Diamond in the Rough: Wilderness and the Diamond Approach
May 17th, 2025 - May 24th, 2025 | Windhorse Village, Colorado | John Davis, Marlena deCarion, Ken Crocker
We know this: direct and intimate contact with the natural world is an open doorway to our core aliveness, our yet-to-be healed wounds, our evolutionary growth, and our mysterious depths. Our ancestors knew this and lived it, and we are rediscovering it for ourselves.
This retreat provides a chance to step outside your familiar routines and be nourished by nature. Our practices of attention, inquiry, self-generated ceremony, group sharing, and deep listening support us. Here, our connection in wild nature offers accessible, honest, and profound guidance on our way home.
For years, copying other people, I tried to know myself.
From within, I couldn’t decide what to do.
Unable to see, I heard my name being called.
Then I walked outside. – Rumi
Program Overview: This retreat draws together two powerful paths.
The School of Lost Borders’ orientation and practices root our work in immersion in the natural world. We engage self-generated ceremony in relating to the land and ourselves. A four-fold map of nature, including human nature—body, heart, mind, and spirit—illuminates the path. The Diamond in the Rough retreats are informed by other bare bones of the School’s forms, including nature-based rites of passage and council practice.
The Diamond Approach® brings clarity and richness to the lessons of wild nature. Its practice of open and open-ended inquiry, along with its map of consciousness, leads to direct knowledge of our inherent essential nature. Its understanding also helps us work through the barriers to living from this knowledge. The growing freedom that results is expressed in our authentic presence, flow, fulfillment, love, and service.
Integrating these paths offers an inviting and transformative journey.
Program Questions Contact: John Davis at [email protected]
Submit Waitlist form
This program is full; however, you may add your name to the Waitlist by clicking the Waitlist button below.
Submit enrollment form
Please fill out and submit the enrollment form and then pay the program deposit below. Before you pay the deposit, please read deposit section below, all deposits are non-refundable and non-transferable. After your enrollment form is complete, please submit all health and liability forms.
Pay program deposit
Deposits: This deposit signifies your commitment to the program and is deducted from the tuition balance. All deposits are non-refundable and non-transferable. They cover the work of the specific course you signed up for, including all communication involved as well as the fee that guides pay to the school administration for the course accounting.
Additional Deposit: Some programs require a second deposit to help us affirm commitments. Last minute cancellations make it hard to fill openings and incur a loss of income to the School and the guides.
Tuition Balance: Balance of tuition can be paid before or upon arrival. Simply deduct any deposits made from the amount you’ve chosen on the sliding scale.
Additional course details & Materials
This retreat is appropriate for those who are new to the Diamond Approach and wilderness camping as well as those who have extensive experience with either. Previous wilderness experience is not necessary. Our basecamp will be Windhorse Village in the Four Corners area of southwest Colorado, a place of pinyon, sage, and meadow, a running stream, and awe-inspiring views. This basecamp affords us solitude, expanse, and beauty. It is about 1 hour from Durango. We will be able to drive to our basecamp, and you can choose how far to walk on your solos; stay near or walk far as you are called. ADDITIONAL FEES: $105 Camping Fee will be collected at the time of the program.
You will be responsible for bringing your own food and equipment, though we can provide some gear if needed. We ask everyone to come prepared to live self-sufficiently. You will need to bring shelter and clothing suitable for a full range of inclement weather.
All participants must submit the required health questionnaire and liability form.
If you have questions about the enrollment process contact us at [email protected] or call 760-938-3333.
There is no required reading for this program.
Windhorse Village is on the ancestral land of the Southern Ute and Diné (Navajo). It is close to Mesa Verde, where ancient Pueblo people built an elaborate and rich community on the mesas and among the cliffs over 2500 years ago. Windhorse is also home to the ancient Pueblo peoples.
To learn more about our commitment to regenerative relationships please visit Cultural Relations.
