Austin is a certified yoga and meditation instructor, nationally sought speaker, and practicing attorney based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Contemplative practice has woven its way through Austin's entire life. His father began teaching meditation to fellow E.R. Doctors in the early ‘90s; Austin joined him on the cushion at age six. This early introduction led to a lifetime of exploration. As his life has unfolded, yoga, energy movement, and meditation have remained a constant every step of the way.

In 2007, he began training Ashtanga yoga under Swami Ambikanada and Pekiti Tersia under Sifu Chris Ash. Yoga and martial arts did not come easily to him, it took years of work to achieve confidence in both practices. With patient instruction from these two great teachers, he found a home in these physical practices. In 2012 he received his 200 hour certification from Shanti Yoga, and in 2014 earned his black belt from Ocean Martial Arts Academy.

Austin attended Furman University for his undergraduate degree. At Furman, he double majored in Asian Studies and History and focused his research on contemplative practice, specifically Qi Gong, an ancient form of Chinese energy movement. Studying energy movement led him to China and then Japan where he studied Ki Aikido and Zen meditation at the Shinshin Toistsu Aikido world headquarters.

Convinced he would benefit from a more grounded career, he enrolled at Georgia State College of Law in 2015 - contemplative practice quickly found him once again. In his first week of law school, he realized his peers were consumed by stress. Knowing meditation could help, he founded the national Mindfulness in Law Society - Student Division (MILS) at the College of Law. Law schools around the country took note, three short years later there were MILS chapters at 22 law schools across the country. This work allowed him to share mindfulness practice with law students around the country, presenting at law school conferences and law schools such as Columbia Law School and the American Association of Law Schools conference.  He remains on the board of MILS and currently serves as the Chair of Fundraising.

Upon graduating from law school he began his legal practice at a boutique real estate finance law firm before joining the Investment Funds team at Alston and Bird. At Alston & Bird he founded A&Be Mindful, a weekly mindfulness session which is attended by lawyers and staff from their offices across the globe.  A&Be Mindful was featured in People Magazine’s 50 Companies that Care 2020.

He sees his role as an attorney as counselor first. Leaning on his training in contemplative practice, he encourages his clients to step back from their legal questions and help them address underlying concerns concurrently with their technical questions. His practice areas include corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, and alternative dispute resolution.

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