The Forgotten Power of Awareness (Residential)

This is the RESIDENTIAL component of the retreat. If you’d like to register for the ONLINE component, please click here.

Join yogi Brendan Kennedy in a hands-on exploration of the nature of Awareness. Brendan’s meditation instructions and teachings are accessible and powerfully transformative for deepening our practice and exploring our innermost nature.

In Brendan’s words:

The question is, are you the awareness, or are you which you are aware of, the object of awareness? If you answer “Yes, I am the awareness,” my next question would be, why do you spend most of your time being what you’re aware of and not the awareness itself?

That’s the way most of us are. We are involved, lost, identify with what we’re aware of. And that’s what we think we are. That is why we are deluded; we are ignorant of our true nature, which is none other than empty awareness. This retreat, we’re going to be working with the awareness. How to start to be the awareness. All the different ways we can start to be the awareness instead of being stuck in what the awareness is aware of. Awareness itself is totally perfect and complete. That’s why we are going to do this practice.

Brendan’s retreats are based on experiential learning to decondition the mind so it can start to be what it is; so it can start to be itself. Through practicing and clarifying together, Brendan guides us to look at what gets in the way of being who we truly are. This approach supports each of us toward freedom and from the trappings of ego.

Suitable for all levels.

Typical Retreat Schedule

(All times are Eastern time zone)

First Day — Orientation at 6:45 pm. Opening 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. Evening session 7:00-8:30 pm

Last Day —The closing session end at 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.

Important Health Information

The NDF Health Committee continues to monitor evolving public health conditions and trends, as we keep the safety of our Sangha at the forefront of our decision-making. At this time, COVID-19 testing is no longer required. Masks are optional and encouraged if you are at higher risk. We encourage you to stay at home if you are symptomatic to protect others.

Financial Aid

Cancellation Policy

We understand that personal circumstances may require you to cancel your registration. In these cases, please contact us right away at register@naturaldharma.org. Cancellations affect our ability to offer rooms to others and create additional work for our staff, therefore we charge the following fees to help mitigate these costs.

For cancellations (based on program start date):

• > 45 days: 100% refund minus a $75 admin. fee.
• 31-45 days: 50% refund of the required deposit; or 75% refund if registration paid in full.
• 21-30 days: 50% refund of total registration cost
• < 21 days: nonrefundable

If you must cancel due to an emergency or extenuating circumstances, please contact us at register@naturaldharma.org.

Access to Recordings

NDF offers unlimited access to recordings, which are accessed in your user dashboard (more information about user accounts provided in a pre-retreat letter). If you have a user account, please register with the same email you use to log into your dashboard. If not, an account will be created for you using your registration address.

Availability will vary depending on the type of event and the backlog for our precious resource volunteers. Thank you for your patience.

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