2026 – 2027 US-Based Awake in the Wild Teacher Training
Led by Mark Coleman and Lori Schwanbeck
Based in the Western US and Mexico
The Awake in the Wild Teacher Training is a ten-month training program to prepare you to skillfully guide mindful nature practices outdoors. Inspired by wisdom teachings from the Buddhist tradition, by Mark’s book, Awake in the Wild, and by the wilderness retreats led by Mark and Lori for more than two decades across the Americas, the Awake in the Wild Teacher Training will prepare you for the unique challenges of facilitating meditation programs in nature, while also drawing on nature as a support for presence, connection, and insight.
Awakening through Nature
Wisdom Teachings from the Natural World
Led by Mark Coleman
Many dedicated practitioners today feel something quietly unsettling: Mindfulness works. But it no longer feels fully alive. You May Notice:
- Your practice feels contained to a room, a cushion, or a screen
- Mindfulness has become effortful instead of nourishing
- You long for deeper aliveness—not just stress reduction
- You care about the ecological moment, yet your practice feels separate from it
We spend our days indoors, managing life through devices. Even spiritual practice can become another mental exercise—another thing to optimize. But the Buddha did not awaken indoors. He awakened under a tree.
This immersion is an invitation to return your practice to its original ground—the living world. Not to abandon your inner life. But to let the Earth participate in it. It is time to open your eyes—and your practice—to what has always been here.
Awake in the Wild: Meditation in Nature at Esalen
Led by Mark Coleman and Lori Schwanbeck
May 15 -17, 2026
Esalen, Big Sur, CA
Following ancient spiritual traditions that value the transformative power of nature, this experiential workshop will be spent meditating entirely outdoors among the natural beauty and mystery of Esalen. Whether under a blazing sunset or in the stillness of cypress trees, we will open to the profound serenity and wisdom of nature. We will cultivate mindfulness — being present to ourselves while developing a contemplative relationship with nature. This leads to beautiful states of joy, peace, wonder, love and connection with oneself, one another and the larger web of life.
2026 – 2027 Mindfulness Teacher Training
Led by Martin Aylward and Mark Coleman
Starts September 2026
Moulin de Chaves, South-West France
The Mindfulness Training Institute offers professional, yearlong teacher training courses, providing experiential learning, in-depth instruction and practical skills to teach with confidence and clarity. Trainees are educated in the scientific research on mindfulness, contemporary teaching forms and the historical Buddhist context.
A Field Guide to Nature Meditation: Available in Print, Audio & Kindle
“From the simplest feeling of a gentle breeze to the great mysteries of life and death, Mark Coleman guides us into an ever-deepening appreciation and understanding of the world around us. A jewel of a book, and highly recommended.”
—Joseph Goldstein, author of Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening
Resilience and Nature:
A Self-Guided, Online Nature Meditation Course
It can be hard to maintain a sense of calm, perspective, or balance. We may need extra support and resilience to meet the troubling conditions of life.
Nature has the power to be that profound support, to calm us, to lift our hearts and teach us about resilience in adversity. And when paired with contemplative meditation, nature becomes a support for wisdom, joy and nourishment. It can be transformative and life-saving.
Across six-weeks of daily instruction, this Resilience and Nature course reveals how mindfulness in nature supports you to live with a steady presence and peaceful heart in the midst of turbulent conditions.
