The Buddha asks us in our meditation to know the quality of our mind, and to be able to identify whether the mind is caught or not caught, liberated or not liberated. It’s so easy to focus on the parts of our practice that are not quite right: the ways our mind still wanders, and the uncomfortable emotions we wish we didn’t have. It’s right to notice when the mind is caught, but also to not miss when the mind is actually free! Those moments after we notice we’ve been caught, and the mind automatically lets go because it doesn’t want to suffer—there’s a space there. It’s important not to miss that space, but to attend to it and reflect on it.
Kate Johnson, MA
Residential Retreat Teacher
Kate Johnson is a meditation teacher, facilitator, writer and mama. She has practiced Buddhist meditation in the Insight lineage since her early 20’s, and was authorized as an independent dharma teacher through Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s four-year retreat teacher training. Kate began facilitating organizational training and retreats after co-founding the Meditation Working Group at Occupy Wall Street. She later joined the faculty of MIT’s Presencing Institute, and went on to work at Buddhist Peace Fellowship, where she designed online programs integrating spiritual and political education and practice. She is the author of the book Radical Friendship: Seven Ways to Love Yourself and Find Your People in an Unjust World.
As a consultant, Kate works with leaders and organizations committed to equity, sustainability, and the practice of wise relationships, using awareness-based and embodied practices to support communication, strategy, and culture. As a meditation teacher, she regularly offers courses and retreats integrating relational spirituality, social justice, somatics and creativity. Kate also coaches a handful of dedicated meditation practitioners in private study to clarify and deepen their practice. In her off hours, she can be found exploring Philly with her kid, sipping tea with friends, and looking for all manner of good trouble.
Kate Johnson's Upcoming Programs
Retreat | On-Land
September 19 - September 25, 2024 | Thursday - Wednesday | 6 nights
Spiritual Sanctuary: A Women's Liberation Retreat
Open to all self-identified Women. We live in times of increasing pressure, which can be experienced as intensity, stress, limitation, or dissatisfaction. The Four Noble Truths remind us that pressure is an unavoidable part of life, and that freedom is possible within it. This retreat offers a space in which practitioners can choose rest, renewal, and liberation. Together we will practice in silence, integrating movement and stillness, outdoor practice, and Dharma talks that lift up women’s journeys of awakening from a diversity of lineages and traditions.
Retreat | On-Land
November 9 - November 14, 2024 | Saturday - Thursday | 5 nights
Finding Your Ground: Mindful Yoga and Embodied Dharma
How do we stay grounded, centered, and rooted in compassion and wisdom—especially through personal and global challenges? In this silent retreat, we’ll offer teachings and tools from the Dharma and Yoga traditions for settling your nervous system, grounding your energy, and connecting in an embodied way with what matters most. Each day includes gentle guided Yoga; seated, walking, standing, and lying down meditation instruction and practice; and Dharma reflections and discussion.
Dharma Library
Can't join us live online or on the land? Study and practice at your convenience with Kate Johnson through our new library of recordings, articles, and self-paced online courses.