Natural Wakefulness: A Fall Meditation Retreat

Gaylon Ferguson

October 17–23, 2021

Tuition $0 + 6 nights

Rediscover your sense of natural wakefulness in this restorative meditation retreat. Set in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado, you will deepen your connection to your practice and open your heart, while connecting with the serenity of nature.

Intensive practice provides a profoundly fresh view of our life—so precious in this increasingly hectic world. Designed for both newcomers and experienced students, this week-long retreat will include sitting and walking meditation, private interviews with a meditation instructor, and contemplative study of the four foundations of mindfulness. Some silent meals and periods of silence will be observed throughout the retreat.

This program ends with a banquet on the evening of October 22. The 23rd is a departure day only.

Please review SMC’s current COVID-19 policy before visiting SMC.

Financial Assistance & Scholarships

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Gaylon Ferguson

Gaylon Ferguson, PhD,  has led mindfulness-awareness retreats for 45 years. He was Core Faculty in Religious Studies at Naropa University. The author of Natural Wakefulness (2009) and Natural Bravery (2016), he contributed the foreword to Black and Buddhist: What Buddhism Can Teach Us About Race, Resilience, Transformation and Freedom (2020). His articles and essays have appeared in Lion’s Roar, Tricycle, and Buddhadharma.

Program Details

Registration takes place from 2– 5 pm on your program start date. All participants and volunteer staff must check in at our Guest Registration house. Please arrive before 5 pm to check-in and settle into your accommodations. Your program begins with dinner, followed by an orientation. The Guest Registration house closes at 5 pm after which no one is available to provide information or orient you to your accommodations. This program ends with a banquet on the night prior to the departure day. The final day is a departure day only. Further specifics regarding your program's schedule will be available upon arrival. If applicable, you will receive an email from the program coordinator in the week prior to your program with any additional information you may need.