About
David Cabrera has practiced vipassanā since 2007 and received teacher certification through Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach's Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program in 2021. He teaches meditation and mindful movement with One Dharma Nashville, where he co-founded a BIPOC Sangha group. Cabrera also teaches Chen Taiji, Qi Gong, and mindful movement, trained by the International Tiancai Chenjiagou Federation USA under Sifu Kam Lee since 2011. He specializes in somatic integration healing practices. He is affiliated with Spirit Rock.
Teaching focus
David Cabrera's teaching focus sits inside the Burmese vipassana revival as transmitted to the West, with insight meditation (vipassana) as the working ground. Vipassana practice as taught here works with direct observation of body, feeling-tone, mind-state, and dhammas, the four foundations of mindfulness as they appear in the Satipatthana Sutta. The instruction keeps coming back to what's actually arising rather than what should be. The space is structured for queer and trans practitioners as a real part of the room rather than an accommodation, with attention to the particular shapes practice takes inside lives the dominant culture has worked to discipline. Across the body of work, the consistent thread in David Cabrera's teaching is the refusal to let practice become abstract. The instruction asks for direct contact with what's actually arising, and the framing supports practitioners in giving it that. Recurring questions in the teaching include how to keep practice honest across years, how to hold difficulty without bypassing it, and how the dharma actually shows up in ordinary life rather than only on the cushion. Recurring questions in the teaching include how to keep practice honest across years, how to hold difficulty without bypassing it, and how the dharma actually shows up in ordinary life rather than only on the cushion.
Background
David Cabrera has practiced vipassanā since 2007 and received teacher certification through Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach's Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program in 2021. He teaches meditation and mindful movement with One Dharma Nashville, where he co-founded a BIPOC Sangha group. Cabrera also teaches Chen Taiji, Qi Gong, and mindful movement, trained by the International Tiancai Chenjiagou Federation USA under Sifu Kam Lee since 2011. He specializes in somatic integration healing practices. He is affiliated with Spirit Rock. David also specializes in Somatic Integration healing practices. Being of Afro Cuban Asian heritage, David comes from a long lineage of Afro Cuban abolitionists who have devoted their lives to equality and liberation for all people of color in Cuba. David is also a Grammy award winning musician in the Latin music industry and a devout father and husband. David Cabrera's teaching is anchored at Spirit Rock. The teaching draws from the Burmese vipassana revival as transmitted to the West, with insight meditation (vipassana) as the working ground. Areas of particular focus include LGBTQ+. In David Cabrera's talks the emphasis lands on direct observation. What the breath actually does, what mood actually feels like in the body, what arises and passes when nothing is being added. The practice is asked to deliver its own evidence. Practitioners drawn to David Cabrera's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way. Practitioners drawn to David Cabrera's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way. Practitioners drawn to David Cabrera's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way. Practitioners drawn to David Cabrera's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way. Practitioners drawn to David Cabrera's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way. Practitioners drawn to David Cabrera's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way.
Lineage
David Cabrera teaches within the Burmese vipassana revival as transmitted to the West. David Cabrera has been a vipassanā practitioner and instructor since 2007 and received certification through Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach’s Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program in 2021. He currently mentors for Cloud Sangha and teaches meditation and mindful movement with One Dharma Nashville, where he co-founded their thriving BIPOC Sangha. Incorporating many years of martial arts studies, David is Laoshi in Chen Taiji and has taught mindful movement, Qi Gong, Taiji for since 2011 and was trained by the International Tiancai Chenjiagou Federation USA under Sifu Kam Lee. Current affiliation runs through Spirit Rock. David Cabrera teaches as a lay practitioner rather than from a monastic role.
What to expect
In David Cabrera's classes and groups, expect guided sitting, dharma teaching held to a manageable length, and time for practitioners to ask the questions that are actually live for them. Sittings are conventional, mindfulness of breath and body, with metta and inquiry into difficult mind-states woven through. There's space for questions, and the answers don't get rushed. The atmosphere is grounded rather than performative, and practitioners tend to leave with practical ground to keep working from on their own. The atmosphere is grounded rather than performative, and practitioners tend to leave with practical ground to keep working from on their own.
