Justin Sarno (arya)

Founder of Choose Heart - Counselor - Spiritual Director & Interfaith Chaplain-in-training

My journey into the Heart of my own Life has been a profound process–often slow and sometimes harrowing–of somehow both expanding beyond what I took myself to be, and also of deepening into what I truly am and have always been. What a paradox!

This process of Choosing Heart has & continues to progressively strip me down to the essential experience of my own raw humanness, dissolving false divisions & deceptions, steadily revealing a central yet indescribable reality that is Intimate, Vital, & Whole.

My personal path eventually led me to this calling–the privileged work of accompanying another individual or couple deeper into the Heart of their own Aliveness. Since I began offering services in 2009, I have continuously dedicated myself to both inhabiting my own Aliveness more fully & sincerely, while also growing & refining my capacity to support others in doing the same.

Education & Certifications

  • Interfaith Chaplaincy (The Chaplaincy Institute, ongoing training)

  • Spiritual Direction (The Chaplaincy Institute, ongoing training)

  • Clinical Pastoral Education (Shaw Institute, San Francisco Theological Seminary)

  • Authentic Feeling and Heart Intelligence (Adam Gainsburg & Open Heart Experience)

  • Mental Health Counseling (Interchange Counseling Institute)

  • Leadership Training (Coaches Training Institute)

  • Grief and Bereavement Training (Josie’s Place, The Chaplaincy Institute)

  • Mindfulness Training/Insight Meditation (Insight Meditation Society)

  • Transformational NLP (NLPMarin)

  • Breath of the Soul (Adam Gainsburg & Soulsign)

  • Ritual Work, Men’s Work (Various)

  • Yogic Sciences (Kriya, Ashtanga)

  • Bachelors of Arts (Hampshire College)

 
 

Russell Graham

Administrative assistant, client point-of-contact, scheduler extraordinaire

 

arlette Castellanos

Social media diva, photographer/videographer, website manager