About Damian Ewens
Less optimization.
More ocean.
Rewilding experiences for people who feel slightly overcivilized.
I grew up tracking tides and chasing waves before I had any language for why it mattered.
I still don't have complete language for it. But after 25 years - teaching, building organizations, coaching leaders through burnout and breakthroughs, guiding people into cold Atlantic water at sunrise - I've gotten closer.
Here's what I think I know:
Most of us are living slightly out of rhythm. With nature, with our bodies, with what we actually care about. And we've gotten so good at managing that disconnect that we've stopped noticing it.
I noticed it recently when I walked past my fourteen-year-old daughter's bedroom and saw the red rope we'd tied to her door years ago - because the knob had broken and somewhere along the way I'd just... accepted that.
Years.
I came home from a week in nature and finally fixed it.
That's the work, honestly. Not always the big transformation. Sometimes it's just: What have you stopped seeing?
I work with leaders, founders, and people at real inflection points - moments when something old has ended and something new hasn't arrived yet. We do deep coaching. We also do cold plunges, breathwork by the sea, firelit conversations, and underwater rock walks.
Ancient ritual meets nervous system science. Or: I throw you in the ocean and we talk about it.
The credentials exist if you want them - Stanford, 25 years in innovative learning environments, partners like MacArthur Foundation and the White House. But what probably matters more is this: I'm not above the water. I'm in it too.
If that sounds like your kind of guide, let's talk.
When I'm not doing any of this, you'll find me surfing, free diving, or exploring the Atlantic with my wife - portrait photographer Stephanie Alvarez Ewens - and our two daughters.
