Healing with Nature: Awakening to our Wild Vitality and the Earth

This nature-based healing retreat at Drala Mountain Center in Red Feather Lakes, Colorado, brings mindfulness and somatic practice into the living landscape over four nights. Led by Rochelle Calvert, a licensed clinical psychologist and ecodharma teacher, it is for people who want to recover a sense of vitality, presence and fullness that stress or trauma can leave feeling distant. Beginners and seasoned practitioners are equally welcome.

What to Expect

The retreat treats healing as more than restoration. The aim is to awaken your capacity to feel, engage and live more fully. Mindfulness in nature cultivates awareness, steadiness and compassion, while somatic practices help you re-inhabit your body with greater ease. As the nervous system settles, there is room for spontaneity, connection and a felt sense of belonging within the web of life.

Days blend silent and relational experience. Practices include:

- Sunrise breath and body awakening
- Barefoot grounding on the earth
- Guided sensory walks
- Somatic movement with nature
- Sit spot stillness and aliveness sensing
- Partnered mindful connection practices
- Guided nature meditations and reflective journaling

Support for trauma healing is offered both individually and in group settings. You leave with practical tools for continuing to nurture regulation and aliveness in daily life.

The rhythm is steady. The first day begins with registration in the afternoon, followed by orientation, dinner and an evening session. On the middle days, a morning practice session from 6:30 to 7:30 am is followed by breakfast, a morning program from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm, lunch, a free time or program block in the early afternoon, an afternoon session, dinner and an evening session from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. On the final day there is morning practice, breakfast and a last program session before lunch and departure around midday.

About Rochelle Calvert

Rochelle Calvert is a licensed clinical psychologist, ecodharma teacher, mindfulness teacher and somatic experiencing practitioner. She has studied and taught mindfulness for 23 years. Her work centers on the healing potential of mindfulness, somatic awareness and nature, both for healing trauma and for awakening and healing the Earth.

The Setting

Drala Mountain Center sits in the mountains near Red Feather Lakes, Colorado. Retreatants choose their lodging at checkout from several options:

- Single and double tents: platform tents of 12 by 14 feet with two twin beds, spread across the campgrounds, with a shared bathhouse. Some campgrounds were affected by a recent wildfire, and the effects may still be visible, though they are safe to use.
- Dormitories: gender-segregated rooms for up to seven or eight people, with a shared bathroom and showers down the hall.
- Monk rooms: private indoor rooms with a bed, bedding, closet, large window and desk, sharing a bathroom.
- Single and double rooms: private rooms with a dresser, closet and attached bathroom with toilet, sink and shower.
- Junior suites: a queen-size bed, desk, dresser, closet, sitting area and private bath with a tub.

All meals and drinks are included, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.

Before You Go

No prior meditation or somatic experience is needed, only a willingness to listen, slow down and be present. The retreat is open to anyone drawn to reconnect with themselves and the living world, and an interest in or love of nature is welcome. Because the work is meaningful inner work, anyone who has recently experienced a significant loss or acute traumatic event may want to consider timing and readiness, and it may be best to wait.

The retreat is held in English. Tuition includes four nights of lodging, all meals and beverages, and the full program. Extra nights can be added at a discount. Transportation to and from the center is not included.

If you choose a tent, bring your own twin sheets, a blanket or sleeping bag, a pillow and towels, since bedding is not provided there.