Register for Sunday Sangha (fall cycle)
Join mindfulness meditation teacher, Joanna John, throughout the year for Sunday Sangha, a meditation community rooted in mindfulness and the lifelong practice of being human.
We will meet in seasonal practice cycles, with intentional breaks between sessions that honor the need for rest and recognize the fullness of our lives.
This sangha is for deeply feeling and thinking humans who are interested in contemplative practice, greater self-awareness, social engagement, and the mystery of being alive. Together, we will explore trauma-informed mindfulness meditation, embodied inquiry, Buddhist philosophy, and emotional awareness. We will also embrace the baffling and beautiful questions of awareness, consciousness, and what some call God.
Joanna believes meditation is one path among many toward embracing our humanity rather than escaping it.
Each gathering takes place online on Sundays from 9:00–10:00am ET and includes opportunities for check-ins, discussion, and guided meditation. Each week’s guided meditation will be recorded and shared with participants.
Join for the full year, a single cycle, or simply drop in whenever you're able.
Current and upcoming Sangha Dates
Fall Sangha: October 18–November 15 2026
Winter Break: November 16-January 2. During this pause, you're warmly invited to join the Winter Solstice Meditation Retreat on December 6 in Chapel Hill, registration coming soon.
2027 Sangha dates will be announced later this year.
Fall Sangha Pricing (October 18-November 15, 5 weeks)
Benefactor: $100+ ($20/class)
Standard: $75 ($15/class)
Need-Blind BIPOC: $60 ($12/class)
Scholarship: $45 ($9/class)
Pay What You Can: A limited number of “pay what you can” spaces are available. No one will be turned away for a lack of funds. If cost is a barrier, please email Joanna at joannaemorton@gmail.com to join and you will be given the option to make a donation via PayPal or Venmo
.Drop-ins are welcome for $20/class.
Please consider paying at the highest rate you can comfortably afford. Your generosity supports fellow practitioners who need to pay less, helping sustain this sangha in the spirit of mutual care.
Our Values
This sangha, and all of Joanna’s offerings, are inclusive and affirming of people of all gender identities and expressions, sexual orientations, races, ethnicities, cultures, religions, abilities, and backgrounds. As a sangha, we seek to recognize and name the impacts of racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and other forms of oppression, as well as the interconnected polycrises of our time, including climate change and ecological degradation. Together, we engage in the ongoing practice of antiracism, compassion, understanding, repair, and care for the earth and all beings.
Meet Joanna
Joanna completed mindfulness meditation teacher training in 2023 through the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program (MMTCP), a two-year training founded by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. She then pursued an additional year of study with Stan Eisenstein and Cynthia Wilcox, PhD, in Guided Embodied Inquiry for Individuals (GEII).
GEII is a one-on-one modality that supports psychological and spiritual healing through mindfulness meditation, drawing on complementary frameworks including Internal Family Systems, Buddhist philosophy, spiritual reparenting, and somatic approaches to emotional processing.
Joanna continues her study of GEII with Stan and a dedicated community of meditation teachers.
Joanna facilitates seasonal meditation retreats in the Triangle area and leads ongoing cyclical sanghas (meditation communities in the Buddhist tradition). As both a teacher and fellow practitioner, she is committed to her own continued growth and engages in ongoing professional development and personal practice. She regularly makes space for contemplative practice and writing, which are central to her life and work. Joanna practices engaged spirituality, a term inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh, which refers to the active engagement of the heart and mindful awareness in service of the greater collective good.
Joanna is from Durham, North Carolina, where she currently lives with her husband, two sons, and their black lab mix, Tallulah. Outside of her teaching work, she is a homeschooling mother. Motherhood deeply informs and challenges her understanding of care, attunement, and compassionate presence.