Retreats and Programs that Open the Heart
Community Events
Discover gatherings, retreats, and programs that invite you deeper into the Practice of Presence. These events connect with various aspects of the resources we provide—Choosing Presence, the Practicing Presence app, and the Awakening to Presence online course—helping you bring awareness, peace, and connection into your daily life.
We’re glad to share these events as a resource for our community. Some are hosted by outside organizations or individuals; unless noted, Choosing Presence isn’t responsible for their content, leadership, or outcomes. For event details, contact the listed organizers directly. Questions or want to submit an event for consideration? You can do so here.
The Practice of Presence: Presence Is the Doorway
Session 1 of Presence Is the Doorway: what happens when we stop merely noticing and are met? Moses, the burning bush, and the doorway to encounter.
The Practice of Presence: Not What We Do, but What Is Done to Us
Session 2 of Presence Is the Doorway, in Advent: encounter as gift. What changes us is not what we do, but what is done to us when we become still.
Rooted in the Land: A Men's Writing Retreat Inspired by Wendell Berry
Registration is open for a weekend of reflection, writing, and brotherhood inspired by the poetry and agrarian wisdom of Wendell Berry. Join us at the Bergamo Center in Dayton, Ohio, January 15–17, 2027, as we write our way toward a deeper rootedness and belonging.
The Practice of Presence: From Calm to Peace
Session 3 of Presence Is the Doorway: the hinge of intention. How a simple prayer of trust turns calm into peace.
The Practice of Presence: Setting Down the Backpack
Session 4 of Presence Is the Doorway, in Lent: surrender. What we carry, why we pick it back up, and what happens when we let God carry it.
What does a healthy masculine spirituality look like?
What does a healthy masculine spirituality look like, and how is it lived out? Join Fr. Jim Clarke for a weekend retreat, February 26–28, 2027, at the Carmelite Spiritual Center in Darien, Illinois. Through teachings, council, stories, journaling, ritual and nature, we’ll explore the transformed man, the father and mother wounds, and creating a community of brothers, ending with Eucharist.
The Practice of Presence: Body, Mind and Heart
Session 5 of Presence Is the Doorway, on the eve of Holy Week: the contemplative heart. How body, mind and heart come into the present moment together.
The Practice of Presence: Your Life Becomes the Test
Session 6 of Presence Is the Doorway, in Eastertide: incarnation. The final session asks what has actually changed, and who we might walk alongside.
The Wild God: Five-Day Exploration of the Masculine Spiritual Journey
What if the parts of yourself you’ve spent a lifetime hiding are actually the doorway to freedom? Join Jim Taylor and Marc Oehler for five days and four nights at Johnsonburg Camp and Retreat Center in New Jersey, April 28 – May 2, 2027. Through wisdom teachings, men’s council, ritual, a sweat lodge and a 24-hour solo wilderness fast, we will explore what it means to become more fully ourselves before God.