Diamond in the Rough: Wilderness and the Diamond Approach
Jun 25th, 2022 - Jul 2nd, 2022 | Wild Mountain, Colorado | John Davis, Marlena deCarion
For the 2023 Diamond in the Rough program please click here
For the 2024 Diamond in the Rough program, please click here
Intimate and direct contact with the natural world is an ancient, direct, and profound doorway to being. Our ancestors knew this, and we are rediscovering it. Curiosity, experiential inquiry, mindfulness, simple ceremony, and group council open the door wider and deepen this contact. This retreat is a chance to step outside your familiar life, be nourished by nature, find the support of deep listening, and discover renewal, guidance, and inspiration. Here, wilderness provides a welcoming, accessible, and powerful way home.
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, ceremonial ways of relating to the land and ourselves, and a four-fold map of nature, including human nature—body, heart, mind, and spirit. The School’s forms include vision fasts, rites of passage, and council practice, each of which informs the Diamond in the Rough retreats.
The Diamond Approach® brings clarity and richness to the lessons of the wild. Its practice of open and open-ended inquiry, along with its map of consciousness and reality, leads to the realization of our essence while helping us work through barriers to this realization. The growing freedom that results is expressed in our authentic presence, aliveness, fulfillment, love, and service.
Integrating these paths offers an inviting and transformative journey.
Program Questions Contact: John Davis at [email protected]
To join the waitlist for this program, please fill out the Waitlist Form below.
Please note: No deposit is required to be added to the waitlist.
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 Wild Mountain near Buena Vista, Colorado, in the central Rockies, a place of meadows, aspen groves, pine forests, high ridges, and extraordinary views. This basecamp affords us solitude, expanse, and beauty as well as opportunities to experience a variety of ecosystems within easy walking distance. It is about 3 hours from Denver and Boulder. 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: $70 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.
Wild Mountain is land of the Tabeguache Ute people and other Indigenous tribes who traveled through this area of the Colorado Rockies. The Ute lived and hunted in this abundant land of elk, buffalo, deer, and bear before white settlers came and forced them onto reservations in southwest Colorado and Utah.
To learn more about our commitment to regenerative relationships please visit Cultural Relations.