Zen practice can work deeply and set a great deal in motion. Responsible practice therefore also requires clarity: about the framework we offer, what different forms of practice are oriented toward, and where the boundaries of what we offer lie.
We want to help you make an informed choice about which of our offerings may be appropriate for you and your current situation.
Crestone Mountain Zen Center is a place of Dharma practice, not a therapeutic setting. We do not treat mental health conditions, and our practice offerings are not a substitute for psychotherapy or psychiatric care.
Intensive practice can have a profound effect. It may challenge familiar patterns and bring experiences that feel unfamiliar, difficult, or destabilizing. This can sometimes happen unexpectedly, even if you generally feel psychologically stable.
If practice brings up a process that requires therapeutic support, that process belongs in an appropriately professional setting.
Not every form of practice works in the same way. For this reason, our programs are identified by a
practice focus.
The practice focus describes what the practice within a particular program is oriented toward. It is not a measure of how difficult or advanced a program is. Rather, it is intended to help you understand what kind of framework may be supportive for you at this time.
The focus is on grounding, self-regulation, body awareness, a sustainable contact with your own experience.
The focus is the loosening of the habitual boundaries of self-experience. That can be deep and freeing where there is solid ground, and overwhelming where there is not. It presupposes existing psychological stability.
The focus is on grounding, self-regulation, body awareness, a sustainable contact with your own experience.
The focus is the loosening of the habitual boundaries of self-experience. That can be deep and freeing where there is solid ground, and overwhelming where there is not. It presupposes existing psychological stability.
You do not have to make that decision based on a program description alone. If you are unsure which offering may be appropriate for you, please get in touch. We are happy to talk with you and help you understand the different practice frameworks.A
Living and practicing together at Crestone Mountain Zen Center depends on a shared framework of mutual respect, care, and responsibility.
Our guidelines for life at the Center offer orientation for our shared daily life — from the practice schedule and periods of silence to the ways we care for our spaces, resources, and one another.
We want questions, concerns, and complaints to have a clear place to go.
If you have experienced or observed something that concerns you, would like to offer feedback or
criticism, or have questions about something that happened at the Center, please get in touch with us directly. We take what you share seriously and will follow up with care.
Crestone Mountain Zen Center
Director
cmzc@dharmasangha.org
+1 (719) 256-0285