About Us
Every awake animal is connected to a dynamic responsiveness—an instinct for when to be still and when to move, when to hold ground and when to open. All men had it once.
It gets built over: by providing, by striving, by years of showing up to a life without fully inhabiting it. What remains is a restlessness that achievement doesn’t touch, a depth that keeps calling, and the knowledge that something essential went unattended. There is a hunger for reverence which calls to him in the few quiet spaces of a too busy life. Our work is for the men who are ready to listen.
Meet Eli Buren
Over more than twenty years of retreats, intensives, and mentorship containers, Eli has worked with thousands of men across the United States, Europe, and Asia. His teachings draw from his own lived curriculum of qi gong, awareness practice, sacred ceremony, martial arts, and somatic work.
Eli has been in a long-standing collaboration with author and teacher David Deida since 2004, a relationship that continues today in teaching, production, and most recently in the narration of Deida’s latest book, The Man of Zero. Listen in.
“Eli creates the conditions for a man to find his own answers through direct physical experience. His energy—spacious, precise, and deeply present—is what men continue to embody long after they return to their lives.”
Meet James Mattingley
James was already deep in the self-development world when he encountered this work, yet something about a workshop with Eli left him undone—so suddenly and unexpectedly himself. Since then, he has spent years going deeper, training with Eli, with David Deida, and immersing himself in the disciplines that now form the backbone of what he leads. Today, James brings 15 years of experience as a facilitator. His unique genius is embodied leadership—knowing how to hold solid ground while staying genuinely attuned to those around him.
James is also the co-creator of IBU: The Sanctuary, an eco-retreat in the jungle of Bali built over four years as a home for restoration, presence, and depth. Alongside his work with men, he and his wife guide couples on how to keep the spark alive in long-term love.
“You feel seen, heard, and accepted when you’re speaking to James. He has a kind heart, a keen mind, and a quiet confidence you can feel. I highly recommend anyone considering to work with him.”
The Ground We Stand On
- A man’s inner life ripples outward. Into his relationships, his work, his children, the men around him. Beyond theory, this is what we’ve seen happen again and again across twenty years of this work.
- As devices and AI continue to be centered in our culture, the practice of centering your own body, heart, and mind has never mattered more.
- Sovereignty isn’t accessed by a set of steps or protocols. It has to be lived into. A man develops it by being met, challenged, and given room to explore himself.
- Precision is a form of devotion. Whether it is the way a man guides a room, holds a conversation, or picks up a stone, attention made physical is its own kind of prayer.
- Stillness is not weakness. A man who can be still, who can open, who can listen without losing himself — that man has access to his full range of power.
- The best teachers remain the best students. We are not here to hand you a map. We are here because we are still walking.
“Working with Eli is like grasping onto a zipline into depth, an exploration of my inner nature as the hair on my head is blown about by the speed at which I move through my inner experience while the thrill of self-discovery ensues. His teachings are framed up in a way that invite in a sense of limitless contemplation and are expressed through a fundamentally trustable and coherent embodiment. The summation of which creates an approachability that enables me to meet myself exactly where I am while I tap into my deepest available potential.”
– James Eshleman, Psychedelic Guide & Men’s Work, CO
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