March 14-21st, 2026
*This retreat is a deepening of the curriculum from our 7-day intensive training at Lower Lights. Only students who have completed at least one weeklong training with Thomas and have a consistent personal practice are invited to join.
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Join us this coming spring in the idyllic, rolling hills of Hillsboro, Oregon at Scholls Valley Lodge, for a deep dive into intensive meditative practice.
In this more advanced retreat, we focus on the finer details of practice: perfecting concentration, stabilizing the still point in daily life, shadow dynamics and psychological healing, transformations of consciousness as they show up through the stages of human development, and realization of our identity at the deepest level.
Our lineage and style of practice—Integral Polarity Practice (IPP)—draws from the deep wisdom patterns of Christianity and Buddhism, but also from modern modalities including developmental psychology and Integral Theory. In the words of John Kesler, its creator:
Integral Polarity Practice (IPP) is designed to support a person in “waking up” and “growing up” as well as in developing a healthy integration of body, emotions, mind, and Spirit. IPP also provides a framework for interrelating and integrating deeper internal awareness with more inspired, passionate, and creative action in the world: “showing up.” It provides strategies for working productively with polarities in relational and organizational settings. In short, IPP is a practice that supports human thriving.
A retreat setting is an ideal way to train in mindfulness and Integral Polarity Practice. Intensive periods of meditation practice are extremely beneficial for working through challenging content in the body-mind. Practically speaking, if we don’t give ourselves time and space to do deep healing in retreat, the mental/emotional patterns that cause so much suffering in our lives will continue to bind us like chains. Though meditation retreat is challenging, it is one of the most valuable practices we can pursue to experience deeper joy and freedom in life. More significantly, as our own suffering diminishes, our capacity to love and serve others increases exponentially.
Features of this retreat include:
• Advance stages of concentration practice: From effortful to effortless practice
• Sustained still point practice throughout the 24-hour cycle: Letting life become the meditation
• Subtle atmosphere: Building the body of virtue for yourself and all beings
• Intimacy with all things: Exploring the 3 modes of nondual practice
• The Taste of Gone
• Optional fasting
• Solitary practice
• Strong determination sitting
• Emergent possibilities