The Heart of Nature – A 4 Day Self-Compassion and Eco-Somatic Healing Immersion
June 6 @ 1:00 pm - June 9 @ 5:00 pm
“Searching in all directions with your awareness, you find no one dearer than yourself.” ~ The Buddha
In this one-of-a-kind nature-based retreat, we combine the power of mindfulness meditation, self-compassion practice, and eco-somatic therapy in the mountains of the Oregon Cascades. Through guided meditations and movement, interactive nature-based healing exercises, inspiring talks, and group discussions, we will embark on a 3-day healing journey into the depths of our being. Justin Michelson of Nature’s Heart will be joined by Rachelle Cornelius, a Eugene-based Eco-Somatic Therapist.
We provide a beautiful, custom-made, open-air meditation hall with a canvas floor, a full camp kitchen with organic meals, a compost toilet and wash station, camping areas, and countless acres of wild forest, meadows, and river. RVs and campers are welcome, too.
The event will be held in alternating periods of silence and structure conversation. It is a focused healing retreat, but also an opportunity to deepen into community.
Teachers:
Rochelle Calvert
Rochelle Calvert, PhD, CMT, SEP, licensed clinical psychologist, certified mindfulness teacher, somatic experiencing practitioner has a devoted love to share the power and healing potential of mindfulness, somatic awareness and nature. She has studied and taught mindfulness for the past 20 years and knows personally the transformational potential. To share the love of these healing practices she has published a book Healing with Nature: Mindfulness and Somatic Practices to Heal from Trauma.
Dr. Calvert leads courses and retreats in mindfulness, somatic experiencing and Awake in the Wild, nature-based mindfulness. She also facilitates professional trainings in mindfulness for clinicians and travels the country teaching retreats and seminars. She is the director of the Ecotherapy Program at SouthWestern College and New Earth Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is a certified mindfulness teacher with the Mindfulness Teaching Institute, the International Mindfulness Teachers Association and Awake In The Wild organization.
Rochelle is the founder and clinical director of New Mindful Life, which offers mindfulness, nature-based, and somatic experiencing therapies. She teaches individual meditations with nature that assist in healing from trauma. She supports her clients and takes them into nature with the aid of Bertha Grace, a Sprinter van that serves as a mobile therapy office.
Rochelle now lives in Taos, New Mexico and has a private practice in both Taos New Mexico and San Diego, California. She enjoys spending her free time in nature, hiking, practicing yoga, exploring Indigenous heritage, and resting with trees. She practices mindfulness-based meditation rooted in the Buddhist Theravada Tradition and practices meditation outside in nature daily.
Justin Michelson – Nature’s Heart Meditation Teacher & Wilderness Guide.
Justin is a Eugene-area meditation and mindfulness teacher in the Insight Meditation tradition (Thai Forest). His passion for the Dharma and his love of Nature have informed and inspired one another for almost 20 years, taking him from retreat centers to mountain-tops to the plant nursery. He harvests the fruits of his contemplative journey to best serve people and the Earth at this challenging time.
Since 2000, he has practiced with his root teacher, Rodney Smith, who asked him to share the teachings of the Dharma. He has also completed Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s Community Dharma Leadership program, Mark Coleman’s Awake in the Wild nature-meditation training, and has begun the MBSR certification through UC San Diego. He has also practices and incorporates the healing modality of Internal Family Systems theory with his students.
His teachings weave together kindness and compassion, dharmic wisdom and insight, and a deep love for the natural world and the Northwest Bioregion.
He has a background in environmental education, non-profit management, farming/gardening, and now owns a native plant nursery outside of Eugene. He lives in an earthen cabin at a retreat center in Dexter, OR, from where he leads retreats, runs his nursery, and teaches at the nearby Eugene Insight Meditation Center.
Location:
Nature’s Heart Retreats
81868 Lost Valley Ln.
Dexter, OR 97431
