About

Meet Your Guide

I'm Lauren Shin, founder of Norae, where I create intimate retreat experiences that weave together mindful movement, breath awareness, reflective practice, and clay as pathways back to presence.

My work is rooted in a simple belief: when we slow down enough to listen, the body often reveals what the mind has been unable to articulate. Through movement, stillness, and creative expression, I guide people toward a deeper relationship with themselves—not by offering answers, but by creating the conditions for their own inner wisdom to emerge.

My approach brings together seemingly different disciplines that share the same foundation: awareness, curiosity, and trust in the unfolding process. Whether moving through a restorative yoga practice, sitting in quiet reflection, or shaping clay with your hands, each experience becomes an invitation to notice, to feel, and to create from a place of authenticity.

With a background spanning biology, aging services, yoga, end-of-life care, and expressive arts, I bring both scientific understanding and deep reverence for the human experience. My work is informed by years of studying how people grow, adapt, navigate transition, and make meaning throughout the lifespan.

I hold a Bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and a Master's degree in Gerontology from the University of Southern California. I am an INELDA-trained End-of-Life Doula, a 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher, Reiki Level II certified, and have maintained a dedicated ceramics practice for over a decade.

Norae was born from the realization that healing and transformation are not always found through more information, but through deeper presence. My retreats offer a space to slow down, reconnect with yourself, and create something tangible that reflects your inner experience—a keepsake that continues to hold meaning long after you return home.

It is an honor to welcome you into this work, and I look forward to sharing the experience with you.

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Norae (노래) means "song" in Korean. It represents the quiet inner music that emerges when we slow down enough to listen—a way of honoring my Korean ancestry and my  lineage that came before me.