Joah first arrived in Myanmar in 2003 to practice meditation. He realized right from the start that it was a place he wanted to spend more time. He worked there for nearly 20 years, first at the US Embassy, then a private school, and finally started his own business. Joah also spent several years leading various Buddhist-oriented multimedia projects, including writing a meditator’s guidebook which examined the country’s diverse meditation traditions and lineages. He later led pilgrimages for meditators from around the world to the some of the sacred sites the guidebook had explored.

In 2019, he founded the Insight Myanmar Podcast, a website and podcast platform from which to share stories about the spiritual journey, interviewing teachers, monastics, and lay yogis. Following the military coup in February 2021, the podcast expanded its mission to respond to the crisis. While a Buddhist perspective continues to be the grounding for the program, the episodes now reflect a wide range of diversity: Myanmar’s cultures, its religions, its peoples and the current political situation there. In the coup’s aftermath, Joah also established Better Burma, a 501c3 nonprofit, to deliver urgent humanitarian care to Myanmar.