About
Kristen May is a mindfulness facilitator and certified yoga teacher based in the East Bay. She completed mindfulness training through UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center and teacher training with Inward Bound Mindfulness Education. May worked as an aerospace engineer before transitioning to mindfulness work following burnout. Her teaching focuses on culturally relevant mindfulness practices, youth mentoring, and expanding access to mindfulness in communities historically underrepresented in these spaces. She is a Detroit native of Jamaican descent.
Teaching focus
Kristen May's teaching focus, drawn from the source profile, sits in the MBSR and Secular 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. Kristen May 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 teens, stress. The bigger move Kristen May 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. Kristen May'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. Kristen May'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
Kristen May teaches in the MBSR and Secular traditions. The teaching home is East Bay Meditation Center. From the teacher's own profile: Kristen May (she/her/they) is a mindfulness facilitator, mentor, and former engineer whose work bridges mindfulness practice, collective liberation, and authentic storytelling. A Detroit native of Jamaican descent, Kristen began her career in aerospace engineering before experiencing burnout that led her to meditation and mindfulness. What began as a path of personal healing evolved into a deeper calling to support others in reconnecting with themselves and their capacity for awareness and care. Kristen is a certified yoga teacher and mindfulness facilitator through UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center (now UCLA Mindful) and has completed teacher training with Inward Bound Mindfulness Education. Her work includes mentoring youth, leading mindfulness programs, and serving in leadership roles within organizations focused on culturally relevant healing practices. She is deeply committed to expanding access to mindfulness, particularly for communities historically excluded from these spaces. You can connect with her on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram @maylovelight. Kristen May's teaching tends to stay close to direct experience, working with attention, ethics, and the felt sense of the body rather than abstract doctrine. Kristen May'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. Kristen May'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. Kristen May'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. Kristen May'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. Kristen May'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. Kristen May'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. Kristen May'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
Kristen May teaches as a lay teacher in the MBSR and Secular 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. 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 Kristen May, the basic shape is short instruction, longer sittings, and some Q&A. Online sittings and talks, mostly in real time with optional recordings, are part of the offering. 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.
