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October 2009 
If you were to create a retreat or retreat center, what would it
Balder
The Integral Gym
Over the years, I've entertained ideas for a number of different retreat or study centers, sometimes drawing up plans for the buildings, imagining different programs and facilities, and of course dreaming about different locations ... so, this is a question that is close to my heart. I first started imagining places like this when I was a student of Krishnamurti's work, and I longed at the time to create a study center dedicated to the sorts of private inquiry and group dialogue he encouraged at his Gatherings and schools around the world. At the time I first drew up these plans, I lived in Sedona, and I used to walk up to Rachel's Point and admire a gorgeous piece of land that was for sale there -- peering through the fence and visualizing what I would construct if I won the lottery or had some other stroke of fortune.
My most recent dream has been to create an urban center that, in shorthand to myself, I've been calling the Integral Gym. I have attended retreats in amazing rural settings, and I've imagined most of my "dream centers" in such locations, but some time ago I realized I would really appreciate having a local space dedicated to meditation, group inquiry, body work, and so on, that I could visit weekly or monthly, instead of once a year at best. Not finding anything that matched what I was longing for, I began to think about what my ideal urban retreat center would be like.
So, this is it, in a nutshell:
The Integral Gym would serve as a community meeting space and a support for Integral practice. It would offer space for meditation, yoga or other forms of bodywork, study, dialogue, lectures or occasional cultural events, and therapy or shadow work. The center would be large enough to feature a reception area, several rooms, a larger central hall, and a communal kitchen, at the least.
Here's what I envision in more detail:
* A large room or hall, nicely but simply appointed, to be used for meditation, yoga or
bodywork classes, and occasional events.
* A smaller, centrally located, Silent Room dedicated only to silent meditation or prayer.
* A library of current works and ancient works on an Integral range of subjects.
* A media room where people can view educational and inspirational DVDs, listen to music,
or practice Holosync meditation in special "surround-sound" chairs.
* A workout room, with a selection of exercise machines.
* A wing off to the side of small therapy rooms, which transpersonal or Integral therapists
(or Diamond Approach teachers) could rent out for daily or weekly sessions.
* A communal kitchen, where members of Integral Gym can informally meet to talk, drink tea
or coffee, and serve themselves with healthy snacks.
There are other things that could be done -- I imagine a "cyber" wing of such centers, for instance, where lectures or dialogues might be posted online -- but this is the general plan that I've been thinking about for a few years now. Ideally, the Integral Gym wouldn't be confined to just one location; these urban retreat centers could be set up around the US (or the world).
The Integral Gym would be run something like regular gyms, with different membership packages available.
Access: Public
Two more comments about the Integral Gym:
1. One thing that I imagine would set this center apart from other local yoga studios or retreat centers, besides its Integral focus (as a support for ILP), is the space it allows for self-directed, individual study and practice. The local centers in my area offer classes on a weekly basis, but not really the space to come and simply meditate or read or study on my own. You would usually only come to one of these local centers if you were attending a particular program. The Integral Gym would offer different programs, but would also allow for more self-directed practice.
2. The above “strength” of the Integral Gym could also potentially be its weakness. I can see a place like this supporting and fostering a sort of yuppie “spiritual lifestyle” culture that never goes very deep. That would be an ongoing concern.
Hey Bruce,
Nice post! Nice vision!
Humbly, I would like to say that this is what a few of us at Boulder Center for Integral Living is trying to do. Here are a few elements from your list that we have or are working towards.
We are definitely a community meeting space for fostering practical applications of integral philosophy, specifically, as taught by Ken Wilber. We do welcome plenty other teachings too but we truly want to try and keep this as 'integral' as possible.We have a great meditation hall that would seat about 30 people. This is a silent room - unless there is a guided meditation. But no walking meditation and no discussion, etc inside this space. Its all about noble silence.
We have a larger hall with nice, newly sanded and polished hardwood floors for movement practices. We have two large mirrors in there as well. They help with many dance, taichi, yoga type of practices.
We have been using this space also to have community meetings and presentations because our actual conference space is still being remodeled. This building is an old church in downtown Boulder, CO. What would have been the sanctuary space in the church had many offices built into it since the 70's. We have now brought down all those walls and soon, we will have an amazing seminar/conference/multimedia space. This is what you call the larger central hall.
We have a salon and a cafe (the furniture will arrive soon. At the moment, it is getting painted). The salon will be used for study groups and also movie nights and simply lounging. In here, we will have a small library. A few people have already offered to donate books on spiritual, integral interest. The cafe..well…its a little “hang-out, study, drink tea” type of place. Has a microwave, small refrigerator, etc. Lovely! For the moment, this is a little bit of what you call the communal kitchen. However, we do have a large kitchen. It just needs a lot of work. In time, this will become a communal kitchen proper. The cafe and the Salon are two spaces that people can simply come and do their own study, reading - ILP. We already have whatwe call the “Open House.” There are times before events that people can come and chit chat with others, read a book, or meditate in the silent meditation room.
We have 2 nice reception areas - one for the North side of the building where people come for gatherings, and one on the south side, where we have our office space and the larger seminar/conference hall.
We have a couple of places that can offer privacy for spiritual direction, coaching, therapy. Several people have already inquired as to whether they can rent/use these spaces for their private practice.
We also have a teacher's lounge, a room where teachers can rest, prepare during seminars.
There are two other rooms that we are yet to figure out how to remodel. We are aiming to turn one of them into a workout room and the other to a family+kids room with child care.
This whole building has wireless Internet.
We are located very close to a main bus line in Boulder, several restaurants, health food store, natural pharmacy, Shambhala Center, Naropa University, CU, several churches of many denominations, the North Boulder Community Hospital, several hotels that range from low to high room rates, Boulder's famous and charming Pearl Street Mall, heck, we even have a liquor store nearby! A block away is the North Boulder Park, keep waling a few more blocks and you are already on hiking paths on the Rocky Mountains!!
As for the community, well, we have been having events and gatherings here even in the midst of construction work. Steve Mc Intosh, Joanne and Laura of Integral Coaching Canada, are just a few of the teachers who have already presented here. The people who come here, both new and advanced students of Integral are fantastic! They are all so friendly, supportive of our efforts and patient with us while we are still attending to the many needs of the building before they can really come and start practicing on a regular basis.
The Membership issue is something we are trying to tackle and is probably the hardest issue to resolve. And of course, to be aware of how easily it could turn into what you called a “sort of yuppie “spiritual lifestyle” culture that never goes very deep” is a big question mark. After all, we are all human and we open doors to humans. How much can we control?? Those are some of the biggest challenges, no doubt.
Some of our structural/incorporation components are also falling into place. These things do take time. Jeff Salzman and Ross Hostetter and are doing some amazing work around those issues. Also in our team are Jason Lange, Mary Hostetter and myself. Our coolest volunteers include Ingrid Bamberg and Rollie Stanich. Along with the larger community that is mainly from Boulder/Denver area, ultimately, we are all hoping that this place becomes a wonderful home for integral teaching, learning, loving and living :-)
If you ever felt inclined to dialogue, advise, collaborate, teach, visit, let's talk! And that is a sincere invitation to anyone else who might read this too. We cannot, don't know how to and don't want to do everything alone. This project needs many great minds and hearts. So, you are all welcome! Shoot me an email to info@b-cil.org.Any thoughts, suggestions, ideas anybody?
Best Wishes!
Nomali
Wow, Nomali! That sounds fantastic. I knew about BCIL already, of course, but I still really enjoyed being taken on a “tour” of the place through your post. Honestly, it makes me really jealous that I don't live in Boulder and have a place like that right down the road from me. :-D But I also feel a more enlightened sympathetic joy that a place like that is already in operation … and growing.
I am attached to my current job at JFKU, so I currently feel hesitant to leave this area, but there are a number of reasons the Boulder area calls out to me – II, Naropa, Nepalese relatives and friends in the area, Integral friends in the area, the climate itself, and now this blossoming center… Who knows – if I find a job out there someday (say, at Naropa), a move out there may be impossible to resist. In the meantime, though, thanks for the invitation to visit or possibly offer a workshop or class there. I definitely would enjoy doing that.
About ideas for your center: One of the only things missing from your description that is part of my “ideal” Integral center is a “media room.” If you can add that, I think that really would be a great resource for people.
Anyway, thanks again for the enticing tour. I hope this blog, with whatever little traffic it generates, can be instrumental in sending more people your way!
Best wishes,
Bruce
Hey Bruce,
I showed your blog to Jeff and he wishes very much that we'll all get a chance to meet and have some great conversations of our shared vision. So, keep us posted in case you happen to come this way :-)
As for the media room, we see the Salon doubling up as this since the Salon space will have a full entertainment system.
We have a long way to go, of course. But, its slowly coming along…
Best Wishes to you on your path and teaching career at JFK!
Nomali