Kenneth J. Breniman

Grief Guide & Mindfully Mortal Therapist

Ken Breniman is a queer author, licensed clinical social worker, certified yoga therapist, and thanatologist whose work examines how humans relate to mortality, meaning, and collective responsibility during times of cultural and ecological transition. With nearly two decades of experience in trauma-informed care, grief work, and embodied healing, his practice bridges clinical rigor, interdisciplinary scholarship, and contemplative traditions.
 
In the early 1990s, Ken was at the forefront of the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement in Japan, contributing to early advocacy, visibility, and community-building during a formative period of global queer emergence. That lived experience continues to inform his commitment to social transformation, relational ethics, and liberatory care.
 
Inspired by the imaginative activism of Jim Henson, the field-changing compassion of Jane Goodall, the spiritual grounding of Howard Thurman, and the moral clarity of James Baldwin, Ken’s work is guided by Spirit and inspired by humanity. Drawing from neuroscience, primatology, queer theory, Celtic wisdom, yoga therapy, and psychedelic integration, he challenges the myth of human exceptionalism while affirming that each person has a precious role to play in our species’ next evolutionary chapter. He frames this transition as a movement from Homo sapiens toward Homo animus (humans evolving beyond dominance and disconnection toward soulful, relational, and ecologically attuned ways of being).
 
Ken is the author of a three body solution and subversive acts of humanity, and the creator of the See-Soul children’s grief-literacy trilogy. His primary mode of guidance is edutainment—the integration of education and entertainment—using story, humor, ritual, and embodied practice to make complex truths accessible and transformative. Across writing, teaching, and facilitation, he guides mindful mortals toward humility, resilience, and collective becoming in a living world.