One of the ways my own social and cultural conditioning shows up is in the way I’ve learned to compartmentalize things—everything around me, separating it out. I never saw the mind as a part of the body. It always seemed to be floating out there somewhere, ephemeral, untouchable. Separation permeated my worldview, and continues to be reinforced by the cultural milieu in which we all live, with its borders, barriers, cultural and ethnic designations, class delineations, statehoods. And the sense of separateness from the very Earth, of which we are all a part. We see ourselves as people that walk on the Earth, yet we are Earth that walks, an integral part of this organism that we rest on. Mindfulness erases all these lines of separation.
Amana Brembry Johnson
Residential Retreat Teacher
Amana Brembry Johnson, Residential Dharma Teacher and Community Leader, is a Core Teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC), located in Oakland, CA and co-Guiding Teacher of EBMC’s Spiritual Teacher and Leadership Training. Amana mentors local and international groups of emerging Mindfulness teachers through the Mindfulness Meditation Training Certification Program (MMTCP) designed and developed by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. Her life’s work emerges from the intersections of spirituality, social justice, somatic practices, and intuitive creativity. An accomplished visual artist, Amana creates imagery that exposes emotional and spiritual barriers of the heart as portals into kindness, compassion, self-love, and fierce action.
Amana Brembry Johnson's Upcoming Programs
Retreat | On-Land
Saturday, April 12 | 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Taking the Sacred Journey through Grief to Heal the Heart: Practices for Transformation and Resilience
5 CE Credits. Grief is a change agent of transformation and resilience. It extends beyond the terrain of physical death and seeps into disappointments, the loss of dreams, ancestral anguish, and unnamed disappearances. On this journey, we will extract the hidden jewels of sorrow and arouse the heart to recover joy. There will be silent meditation, talks that weave Indigenous and Dharmic wisdom, and embodied movement. Affinity groups honoring the diversity of sangha will also be available.
Retreat | On-Land
June 27 - July 3, 2025 | Friday - Thursday | 7 nights
This is How Civilizations Heal: The Alchemy of the Three Poisons - A BIPOC Retreat
Open to all self-identified BIPOC.
Registration Open. The three poisons—greed, aversion, and delusion—are mind states that cloud the heart and mind. However, by clearly recognizing the three poisons, we can meet them with their antidotes of generosity, mettā, and wisdom. Generosity expands our ability to feel connected and reminds us that we belong to each other. Mettā opens the heart, protecting us from both inner and outer harm, while wisdom allows us to see things right sized as we move through the world.
Retreat | On-Land
August 17 - August 21, 2025 | Sunday - Thursday | 4 nights
Five Spiritual Powers: Cultivating Resilience, Balance, and Love
Registration Opens - February 19. The Buddha’s teaching on the five spiritual powers (confidence, effort, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom) offers a path to cultivate these capacities of the heart and transform habits that no longer serve us. Grounded in these teachings, together we will learn powerful and sustainable ways to restore our humanity and bring freedom to all beings. This retreat offers silent meditation, opportunities for movement meditation, Dharma talks, and time to be in nature and honor the natural rhythms of your own practice.
Retreat | On-Land
October 1 - October 5, 2025 | Wednesday - Sunday | 4 nights
Wild Wise Words: A Mindfulness Meditation and Writing Retreat
Registration Opens - February 19. This retreat will weave together periods of silence and writing as a path to deepening our spiritual and creative lives. Our time together will include Dharma talks, guided meditation, embodied movement, and periods of writing to nurture our inner depths and outer expression. Within a wild, wise field of silence we’ll settle deeply into what is, peel back layers of the judging and restrictive mind, and discover words that express the mystery and majesty alive in each of us.
Retreat | On-Land
November 8 - November 14, 2025 | Saturday - Friday | 6 nights
Grief as a Change Agent of Transformation and Resiliency
Registration Opens - February 19. Grief is not sequestered to the life loss of loved ones. It traverses beyond physical death and seeps into disappointments in relationships, the loss of dreams, ancestral anguish, and unnamed disappearances. Understanding the personal nature of grief and the tenderness of being with a broken heart, we will create a container that honors all individuals moving through their sorrow. We will practice silent meditation indoors and in nature and there will be Dharma talks, meetings with teachers, and embodiment practices.
Dharma Library
Can't join us live online or on the land? Study and practice at your convenience with Amana Brembry Johnson through our new library of recordings, articles, and self-paced online courses.