Wilderness Dharma Movement is a nonprofit organization devoted to fostering inner transformation, healing, and awakening through immersion in nature-based Buddhist practice. Founded to bring the profound teachings of the Dharma into direct relationship with the raw, elemental wisdom of the wilderness, WDM offers intensive meditation retreats led by esteemed Buddhist teachers Anam Thubten and Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel.
Since its inception in 2015, WDM has evolved into a deeply rooted community of practitioners and guides, each with decades of experience in both solitary retreat and group facilitation. Our staff—longtime students of the Dharma—are committed to creating spaces that are simultaneously rigorous and compassionate, where participants can engage with the full spectrum of human experience held in the mirror of the natural world.
From 2016 to 2018, Wilderness Dharma Movement offered transformative retreats in the sacred landscape of Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona, in close collaboration with Navajo community members. These powerful pilgrimages into the heart of the canyon were opportunities to touch the sacredness of the land while deepening in silence, presence, and inner inquiry.
Our winter retreats were hosted at Blazing Mountain Dharma Center in Crestone, Colorado, a place known for its intense stillness and spiritual potency, where practitioners braved the inward pull of winter to engage in deep meditative work.
In response to the challenges of the global pandemic, WDM adapted by offering Chöd retreats online in 2021 and 2022, opening the door to a wider sangha of practitioners across the world while preserving the integrity of this profound ritual of cutting through egoic clinging.
With each retreat, whether in person or virtual, Wilderness Dharma Movement continues to explore the sacred intersection of inner and outer wilderness, offering a unique path of awakening that honors both Buddhist tradition and the deep intelligence of the natural world.