In 1982, Robear began learning to play guitar. One day while playing, he felt something greater reach in, take over, and play the music through him. From then on, he began learning not just how to play his instrument, but how to be the instrument.

By 1989, he began teaching others to train their bodies and minds to play music on the guitar, and become instruments for music, themselves. Over time, he guided more than 1,000 musicians—from beginners to professionals—helping them master the fundamentals and express their deeper selves with confidence.

In 1994, he began responding to a quiet but urgent invitation from within to come closer. Following curiosity and intuition, he entered into a deep exploration of somatic awareness. Over the next six years, this exploration evolved into what became the Embodied Presence Process—steps that would eventually lead him to taste his true nature, beyond the illusion of a limited and separate self. While this experience was profound and healing, it was also temporary—leaving no lasting shift in perception. It did, however, plant an awareness of what is possible.

In 2007, while focused on his music career, he experienced the life-changing event and recognition mentioned in the Meet Robear section above.  Completely surprised by such a dramatic shift in identity and perception, he found himself wondering why this had happened to him—instead of the countless devoted practitioners who were seeking such realization. Over time, he came to see how responding to that inner call in 1994, and exploring the Embodied Presence Process, may have quietly prepared the ground for the awakening that followed.

Unlike many who become spiritual teachers, when this happened, he wasn’t seeking enlightenment or even practicing formal spirituality. Though drawn to truth and personal development since childhood, and familiar with more expansive states through music and somatic exploration, his life remained centered on experiencing oneness with everything through creating music rather than spiritual teachings and practices.

Even after this profound shift in perception, it didn’t occur to him to guide others toward awakening. His attention was almost entirely absorbed in trying to understand what had happened, how to live with it, and how to find language that could most accurately point to his direct experience.

When his search for language led him to explore teachings on spiritual awakening, he didn’t approach them as a seeker—but as someone who had already seen the reality they were attempting to point to. From that perspective, it became obvious how and why so many teachings were misunderstood—by students and, unfortunately, a number of teachers. He also saw how the way in which many teachings were delivered, though well-intentioned, tended to send seekers further from the truth rather than closer. This was frustrating to him, not because he needed the teachings himself, but because he could sense how many sincere people were being led in circles. That frustration is what eventually drove him to offer guidance that was both clear and grounded in direct experience. 

It also became clear that having a deep realization—which many teachers have had—and knowing how to transmit it skillfully, were two very different things.

In 2009, a combination of spiritual and health crises brought everything he’d realized into a deeper, more integrated perspective. The intensity of what unfolded tested both his awakened awareness and fifteen years of somatic skills in a way nothing else had. Over the next five years, he learned how to harvest the gifts and skills buried in the pain and suffering—deeper humility, compassion, and insight. This became central to how he would support others through their own crucibles. (To understand more about spiritual crisis and how to receive support, visit our Crisis Guidance page.)

By early 2012, as the storm began to subside, the call to serve found its way into the world. What had become obvious was that many people were suffering—not because awakening was unreachable, but because clear skillful guidance was so hard to find. What they needed was teaching that was in plain language, honored their humanity, and offered more effective transmission. As Robear began sharing what he had learned, he discovered how fundamentally his background in teaching had equipped him to help others not only recognize truth—but embody it.

In 2015, drawing on decades of experience, his focus shifted from developing the art and skill of making music to the Art and Skill of Living Awake—tools, frameworks, and practices designed to support awakening through clear language, body-based learning, and direct experience, without confusing spiritual jargon. 

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Then, in 2020, a car accident and resulting head injury disrupted his equilibrium once again. Racing thoughts, sleep disturbances, and trauma arousal resurfaced. Around the same time, he also experienced extreme challenges and loss in his personal life, including the suicide of a close family member and the near-death of another—within the same two weeks. These experiences revealed how even stable awakened awareness can be shaken by crisis—and how the impact of such events, when met with embodied presence and clear perception can be transmuted into both deeper realization and service.

From this crucible emerged a number of new expressions offered through his work—Essence Relating, the Live Awake Program Levels 3 - 5, the 3Wave Dance music format, and the OneBody Dance community in Boulder, Colorado. Each arose organically from his own journey, created to support people in embodying presence and living awake, together.

Today, Robear continues teaching and refining Live Awake Mentoring both in Boulder and worldwide online. With a vision of making embodied awakening guidance as accessible as therapy or coaching, he developed the Live Awake Mentoring Program (LAMP) to cultivate teams of skilled mentors and lead teachers who can carry the work forward—far beyond his own lifetime—into the lives and communities where decisions shape the wellbeing of millions, and perhaps even more.