piece curated by Voytek Blehash at Nowy Teatr, Warsaw, PL was conceived by Dambi Kim, Isabel Lewis and Lou Drago and performed with Margherita D’Adamo on 26.08.19 The work was originally premiered in the context of the Welt ohne Außen exhibition curated by Tino Seghal and Thomas Oberender at Martin Groupius Bau, Berlin, DE on 13.07.2018 - The #MaerzMusik festival's finale, again co-curated by @voytek_blehash , interrogates architecture, space, movement and sound. At Haus der Berliner Festspiele, this new chapter of "I AM ALL EARS" asks how we might unsettle normative ways of presenting and experiencing music. The theatre opens beyond its formal stage to backstage corridors, staircases, and rooms - spaces that cultural workers who sustain the institution inhabit. The building itself becomes a listening body. "I AM ALL EARS" will feature sound sculptures, live musicians, a multidirectional listening session, a series of ear-overtures, a fully embodied sound experience, and a collective somatic listening practice. I AM ALL EARS 29 March 2026 16:00 - 21:00, the house opens at 15:00 Haus der Berliner Festspiele #dayrave #somaticlistening #choreography berlinerfestspiele

Happy International Women’s Day ✨🌿💃🏼 I had the opportunity to spend a beautiful afternoon with a circle of women hosting a Planetary Herbalism Workshop. We began with a beautiful rose meditation led by Silvia, the big mama of @esferaespacio , opening the space with softness and presence. This was followed by my planetary herbal tea blend ritual and a short medical astrology reading of everyone’s birth chart. I could feel the power of women gathering—supporting, nurturing, and empowering one another through care work in all aspects of life. Thank you to everyone who joined and shared this special moment together. 🌹✨ #InternationalWomensDay #WomensCircle #PlanetaryHerbalism #PlantMedicine #PuraVida 🌿✨