This 5-month journey weaves mindfulness, compassion, and nature-based practice with the real challenges of our time—grief, burnout, and the overwhelm of intersecting crises. Through contemplative practice and community support, you’ll develop the inner steadiness needed for long-term engagement.
Millions of people suffer daily with conditions associated with executive function challenges. Though commonly referred to as ADHD, these symptoms are often exacerbated by our complex, fast-paced, high-tech lives. Such conditions often leave people with a sense of self-doubt, shame, or unworthiness.
The good news is that with mindfulness, compassion, and with the application of skillful techniques, it is possible to understand and function more effectively with care and wisdom. Over the course of this half-day retreat we’ll explore navigating these challenges, how they interrupt our functioning, and how we can meet ourselves with wisdom, forgiveness and self-compassion.
Have you noticed the painful effects of self-judgment? Do you feel tormented by negative critical self-talk and the harsh words of the inner critic? Are you prone to judging everything you do as not good enough, not quite right, not living up to some impossibly high standard? Do you find yourself harshly judging your meditation, your practice or your other spiritual practices? If you wish to be more free from the influence of the inner critic, then this workshop offers tried and tested methods for overcoming the challenges of self-judgment.
These online meditations will be a support for all those who like to be in nature and feel the support of the natural world for our practice and to help calm and relax our body, mind and heart.
In this contemplative one day in southern Marin, we will open to the joy, beauty and tranquility of the natural world. We will utilize various sensory awareness practices, and mindfulness based meditations to support us being present and awake to our direct experience and to the wonder and mystery of nature. This time will be one of deep nourishment, regeneration and connection.
During the Nature Dharma program, you will immerse in the beautiful landscapes of Spirit Rock while cultivating a receptive, embodied mindful attention. This allows openness to receive nature’s wisdom teachings, including about impermanence, selflessness and the inter-connection of all life. You will explore how nature evokes profound insight, transformation and helps bring forth inspired ecological action.
This daylong will support you in developing a contemplative relationship to the earth, deepening your understanding of mindfulness in nature, knowing yourself as earth, and discovering nature as refuge, teacher, and source of wisdom and awakening. Come prepared for moments of awe, mystery, stillness, and unexpected delight as you discover nature’s power to inspire and awaken.
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.
In the storms of our lives we need refuge, nourishment, and support—a place to replenish our tired bodies and troubled hearts. When the Buddha offered his teachings, his first instruction was to go meditate under a tree. Throughout this retreat, we will practice together in the age-old tradition of being outside in the company of the natural world. We will explore tapping into the natural stillness and dynamism that surrounds us and teaches us. As we integrate stillness and movement, we move toward being active participants in the world while maintaining balance and ease in our hearts and minds.
This silent retreat is grounded in the practice of Mindfulness – the capacity to be present to ourselves and our environment. On the retreat there will be guided nature-based meditations, mindful walks, Dharma talks on meditation and nature and group meetings with the teacher. There will be time to relish in the silence outdoors and to explore the wilderness of Vallecitos Mountain Ranch both in solitude and as part of the group.
Like the Buddha, people for millennia have sought refuge, clarity, and wisdom in the natural world. On this silent mindfulness retreat in the serenity and beauty of nature, we will explore potent awareness and heart-based meditations that open the heart and mind to insight, interconnection with life, and a profound peace.
If you wish to be more free from the influence of the inner critic, then this workshop offers tried and tested methods for overcoming the challenges of self-judgment.
This unique, yearlong, professional Mindfulness Teacher Training combines transformational cultivation of your own mindfulness practice and systematic development of mindfulness teaching skills, enabling you to teach a variety of mindfulness programs with confidence and clarity. You will be part of a committed, focused group of like-minded individuals with whom you will receive skilled, guided direction and personalized instruction that will allow you to flourish as a mindfulness facilitator. Our yearlong teacher trainings utilize in-person teaching intensives, online learning, individualized guidance from the teachers and learning mentors and peer group support.
Following ancient spiritual traditions that value the transformative power of nature, this experiential workshop will be spent entirely outdoors to explore embodied sensory practices in the natural beauty and mystery of Esalen. Whether during a sunset meditation as we listen to the soothing waves or while we sit graced by the stillness of cypress trees, we will open to the profound serenity and wisdom of nature.
This retreat is grounded in ancient traditions that value the transformative power of nature. In the spirit of the Buddha and his followers meditating in the forest, this guided, silent, meditation retreat will be spent entirely outside in beautiful meadows nestled up in the hills of Spirit Rock.
This silent retreat is grounded in the practice of Mindfulness – the capacity to be present to ourselves and our environment. Participants will learn to bring this receptive presence to develop a contemplative relationship with nature. By cultivating an inner quiet and curious spirit we can learn from nature as a perennial teacher. The natural world reveals timeless Dharma teachings that support a natural letting go and a wise relationship to all experience.
The Awake in the Wild Meditation in Nature Teacher Training is an apprenticeship training in guiding meditation in nature practice, inspired by the wisdom teachings from the Buddhist tradition, by Mark Coleman’s book Awake in the Wild (AITW) and by the wilderness retreats led by Mark for more than a decade. Nature meditation brings mindful awareness practices into the outdoors as a support for presence, connection, and insight.
In this heartfelt day of meditation, we will discover how mindfulness and love are essential in responding to the inevitable stresses and suffering that are part of being human. We will explore how they are necessary in any journey of awakening and in learning to live wisely and kindly in the midst of difficulty.
In this workshop, through engaging in various mindfulness meditations, loving kindness and forgiveness practices and contemplative inquiry, you will discover how ADHD interrupts our functioning, how to navigate the challenges it creates, and how we can meet ourselves with compassion, forgiveness, and a good sense of humor.
How often do you find yourself truly disconnecting from the chaos of daily life to reconnect with nature and your inner self, particularly during the chaos of the holiday season?
Can you envision how connecting with your body, community, and the natural world could lead to a profound sense of gratitude and awe that could carry you forward? This spacious workshop will be an invitation to unplug, reset and realign as we connect to ourselves, others and nature.
In this heartfelt meditation retreat, we will explore how loving awareness becomes an essential resource for meeting the inevitable stresses, uncertainties, and challenges of being human. Through guided mindfulness practices and heart-opening contemplations, participants will cultivate a steady, compassionate presence grounded in clear seeing and care.