Anna Johns, E-RYT 500, IMTA CMT-P

Anna divides her time between working as a hospital chaplain and a yoga and meditation teacher.

In a year long Buddhist Chaplaincy training with Sati Center, she acquired the skills and character that are needed in offering Spiritual Care. Subsequently she went on to do a one-year residency at UT Southwestern Medical Center where she currently serves as a chaplain. She is currently working on her Master’s in Divinity program at Shogaku Zen Institute.

Anna grew up in India, where yoga and mindfulness practices were an integral part of life. From a young age, she watched her father meditate in the woods and was encouraged to join him.

These seeds began to sprout when she moved to Hong Kong where she was drawn to the practices and began her training with Indian Master, Kamal Srinivas in 2001, followed by extensive training in the U.S. including Duke University’s Therapeutic Yoga and the 2-year Mindfulness Meditation Certification Program (with Dr. Tara Brach, Dr. Jack Kornfield and UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center).

Anna’s teaching is also influenced through her studies with luminaries such as Jonathan Foust, Rick Hanson, Lama Surya Das and ongoing learning from the teachings of HH The Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Pema Chödrön, Frank Ostaseski and Ajahn Brahm.

Anna is a teacher at Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC, (IMCW – founded by Tara Brach), and serves on the Board of Directors. She is a co-founder of IMCW’s Asian Sangha, an assistant teacher with Inward Bound Mindfulness Education teen retreats and a mentor and trainer at Corepower Yoga. She is a Certified Mindfulness Teacher – Professional (CMT-P) with the International Mindfulness Teachers Association.

Anna’s life has transformed through her practices and she brings her gifts forth through her family, her classes and with clients. She lives with her husband, two human and three non-human children.

Brief practice during 2019 India retreat.

Trainings & Certifications:

  • Classical Yoga, Pranayama Breathing & Ayurveda Training: Indian Master Kamal Srinivas
  • Therapeutic Yoga for Seniors Professional training: Duke University, Integrative Medicine Campus
  • Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification program: for teaching awareness and compassion-based practices taught by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach and the certification is issued by the Awareness Training Institute and UC Berkley’s Greater Good Science Center
  • Advanced Yoga Certification: Kripalu Center, Massachusetts and CorePower Yoga
  • Yin Yoga Certification: Jo Phee
  • Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction: Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
  • Mindful Self-Compassion Training: Dr. Kristin Neff and Dr. Chris Germer
  • The Year of Living Mindfully: with Jonathan Foust

Mentors & Teachers:

  • Master Kamal Srinivas: One of eight living Indian Yoga Masters, Patanjali Institute of India
  • Jack Kornfield: Founder, Spirit Rock Meditation Center
  • Tara Brach: Founder, Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
  • Jo Phee: International teacher and Senior Assistant to Yin Yoga founders Paul Grilley & Sarah Powers
  • Jonathan Foust: Founder, Mindfulness Training Institute of Washington DC
  • Dr. Kristin Neff and Dr. Chris Germer: Founders, Center for Mindful Self-Compassion
Yoga with Vedic chanting.

Causes I support, join me in supporting their work:

  • Saandhwanam (Sanskrit meaning a place of comfort/peace). This is small orphanage in Kerala, my place of birth in India, which I had the privilege of visiting in Oct 2017 along with the group of 17 travelers from the US. This cause is close to my heart as I grew up in an orphanage myself in the same area in India (after I lost my mother when I was 7) and was the beneficiary of kindness from people in the US and Europe. Learn more about Saandhwanam and my visit there.
  • Compassion for animals Animals and the Buddha Voice for the voiceless: Humane Society – Join me and become a donor.
  • Save the Children: Please meet my sponsored children: Issac from Virginia and Nana from Niger. You can help a child for a monthly donation of mere $30 in the US and $18 outside the country. Please support them!
  • Operation Smile: Join me and become a donor. Please support their work thru a small monthly donation and bring smile to a child and their mother.?
  • Doctors without Borders: “We look for the places where the conditions are the worst — the places where others are not going — and that’s where we want to be.” – Médecins Sans Frontières. Join me in supporting their work.

When I come across things that are worth reading or listening to, I make a post about it in my blog to share with you. I hope you enjoy my blog category: Stuff That Inspires Me.