About Kendra
I was born at San Francisco Zen Center & spent the first 7 years of my life exploring the mountains & rivers of Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. The connection that time gave me to Wilderness, and the experience of being surrounded by people who were consciously engaging their lives, have both had a profound & life-long impact on me.
I spent most of my teenage summers living at Tassajara, and returned to live & practice there as an adult for several years.
Another strong influence on my life, was my mother.
My mother is a strong woman, who raised me solo, while following her passion of becoming a teacher. We didn’t have a lot of money, but she created a rich life, full of beauty & experience. I watched her make conscious choices, that often went against the grain, in order to create the life she wanted for herself & for me. From her, I learned fierce determination & that Joy has many paths.
I left the monastery & moved to San Francisco in 1999, in pursuit of a practice as deep, but which *included* relationship to other people in a more direct way. This has continued to be my life’s path & why I am so passionate about Intimacy, Expression & Authentic Relating.
The experience of trailblazing & evolving the practice of Circling, and cultivating the AuthenticSF community has been life-changing. Not always fun or easy. A path that took everything I had & gave everything in return.
As they say: You can either choose to stop, or life will force you to stop.
And when my marriage (to my business partner & best friend) fell apart when our son was 1 year old, I was forced to stop & let everything go to rediscover who I was, at my core.
Today, I have two extraordinary children, who are far & away my greatest and most humbling teachers; my ex-husband & I are still business partners & have a better relationship than ever; I am home, living in a place where I connect to Wilderness & Earth on a regular basis.
I know who I am, and at the same time I am ever-changing & always evolving. Some of my sharper edges have become smoother & I am quicker to laugh at my quirky self.
7½ Other Things About Me
- One of my SuperPowers is being able to identify edible plants. Anywhere, anytime. I once spotted the *only* ripe mango on the entire tree while driving 50mph on a twisty road. I then knocked it out of the tree with a rock – on my first try. It was delicious.
- Something you might be surprised to learn about me is….I shaved my head for the first when I was 17 years old. I kept it shaved for 3 years. The most recent time I shaved my head was in 2013, soon after my daughter was born.
- Something I’m afraid you might judge me for is…I have two kids, with two different fathers, and I’m not married to either father.
- I am more comfortable facilitating a room of 100 people than I am having a 1:1 conversation with someone I don’t know at a party.
- I used to struggle enormously with social anxiety. Now I just practice being comfortable with being uncomfortable.
- Something I’m deeply proud of myself for is creating amazing co-parenting relationships with the fathers of my children.
- I don’t know how to flirt (and it scares the heck out of me). But, I’m learning!
and for the ½……
Founder of The Collective: A Global Web of Women Devoted to Embodied Wholeness, Kendra Cunov has been studying, facilitating, and (most importantly) practicing Authentic Relating, Embodiment Practices & Deep Intimacy Work for over fifteen years.
Kendra has worked with thousands of men, women & couples in the areas of embodiment, intimacy, communication & full self-expression.
She co-founded Authentic World & Fierce Grace, as well as The Embodied Relationship Training Salon (with John Wineland), and pioneered some of the most cutting edge relation work on the planet.
Kendra has consulted for companies such as Genentech & been on staff for 4PC, an elite mastermind for the top 4% of coaches in the world.
She works with organizations & leaders, as well as men, women & couples, who know that embodied presence, truth, connection & integrity are our truest access points to success – in business & in love.