It’s remembering that we are engaged in during our practice. Remembering to come back to the breath, remembering that we’re not our thoughts and experiences, remembering to attend to the body with kind awareness. That the present is the only place where the body resides. Remembering that we are impermanent beings who are only visiting this realm of materiality for a moment in time, and that there will be others to come after us. Remembering that our lives and the earthly experiences of everyone and everything, around and above us, below us and within us, are sacred. That we are all part of a jeweled web of interconnection and interdependence.
Amana Brembry Johnson
Residential Retreat Teacher
Amana Brembry Johnson is a dedicated meditation teacher and community leader with over four decades of contemplative practice across multiple spiritual traditions. She serves as a Core Teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC) in Oakland, California, and is a coordinating teacher for residential retreats at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Amana is one of the founding teachers of EBMC's Spiritual Teacher and Leadership (STL) Training and a former mentor for emerging mindfulness teachers through the Mindfulness Meditation Training Certification Program (MMTCP). Her work integrates spirituality, social justice, body awareness, and intuitive creativity, offering a holistic approach to individual and community transformation.
Amana Brembry Johnson's Upcoming Programs
Short Program | Online
Sunday, February 22 | 10:00 AM - 3:30 PM
The Inheritance of Wholeness: A Return to Bone and Breath
There is a knowing that lives beneath thought, an ancient intelligence within the body. The Buddha taught that liberation arises from remembering what is already here, but which is often obscured by conditioning. Through meditation, breath awareness, and gentle interpersonal connections, we will honor the body as a living archive of resilience and wisdom. Together, we will rediscover belonging, spacious presence, and the dignity of simply being. Open to both new and experienced practitioners.
Amana Brembry Johnson
Training | On-Land | Dharma Institute
May 2026 - May 2028 | Five residential retreats
Dedicated Practitioner Program
This two-year program is for Insight meditation practitioners who want to deepen their practice and understanding of the Buddhadharma—through immersive, residential retreats, study, and shared practice. As a community, we’ll look closely at the roots of suffering and the Buddha’s path towards freedom, gaining a deep understanding of what it means to be liberated. We will focus on cultivating wisdom, compassion, and ethical mindful action into everyday life, staying close to the Buddha’s original teachings in the Pali Canon and how the teachings can support us in contemporary life. DPP is an opportunity to engage in a systematic investigation of many of the foundational lists from the teachings of the Buddha.
Retreat | On-Land
July 1 - July 7, 2026 | Wednesday - Tuesday | 6 nights
Beneath the Noise: A Journey into the Mind’s Quiet Power - Annual BIPOC Retreat
For those who identify as BIPOC. Spaces Still Available! Designed to support the BIPOC community only. Dharma practice is a journey of unveiled mysteries that can bring profound transformation. During this retreat we are invited to quiet the noise of striving, meet ourselves fully, discover the peace that arises when the mind is steady and enter a space where truth is felt rather than defined. With deepened internal inquiry, we will explore how thoughts shape our reality and learn to work skillfully with the mind rather than against it.
Amana Brembry Johnson
Bhante Buddharakkhita
Gullu Singh
Margarita Loinaz
Jonathan Relucio
Retreat | On-Land
August 21 - August 28, 2026 | Friday - Friday | 7 nights
Liberating the Heart: Navigating Seven Gates to Inner Freedom
Designed for self-identified womxn of Black African Ancestry only. Spaces Still Available! In stillness, the heart softens and the mind finds rest—making space for clarity, healing, and inner freedom to arise. This retreat invites us to release confusion and attune to the Seven Gates of Awakening through mindfulness, joyful investigation, and compassionate rest. We’ll begin in intentional community, then settle into silent sitting and walking, embodied movement, Dharma talks, and teacher meetings. With deep listening and steady hearts, we open to awakening—even in a world that trembles.
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.