Hola. I’m Oscar Paul Medina.
I’m an executive coach, leadership consultant, and somatic practitioner. For more than two decades, I’ve studied with some of the great minds in somatic psychology, soul work, and wisdom traditions that have helped people make sense of themselves and their place in the world.
I’ve taught mindfulness to incarcerated people and underserved communities, designed programs across public health, education, and justice, and advised senior leaders working within those systems
Across all of it, I’ve remained interested in the same question: how do we become more aligned with who we are while supporting the people and communities our lives touch?
I was born in East LA to Mexican immigrants and raised in the Mojave Desert.
My parents worked hard and money was often tight. We furnished the house from thrift stores and garage sales, and weekends meant carne asadas with family.
I remember the sound of my father working on the car, singing rancheras and Beatles songs, and the smell of my mother’s cooking drifting through the house. In my room, I listened to everything from new wave to jazz and read poetry and literature from around the world. Even then, I was drawn to different worlds and curious about how they fit together.
When I was ten, we moved to the Mojave Desert. I went from growing up around other Latino kids to being one of the only ones at school. The landscape itself could feel just as isolating: empty roads, huge skies, long distances, and very little to do.
Finding the Underground
By my teens, that isolation started getting me into trouble. I was pushing limits and looking anywhere I could for intensity, people, and experiences that made the world feel bigger.
I remember hearing techno at thirteen and thinking, this is the future. At the time, it was still underground, strange, and far outside the mainstream. Years later, I watched that sound move from warehouses and desert parties into the center of popular culture.
As soon as I could drive, LA became my world. I found myself in its rave, hip-hop, and punk subcultures, often bringing friends along with me. Those spaces gave me something I had been looking for: experimentation, community, and room to become more fully myself.
Ambition and Creativity
As I moved into adulthood, I tried to build a life that could hold both ambition and creativity. I went to college, worked in corporate America, and achieved professional milestones.
Meanwhile, I was living the life of a writer and artist. I wrote poetry, was an arts and culture journalist, DJed and hosted music events, and co-founded a literary and arts magazine. I hustled, partied hard, and achieved—but something was still missing.
At 29, after years of pushing myself beyond my limits, I fell into a period of depression and couldn’t find a way out.
I began a meditation practice as a way to heal. In that stillness, something profound emerged: a coming home to myself, a way of being that felt effortless and whole.
A Deeper Study
Over the next decade, that practice led me into a much broader study of how people heal, change, and find meaning.
I immersed myself in rites of passage, somatic psychology, and trauma healing, learning from teachers across disciplines.
Bringing the Work Into the World
In 2014, the Dalai Lama Fellowship gave me an opportunity to bring that inquiry into the world. I was exposed to extraordinary teachers and new approaches to social change and community building.
As part of that experience, I co-founded a community garden and wellness space in Oakland where local families could learn how to garden, take home fresh organic produce, learn how to meditate, and practice yoga.
Bringing the Work Into the World
In 2014, the Dalai Lama Fellowship gave me an opportunity to bring that inquiry into the world. I was exposed to extraordinary teachers and new approaches to social change and community building.
As part of that experience, I co-founded a community garden and wellness space in Oakland where local families could learn how to garden, take home fresh organic produce, learn how to meditate, and practice yoga.
I was later brought on to Mind Body Awareness Project as a mindfulness facilitator working with incarcerated youth and justice-impacted communities. Over time, my role expanded into training, program development, strategy, and organizational leadership.
I went on to found Conscious Cultura, an initiative bringing culturally centered healing practices to Latino communities. That work was supported by Johnson & Johnson and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
I was later hired at Mind Body Awareness Project as a mindfulness facilitator working with incarcerated youth and justice-impacted communities. Over time, my role expanded into training, program development, strategy, and organizational leadership.
I went on to found Conscious Cultura, an initiative bringing culturally centered healing practices to Latino communities. That work was supported by Johnson & Johnson and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The Work I Do Today
Today, I serve as Executive Director of Mind Body Awareness Project while also holding a private practice as an executive coach, leadership consultant, and somatic practitioner.
At MBA, I lead strategy, fundraising, business development, partnerships, and operations, helping guide the growth and direction of the organization.
In my private practice, I advise founders, executives, and senior leaders from Harvard, Y Combinator, social impact organizations, and other institutions, while also working with people asking deeper questions about identity, leadership, and the direction of their lives.