Das Chapin has been studying, practicing, and teaching meditation and mindfulness in many forms over the last forty years. In the eighties he studied and practiced the art of "being" as in the ontological distinctions of being human. In the nineties he began teaching yoga and meditation, eventually helping to start an Ashram in north western Maine. He supervised the ashram's outreach centers where he practiced the healing science of Ayurveda, and taught yoga and meditation on a daily basis. He also ran healing and spiritual retreats lasting from three days to two weeks, where individuals explored ayurvedic healing, yoga and meditation while deep in the woods without running water, electricity, or the distractions of our day to day lives.
Recognizing at the age of forty-nine that he had unresolved issues around his own childhood sexual abuse he began a personal journey of healing which eventually brought him to Portland, Oregon where he currently is an advocate for survivors of sexual abuse and now is bringing his past practices to help teach meditation and mindfulness or more specifically introspective awareness with a focus on how the trauma of sexual abuse affects every moment of our lives.
Some sexual assault advocacy specifics:
2012-current: start and facilitation of a peer to peer support group for Male Survivors. Over 60 men have spent time in the group, some for the duration. Portland OR
2013-15 Participation as one of the story tellers and actors of “Telling, Stepping into the Light” a 4 women and 3 men play based on our personal stories of sexual abuse. Portland OR, Ashland OR, Seattle WA. organized and funded through OAASIS
2014 Presenter at Male Survivor Symposium on “Being Present”. Newark NY
2016 Completion of course work to be an “Advocate with Privilege” for Oregon sexual abuse survivors. Reed College Portland OR
2018: Designer of a “survivor educational garden” for a local college. Unfortunately the college was sold just prior to ground breaking.
2025 Co-creator of Pacific NorthWest Community Survivors Network PNWCSN.org committed to reducing barriers to healing for survivors to the Pacific Northwest.