Amana Brembry Johnson has been a student and practitioner of multiple spiritual traditions throughout her life. Her journey of Vipassana practice and study began over 10 years ago as a result of the early People of Color Retreats offered at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. She completed the Community Dharma Leaders Program at Spirit Rock in 2017 and is currently a participant in the groundbreaking Spirit Rock Teacher Training Program (SRTT). Amana leads meditation and teaches contemplative yoga that interweaves the wisdom of the Dharma with movement. She mentors and coaches practitioners who wish to deepen their practice and understanding of the ancient wisdom teachings. An accomplished visual artist, Amana creates imagery that exposes emotional and spiritual barriers of the heart as gateways into kindness, compassion and self-love.
During these disorienting and unstable times, awareness of the Earth Element in the body offers both a refuge and a responsibility to be present for what has arisen and what is arising in our world today.
Life lived within the myth of a separate self that has dominion over nature, is to live a life of delusion and self-deception. This distorted mental perception can only be dissolved by the arising of wisdom.
The body is the first door to awakening. When the body is at ease, the mind more easily follows. We begin with intentional, kind attention to the body before turning awareness to an object of focus. Curiosity and investigation of the arisings and passing away of sensation in the body cultivates intimacy with habits of mind and corresponding body sensations.
In this instruction we will move from a focus on the object and turn towards an investigation of the quality of the mind and an awareness of what arises in the body
A cross-cultural introduction to the concept of the crossroads in relation to the convergence of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday celebration and the inauguration of the 47th U.S. President on January 20, 2025.
