Myoyu Haley Voekel

  What does it mean to be entering a New Year? One the one hand, as humans, we are simply pinning a tail on vast space and calling it ‘time’. On the other hand, a New Year can have very significant implications in our lives and the lives of those we love. How do we live both truths? This is a practice of staying connected to our fundamental nature, which is expansive and unconditioned. It is a practice of cultivating trust through commitment to practice and connection with Sangha and teachers. What will the New Year bring? Together let’s rest…

Darkness is the home from which you come –  Here in winter’s cold, dark hour—what is waiting to emerge? Zen practice and the creative process invite us into the mysterious source from which all things seem to arise. Darkness is pregnant, the empty page full of potential—a plum blossom emerges from within winter’s cold, barren grip. What happens when we enter the darkness of not-knowing? Take a step off a one-hundred foot pole—one Zen koan instructs. Form is emptiness, emptiness form—another koan says. Zen practice celebrates the spontaneity and responsiveness that comes from peering through fixed beliefs and opening to…

Earth body, sky heart. Rooted and flowing. Luminous and open. We are made of earth and sky, of wind breath and rain song, our lives woven from the teachings of the natural world. This retreat is an opportunity to re-connect and relax into the wild, ancient, wisdom of the Grasses, Trees and Great Earth. We will spend time learning from each of the five elements, as they manifest in our experience. Deeply exploring and releasing into our interconnection with the living, breathing body of the Earth, waters, energizing air, bright fiery sun, and vast spacious sky. This retreat is held…