There’s something about Greg—not just who he is, but how he is. Clients describe his presence as calming, luminous, and profoundly grounding. Being with him feels like taking a deep breath you didn’t know you needed. He holds space with a rare blend of warmth, curiosity, and quiet strength, offering a sense of safety that invites transformation.
But how did Greg become Greg?
The Journey from Seeking to Serving
His mind was opened to great possibilities. Hungry for knowledge, he studied psychology, counseling, and dance.
Greg has been captivated by the depth and breadth of what is possible for human beings from his earliest memories. As a child, his curiosity led him away from home so frequently that his mother tried many “collection strategies.”
He was a rebellious young man, uninterested in career, marriage, or family. The idea of the “modern man” held no appeal. “Why tie myself down when there’s a whole world to explore?” he wondered.
Greg’s quest for self-discovery gained momentum as he traveled the American West aboard freight trains, stopping to explore ghost towns and summit mountains.
Adventure became a livelihood, he guided wilderness canoe and mountaineering trips, which paid for college.
Driven to explore a broader range of human experience, he traveled through Central and South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. This chapter of exploration culminated in working in famine relief efforts in the Sahara.
Greg’s desire to help others was now established. As he explored ways to exercise this, his creativity enabled him make a living as a storyteller and then an aerial dancer.
He volunteered for hospice work and collaborated with spiritual teacher Matthew Fox. Seeking a deeper understanding of faith, Greg earned a Master's degree in Spirituality. What he learned about compassion and the interconnectedness of all life inspired him to reach out further and train as a chaplain.
Eventually, he realized that study alone wasn’t enough. He longed for full immersion in spirituality and spent nine years living in Asia, studying philosophy and practicing meditation.
He discovered that meditation is hard work, yet the rewards are profound. Greg experienced elated yet peaceful states of freedom, directly perceived the nonexistence of time, and came to understand the impermanence of all things. He saw clearly that while pain is inevitable in life, suffering is optional. He connected deeply with humanity’s vast potential for positive transformation.
Greg returned to the United States when his father was dying. He realized that living as a contented hermit was no longer the challenge. The real work now lay in being happy and peaceful while actively contributing to society.
After 30,000+ hours of meditation, researchers at UW–Madison were interested in studying Greg’s brain––They didn’t share much, except as he puts it, “to confirm I had one.”
Returning to the demands of life outside of the monastery was challenging, but Greg soon found his footing and opportunities share his window through collaborations and speaking engagements.
In Boulder Colorado, he found an open-minded, adventurous community and with a stroke of luck, he was adopted by the then-hottest advertising agency in the world, CP+B. The competitive, high pressure creative industry was fertile ground for mindfulness. This connection led many places.
Greg admits to being bedazzled by the corporate world–Google, Ebay, PepsiCo, etc. So much money, such smart people, such cool work environments. He thought, “I must be important if the biggest companies hire me...”
Greg gave a TED Talk on bringing monastic mindfulness into the corporate world. Not long after, he recognized how easily success in that setting could seduce him—mistaking external validation for a sense of true identity.
To Greg, it was wrong to support ethics and outcomes he did not respect. The decision to move away from corporations to focus on individuals more interested in living better lives than making more money was an easy one. Many people from those days have become long-term clients.
As a boy, Greg often heard his father, a clinical psychologist, say it was an honor to witness another person’s inner world. Forty years later, Greg found himself working in that same intimate territory and came to feel the truth of those words. That sense of honor continues to move and motivate him today.
TEDxBoulder - Greg Burdulis - Migration of Mindfulness - Cave to Corporate America
Certifications & professional accomplishments
Somatic Coaching Certification (SCC)
Integrated Trauma Practitioner Certification (ITP)
Whole Brain Living Advanced Certification (WBLAC)
Yoga Teacher Certification (RYT)
Mindfulness Teacher Certification (CMT)
Professional Coach Certification (PCC)
Master’s Degree in Spirituality (MA)
TEDxBoulder Speaker
Former monk
The ongoing practice of being
Greg’s learning continues, but his focus has shifted. Rather than chasing new modalities, he’s deepening what he already knows. There’s a sense of having enough, and a growing desire to apply it. At the same time, the ever-unfolding “new” in life keeps him leaning in, inviting curiosity and vulnerability.
Greg no longer holds a fixed story about his life. He meets each moment with openness, letting meaning emerge. This “not-knowing” comes with “not-controlling” of others, the world, or even many of his own thoughts and emotions.
But this isn’t helplessness. It’s a daily practice of response—meeting life with creativity, compassion, and the choice to shift reactivity toward greater skill, connection, and kindness.