Loving Awareness (Hybrid)
With Lama Willa Blythe Baker and Lama Liz Monson
July 25 - 31, 2025
Registration for the residential attendance option will open at 12:00 pm ET on Saturday, Jan. 18. Registration for online attendance is open now.
Join our Lamas at this annual summer retreat for core teachings that awaken Loving Awareness for ourselves, others and the world around us.
In this week-long silent meditation retreat, we will explore different ways to access and rest in our deepest essence – the substrate of our being that lies beneath all of our self-conceptions and judgments.
When we connect to this deepest sense of being, a greater field of love becomes visible, one that includes compassion for the more challenging parts of ourselves and others.
Please join us to:
- Reconnect with your own loving gaze
- Meditate, move, write and reflect in supportive community
- Absorb the benefits of practice with sangha surrounded by the lush summer landscape in New Hampshire’s Upper Valley
This retreat takes us through five gateways to know and experience ourselves more deeply: “The Way of Allowing,” “The Way of Prayer,” “The Way of Recognition,” “The Way of Nature,” and “The Way of Love.” We will practice these ways of being through daily sitting meditation, movement, meditation journaling, small group inquiry, and Dharma reflection.
Practicing the five ways helps us to see beyond the thinking mind, to the one who witnesses. We will come to understand that this witness is not a “self” in a conventional sense; it is an innate awareness. It is a vivid receptivity. It is a loving gaze on all of experience, capable of melting a sense of separation into a sense of oneness.
Suitable for all levels.
This Hybrid retreat is offered in person at Wonderwell (Residential option) and Live via Zoom (Online option). To Register, please choose one of the options in the YELLOW panel.
Typical Retreat Schedule
(All times are Eastern time zone)
First Day — Hybrid evening session begins around 7:00 pm.
Full-Day Schedule — Morning meditation 7:00 am; Breakfast break 8:00-9:30 am; Lunch break 12:00-2:00 pm; Dinner break 5:30-7:00 pm.
Last Day — The closing session typically ends by 12:00 pm.
These times are just for reference. An expanded schedule will be provided in pre-retreat information emailed during the week prior to the event.
Natural Dharma Fellowship Full Calendar
About the Teachers
Lama Willa Blythe Baker
Lama Willa Blythe Baker, Ph.D. is the Founder of Natural Dharma Fellowship in Boston, MA and its retreat center Wonderwell Mountain Refuge in Springfield, NH. She was authorized as a dharma teacher and lineage holder in the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism after twelve years of monastic training and two consecutive three-year retreats. She also […]
Learn more about Lama Willa Blythe BakerLama Liz Monson
Lama, Managing Teacher, Spiritual Co-Director Elizabeth Monson, PhD, is the Spiritual Co-Director of Natural Dharma Fellowship and the Managing Teacher at Wonderwell Mountain Refuge in Springfield, NH. Liz was authorized as a dharma teacher and lineage holder in the Kagyu Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism after over 30 years of studying, practicing, and teaching Tibetan Buddhism […]
Learn more about Lama Liz MonsonCategories : *Hybrid, *Live Online, *Residential, Beginner Friendly, Lama Liz Monson, Lama Willa Baker, Retreats