East Bay Meditation Center

ONLINE: BIPOC Sangha
2025-11-27 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-12-11 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
The BIPOC Sangha is a growing community of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color waking up and getting free!
Thursdays
7 – 8:30 PM PT
**Online on Second, Fourth (and the possible Fifth) Thursdays
**Hybrid on First and Third Thursdays
**Potluck in the EBMC kitchen on the Third Thursday meeting, from 6-7 PM PT! Bring a dish or beverage to share.
Closed Captions Provided.
Zoom info: Meeting details are shared through their mailing list (subscribe on their website), and their Facebook group.

ONLINE: BIPOC Write Action Deep Refuge Group
2025-11-28 18:30 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
The BIPOC Write Action Deep Refuge Group gathers monthly to pause, ground ourselves and practice writing as a form of creative self-expression and mindful reflection. Modeled on the EBMC Daylong event, the exercises are guided by prompts and participants are welcomed, but not required, to share their work with the group.
The Write Action Group is peer-led and members take turns facilitating and offering guiding prompts each month. Meetings are held on 4th Fridays, from 6:30-8:30pm PT over Zoom. Join us! Please email for more information: bipocwriteactiongroup@eastbaymeditation.org
Note: We acknowledge the history of the name “Write Action”, which was created by Kenji Liu and Mushim Ikeda. It was originally called Write Action for POC when they led the first workshop at EBMC on April 10, 2011.

ONLINE: Queer Leather Peer-Led Deep Refuge Group
2025-11-28 19:00 - 20:30 | Off Site Venue
The Queer Leather Meditation Deep Refuge Group is a peer-led meditation group for those of us who have a meditation practice and are queer and leather/kink-identified. We meet on the 4th Friday of every month from 7–8:30 p.m. We are open to and welcome new drop-in participants, whether this is your first sit or your 10,000th! For upcoming meeting details or to join our mailing list or online groups, please visit http://www.queerleathermeditation.org/. If you have questions please contact admin@queerleathermeditation.org.

HYBRID: Maha Sangha
2025-11-28 19:00 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Maha Sangha for All People & Communities
Creating Freedom in Community
Hybrid, every 4th Friday of the month, 7:00 – 8:30pm.
Event Details: Meets weekly on zoom, and starting to meet once a month in person, email mahasangha at eastbaymeditation dot org for more info and get on our newsletter
The EBMC Maha Sangha for All People and Communities is a meditation and dharma group with an emphasis on radical inclusivity and social justice.
Maha is a Pali word meaning whole, great, larger/largest, deepest, and Sangha is a Pali word for community, or community of practitioners. Together, these words represent a place where all people and communities are warmly invited to explore the Dharma together in keeping with East Bay Meditation Center’s core mission to foster liberation, personal and interpersonal healing, social action, and inclusive community building. We hope that you will join us.
The EBMC Maha Sangha’s leadership team of teachers, dharma leaders, and sangha members includes: Arisika Razak, Fresh! Lev White, Rebekah Eppley, Sarwang Parikh and Shay.
Contact: mahasangha at eastbaymeditation org

ONLINE: 8 Step Buddhist Recovery Deep Refuge
2025-11-29 10:00 - 11:30, 2025-12-06 10:00 - 11:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Every Saturday from 10AM – 11:30AM PST / PDT ONLINE
Compassionate Dharma Deep Refuge Buddhist meetings focus on ways to heal addiction. Based on the Eight Steps to Recovery developed by Dr. Mason-John M.A (hon.doc) and Dr Groves, we believe this inclusive approach can build a solid foundation for those at any level of recovery and for those who have yet to seek help.
Through these practices we hope you gain a practice that can sustain you in your recovery.
We are a multi-recovery space. Whether you are navigating addiction to substances like drugs and alcohol, or process addictions, such as disordered eating, codependency, or sex and love addiction–you are welcome here.
Advance Registration is not required.
For additional information, please contact: ebmcrecovery at gmail dot com.

Every Body Every Mind Sangha
2025-11-30 18:00 - 19:30, 2025-12-07 18:00 - 19:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Every Body Every Mind Sangha is a weekly practice group for people living with disabilities, limitations, differences and chronic illnesses.
Sundays
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

ONLINE WITH SPECIAL HYBRID DATES
March 23rd 2025 with Arisika Razak
April 20th 2025 with Anne Finger
May 18th 2025 with Mushim Ikeda
June 22nd 2025 with Anne Finger
No registration needed to attend these meetings in person. More hybrid dates may be announced in the future.

To join online, please email: ebem at eastbaymeditation dot org to request a Zoom link.
Please come and take part in this time to meditate, share our lives and support with each other, and learn more about the dharma. There is no need to register for these weekly meetings, just come and share this path together!
EveryBody, EveryMind Teacher Group: Debra Kerr, Kenji Oshima, Anne Finger, Master John W. Ellis IV, Beth Smith, Mushim Ikeda, Victor Jih, & Zac Krohn
For more info, visit the Every Body Every Mind Sangha Website.

ONLINE CLASS SERIES: Finding Liberation in Relationship
2025-12-01 18:30 - 20:30, 2025-12-08 18:30 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Finding Liberation in Relationship: Accountability, Conflict, Boundaries and Feedback
4 Monday evenings
December 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd 2025
6:30-8:30 PM PT (Time Zone Converter)
Online, open to all
With Dawn Haney and Regent Brown
Closed Captioning Provided on Zoom

In this time of so much conflict, devastation and uprising, how do we bring our practice to our relationships, and how do we find freedom and choice there? Our friendships, partnerships, family and communities can be a source of joy and support, and also of struggle and suffering. In this four week class we will explore concrete practices grounded in Buddhist meditation, somatics, and transformative justice.
We will practice feedback, boundaries, mindful accountability, and nervous system regulation, while applying mindfulness to investigate our conditioned tendencies and positionality in power relations. Through turning towards the delight and difficulty in our relationships, including with Sangha, we will build resource and resilience and create space to be our most authentic selves in our relationships and in the larger world.

Cost
The teachings are regarded as priceless. So they are offered without a fee. You are invited to support the teachings and our efforts by contributing voluntary donations (the practice of “Dana”) for the expenses of the meditation center and the support of the teachers.
The ticket prices are listed as different tiers with suggested donations based on income ranges. For those who wish to give more, you may choose an “add-on” to your ticket. For those unable to give, there is an option for that.
Other ways to give:
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, you may do so via Paypal: paypal.me/eastbaymeditation or our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana 100% of our programming is sliding scale and no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds.

To support our teachers, please do so via:
Venmo: dawnmarissa or Paypal: dawnmarissa@gmail.com
Venmo: @Regent_Brown or CashApp: $RegentBrown

Thank you for the gifts of your generosity and for supporting the work of East Bay Meditation Center and our beloved teachers who have volunteered their time.

Universal Access Requests on Zoom to help with sound and video quality. If possible…
1. When speaking, introduce your name, pronouns, and (optionally) a brief physical description of yourself.
2. If using virtual backgrounds, please use static, simple, high-contrast backgrounds.
3. Please keep your camera still while your camera is on.
4. Please repeat your name when you speak to help those with visual impairment.
5. The host/volunteer will attempt to read any comments that appear in the chat out loud.
6. Please strive for clear audio and mute when you are not speaking. Phone access is also available.
7. If you have unmet access needs, please send a message to the volunteer or host in the chat. If the chat is not accessible to you, please offer them briefly in one minute or less via voice. Please do not send access requests directly to other participants.

Teaching Team

Dawn Haney is a teacher, coach, and consultant, committed to helping communities and organizations learn how to navigate change while attending to dynamics of identity and power. They braid together wisdom from Buddhism, social justice, and psychology traditions, and alchemize this with their own experiences as a white, fat, queer, neurodivergent, nonbinary femme to support individual and community change. A dharma student since 2003, she is a Community Teacher at East Bay Meditation Center, mentors new meditation teachers, and offers DEIA and organizational development consulting to meditation programs and social change groups.

Regent Brown (Queen) is a biracial Afro-Indigenous, disabled, two-spirit womxn who has been practicing the Dharma since 2016 and part of the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC) community of practice since 2018. Regent’s story has had many twists including surviving cancer twice, relocating during the pandemic, and being married for over a decade. And these twists have only deepened Regent’s passion for liberatory practices in the dharma. Regent supports liberation and decolonization as a coach, circle keeper, trainer, healer, facilitator, and participant in interdependent community wellness. As a recent graduate of the inaugural Freedom Together Mindfulness Teacher Program, and a current member of Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leaders program, Regent joins a bountiful group of BIPOC mindfulness teachers working to weave decolonized practices through their work, relationships, and communities. Regent’s other practices of manifesting joy include karaoke, goats, traveling to photograph sunsets, gardening, and discovering small parks while walking her 7 year old Corgi mix pup, Perkelsnertz.

ONLINE: Parent-Caregiver Sangha
2025-12-01 20:00 - 21:15 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
EBMC’s Parent-Caregiver teaching team will be offering a monthly parents’ meditation group for restoration, support and connection.

Parenting often can be challenging…as well as a great practice. We offer a short talk, guided meditation and sharing. We gather to create a safe refuge to share the joys and the challenges of caring for young people by cultivating loving-kindness, compassion, patience and generosity with the support of the sangha. We welcome all parents/grandparents/caregivers of young people to join us. No prior experience necessary.

Meeting time: First Mondays of the month, 8-9:15 PM Pacific Time. On Zoom (closed captions provided).

Click here for more information.

IN PERSON: Gather & Ground: Compassionate Community Building
2025-12-02 17:00 - 19:00, 2025-12-04 17:00 - 19:00, 2025-12-05 17:00 - 19:00, 2025-12-09 17:00 - 19:00, 2025-12-11 17:00 - 19:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Gather & Ground: Compassionate Community Building
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays
5-7 PM PT
In person only

Starting the week of July 7th, we now have the center open every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 5-7pm. The first hour (5-6pm) will be for meditation in our temple or compassion room space or to peruse our library offerings. The second hour (6-6:45pm) will be for a fun social potluck in the kitchen space. Everyone is encouraged to bring something to share with the group. We hope this effort will build some momentum and energy for EBMC and bring more people in our community together in-person.

These new community building hours are the same evenings as our Alphabet (Tuesdays 7pm), BIPOC (Thursdays 7pm) and Maha Sanghas (Fridays 7pm) so we hope this effort will also encourage people to join those groups with a hope to generate enough attendance to bring them back to in-person every week! This was also based on feedback from the survey. See more info about our Practice Groups here.

There are so many reasons to be in community right now and EBMC wants to support this by opening our space during these times to anyone who needs it. We are stronger when we are in solidarity together to meet the moment we are in. We hope to see you soon! Come practice. Come snack. Come as you are. Feel free to bring a friend!

Please note: During these specific hours, masks will be encouraged, but not required. Again, this is a pilot effort that we are trying in this one area based on survey responses, with a goal of expanding our circle, but as of now, our masking policy remains the same for all other programming and events.

HYBRID: Alphabet Sangha
2025-12-02 19:00 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
A meditation group for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Same-Gender Loving, and Two-Spirit communities. Because that’s such a mouthful, we call ourselves the Alphabet Sangha.
Tuesdays
7:00 – 8:30 pm
HYBRID on First and Third Tuesdays of the month! Meet at EBMC or online.
Please email: alphabetsangha at eastbaymeditation dot org to request Zoom link to join online.
For more information, visit the ALPHABET SANGHA WEBSITE

ONLINE: Kapwa Meditation for Filipinx/a/o Community
2025-12-03 07:00 - 07:30, 2025-12-10 07:00 - 07:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
We are happy to announce that a weekly Kapwa Meditation for Filipinx/a/o folks will begin on Wednesday, Jan. 8, from 7:00 to 7:30 AM Pacific Time. We will continue to gather every Wednesday morning, coming together for support and practice, on our paths of individual and collective transformation.

In addition to our weekly meditation, we would like to remind everyone of our monthly Kapwa Deep Refuge Group for Filipinx/a/o folks. Launched in the Spring of 2024, we meet on the third Sunday of every month, from 9:00 to 10:30 AM Pacific Time.
Together, in both spaces, we aspire to cultivate a special community space in the intersection of Filipinx/a/o identity + culture + history and Buddhist spiritual practice.
The Zoom credentials are the same for both our weekly Wednesday meditation and our monthly gathering.
If you identify as Filipinx/a/o and would like to join, please contact us at: kapwa.deep.refuge@gmail.com

HYBRID: Midday Sangha
2025-12-03 12:00 - 13:35 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Join our peer-led multicultural sangha for silent meditation practice and community building.
Every Wednesday
12:00 – 12:45pm PST Silent sitting, standing or lying down meditation with optional walking meditation.
12:55 – 1:35pm PST Facilitated conversation about our practice and being the dharma in the world
HYBRID EVERY FIRST WEDNESDAY, ONLINE FOR OTHER MEETINGS (unless otherwise noted)
Midday Sangha Coordinating Committee:
emiko yoshikami, Jennie Powe Runde, Sakshi Uomoto, Elese Lebsack and Robert Gavino
email middaysangha at eastbaymeditation dot org for zoom link and password

HYBRID: BIPOC Sangha
2025-12-04 19:00 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
The BIPOC Sangha is a growing community of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color waking up and getting free!
Thursdays
7 – 8:30 PM PT
**Hybrid on First and Third Thursdays (online only on other Thursdays)
**Potluck in the EBMC kitchen on the Third Thursday meeting, from 6-7 PM PT! Bring a dish or beverage to share.
Closed Captions Provided.
Zoom info: Meeting details are shared through their mailing list (subscribe on their website), and their Facebook group.

ONLINE: Maha Sangha
2025-12-05 19:00 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Maha Sangha for All People & Communities
Creating Freedom in Community
Every Friday night, 7:00 – 8:30pm.
Hybrid, every 4th Friday of the month
Event Details: Meets weekly on zoom, and starting to meet once a month in person, email mahasangha at eastbaymeditation dot org for more info and get on our newsletter
The EBMC Maha Sangha for All People and Communities is a meditation and dharma group with an emphasis on radical inclusivity and social justice.
Maha is a Pali word meaning whole, great, larger/largest, deepest, and Sangha is a Pali word for community, or community of practitioners. Together, these words represent a place where all people and communities are warmly invited to explore the Dharma together in keeping with East Bay Meditation Center’s core mission to foster liberation, personal and interpersonal healing, social action, and inclusive community building. We hope that you will join us.
The EBMC Maha Sangha’s leadership team of teachers, dharma leaders, and sangha members includes: Arisika Razak, Fresh! Lev White, Rebekah Eppley, Sarwang Parikh and Shay.
Contact: mahasangha at eastbaymeditation org

Communal Grief Project for BIPOC, Part 1 (rescheduled)
2025-12-06 10:00 - 16:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Communal Grief Project for BIPOC, Part 1
Saturday, December 6th 2025
10 AM to 4 PM PT (Time Zone Converter)
With Mushim Ikeda and Damali Robertston
Open to BIPOC, ages 18+
In person only at EBMC’s NEW BUILDING (2406 Webster St, Oakland CA)
The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible
N95/KN95 masks required

This 2-part secular series, open to BIPOC-identified folx, offers a space for reflection and connection through communal listening circles and guided practices to help us move through grief, with the support of a licensed therapist. Together, we’ll look beyond grief related to death and explore how all forms of loss — from police violence and climate anxiety to threats against human rights and bodily autonomy shape our lives.
NOTE: This program was the first of the two-part series and focuses on communal grief. We were unable to host it on the original date of October 13th, so December 6th is the rescheduled date. The second part was already hosted on November 2nd. Participants from that day are welcome to join this one.
This listening circle is part of The Communal Grief Project, a larger international project on grief in the U.S., Mexico, and Tanzania. To participate you must be 18 years of older and be okay with a member of our team taking notes on the information shared during the listening circles. Information shared will be completely anonymous — your name and information will not be identifiable. We are gathering information about experiences with grief in order to develop communal grief practices to help heal ourselves and our communities. You can learn more about the project here: https://communalgriefproject.com/
These daylongs will include breaks and an extended lunch period. Snacks and drinks will be provided but you are invited to bring a lunch.

NOTE: Space is limited to 25 attendees. Please sign up now to save your spot!

Cost
The teachings are regarded as priceless. So they are offered without a fee. You are invited to support the teachings and our efforts by contributing voluntary donations (the practice of “Dana”) for the expenses of the meditation center and the support of the teachers.
The ticket prices are listed as different tiers with suggested donations based on income ranges. For those who wish to give more, you may choose an “add-on” to your ticket. For those unable to give, there is an option for that.
Other ways to give:
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, you may do so at bit.ly/ebmc-give 100% of our programming on a sliding scale and no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds.

Thank you for the gifts of your generosity and for supporting the work of East Bay Meditation Center and our beloved teachers who have volunteered their time.

For in-person participation:
For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 60 people to allow ample space for social distancing. Participants will be asked to wear N95 or KN95 face masks. (N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.) Please note: The teacher may be unmasked while teaching.
To attend in person, you need to be completely free of fragranced body and clothing products — more information and a list of fragrance free products, including those that are especially good for people of color, appears on our website.
East Bay Meditation Center is a scent free / fragrance free space and is wheelchair accessible.

Public Transportation/Parking:
– We strongly encourage public transportation/biking/walking since parking in the neighborhood is limited. Please avoid parking your car on the street in a metered space during this time as it will cause an interrupted retreat experience. There is an ACE parking structure on Webster St., right behind the YMCA.
– EBMC is 5 blocks from 19th Street Bart (about a 7 minute walk).
– EBMC has bike parking inside the center.
– Please note that parking meters are enforced Monday – Saturday, 8 am – 6 pm.

Teachers

Mushim Patricia Ikeda is an internationally-known secular mindfulness and Buddhist teacher working primarily with justice activists and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) meditation practitioners. A core teacher at East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, California, she is an author whose writing has been published in Lion’s Roar, Tricycle, Buddhadharma and various anthologies. She is the founding and guiding teacher of EBMC’s Practice in Transformative Action, a yearlong program that completed its tenth cohort in July 2023, providing secular mindfulness training for justice activists and agents of change. Mushim was selected by Lion’s Roar Buddhist media magazine as one of twenty-six “Great Buddhist Teachers” in the January 2022 issue. If you would like to make a gift to our beloved teacher, please do so via Venmo: @MushimPatricia-Ikeda or PayPal: info@mushimikeda.com

Damali Robertson, MA is a certified Resilience Toolkit facilitator, trauma-informed leader, and emerging filmmaker guided by three values: Love, Liberation, and Compassion. As a sought-after facilitator, she recently co-facilitated a series of BIPOC grief retreats at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. She also co-facilitates a weekly forum about spirituality and social justice called Imagining Justice. As Director of Community Engagement at LifeLong Medical Care, She has spent the last two years leading trauma-informed and human-centered work for more than 1,000 staff and hundreds of community members. She is also currently making a film about faith and spirituality as pathways to collective liberation. Damali’s life and work are grounded in mindfulness practices, spiritual principles, and lived-commitments to equity, justice and thriving. Damali holds BAs in Political Science and Literature from Africa and the Diaspora from Pitzer College, an MA in Communications for Social and Behavior Change from the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, and an MA in Social Justice and Community Organizing from Prescott College.

ONLINE: Afrikan Healing and Wisdom
2025-12-07 09:00 - 10:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
ONLINE: Afrikan Healing and Wisdom
With Vimalasara Mason-John, Arisika Razak, and Aleta Toure’
First Sundays, starting November 3rd 2024
9:00 – 10:30 AM PT
Closed captioning provided over Zoom

DECEMBER 7TH: PREPARING FOR KWANZAA
Kwanzaa is a transformational time for deep reflection, remembrance of the measure of African lineage wisdom, and how to understand goodness that uplifts through the Swahili Nguzo Saba (Seven Principles). We ask you to join us online through East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC)with special Guest: Cuban Redd, on Sunday, December 7th at 9:00 am PT as we sit in deep reflection during this Kwanzaa sangha to celebrate and to reaffirm the vitality of life. Come contemplate deep critical issues (djaer) on a personal and social level through community rest and recommitment. Please bring a red, black, and green candle, and Muhindi (corn).
And please consider joining us for our Second, In-Person Afrikan Healing and Wisdom Residential Retreat at Dhamma Dena Retreat Center in Joshua Tree California from February 5 – 8 2026. https://www.dhammadena.org/retreats/Afrikan-Wisdom-Retreat-Feb-2026
——
Join us for EBMC’s first Black-led, Black-Sangha Affinity group held on the first Sunday of every month starting on Sunday, November 3rd, 2024 from 9 AM till 10:30 AM.
Today, those of us living in the USA vibrate to the breath of our Ancestral North Star, highest realm of guidance. Our ancestors are with us, as we step into a seemingly repeated quantum leap of time, during one of the most turbulent election seasons since the presidential election of 1876, and the 1877 compromise which ended Reconstruction. We are in a sentinel moment, echoing the situations described in Martin Luther King’s book, “Why We Can’t Wait”. Like our Diasporan kinfolx, we are questioning our common humanity, as we see the age-old dream of peace, and ecological balance distorted in the deep and seemingly bottomless pool of genocide, war, climate change, ecological devastation, poverty and global health pandemics.
Join us as we bring a timely spoonful of Afrikana medicine to these challenging and difficult times. We’ll add ancestral healing traditions to the simple practice of the breath, sharing meditations, libations, chanting and other embodied practices to remember our resilience, honor our ancestors, and support an inclusive and affirming community for all members of the Afrikan Diaspora.

REGISTRATION LINKS – sign up now for current and future meetings!
December 7th registration

COST

Here at EBMC, we practice gift economics and our programs are offered freely without set fees. Financial gifts from our community help to sustain our teachers AND our center. Generosity is the Buddha’s first teaching, the lifeblood of EBMC, and an act of sacred reciprocity. We ask that those who have more financial means give more, in order to help balance the giving of those who have less financial means.
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, please do so via our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana. Consider becoming a monthly donor for any amount! These contributions are especially valuable to our sustainability.
Please also consider giving a financial gift to our teachers as well, who do not receive a salary for their work, and give their teachings freely to all. In this way, we practice sacred reciprocity between teachers and students.
Giving Information:
VENMO: @Arisika-Razak
PAYPAL: arisikarazak@gmail.com
(Please reference “Afrikan Healing & Wisdom” and the teachers will share the gifts with each other)

TEACHING TEAM

Vimalasara (Valerie) Mason-John is the author of the new revised edition of Detox Your Heart – Meditations For Emotional Trauma published by Wisdom books in 2017. She is co-author of the award-winning book Eight Step Recovery – Using The Buddha’s Teachings to Overcome Addiction. She is a TEDx speaker and is the author of eight books including her award winning novel Borrowed Body. She is the curator of Teachings in Uncertain Times, an online retreat by Teachers of Color for Tricycle Magazine February 2017. She is a leading African Canadian voice in the field of Mindfulness for Emotional Trauma and Addiction.

Arisika Razak, MPH, EBMC Core teacher, is the former Chair of the Women’s Spirituality Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Previously a nurse-midwife, her teachings incorporate diverse spiritual traditions, women’s health and healing, multicultural feminisms, queer theory, and diversity theory. Arisika has led national and international healing workshops and ritual celebrations for women for over three decades, as well as embodied spiritual workshops for people of all genders. She has co-facilitated workshops with Marlene Jones at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and regularly leads workshops at EBMC.

Aleta Toure’ (Visiting Teacher) Aleta Toure’ bears witness as a vessel for social change through organizing, education and healing arts. She centers healing in monastic lifestyle knowledge though Intentional Communities and Black cooperative movements. Her cooperative serves communities through Black Trauma Anonymous (BTA), Tai chi, Ecstatic Healing Dance and Healing Responders. Aleta spends time within Peace Pagodas, monasteries, hermitages, and dojos which have framed her work through Free Marissa Now, “I am Troy Davis”, University Without Walls and other Diasporic Movements. She leads the 2025 California Reparations Interfaith Healing Walk to bring healing, theory and practice back as a Liberation tool.

IN PERSON: Toward a Just Yoga (Book Event)
2025-12-07 17:30 - 19:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Toward a Just Yoga
Anjali Sawhney in conversation with authors Anjali Rao and Thenmozhi Soundararajan
Featuring opening music from vocalist Deepti Warrier
Sunday, December 7th 2025
5:30-7:00pm PT
In-person at EBMC: 2406 Webster St., Oakland CA

More than ever we need yoga spaces that offer solace, community, and healing, that can cultivate capacity to hold complexity and disrupt ongoing and past oppressions.
As we look toward building these spaces, we might consider the following questions:
What does yoga have to do with caste, gender, and power?
Why is a feminist and a critical lens on yoga history relevant during these times?
How can we re-envision yoga spaces that are truly welcoming and liberatory for all?
Join Anjali Rao and Thenmozhi Soundararajan, co-founder of Equality Labs, for a generative discussion that explores these core questions from Anjali’s thought-provoking book, Yoga As Embodied Resistance. This discussion sheds light on ways in which we can build authentic and embodied solidarities across differences.
We begin with a musical performance and a brief centering practice before diving in. The discussion will be followed by audience Q&A and a book signing, and samosas and chai will be served before and after the event. Copies of Yoga as Embodied Resistance will also be available for purchase during the event, courtesy of Womb House Books
Do join us on December 7th: 5:30-7:00 pm!

Please note the address for EBMC’s new space:
2406 Webster St., Oakland, CA
Doors open 5:00pm, event begins at 5:30pm

This event will be in-person. Space is limited to the first 200 people who register. Registration does not require a donation, but the offering of a financial contribution is deeply appreciated. People of all ages and abilities are absolutely welcomed.
Donations are welcomed even if you’re unable to attend.

For a list of our offerings and more information please visit our website at www.eastbaymeditation.org.

Presented in partnership with North Atlantic Books and Womb House Books.

BIOGRAPHIES

Anjali Rao brings an intersectional and decolonial feminist lens to the study of philosophy and yoga history integrating storytelling, art and poetry. Emphasizing an embodied approach, her work deconstructs the dynamics of caste, gender, nationalism and colonialism. She is on the faculty of multiple yoga teacher training programs. She is the host of The Love of Yoga podcast bridging scholarship, activism and yoga.
She is currently pursuing a PhD in Philosophy and Religion in California Institute of Integral Studies.Her first book, Yoga As Embodied Resistance: A Feminist Lens in Caste, Gender And Sacred Resilience in Yoga History, North Atlantic Books is available for order.

Thenmozhi Soundararajan, a Dalit rights artist, technologist, and theorist. Currently, Thenmozhi is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Equality Labs, a Dalit Civil Rights organization that uses community research, cultural and political organizing, popular education and digital security to build power to end caste apartheid, white supremacy, gender based violence, and religious intolerance.
Through her work across mediums she centers the voices of communities into the vital debates of our time. Her work has been recognized by the Producers Guild of America Diversity Program, The Museum of Contemporary Art, The Sorbonne, Source Magazine, Utne Reader, The National Center for the Humanities, The National Science Foundation, and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. You can follow her work as a Robert Rauschenberg Artist as Activist Fellow and the Atlantic Foundation for Racial Equity. To learn more about her work around caste equity, abolition, and healing, you can find her book, The Trauma of Caste, from North Atlantic Books. You can find her on twitter, instagram, and facebook at @dalitdiva and Equality Labs @equalitylabs.

Anjali Sawhney (she/her/s) is a Certified Integral Life Coach and a trained international Leadership Embodiment Teacher (somatic coaching based on Aikido & Mindfulness). Anjali has coached & facilitated somatics & mindfulness workshops in the non-profit, corporate, and educational sectors including the Richmond Community Foundation, California Endowment, UCSF & City of San Francisco. Anjali also serves directly with untapped BIPOC students, those unhoused, and those in recovery by providing coaching, counseling & series workshops through various non-profits as well as independently. She is currently on the EBMC Program Committee and Leadership Sangha (Board). She is passionate about rallying people through community & spirituality as well as street protests for equity & systemic change, is in awe of nature & live music, & on rare occasions is allowed to groove with her children, Aanika and Jai.

Deepti Warrier is a vocalist trained in the Indian classical musical tradition. She trained with Guru, Dr. Sisirkana Dhar Choudhury in the Hindustani tradition. Deepti enjoys composing and singing ghazals, and brings a deeply soothing melodic tone invoking visceral responses at all levels. She brings a range of vocal technique and emotion to all aspects of her artistry. She has performed and collaborated with classical dance and theater artistes in India, Pakistan and the United States, and is passionate about creating art that fosters conversation around social justice.

ONLINE: Social Justice Lunchtime Sangha - Peer Led Deep Refuge group
2025-12-09 12:00 - 13:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Social Justice Sangha is a place to practice and reflect with #EBMCOakland organizers and activists. Includes a 30 minute meditation and time for sharing what’s on our hearts.

Contact: socialjustice at eastbaymeditation dot org

ONLINE: Alphabet Sangha
2025-12-09 19:00 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
A meditation group for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Same-Gender Loving, and Two-Spirit communities. Because that’s such a mouthful, we call ourselves the Alphabet Sangha.
Tuesdays
7:00 – 8:30 pm
Please email: alphabetsangha at eastbaymeditation dot org to request Zoom link to join online.
For more information, visit the ALPHABET SANGHA WEBSITE

ONLINE: Midday Sangha
2025-12-10 12:00 - 13:35 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States

ONLINE SERIES: A Year to Live
2025-12-11 17:00 - 19:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
ONLINE SERIES: A Year to Live
with Tania Triana and Ream
6 Thursdays
Feb 27th, April 24th, June 26th, August 28th, October 23rd, December 11th
Time: 5-7 PM PT (Time Zone Converter)
OPEN TO ALL
Closed Captioning Provided on Zoom

What if 2025 was the last year of your life? In Buddhism, we practice to meet conditions as they arise and to bring our practice to each moment, without preference for the outcome and with the maximum compassion. This yearlong course will build your capacity to live each day of your life with intention, supported by practice, even as the conditions around us intensify, such as climate crisis, political repression and war.

We will come together to meet the world as it unfolds, moment to moment, and to strengthen our practice of mindfulness, wise understanding, wise action, equanimity, and joy. In community, we will prepare for a good death, which is inevitable– one that is supported by heart practices, such as forgiveness and loving kindness, and the Buddha’s ethical teachings on life and loss. With one another, we can face what comes.

This course features six months of live group work with the teachers, and six months of small group peer work over the course of the year. Your registration covers ALL SIX live meetings.

The five remembrances of the Buddha, first found in the Upajjhatthana Sutta (“Subjects for Contemplation”), are intended to be recited every day:

I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.
I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape having ill health.
I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.
All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.
My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

Cost
The teachings are regarded as priceless. So they are offered without a fee. You are invited to support the teachings and our efforts by contributing voluntary donations (the practice of “Dana”) for the expenses of the meditation center and the support of the teachers.
The ticket prices are listed as different tiers with suggested donations based on income ranges. Please scroll through the entire menu to see all the options. For those who wish to give more, you may choose an “add-on” to your ticket. For those unable to give, there is an option for that.
Other ways to give:
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, you may do so via Paypal: paypal.me/eastbaymeditation or our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana 100% of our programming is sliding scale and no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds.

Giving to our teachers:
Please also consider giving a financial gift to our teachers as well, who do not receive a salary for their work, and give their teachings freely to all. In this way, we practice sacred reciprocity between teachers and students.
VENMO: @ranger18ream
PAYPAL: Adelante@riseup.net
(Please reference “Year to Live” and the teachers will share the gifts with each other)
Thank you for the gifts of your generosity and for supporting the work of East Bay Meditation Center and our beloved teachers who have volunteered their time.

For Zoom participation, these are our Universal Access Guidelines:
– Please do not use virtual or blurred backgrounds
– Please keep your camera still when it’s turned on
– Please say your name when you speak
– Facilitators will attempt to read any comments in the chat out loud
– Please mute when you’re not speaking.

Teaching Team

Tania Triana (they / she / elle / ella) is a queer Black Latina spiritual warrior and proud bilingual daughter of Latin American immigrants. Tania is grateful to have found a spiritual home and social justice community at EBMC and in the virtual sangha of Buddhists for Justice in Palestine. They served on EBMC’s Leadership Sangha (board of directors) from 2019 to 2024, and graduated from the EBMC’s inaugural Spiritual Teacher and Leadership Program in 2023. When she’s not teaching her brilliant high school students or leading meditations at EBMC or BJ Pal, Tania can typically be found with her head buried deep in a book, or out and about enjoying walks in nature, hamming it up at karaoke, or plotting our collective liberation.

Ream (they/them) is a queer organizer of European ancestry on unceded Ohlone Land, working for over 25 years in the labor movement, currently as the Strategic Campaigns Director for the United Domestic Workers’ Union. Ream is a Community Teacher at the EBMC and is a co-founder of EBMC’s Social Justice Sangha, and Racial Justice Skills for White Practitioners Deep Refuge Group. Ream is a teacher and practitioner with Generative Somatics.
