Life Practice Program (LPP) with Shinzen Young

The Life Practice Program (LPP) with Shinzen Young is an online meditation program for people who want to carry their practice off the cushion and into daily life. Shinzen Young, the American mindfulness teacher behind Unified Mindfulness, leads each session with a guest, and the whole thing takes place over the internet, so you can join from wherever you are.

What to Expect

The program runs as a weekly session, held midweek. In each one, Shinzen and a guest share the week's program, with the aim of taking practice beyond formal sitting. The organizer describes it simply: a way to bring meditation into the rest of your life.

The Life Practice Program belongs to a wider set of online offerings from the same community. These include the Home Practice Program, a weekend of meditation retreat offerings held by conference call and led by Unified Mindfulness trainers and coaches, as well as virtual retreats and an annual immersion. If you are looking for a longer, more structured stretch of practice at home, those sit alongside the weekly program.

About Shinzen Young

Shinzen Young is an American mindfulness teacher and neuroscience research consultant. He is known for Unified Mindfulness, a systematic approach to categorizing, adapting and teaching meditation. His work has led to collaborations in contemplative neuroscience with Harvard Medical School, Carnegie-Mellon University and the University of Vermont, and he is co-director of the Science Enhanced Mindful Awareness (SEMA) Lab at the University of Arizona.

His interest in Asia began at 14, when he chose to attend a Japanese ethnic school in his native Los Angeles. He majored in Asian languages at UCLA, then entered a PhD program in Buddhist Studies at the University of Wisconsin. For his thesis research he lived for three years as a Shingon (Japanese Vajrayana) monk at Mount Koya, Japan, where he received the name Shinzen.

Before You Go

The program is held online, so all you need is a way to connect from home. The material does not list prerequisites, so there is no stated requirement of prior retreat experience. The weekly format suits anyone curious about how a mindfulness practice can work in ordinary days, whether you already meditate or want to see how Unified Mindfulness approaches it.