Mariann Johnson
Mindfulness and Wellbeing Instructor
Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing, University of Minnesota

Before dedicating her professional life to teaching mindfulness, Mariann was an accomplished organization development consultant and mediator, having worked extensively with national leaders of Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and nonprofit organizations. Since 2011, she has designed and taught mindfulness programs throughout the United States and consulted on the design of Mindful Leadership and mindfulness at work programs in corporate, professional and academic settings. Highlights include:

From 2017-2019, helped to successfully establish Moment Health, a UnitedHealth Group (UHG) Ventures program, providing evidence-based mindfulness training to address the unique resiliency needs of healthcare providers, UHG’s international employees and its members. She served as the senior instructor for the Institute for Mindful Leadership from 2011 to 2016. As lead instructor and design consultant, helped to navigate a General Mills-exclusive leadership program to become a highly-acclaimed, international leadership institute.

Mariann currently serves as a Mindfulness and Wellbeing Instructor for the Bakken Center. Prior to joining the Center as a staff instructor, she helped establish the Center’s Mindfulness at Work program and was a member of the Mindful-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) instructor team. Mariann also served as the Center’s MBSR instructor for research projects including, “Meditation Interventions for Treatment of PTSD in Veterans.” Research findings from this mindfulness study were reported in the August 2015 Journal of the American Medical Association.

Mariann has practiced mindfulness meditation for over 25 years and has studied with national and international leaders in the field. She completed extensive Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training through the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts, founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn. She received her MBSR Teacher Certification designation from Brown University’s Mindfulness Center and is included on the Center’s Registry of Certified MBSR Teachers, representing an international community of teachers and leaders in the field of MBSR and mindfulness. Her writings on mindful leadership have appeared in the Huffington Post and Mindful Magazine.

Presenting at the Nexus Summit:

   Moving our bodies and exercise can have aerobic and muscular skeletal benefits, but mindful movement can also help to mitigate the physical and psychological impact of stress on our bodies, hearts, and minds. This experiential session will feature gentle yoga movement. Participants will need space to securely stand and move their arms freely. If possible, you may wish to stand on a yoga mat or on an uncarpeted floor to enhance a sense of stability when practicing standing yoga.   About the Facilitator Mariann Johnson is a wellbeing and mindfulness instructor for the…
   Qigong is the study and practice of cultivating vital life-force through various techniques, including breathing techniques and postures. Through study, the individual aims to develop the ability to manipulate Qi in order to promote self-healing, prevent disease, and increase longevity. Participants will need space to stand and move their arms freely.   About the Facilitator Mariann Johnson is a wellbeing and mindfulness instructor for the University of Minnesota’s Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing. She has studied and practiced mindfulness meditation…