Retreats

We embody nature and nature embodies us and in this way, Buddha Nature the liberation which is available to all of us can shine through. This five-day silent meditation retreat will primarily take place in the forests and meadows on the magical 180 acres of RMERC land. As we practice walking meditation, sitting meditation and other mindfulness practices in these beautiful and peaceful surroundings, we begin to quiet and naturally reconnect with the wonder of nature both internally and externally. Spending time in our natural world, we realize more fully that we are not outside of nature and that we are subject to the same natural laws.

In the spirit of the Buddha meditating in the forest, this serene silent retreat will be spent entirely outside in beautiful meadows, forests and mountains or Rocky Mountain Eco Dharma Center.  
Meditating outdoors helps awaken our sensitivity to the beauty of the natural world. It also opens our appreciation of nature as our teacher, and invites a wakefulness in every moment. 
By cultivating Awake in the Wild nature meditation practices we open our senses to the rich sensory world around us. By doing so, the heart opens to an intimate connection with life while sensing the sacred in every living thing. During our time together, we will use immersion in nature to cultivate a receptive, embodied quality of attention where states of joy, awe, wonder and love are easily accessible. The integration of awareness in nature will increase your capacity for well-being and inspired action and, deepen your connection with the web of life.

This retreat explores the rejuvenating power of deep connection with nature through meditation. When we connect with the simplicity of our senses in outdoor meditation, our minds get quiet and we marvel at the ordinary wonders around us – the spray of colors in a field of mountain flowers, a dewdrop on the tip of an aspen leaf, clouds scudding across the high peaks. Practicing in nature connects us with our care for the world. As a group, we will explore our gratitude for the natural world, our grief for our impact on it, and how to make engaging with our troubled world a part of our spiritual path. This retreat completes the circle of practice, joining the silence and joy of nature meditation with the bodhisattva activity of compassionate and courageous responsiveness to the world. The retreat will be held in silence, with some group interaction during its later days.

What is yoga nidra? Yoga Nidra is the ancient Indian science of total relaxation that systematically unlocks the self revelatory potential that resides within our inner peace. Yoga nidra releases the source of tensions, unsupportive behaviors, acquired conditioning and self-limiting beliefs through deep physical, mental and emotional rest. It is through the deep receptivity of rest, that we can imprint new patterns that resonate and generates new thoughts and actions. And you don’t have to “work for it” You rest towards it. And this rest, is the reparations that you deserve, right now. How does it work? My teacher, Dr. Kamini Desai explains, “Every night when we sleep, we must do one thing; let go of our thoughts. In Yoga Nidra we consciously enter the twilight zone between waking and sleeping, enabling us to rest more and more as the space of being beyond the mind, and less and less as the mind itself. This unlocks the mystical, integrative powers of the subconscious, as well as your higher centers of consciousness, to effortlessly erase your most tenacious, self-destructive habits and behavior patterns. It is said by yogis that 45 minutes of Yoga Nidra is as restorative as three hours of…

This will not be your typical meditation retreat – not fully silent, a lot more fun, camping only, held entirely outdoors, and focused on JOY … in glorious mid-summer, at 8600 feet, in the Rockies. The main goal? To foster joy through connection – connection with Nature, with the community, and with your truest self.  On this uniquely fun, in-person retreat, we combine an extraordinary wilderness setting with mindfulness and embodiment experiences that will help to bring joy into your life.  We will weave together periods of silent meditation, with heart-opening experiential exercises, conscious community building, an overnight solo, and play, laughter and movement in nature. Ultimately, nature will be the guiding teacher on this retreat.  After two days of getting acclimated, you will embark on a powerful journey — a full-day and overnight SOLO, on this beautiful land, in silence, alone (more on this below). You will have our guidance, support and expertise every step of the way. Then on Saturday morning, we meet as a community again — for integration, celebration and dance.

This retreat is open to everyone. The focus is on silent nature practice, immersion in the natural world, connecting our inner nature with outer nature, and dissolving separation. Each day includes plentiful time for sitting, hiking/walking meditation, as well as nature meditation instruction, dharma talks, and individual and group practice discussions. There will be a one night solo during the retreat. The overall intention is for deep silence, practice, and the joy and healing that comes with a profound connection with nature, and then integrating that into one’s life. Spiritual practice will be supported by instruction in a variety of nature meditation practices. There will be nightly dharma talks, exploring how being-in-nature can be an important part of our spiritual path by helping to ground us in personal experience of non-separation from the natural world. The emphasis is not on meditative technique so much as developing direct awareness that can lead to a new integration of the internal (spiritual) and external (activity). There are no prerequisites for this retreat, and beginning meditators or first time retreaters are welcome and will be fully supported.

This retreat is for Dharma Teachers, Leaders and Experienced Practitioners: if you are not sure about your readiness for it please ask.  The ecological crisis is the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced.  In looking for appropriate ways of being and responding amid the fires of our world, how can we offer support, guidance and grounding through Dharma? Ecodharma is the emerging understanding of this that encourages us to work with the immensity of adversity that faces us all as part of nature. Ecodharma starts with the realization that human beings’ self separation from nature is at the root of the ecological crises facing civilization. We are experiencing the catastrophic results of centuries of attempted ‘mastery’ over the lands, air, animals, waters and plants to which we owe our lives. Reconnecting ourselves to the beautiful kinship of ecological systems is one of many ways that spiritual practice can inform and facilitate deeper healing, both for ourselves as individuals and for our interdependence with plant beings, animal beings and human beings. As we experience more deeply our lived interconnection, we are pointed towards our shared being with all animals, plants, waters and lands. This eleven-day Ecodharma nature immersion is both workshop and…

The truth of interdependence means that relationship is the fundamental reality of life. Our well-being depends on how well we relate to everything in our lives – ourselves, our loved ones, the world and nature. This retreat will cultivate deep relationship with community and nature through mindfulness meditation, Insight Dialog and outdoor practice. Meditation in nature quiets the mind and gladdens the heart, leading to clarity, ease and joy. Insight dialog practice explores how to mindfully interact with others in spiritual inquiry. Dialog with nature, a deep listening and speaking to the earth, help us feel that we belong to all of creation. The retreat will be held in silence, interspersed with periods of meditation in conversation through Insight Dialog. Bring appropriate dress and gear to be outside for extended periods. There will some periods of hiking, no more than 1 – 3 miles in a day.

Within the beauty of this mountain refuge and the teachings of the Dharma, we will co-create a safe and nourishing community of women in which to deepen our connection with ourselves, the Earth, and the more-than-human world. We will take an embodied pause to drink in the majesty of the natural world of which we are a part.  In both meditation and ritual space, we will open and lean in to the losses and suffering of this moment in order to discover boundless space and compassion to hold it all.  We will emphasize equality, acceptance, and belonging as we learn from and support one another.   Drawing from our innate wisdom and imagination, we will shape new stories of resilience, finding our unique contribution to the great paradigm shift toward a world in balance.

— Do you feel burnt out and/or overwhelmed and need to recharge in a quiet and emotionally safe space where we gently witness and honor each other’s experience even as we stay verbally silent most of the time?  — Are you feeling ready to deepen your meditation practice in a community that is rooted in the Buddhist lineage of Rinzai Zen, takes a trauma/grief informed approach to healing and incorporates lessons from Kingian/Gandhian Nonviolence?  — Are you curious about how we can build a rigorous spiritual practice that supports our collective movement for justice and peace in the times of climate breakdown and innumerable social injustices?  If yes, come join us at the stunningly pristine and healing Rocky Mountain Ecodharma retreat center (RMERC) for a Zen and Ecodharma retreat. Each day will include indoor zazen (seated meditation), outdoor meditation (by trees, bonfire or flowing water), kinhin (group walking meditation), deep abdominal chanting, opportunities to share our experience with other participants, a talk at the interface of Zen and Ecodharma teachings, rest periods, samu (silent work periods to prepare food) and dokusan (private interview with the teacher). We will have time in the afternoons for personal extended time in nature. Food preparation will be…

Bring your learnings, your longings, your grief, and your stories to a woman’s circle for all ages. We will fan that sacred fire that Mother Earth continues to birth from within us. This retreat is intentionally intergenerational – for all persons who identify as women and are being taught by Mother Nature about your true essence and identity as a relational way of belonging to Earth community. We will consider the developmental soul tasks of both youth, mature adulthood, and aging, listening to the visionary, imaginative young one inside us as she learns from the elder inside who longs to know her Earth place in community and offer her fiery gifts back into the world. Our time will be together in large group, small groups and much solitary wandering on this beautiful land in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. Appropriate Covid safety measures as necessary for that time. Shared indoor housing and a few private rooms available. Healthy vegetarian meals provided. We together will co-create a trustworthy circle in which we can listen beyond human conversation to the dream of Earth, learn from our Ancestors who still speak, and from our own personal and communal deep wisdom.

This retreat is for women looking for an opportunity to deepen their relationships with themselves and to learn tools to stabilize and heal through major changes or shifts happening in their lives.   Transitions and change can ripen our hearts to new yearnings and experiences, awaken the opportunity to heal old pain, and open our doorway for calls to service.  As women in the current world, we have feminine gifts that need to be unleashed, and this retreat can help you find your deepest wisdom and assist you in taking it forward into your life.

We all live on, and as, this wild, ancient earth, spinning continuously within the vast, magical sky. The deep mystery from which this all arises is profound and serene. Yet often in our lives we do not recognize this great beauty, the deep peace and profound freedom of our own Being. The mental and physical boundaries we construct help us feel safe and comfortable – but at what cost? The loss of contact with our own precious radiance, and that of our very universe. In this retreat we will emphasize Being Outside. Who are we before our constructs? The pre-constructed world, ‘Nature’, can remind us. This retreat will be held in silence using the Zen form of Sesshin; six to eight hours of meditation daily including both group and solo-sitting. Further, group and solo hiking, guided body practice, devotional song, dharma talks, Q & A, and one on one meetings with a teacher will all be included in the schedule. Sleeping outside will be available for those who wish. This retreat is designed for people ages 18-35. The food provided will be 100% vegan.