Hi, I’m Deanna Sophia Danger...

...and I’m a certified, mindfulness meditation teacher.

I was first introduced to meditation in my early 20s at the recommendation to read “Dharma Punx,” as was the same starting point into Buddhist philosophy for many young, purposefully (or not) wandering societal “outcasts” of my latchkey kid, Generation-X. My path into a dedicated meditation practice however, began earnestly in 2018 when enough threads had unraveled in my life, leaving me feeling unmoored and at a lack of accessible options to further support my emotional and spiritual recovery, as well as connect with a purpose and service beyond myself. It took me a year of trying out various meditation techniques and communities until I came across a community that supported my specific mental & physical challenges, mindfulness meditation, or Vipassana “Insight” meditation. Connecting me with resonant tools, techniques and world-wide sangha, aka “community,” to regain my wellBEing and felt-sense of belonging to our World.

Amidst the civil unrest of mid-2020, I further realigned my worklife trajectory, “retiring” from a performing arts & entertainment production career (which mostly evaporated overnight in the pandemic), and shifted along my ongoing path as an educator, to further support community wellbeing. I applied and received scholarship to attend The Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program (MMTCP), led by western mindfulness ambassadors and PhD Psychology scholars, Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield, and am now a 2023 graduate. The program they have assembled, which is accredited by both The Awareness Training Institute and the Greater Good Science Center of the University of California at Berkeley, is the first in its kind to embed a dedicated, cultural sensitivity training throughout the 2-year program. Included guest instructors range all racial and ethnic identities, genders and sexual identities, as well as physical abilities and more. The program also included monthly small group mentorship and peer-facilitated activities to support the instructional modules and required readings. I am also retaining alumni membership to continue with lifelong learning & community.

An approach to mindfulness meditation here in 2022 wouldn’t be mindful without incorporating awareness of oppression and trauma, fundamentally, at the root. As a working class, queer, non-binary, neurodivergent, IPV trauma survivor myself, my practice and coaching fosters a supportive space to assist folks of all identities and situations to cultivate wisdom & compassion techniques for healing and recovery. I am a firm believer that none of us heal and recover alone, and that by facilitating a trauma-sensitive, rawthentic, “awkward, brave and kind” (Brené Brown) community space, the ripples of our shared support can reach lands across distant shores, weaving a tapestry of interconnected BEings, each on their own unique journey of daily awakening. Mindfulness meditation assists us in cultivating a resonant relationship with our own body and nervous system. The training I have received, which is based in 2600 year-old Buddhist philosophy, is also backed by the last 25 or so years of modern neuroscience. My teaching and coaching style is a sacred and secular approach that blends scientific understanding with an artfully poetic and encouraging packaging. I am an “Artistic Mystic” after all…

Please read below to better understand my mission, vision, goals, values and accountability statement to support diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in my mindfulness meditation offerings.