About this Retreat
Lama Willa Blythe Baker, Ph.D. is the Founder of Natural Dharma Fellowship in Boston, MA and its retreat center Wonderwell Mountain Refuge in Springfield, NH. She was authorized as a dharma teacher and lineage holder in the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism after twelve years of monastic training and two consecutive three-year retreats. She also has trained in the Nyingma and Shangpa lineages. In 2013, Willa completed a doctorate at Harvard University, and was Visiting Lecturer in Buddhist Ministry from 2013 to 2017.
Willa is author of four books:
The Wakeful Body: Somatic Mindfulness as a Path to Freedom (2021),
The Arts of Contemplative Care: Pioneering Voices in Buddhist Chaplaincy and Pastoral Work (2012),
Everyday Dharma: Seven Weeks to Finding the Buddha in You (2009), and
Essence of Ambrosia (2005). Her articles and translations have appeared in
Tricycle, Lion’s Roar,
Buddhadharma,
Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies,
Tibet Journal, and other periodicals and anthologies.
She is a contemplative faculty member with the Mind and Life Institute, Sangha Live, One Earth Sangha, Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, the Omega Institute and Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. She is a member of Clark University’s Council of the Uncertain Human Future and sits on the advisory board for One Earth Sangha.
At present, Willa writes, teaches, guides meditation retreats, and develops curriculum for people interested in cultivating a deep meditation practice in daily life. Her teaching interests include the wisdom of the body, eco-dharma, non-dual awareness and compassion.
Lama, Managing Teacher, Spiritual Co-Director
Elizabeth Monson, PhD, is the Spiritual Co-Director of Natural Dharma Fellowship and the Managing Teacher at Wonderwell Mountain Refuge in Springfield, NH.
Liz was authorized as a dharma teacher and lineage holder in the Kagyu Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism after over 30 years of studying, practicing, and teaching Tibetan Buddhism in the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages. In 2015, Liz completed a doctorate at Harvard University, and was a Visiting Lecturer in the Study of Religion in 2015-16.
Liz is the author of two books: More Than a Madman: The Divine Words of Drukpa Kunley (2014) and Tales of a Mad Yogi: The Life and Wild Wisdom of Drukpa Kunley. (2021)
Liz is currently working on a book on Buddhist Tantra for publication with Shambhala Publications (forthcoming 2025). Her articles have appeared in Tricycle, Lion’s Roar, Buddhadharma, Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, and other periodicals.
At present, Liz writes, guides meditation retreats, and develops curricula for people interested in reconnecting with the natural world and in responding to contemporary social and spiritual issues as a path for liberation. She is engaged in an ongoing exploration of the potential of combining Buddhist meditation and indigenous plant medicines and psychedelics as portals for accessing and resting in the natural state.
Liz teaches around New England and online, helping people to access their innate awakened energies and open awareness and to discover tools for how to become free in everyday life. She focuses her teaching on developing diverse methods for incorporating the Buddhist teachings into this human life through the practices of kindness and compassion, and on recognizing the natural state in every moment of our lives. She derives inspiration from the teachings of Anam Thupten, Mingyur Rinpoche, and Tsoknyi Rinpoche. She finds deep solace and healing in the teachings that have long been held by native peoples around the planet, teachings that are continuously streaming towards us from the natural world.
Sarah Buie is a designer/educator who encourages deeper collective, comprehensive awakening to our situation within our planetary ecosystem. She is Founding Convener of the international network, the Council on the Uncertain Human Future, and also founded the campus-wide climate curriculum initiative A New Earth Conversation at Clark University (both funded by the Christopher Reynolds Foundation). She is Professor Emerita and Research Scholar at Clark, where she served as Director of the Higgins School of Humanities and its Difficult Dialogues initiative. She was an award-winning museum exhibition designer for twenty-five years, with projects nationally and in India.
Since her introduction to Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal and Tibet in 1986, she is a longtime practitioner; she studies with Lama Willa and Lama Liz, and serves on the board of Natural Dharma Fellowship.
Details of this retreat
First seasonal celebration: March 20
First council gathering: April 16
Monthly on the third Thursdays: 7:00-8:30 pm ET (see dates below)
Hosted by Hildur Palsdottir, NDF Ecodharma Coordinator
Rewilding the Soul calls us to remember who we are, inseparable from the natural world.
This yearlong series of interactive gatherings explores the deepest promise of our practice: coming present together within the social and planetary ruptures underway, and through practice and community, leaning into the truth of non-separation.
Lama Willa Blythe Baker and Lama Liz Monson, in collaboration with the Council on the Uncertain Human Future and its founder Sarah Buie, invite you to take part in this fourth year of Rewilding the Soul.
Please join us to:
Reflect, meditate, grieve, and celebrate
Engage in council, a practice of deep listening and shared exploration
Nurture and deepen relationships with one another and the natural world
Participants are encouraged to commit to regular attendance to support continuity, trust, and collective depth.
The series includes two complementary practices of non-dual awareness: the practice of reflection and meditation (outdoors when possible), and the practice of council.
The practice of reflection and meditation is attentional and embodied, while the practice of council is relational and based in deep collective listening. Guided by inner wisdom, we find our way into conversation with the natural world, our own non-conceptual field, and one another, exploring what it means to live into this time of rupture.
Each session begins with a reflection offered by a teacher, followed by a Council session. As the reflections and practices encourage rewilding our hearts and minds—recognizing the wisdom of nature within and around us—the Council offers a space for deep, soulful sharing and ongoing inquiry into how we might rewild our everyday lives, and the collective wisdom that may emerge.
In these times of cultural and political upheaval, the practice of Rewilding attunes us to the wisdom and love always flowing around and through us, and to the non-conceptual voices of the natural world that draw us home to our deepest being. It calls us to deep compassion, kindness, and availability to one another and to the wider world.
Council is an intentional practice of listening and speaking from the heart that builds trust, strengthens community, and creates a container for collective wisdom to arise. Circles are led by trained conveners; with a foundation in the Council on the Uncertain Human Future.
Online Council Series Schedule
Rewilding the Soul meets on the following Thursdays from 7:00-8:30pm ET.
April 16, 2026
May 21, 2026
July 16, 2026
August 20, 2026
October 15, 2026
November 19, 2026
January 21, 2027
February 18, 2027
Please note that attendance is limited to 140 participants; early registration is encouraged.
Returning participants may continue with their current councils, while new participants will be warmly welcomed and thoughtfully woven into both continuing and newly forming councils, supporting continuity, relationship, and collective depth.
Rewilding the Soul is a dynamic, perennial program—the content is fresh each season and reflects the current state of our world. Whether you have been participating since the beginning or are joining for the first time, fresh discoveries always arise through the teachings and ongoing inquiry that emerges in council.
Suitable for practitioners of all levels, all are welcome!
Annual Seasonal Celebrations
Rewilding participants are encouraged to attend NDF’s solstice and equinox celebrations, which are offered four times a year. Open to the general public, these events include invited guest teachers, wild altars, collective ritual, embodied celebration and community sharing. Participants in the yearlong series do not need to register separately; the celebrations are included at no additional cost. Please note, however, that councils will not convene during these celebrations.
Seasonal Celebrations meet from 6:45-8:30pm ET on the following dates:
Spring Equinox - Friday, March 20, 2026
Summer Solstice - Sunday, June 21, 2026
Autumn Equinox -Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026
Winter Solstice - Monday Dec. 21, 2026
Natural Dharma Fellowship Full Calendar
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