High Meadow Farm Play-Do

July 5 – 8, 2018

Re-Connection and Renewal Retreat:
Finding Freedom Through Our Practice

with Maia Duerr and Katya Lesher
High Meadow Farm in Freedom, NH

• Re-connect with your innate capacity for peace and wisdom

• Renew your source of inspiration

• Create conditions for a life of meaning and joy

 

This retreat offers you a precious chance to replenish yourself
and discover the regenerative power of mindfulness in many diverse forms

During this retreat, we will renew our spirits through silence, creativity, music, movement, and council practice, along with time in the beautiful natural surroundings of High Meadow Farm.

Guided with loving care by Maia Duerr and Katya Lesher, together we will create a healing space where curiosity and intimacy can flourish; a supportive environment where we can re-connect with each other and ourselves. Sitting meditation will be the touchstone of this retreat. Our days will include opportunities to learn about and explore the Tree of Contemplative Practices (created by Maia), a tool that can help you discover the practices that resonate with you.

Our intention is for this retreat to support you to return to your life feeling deeply refreshed as well as empowered with ways to continue “coming home” to this sacred space inside yourself.

Re-Connection and Renewal is appropriate for those just beginning a contemplative practice, as well as those who have been meditating for a long time. We will have some extended periods of silence (including encouragement to observe “Noble Silence” after evening sitting meditation periods through breakfast the next morning), however this is not a completely silent retreat. You’ll also have the chance to meet one-to-one with either Katya or Maia if you have questions about your practice and would like more individual support.

Registration is now open! Early Bird rates apply when your payment is received by May 5, 2018. If you have any questions about this retreat that aren’t answered on this page, please contact Maia here.

 

Comments from past retreat and workshop participants:

martha2“I feel so very grateful that my first retreat was in Freedom! I feel like a very different person than the one who got into the truck five days ago to drive to New Hampshire. I sat for an hour! I spoke up in a group setting! I got triggered and I saw it as a gift! I sat in your physical presence!

I loved every minute of the retreat. There was such a perfect balance of structure, time to enjoy solitude, each other, and the place. The sessions were fun, lively and thought provoking. Katya and Maia both emanate love, generosity, and genuine understanding.

I felt heard even when in silence, which I really grew to love and want to incorporate it into my daily life.”

~Martha Bouchier, 2016 retreat participant

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  • “The retreat was really amazing. Maia and Katya did an incredible job facilitating. It was my first time at such a retreat and I am so grateful I took that step and made the choice to be a part of it…What a wonderful thing it has done to my Spirit.” 
  • “Your workshop…created a safe and inviting atmosphere to learn, to grow, and to share deeply. It gave me a sense of belonging and longing to experience more.”
  • “Thank you for giving us the opportunity to be who we truly are!”

 

Daily Retreat Schedule — Example

7 am  Meditation instruction

7:15-7:40  Meditation

7:45-8:15  Work practice/break

8:15 am  Breakfast

8:45-9:45  Work practice/break

9:45–12 noon   Morning Session

12:00-12:30  Work practice/break

12:30   Lunch

1:15-2:15  Work practice/break

1:30-3   Break/individual meeting times

3–5:00  Afternoon Session

6  Dinner

7:30–9:00 Evening Session

9:15-9:45  Meditation (optional)

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About High Meadow Farm

hmf photo 1
Nestled in the beautiful Lakes and White Mountain region of southeastern New Hampshire, High Meadow Farm (HMF) is an inspiring venue for this retreat. We will hold our sessions and share meals in a classic New England farmhouse, and we’ll have plenty of time to take walks on the land and old growth forests that surround it.

 

 

Food…yum!
We will enjoy wholesome, nourishing vegetarian food, primarily organic and locally sourced, and prepared with great love and expertise by Ashley Bullard of Kinetic Provisions. The joy of mindful eating will begin with our Thursday evening welcoming dinner and conclude with brunch on Sunday. If you need to be on the road before our final meal together, we’ll pack you a bag to go.

One of our mindfulness practices will be what’s called “samu” in the Zen tradition — work practice. Participants will work in small groups for breakfast and lunch set-up and clean-up. This kind of practice helps us to integrate our mindfulness into daily life… a wonderful skill to take home with you!

 

 

How to get to High Meadow Farm:

The closest airport is located in Portland, ME, about 45 miles from Freedom, NH. There is also an Amtrak station in Portland, which is on the Downeaster route that runs between Boston and Portland five times a day.

With some advance notice and coordination between retreat participants, for a nominal fee we can arrange to have you picked up in Portland if you come by plane or train. It is also possible to rent a car in Portland if you’d like to have access to your own vehicle while here.

If you decide to drive to High Meadow Farm, we will provide you with directions after you register. It’s beautiful countryside for a road trip, and there is plenty of parking there!

 

About Maia and Katya

maiaduerrgenevieverussell-8526Maia Duerr, MA
Maia is a writer, anthropologist, and longtime meditation practitioner based in Santa Fe, NM. She directed the Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Program at Upaya Zen Center from 2008 to 2014, and received ordination as a lay chaplain from Roshi Joan Halifax in 2012. She is preparing to receive lay entrustment as a dharma teacher from her teacher, Shosan Victoria Austin of San Francisco Zen Center. Maia takes great joy in supporting people in their spiritual journeys, as well as creating transformative learning experiences.

 

katyaKatya Lesher, LCSW
Katya is an artist who has worked in hospice and bereavement, and facilitates creative workshops and mindfulness retreats. She is inspired by the creative process; exploring one’s inner landscape as a way of discovering what is true. Katya has a long-standing meditation practice and listens to the inner calling of life’s purpose. She explores opportunities that nourish and support healing on many levels.