Gwendalin first encountered meditation at thirteen from a trusted teacher; she immediately began a regular practice. After meditating for ten years, Gwendalin discovered Zen Buddhism in 1990. 

 

While reading The Spirit of Zen, she experienced Satori, a sudden flash of enlightenment. In Samadhi, she sought and found a Zen teacher and a few years later, she officially became a Zen Buddhist, Fa Shu, and a few years after that, in 1998, she became ordained as a Zen priest, Chuan Kung Shakya, a teacher of Buddhism and meditation.

Since becoming a Zen priest Gwendalin has also become a yoga instructor and a Reiki Master. She is also a raw foodist and does raw foods nutrition and fasting coaching. She owns her own small healing center where she teaches Zen Buddhism, meditation, yoga, Reiki, and does Reiki healing and raw foods nutrition and fasting coaching.