Dharma and Art Daylong Retreats

Come for a spacious playful daylong practice centered on two periods of co-creative Contemplative Imaginal Investigation exploring aliveness and the causes and conditions of its coming-into-being out of which something new grows. The two sessions (morning and afternoon) are bookended by sitting/walking meditation practice and meals. An open rest time of 90 minutes after lunch is utilized however serves each participant: time outdoors, on a walk, a nap, sitting practice, etc., and there is another 30 minute rest period before supper.

Morning and afternoon practice blocks: Each practitioner brings to the retreat a variety of heaps, aggregates, bundles: things to make and play with, to do things with, to transform. The bundles might be soft willow sticks gathered from a meadow, or soft clay, crayons, large rolls of paper. They might be words or sounds, projections of moving image, skins or fortunes. They might be a movement inquiry. Whatever they are, they will be heaps that you gravitate toward, that stimulate our embodied sensual selves and our open minds.

I'll seed our investigation with resonant ringing words, phrases, images, gestures, a poem, a text — something that may speak to you, puzzle you, spark you, grow in you and with which we will together linger and let reverberate into new forms and unfoldings between, among and within us.

The practice sessions start, then, with the seeds offered by the facilitator. In response to the seeds, certain heaps will come forward. And then, together or in turn, we will move into this mix and open to the imaginal, to the Now, to Don’t Know Mind, to the give and take and play between and amongst our inner-outer selves, each other, the material, embodied and conceptual heaps we offer and share together.

We'll engage in this practice for about an hour, break for a 20 minute walking meditation, then return for another hour of creative and dharmic investigation. Following the active creative improv, we'll bring the practice block into a more conscious realm, reflecting together on what’s happened, what’s emerged, what is alive for us from what has unfolded, where we might want to go next.

The intention is to build on skills and tools that we’ve each been using in our dharma and creative practices, and also ones that we’ve engaged in other arenas of practice or which are new to us and calling us for exploration. Some of the tools we might draw from include Insight Dialogue practice, Dharma Contemplation, Authentic Movement, MindWeatherSong.

The retreat is held at my studio and home in beautiful rural Montague. The spacious studio opens onto outdoor gardens, patio, deck and screened porch, all of which are available as practice and play spaces. Meals are co-created by potluck and shared in community.

These retreats are offered on a dana basis periodically throughout the year. For more info or to express interest and be notified when dates are scheduled, please be in touch here.