Coming Home: Meditating In Nature
With Duncan Cryle and Karen McAllister
Are you longing to reconnect with the natural world and discover a deeper sense of belonging? Do you sense that healing the separation between yourself and nature could transform your experience of life?
Join us for a weekend immersed in the mountains and meadows of Clear Sky, where we’ll explore natural meditation practices that awaken us to our intimate connection with all of life.
Reconnecting with the Web of Life
Living in our modern world, it’s easy to forget that we are part of an ecosystem that is incredibly old and spans a whole planet. This forgetting has become so deep that it shapes our culture and institutions. Yet the separation we feel – from nature, from our bodies, from each other – is not the truth of how things are.
This retreat offers a path home.
Through simple yet profound practices done outdoors in Clear Sky’s stunning mountain setting, we’ll rediscover a natural connection with our breath, the earth, and the land around us. We’ll learn to see with fresh eyes, as if we were explorers encountering life for the first time
Who This Retreat Is For
This retreat welcomes anyone who:
- Feels disconnected from nature and longs to reconnect
- Is new to meditation and wants an accessible entry point
- Has meditation experience but wants to deepen their practice outdoors
- Seeks healing from the stress and isolation of modern life
- Is curious about Buddhist approaches to ecology and interconnection
No prior meditation experience is required. The practices we’ll explore are simple yet profound – suitable for beginners while offering depth for experienced practitioners.
What You’ll Experience
Introduction To Breathing Meditation Foundational accessible instructions in reconnecting to our breath, and using the breath as a natural anchor to support presence.
Breathing With Nature A beautiful meditation practice that reconnects us with the ancient dance of giving and receiving between humans and the plant kingdom. This simple practice rapidly brings calm and wellbeing while revealing that we truly belong to something much larger than ourselves.
Nature Contemplation Guided explorations in Clear Sky’s forests, meadows, and along its mountain trails. We’ll practice seeing the interconnectedness that reveals itself wherever we look – discovering, as the early explorers did, how encountering the natural world transforms our sense of who and what we are.
Embodied Presence Practices that bring us home to our bodies as living expressions of nature itself. We’ll learn to savor the breath as rare nectar and discover how attention to our embodied experience reconnects us to the larger body of life.
About Your Guides
Duncan Cryle has practiced meditation for over 20 years in the Namgyal lineage. He combines deep contemplative experience with twenty years in senior organizational roles where he pioneered workplace mindfulness programs reaching tens of thousands. As Co-Executive Director of Clear Sky, Duncan brings a unique perspective on integrating awakening practices with everyday life.
Karen McAllister has practiced meditation for over 20 years and is a senior teacher at Clear sky. She is a contemplative leader and certified money coach who integrates embodiment, relational practice, and material life as a path of awakening. As Co-Executive Director of Clear Sky, Karen brings a deep commitment to aligning spiritual practice, community life, and the ethical flow of resources in service of collective flourishing.
Both Duncan and Karen have studied extensively with Clear Sky’s founding teachers and are devoted to making the path of awakening accessible and relevant to modern practitioners.
Course Details
- Location: Clear Sky Meditation Center, 3567 Cockell Road, Fort Steele, BC, V0B 1N0
- Date: Jun 19-21, 2026
- Time: 5:00pm Friday -5:00pm Sunday MT
- Cost: Premium Private Cabin – $576, Private Cabin – $546, Shared Room – $446, Tenting – $326
FAQs
No prior experience is needed. This retreat is designed to be accessible to complete beginners while still offering depth for those with an existing practice. The practices are simple, grounded, and done mostly outdoors — no background in Buddhism or meditation is required.
The retreat includes guided breathing meditation, outdoor nature contemplation walks through Clear Sky’s forests and mountain meadows, and embodied presence practices. Everything takes place on Clear Sky’s 300-acre property in the BC Rockies — the land itself is very much part of the teaching.
The retreat runs June 19–21, 2026 (Friday 5pm to Sunday 5pm MT) at Clear Sky Meditation Centre, 3567 Cockell Road, Fort Steele, BC. Clear Sky is about 40 minutes from Cranbrook International Airport and a four-hour drive from Calgary. See our Getting Here page for directions.
Pricing is based on your accommodation choice: Premium Private Cabin ($576), Private Cabin ($546), Shared Room ($446), or Tenting ($326). All options include three organic, locally sourced meals per day prepared by our resident community.
The retreat is led by Duncan Cryle and Karen McAllister, both Co-Executive Directors of Clear Sky and senior meditation teachers with over 20 years of practice in the Namgyal lineage. Duncan has pioneered workplace mindfulness programs reaching tens of thousands globally; Karen is also a certified money coach and contemplative leader. Both have trained extensively with Clear Sky’s founding teachers.
Yes — this is one of the central intentions of the retreat. The practices are specifically designed to address the disconnection and overwhelm that come with modern life, including eco-anxiety. Participants regularly report feeling calmer, more grounded, and more connected after spending a weekend in nature with these practices.
Unlike a private silent retreat, this is a guided group experience with a set schedule, teacher-led sessions, and community meals. It’s a warmer, more supported entry point — ideal if you want structure and connection alongside your practice rather than extended solitude.