About
Rascal Roubos is a therapist (LCSW) and meditation teacher based in Oakland, California. They are affiliated with East Bay Meditation Center and completed their Spiritual Teacher and Leadership Training there in 2022. Roubos also trained in the Commit2Dharma program (2012), Spirit Rock's Dedicated Practitioner Program (2016), and completed MBSR certification in 2012. They temporarily ordained in Thailand in 2013. Roubos integrates dharma practice with anti-oppression and somatic approaches, and focuses on practice forms beyond seated meditation, including daily rituals and seasonal practices.
Teaching focus
Rascal Roubos's teaching focus, drawn from the source profile, sits in the Theravada and Insight traditions. Several threads come up: dharma for parents and householders;. On talks, the style is closer to thinking-along than presenting. Rascal Roubos 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 trauma, LGBTQ+. The bigger move Rascal Roubos 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. Rascal Roubos'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. Rascal Roubos'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. Rascal Roubos'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
Rascal Roubos teaches in the Theravada and Insight traditions. The teaching home is East Bay Meditation Center. From the teacher's own profile: Rascal Roubos, LCSW (they/them) - Rascal is white transmasculine therapist based in Huichin (Oakland) CA, who integrates dharma into daily life through an anti-oppression lens and somatic focused approaches. Rascal is a delighted and sometimes exhausted parent of three in a blended family, multi-household constellation. Although they have benefited much from extended silent retreat over the years, these days Rascal is especially engaged in deepening in practice forms that do not require sitting, or quiet! Rascal is a graduate of East Bay Meditation Center's Spiritual Teacher and Leadership Training in 2022 and the Commit2Dharma intensive practice and study program in 2012, as well as Spirit Rock's Dedicated Practitioner Program in 2016 and a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Certification Program in 2012. They had the honor of ordaining temporarily in Thailand in 2013, an experience that informs their dreams of more multi-generational community practice spaces in the West. Rascal loves small daily rituals and seasonal practices to honor the earth, the ancestors, and future generations. In the Insight stream Rascal Roubos 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. Rascal Roubos'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. Rascal Roubos'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. Rascal Roubos'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. Rascal Roubos'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. Rascal Roubos'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
Rascal Roubos teaches as a lay teacher in the Theravada 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 Rascal Roubos, 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.
