Nicole Baden

Tatsudo Nicole Baden is the Abbot of the international non-profit organization Dharma Sangha and its two Zen Practice Centers, the Crestone Mountain Zen Center in Colorado, USA and the Zen Buddhist Center in the Black Forest, Germany. Nicole is a Dharma Successor of Zentatsu Baker Roshi in the Soto Zen Lineage. She has been practicing Zen since 2001 and received Dharma Transmission in 2017. 

Nicole graduated as a psychologist from the University of Oldenburg in 2008. She also trained at the ‘School for Body Mind Centering’ for four years. She was a member of the council of the German Buddhist Union from 2013-2019 and is currently serving on the advisory council of the mindfulness oriented MBSR Association. She has been living and practicing either at the Crestone Mountain Zen Center or at the Zen Buddhist Center Schwarzwald (ZBZS) in Germany since 2009. 

With her background in psychology and training in body-based awareness, Nicole brings together academic insight and embodied experience. Her teaching focuses on making ancient Zen wisdom relevant and applicable in everyday life.