Nature + Mindfulness + Joy

Yes! This is an in-person retreat! We hope that you are as excited about this as we are! We (and RMERC) have taken every precaution to ensure that this a safe in-person experience.

This will not be your typical meditation retreat – not fully silent, a lot more fun, camping only, and held entirely outdoors, and focused on JOY … in early summer, at 8600 feet in the Rockies.

If you are still reading, here are the details!

On this uniquely fun 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, a full-day solo, and play, laughter and movement in nature. The main goal of the retreat is to foster joy through connection – with nature, with the community, and with your truest self

Unique Theme For This Retreat

The main goal of the retreat? Again: to foster joy through connection – connection with Nature, with the community, and with your truest self. Are you wondering, is Joy too indulgent? Read this!

On Friday, with our guidance, you will embark on a powerful journey — a full-day and overnight SOLO, on this beautiful land, in silence, alone (more on this below). Then on Friday Saturday morning, we meet as a community again — for celebration and dance.

Another reason that this will not be your typical mindfulness retreat: because of our age difference (a 28 y.o millennial and a 72 y.o. baby boomer), we have chosen to team together — to integrate the best that wisdom and youth can bring to your life path right now.

Here is What You Get!

• Nature’s healing: beauty, solace, and inspiration in this wilderness setting
• Mindfulness, body, movement, breath & nature practices designed to unlock your joy
• A loving, supportive, co-created community and plenty of time to deeply connect with everyone in the group
• Two experienced, wise teachers—a 28 year old millennial & 72 year old elder—who love to collaborate together
• Solo time on the land, for your own attunement, healing, and inner guidance
• Integration practices to sustain your gains & carry-over into your daily life
• MOST UNIQUELY: Playing in JOY, YES JOY, throughout the entire retreat
• Outdoor camping in an open meadow, beside a river, with vast views of the Continental Divide
• 3 healthy, delicious meals per day
• Just 45 minutes from Boulder
• Smartly scheduled, from Wednesday afternoon through Sunday lunch
• Capped at 14 people — small, intimate, real, with personal attention
• INEXPENSIVE RATE $485 [plus your love donation] for ALL food, camping & activities — that’s less than $100 per day!

Special Covid Protocols (PLEASE READ CAREFULLY)

Updated: March 18, 2021

To insure everyone’s safety, and to help create a feeling of security and peace of mind, RMERC will be implementing the following policies for the 2021 season. They are subject to change if conditions warrant. We hope you can appreciate the need and value of this, and your participation is conditional on agreeing to them.

Everyone coming to RMERC for a retreat will be required to submit proof of a negative molecular (not antigen) Covid test taken no earlier than 72 hours before your retreat starts or have proof of Covid vaccination.

Use of the lodge, including bathrooms and bedrooms, will be open only to those who submit proof of completed Covid vaccination (both shots if there are two). There will be outdoor porta-potty, solar shower and washing station for campers.

To insure everyone’s safety and ease, we will be asking anyone with any COVID symptoms, or is feeling unwell, or has or may have been exposed to COVID, not to come to RMERC. We will also require anyone who develops any COVID like symptoms or becomes sick at the retreat to leave and return home immediately, to protect the health of the other yogis and teachers. We are not able to accommodate or care for someone who gets sick or needs to be quarantined while on retreat.

During the retreat various protocols for the use of masks, hand washing, social distancing, etc. will be in place.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation; our priority is creating the safest possible sangha for everyone

About our “Joy”

• We hold this paradox as sacred — that we can grieve the suffering of others, of the eco-collapse, of racial injustice, or radical inequality of rich/poor, of plasticized oceans, and our beloved animals dying as species  … yet also still feel joy within.
• The joy that we will cultivate is not a “spiritual bypass” of our own shadow, or of the world’s dysfunction right now.
• We will dig deep to see that this belief is a falsehood:” Joy is like an orchid, so rare and special”.
• We can “get over” the cultural programming that “we should be suspicious of feeling (or trying to feel) too much Joy”
• Let’s bust this attitude: ” We don’t get to feel Joy on a daily basis”:

About our “community building”

• Your two co-leaders make a deliberate, conscious and sustained endeavor to “build community” through our time together, short as it may be.
• With only 14 participants, we are able to go to deeper community, intimacy, bonding, and self-discovery.
• We encouraging folks to connect with each other, in multiple ways: in our group gatherings, campfires, taking one-on-ones walks, music, intimate sharing (including by your leader), etc.
• Our past 14 participants listed the “sense of community” as one of their highest benefits.
• The only person who did not bond with our mini-community last retreat was someone wanting a traditional, silent, buddhist retreat. Which we are not!
• This focus on joyful community seems especially vital, as we all emerge from our Covid caves 🙂

Outdoors & camping the whole time!

This is a CAMPING ONLY. WOW. The weather can be great! Average June day temperature is 71 (with highs into the 80s)! Cold nights, perfect for snuggling in your sleeping bag.  On the other hand, you should be prepared for early summer in the Rockies, at 8600 feet elevation — variable weather,possible snow or rain, and the drama of it all! In short, bring great gear.

What to Bring: Click Here for a What to Bring Lis

About your 24-hr “Solo”!

• Being alone in Nature is powerful medicine, and an incredible opportunity. This full-day and overnight solo (Friday morning to Saturday morning) is a time to heal, connect, explore and relax: opening deeply to the power and beauty of the environment, with the freedom that solitude provides.
• If overnight in the wilderness alone sounds little edgy (or a lot edgy!), we will be there to give you ample instruction, preparation, support, and flexibility for the solo — so each of you can benefit fully from your experience. Between the two of co-leaders, we have done wilderness solos for many years, all over the world.
• You will choose your “power spot” from a variety of locations, anywhere from next to the lodge, to deep in the wilderness. For the overnight, you can take your tent and sleeping bag to your “power spot,” OR stay in your tent for the night at your established camping spot, just without contact with others (ie, solo!).
• All necessary food is provided.
• We will meet back together Saturday morning, as a newly initiated community. We share our adventures, and harvest the deeper meaning of your solo.
• The elements, plants and animals become our teachers, the land our home, and silence our cherished companion. Most past participants have found the solo a highlight – sometimes the highlight – of their retreat.

Your $485 Cost —  and what additional “Dana” means

• Your $485 cost for the retreat is set as low as possible and only covers the expenses for the teachers to provide this retreat: renting the center, food, cooks, insurance, staff travel, admin costs, etc etc..
• You may be amazed at this low price, if you have been to other retreat centers.
• Additional Dana: Yet, none of this $485 goes to your two teachers or the retreat manager. We are solely supported by your “dana” (a buddhist term). In the tradition of the Buddha, our teachings are offered without a set fee, keeping costs as low as possible, so no one is excluded due to finances.
• In turn, we ask that your donation to us be as generous as possible within your means. Please bring a check or cash. We will ask for your check or cash on the fourth day. We are grateful for your support!

Scholarships

It is our intention that cost not be an impediment to experience this. We are especially interested in supporting those who self-identify as a person of color, and/or work within the racial, climate & ecological justice movement.  Scholarships of up to $200 are available. If you cannot afford to attend without a fee reduction, you can ask for a scholarship on the registration web site (below), and then just pay the remaining amount.

Payment, Deposits

A deposit of 50% of the retreat cost is due at the time of registration. Full payment is due 60 days before the retreat start date (your credit card will automatically be charged at that time).

Cancellation, and Refund Policies

A full refund will be granted if a scholarship or registration is not accepted. A refund of 50% of the deposit will be granted for cancellations up to 60 days before the retreat start date (50% of our deposit refundable). Due to the very limited number of participants we are allowing, no refunds will be granted within 60 days of the retreat start date.

Food and Meals

• Three simple vegetarian meals a day will be provided from dinner the first day through lunch of the last, including solo food (which will not require cooking).
• If you want a snack between meals, or supplemental protein such as jerky or packaged fish, you can bring a small quantity of packaged, unrefrigerated food.
• Tea and coffee along with milk and sweeteners are available before and during breakfast.
• Please do not bring anything that needs refrigeration (medicine excepted). Excessive snacks are unnecessary: if you need a boost, a little gorp or an energy bar is sufficient for most people.
• For meals, the cooks will be masked, and we will wait in a socially distanced line, to be served by them, one at a time.
• For eating, we will sit outdoors, under a roof, or on the ground out doors, socially distanced from each other, but masks will not be required to eat. You can choose to sit alone, as far away from another as you wish.

Special Needs Food

• Figuring menus and quantities, shopping, organizing, and cooking are complex and crucial tasks for a retreat. We provide simple, wholesome, natural, predominantly organic, vegetarian meals.
• We can accommodate common food allergies, such as gluten, soy or dairy, but not special needs preferences.
• Make sure to include on the registration form the full details of any special allergy or health needs you have beyond basic vegetarian, and we will contact you if they require discussion.

Joy of Helping out

• Some of the work necessary to support the group will be handled by you during the retreat.
• You will be able to choose your helper/yogi job, and will keep it throughout the retreat.
• Most participants find serving others in this way quite enjoyable, and a great opportunity for practice in action.

To Register Now

• Join us for this delightful 5-day, 4-night adventure into Nature + Mindfulness + Joy.
• Since space is super limited, and we did sell out last retreat, we do encourage you to register now (if your heart is singing right now :).
• Just click the “Register Now” button at the top or right of this text