About
Kamala Itzel Hayward is a teacher and minister based at the East Bay Meditation Center. She completed the Commit2Dharma program at EBMC and holds certification as an Integral Yoga senior teacher. Since 2010, Hayward has taught yoga, meditation, and mindful meditation practices. Her teaching focuses on relationships and meditation practice across different life stages.
Teaching focus
Kamala Itzel Hayward's teaching focus, drawn from the source profile, sits in the Integral Yoga and Insight traditions. Several threads come up: steady attention to body and breath; the relationship between ethics and meditation; and short, direct teachings rather than long talks. On talks, the style is closer to thinking-along than presenting. Kamala Itzel Hayward 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 relationships. The bigger move Kamala Itzel Hayward 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. Kamala Itzel Hayward'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. Kamala Itzel Hayward'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
Kamala Itzel Hayward teaches in the Integral Yoga and Insight traditions. The teaching home is East Bay Meditation Center. From the teacher's own profile: Itzel Hayward (aka Rev. Kamala) has helped guide people to experience the Dharma through all forms and stages of relationships for nearly 10 years. She is particularly committed to coaching individuals to remember their Divine nature and open courageously and mindfully to Love. She completed the first Commit2Dharma program offered at EBMC and is trained as an Integral Yoga senior teacher and minister. She has been sharing yoga, meditation, and mindful meditation since 2010. In the Insight stream Kamala Itzel Hayward works inside, the emphasis is on direct attention to body, feeling tone, and mind, alongside the brahmaviharas and an ongoing investigation of how clinging and aversion arise. Talks tend to be conversational rather than scripted, and there's room for sila and ethics to be talked about as part of practice rather than as a separate topic. Kamala Itzel Hayward'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. Kamala Itzel Hayward'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. Kamala Itzel Hayward'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. Kamala Itzel Hayward'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. Kamala Itzel Hayward'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. Kamala Itzel Hayward'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. Kamala Itzel Hayward'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. Kamala Itzel Hayward'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
Kamala Itzel Hayward teaches as a lay teacher in the Integral Yoga and Insight traditions. The institutional home, per the source listing, is East Bay Meditation Center, and that's where most of the public teaching schedule and any retreat offerings will be posted. The Insight lineage in the West runs through teachers like Mahasi Sayadaw, U Ba Khin, Anagarika Munindra, and Dipa Ma into the founders of IMS, Spirit Rock, and the regional centers, and most contemporary Insight teachers position themselves somewhere in that broad family.
What to expect
On a class or retreat with Kamala Itzel Hayward, the basic shape is short instruction, longer sittings, and some Q&A. The container is shaped by East Bay Meditation Center, 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.
