About
Aizaiah G. Yong is an ordained Pentecostal Christian minister and practical theologian based at Naropa University. He has worked in religious education and higher education leadership for over 15 years, focusing on communities of color and queer and trans people. His book Multiracial Cosmotheadrism: a Practical Theology of Multiracial Experiences (Orbis Books, 2023) won the 2022 Raimon Panikkar Prize. His teaching interests include contemplative spirituality, spiritual care, critical mixed race studies, internal family systems, and interreligious community work. He leads spiritual retreats and conducts organizational consulting on spirituality, leadership, and social healing.
Teaching focus
Aizaiah G Yong's teaching focus, drawn from the source profile, sits in the contemplative path. Several threads come up: dharma applied to social and collective suffering; dharma in dialogue with race, identity, and power; and dharma for parents and householders. On talks, the style is closer to thinking-along than presenting. Aizaiah G Yong works with whatever shows up in the room rather than reading from notes, which is part of why these talks land as conversational instead of scripted. Short pauses, longer sits, and questions that come back to direct experience are usual. Listed specialties on the source profile include retreat, LGBTQ+. The bigger move Aizaiah G Yong keeps making is back toward attention itself: what's happening, how it's being held, and what gets in the way. That keeps the teaching close to practice rather than drifting into commentary about practice. For talks, schedules, and longer essays, the affiliated organization's page is where the live material lives. Aizaiah G Yong's sessions tend to keep returning to the body, to breath, and to the felt quality of attention as the steady ground that the rest rests on. Aizaiah G Yong's sessions tend to keep returning to the body, to breath, and to the felt quality of attention as the steady ground that the rest rests on.
Background
Aizaiah G Yong teaches in the contemplative path. The teaching home is Naropa University. From the teacher's own profile: Aizaiah G. Yong (he/him) is an ordained Pentecostal Christian minister, practical theologian, and healing companion who has served in religious and higher education leadership for over 15 years devoting his energy to personally and socially transformationally work that centers QTBIPOC communities. He is a distinguished international speaker and his background includes keynote presentations, guest sermons at a diverse range of ecumenical ministries, psychospiritual private and community based practice, organizational consulting, faculty teaching experience, and higher educational administrative leadership. His first book, Multiracial Cosmotheadrism: a Practical Theology of Multiracial Experiences (Orbis Books, 2023), received the internationally acclaimed 2022 Raimon Panikkar Prize for the English language and critically explores how multiracial people transform efforts towards racial and planetary justice. Additional research interests of his include: contemplative spirituality, spiritual care, critical mixed race studies, internal family systems, as well as interreligious/intercultural community facilitation. Aizaiah loves being in a devoted partnership to his spouse of 12 years and considers being a parent to his four children one of the highest honors of his life. He also enjoys meeting diverse people, engaging and embracing intercultural communities, facilitating spiritual retreats, and is a sought out scholar-practitioner on issues at the intersection of spirituality, leadership, and social healing. Aizaiah believes that healing is a collective and creative work that is received when we relate to ourselves, one another, and the world from authenticity, curiosity, and perseverance. Aizaiah G Yong's teaching tends to stay close to direct experience, working with attention, ethics, and the felt sense of the body rather than abstract doctrine. Aizaiah G Yong's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Aizaiah G Yong's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Aizaiah G Yong's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Aizaiah G Yong's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography.
Lineage
Aizaiah G Yong teaches as a monastic teacher in the contemplative path. The institutional home, per the source listing, is Naropa University, and that's where most of the public teaching schedule and any retreat offerings will be posted. Teaching authority and lineage details, where stated, live with the affiliated organization's profile page rather than with this directory entry.
What to expect
On a class or retreat with Aizaiah G Yong, the basic shape is short instruction, longer sittings, and some Q&A. Retreats are part of the offering, usually a few days to a week, mostly silent. The container is shaped by Naropa University, so format details, fees, and access policies follow that organization's norms. Expect plenty of silence, less talking-at-you than you might think, and an emphasis on letting the practice do its work rather than chasing experiences. For exact dates, registration, and any sliding-scale or scholarship information, There's usually a short Q&A window and, on retreats, optional teacher interviews where students can bring specific questions about their practice.