Meditation, Nature, and Embodiment (Cancelled)

“This retreat has been cancelled, due to the the health hazards of being outdoors in the extreme smoke in the mountains and the unpredictable nature of the Covid19 virus. May all beings stay safe and healthy.”

This retreat will explore internal and external quiet, the teachings of nature and the incredible wisdom and guidance of the body. We will do this through meditation, movement and dharma guidance. We will be outside the entire 3 days. In meditation practice we will connect with our senses and the beauty of the natural world. Movement practices will include deep somatic meditations; Authentic Movement, a form that combines mindful movement and people witnessing each other; and an ancient meditative dance called Tandava. Each practice will nurture our relationship with our bodies, our intuition, the natural world, and the unknown within the Self. There will be many silent practice periods interspersed with interactive sessions.

This is a unique opportunity to safely do an in-person retreat, due to it being staged entirely outdoors. This retreat can give you a break from isolation, online gatherings, news, work, and stress. It has the potential to relax you into presence, being and flow, as you meditate in the stunning mountain landscape of the Ecodharma Center.

This retreat will be in a commuter format (day participation), with all yogis traveling to the center each morning and back home at night and bringing their own lunch. This will allow us to avoid food service and allow for maximal safety.

Teachers and manager are supported by donations (dana).

Scholarships are available.

General Retreat Guidelines

– We will try to mimic residential retreat practice as much as possible, while for safety reasons, avoiding group food service and allowing people to go home at night. To this end, We encourage you to make arrangements to be entirely out of touch for the full three days, as if you were attending a residential silent retreat.

– The retreats are designed to be enjoyable, not rigorous. Participants are asked to have a willingness to maintain silence and to cooperate with the group structure.

— Participants will need the necessary clothing and equipment to enjoy being outdoors in all conditions. We will be practicing outdoors the entire retreat. During challenging weather, we can be under the barn roof or other outdoor shelters, but we will still be outdoors.

– The lodge will be closed to yogis. For bathroom use, there will be a porta-potty or people can use the woods. See below for more details.*

Transportation

Everyone should plan on coming in their own car, or with someone they live with. We ask people to avoid flying in unless you are able to quarantine in Colorado for 14 days prior to the retreat. We ask that you please stay for the entire day’s programming for the three days and ask that you not leave early on Sunday.

Please note that the center is at 8500 feet, similar to most Colorado ski towns. If you are concerned about acclimating from sea level, you might consider arriving a day or two in the Denver/Boulder area before the retreat.

Contact

You will be completely out of contact during the retreat. There is no cellphone service in this remote location. Please complete all personal business before the first day. The staff will have the ability to make and receive emergency emails or phone calls on our landline on your behalf, but phone and internet are not available for personal use.

Daily Schedule

We will go from 9 am to 6 pm on Friday and Saturday and from 9 am to 4 pm on Sunday. We ask that all yogis bring a bag lunch on each day

Silence

Continuity of practice leads to a deep and fruitful retreat. To aid this continuity, the retreat is held in noble silence. There will be dharma guidance, and several interactive periods interspersed with the silence. Movement periods will involve some interaction as well

We strongly recommend that you not read, write, or check email, voicemail or texts during your time away from the center, just as if you were on a residential retreat. YOU can drive to and from retreat with the radio off and in silence, making it a part of your meditation. This will support the continuity of practice. In addition, for home times before and after our programming,  please make arrangements with family or those you live with to be as silent as you can be at home. This will all aid the continuity of your practice.

Cost and Dana

Fee: $170

The retreat fee is set as low as possible and only covers expenses charged by RMERC.

None of the fee goes to the teachers, who are instead supported by the dana (generosity) of the participants. In the tradition of the Buddha, teachings are offered without a fee, so that no one is excluded due to finances. We simply ask that participants  give as generously as they can within their finances. The support from yogis on our retreats allows us to teach, and we are very grateful for your support. Please bring a check or cash.

To make sure that the cost is not an impediment to practice, scholarships are available. Please do not hesitate to ask for scholarship if you need it.

Cancellations after August 3 will not be refunded unless your spot is filled, in which case you will receive a 50% refund.

*New at RMERC for Safe and Comfortable Retreats During COVID

Outdoor filtered drinking water tap
Alcohol based hand sanitizer at touch point locations
Outdoor Portapotty with hand sanitizer
Outdoor soap and water at the hand wash station
Clean lower storeroom for critter proof yogi food storage
Portable PA to make teachers heard in large circles and wind

The situation with Covid (CV) is changing and full of unknowns, so to keep everyone else safe, we ask you to follow the following protocols to participate in this retreat:

– For the two weeks before the retreat staying safe and maintaining distance, wearing a mask when around other people indoors, or outdoors within 6 feet, and washing your hands frequently.

– Not attending the retreat, or leaving immediately if already in attendance, if experiencing any CV or CV like symptoms, such as dry cough, shortness of breath, fever, muscle pain, loss of taste or smell, fatigue, headache, sore throat, nausea, or diarrhea.

– Not flying to the retreat or traveling from out of state.

– When traveling to RMERC, not carpooling with people one is not sheltering in place with, and if using any taxi or public transportation always keeping a mask on, staying as far from others as possible, and frequently washing one’s hands or using hand sanitizer. If driving from afar, please purchase several N95 or KN95 masks for the journey; they are many times more protective of you than a cloth or paper mask, and are now readily available if you order online in advance. (Staples.com and OfficeDepot.com have them, as well as many others.) Please carry hand sanitizer with you and keep your mask on, do not eat inside, and use public bathrooms as infrequently as you can.

For meals, using your own equipment, and being the only one to use, touch and wash the plate, bowl, mug, and other eating utensils you bring.

Washing your hands with soap and water or using hand sanitizer before and after you touch things others may also have touched or will touch, such as the group water spigot.

Keeping at least 8 feet away from others and wearing a mask when that might not be possible.

Following any other written or oral instructions/guidelines that the retreat leaders make to help keep everyone safe.

While we have every intention of holding this retreat as planned, if Boulder County or the State of Colorado impose new restrictions, we will have to cancel it, perhaps on very short notice. You will be offered a refund if that happens