Land Update: An Exciting Mindfulness Weekend At Drala Mountain Center

You might be thinking that exciting and mindfulness don’t belong next to one another in a sentence, and we wouldn’t blame you!

Mindfulness practice is so often about grounding in yourself and in the now – using sensations and particular practice patterns to still your mind and give you a sense of calm centered energy. These aren’t the kind of practices that will typically make you jump for joy or let out an exuberant yell.

But, when it comes to connecting many diverse communities to mindfulness practices, a chance to be in nature and be in Now, you better bet DMC staff are going to get excited.

The weekend of January 17th – 19th at Drala Mountain Center was exactly one of those moments. It was made even better by coming right at the beginning of 2025, helping set the tone for what Drala Mountain Center is working to represent and offer in the coming year.

What exactly was Drala Mountain Center up to at the beginning of 2025 that was so exciting you ask?  Hosting two retreats, a Mindfulness Retreat for First Responders, and a youth visit from the Mango House. Why are these two retreats such good examples of what DMC is going to be doing in 2025?

Easy, both retreats served diverse groups and provided rare opportunities for connection and mindful practice.

Lets start with the Mindfulness Retreat for First Responders.

Mindfulness Retreat for First Responders – Grant Supported Program with Mindful Badge

The retreat was led by Richard Goerling, John Combs, Jeffrey Proulx, and Suzanna Hasnay with Mindful Badge, and open to just over 30 first responders. We’re happy to say that the retreat had a full house, and that everyone arrived safely at DMC  ready for their retreat experience.

The retreat was focused on a combination of resilience, trauma competency, and mindfulness. All critical skills and subjects for anyone routinely responding to emergencies and crisis scenarios.  First Responders need to be able to recognize and meet the signs of trauma and reactivity when they are responding on a scene. That’s common sense. But these skills aren’t just for when First Responders are called in on a crisis.

This community also needs to be able to cultivate resilience in themselves, and recognize the signs of trauma and opportunities for mindfulness at work and in daily life.

Workshops and retreats like this one give First Responders the opportunity to learn and practice those skills.

At the same time, First Responders are so often exposed to situations only fully understood by other response professionals. One of the critical details about this retreat is the fact that the facilitators are or were first responders too. They know what the job is like, and can attest to the power of the mindfulness practices they were teaching. It’s not just about presenting the skill. It’s also about how the presenters can make the skills feel relevant and practical in real life. That’s what Mindful Badge specializes in, and we’re happy to host them.

Connecting First Responders Not Only to Mindfulness Practice – But Giving Them The Tools Too!

Even more importantly, the retreat helped to arm each and every participant with the tools of mindfulness, including meditation cushions that each participant was able to take home with them.

Not only did this retreat help teach the skills – it also helped remove the equipment (and accompanying psychological) barriers to building a sustained and sustainable mindfulness practice at home.

We’re so grateful to the whole retreat team for choosing Drala Mountain Center for their mindfulness retreat, and for the folks at Mindful Badge for helping make this kind of opportunity available all over the country.

At the same time, in a different part of campus Drala Mountain Center was host to a very different kind of retreat.

The Mango House Visits DMC

The Mango House in Denver is something entirely different, but just as precious and important. Located on Colfax Avenue in Aurora, the Mango House is a unique community center targeted at serving refugee and immigrant communities in the surrounding area.

Who is Mango House?

Founder Dr. P.J. Parmar first had the idea while operating his private practice in the area. He saw first hand the structural barriers that often make it hard for the communities that most need things like a primary care doctor to access that care. Coming from an immigrant family himself, he also knew that those challenges could be overcome. So he set out to overcome them in his private practice, and beyond.

Dr. Parmar’s private practice addressed just one of the needs of the community he wanted to serve. Mango House is much more than a primary care office. The community center now includes a variety of restaurants where refugees make the foods of their homelands, and also houses a pharmacy and dentist office.

That’s still not everything! Mango House also provides community gathering space, and Dr. Parmar also helped to found Scout Troop 1532, and all-refugee troop designed to help both with the many transitions that come with moving to the United States, and also to connect the scouts with opportunities and community they might not otherwise have had. There’s much more to say about Mango House, but we’d encourage you to look them up to find out more. Or you could listen to Dr. Parmar’s Ted Talk!

Why Come to Drala Mountain Center?

A similar mission is what brought Dr. Parmar and some kids & teens from the Mango House community up to DMC last weekend. A total of 13 people came up from Aurora in order to get some time out of the city, experience the Colorado Mountains, and also make use of our space for activities, conversations, and growth. Access to nature and opportunities to think and experience in community don’t come around every day. Here at DMC we’re happy to offer those opportunities when and where we can.

One impromptu talk about Buddhism in the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya, some sledding, and a lot of community time later, the group headed back to Aurora. Despite the short length of the trip, this retreat represents a reconnection between Drala Mountain Center and the Mango House. Of course, this is just one of the pro-bono community outreach projects DMC is hoping to continue in 2025.

Why These Mindfulness Retreats Matter

Both of these retreats reflect one of the core values of our work at Drala Mountain Center. We work to hold the container for groups of all shapes and sizes, connecting them to mindfulness and wisdom traditions in this special and unique place. In our mission, we work to be of service to the many, not the few, and retreats like these reflect that goal.

We hope to continue working with both of these organizations, and many more like them, in 2025 and beyond!

That’s it for this land update, but if you want to see more about what’s coming up at DMC, you can take a look at our programs calendar anytime. Or, if you want to be tuned in to what’s happening at DMC in these longer, more personal updates, be sure to come back to the blog. We’ll be working to keep you up to date on what’s happening on land. Also look out for tips on how to prepare for retreats, tips for dealing with the elevation, and much more!