From Posture to Page: An Immersion in Maitri Space Awareness and Creative Writing

A Daytime Maitri Writing Retreat

June 26 – 29, 2026 | With Miriam Hall and Melissa Moore

Held in Person at the Red Mountain Manor, 353 Loma Larga Road, Corrales, New Mexico

Cost: $350 

Step into deep listening and practice – where body, mind, space, and language meet. This in-person retreat invites you to give voice to the mandala of your experience, without fixing, improving, or interpreting what comes out. This retreat combines a first-time container for a combination of meditation, Maitri Space Awareness, and writing as a path of compassion and insight. 

We will gather for an intimate retreat in Corrales, New Mexico. In addition to meditation, we weave in Maitri Space Awareness practice—a Dzogchen posture practice designed by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche—with contemplative writing, a compassion-based writing, and experiential practice to explore each family. 

Writing here is not about craft or performance. Contemplative writing is about writing from the individual body while also tapping into the larger social body and elements.  We will allow language to arise from sensation, mood, space, and both internal and external weather. The atmosphere will be restful, gentle, spacious, and grounded in mutual respect—an environment where vulnerability and clarity coexist.

What to Expect:

• Each day unfolds through meditation practice, and one-on-one meditation interviews will be offered. 
• Expect to be lying outdoors in prescribed Maitri postures, using colored glasses of the Five Buddha Families, and then to have periods of open time for aimless wandering, art, and journaling. 
• There will be short evocative explorations of the Buddha Families paired with simple writing prompts, followed by optional sharing in confidential, caring, and respectful circles.

This retreat has no prerequisites; beginners to meditation, Maitri Space Awareness, and contemplative writing are welcome.

Traveling from Out of Town:

Red Mountain Vineyard has some rooms for rent for folks traveling out of town - please contact them directly to book your stay.

Food is not provided as part of the program, but there will be ample breaks. If you have questions about nearby restaurants, accommodations, or other local recommendations, please contact our coordinator, Karin Williams, at 575-418-8995.

Facilitators

Miriam Hall (she/her) is the founder of Herspiral Arts, where she has offered a cornucopia of contemplative, creative practices for over 20 years. She has studied deeply with Natalie Goldberg, who says of Miriam: “She has the heart, head, and hands of writing practice. Study with her.” Miriam is also on lead faculty for Karuna Training and an authorized teacher of Maitri Space Awareness.

Miriam is the co-author of Looking and Seeing and Heart of Photography, two books on Miksang Contemplative Photography with John McQuade, as well as many published poems and essays. She is also a meditation instructor, a creative coach, a white anti-racism activist, and a lover of cats. Find out more at www.herspiral.com

Melissa Moore (she, her) bio

Melissa Moore, Ph.D. is a long-time contemplative practitioner and educator who has spent decades accompanying people through the tender territories of grief, change, and emotional transition. Trained initially as a contemplative psychotherapist at Naropa University, she later completed her doctorate in Psychological Anthropology at CIIS, grounding her work at the intersection of inner life, culture, and human meaning-making.

Melissa co-founded Karuna Training in Europe in 1996 and has guided Karuna Training in North America since 2014. A student of Vajrayana Buddhism since 1979, she brings a gentle, embodied understanding of grieving, ritual, impermanence, and what it means to stay open-hearted in the face of loss.

She has taught contemplative grief practices internationally and is the author of The Diamonds Within Us: Uncovering Brilliant Sanity through Contemplative Psychology. Her teaching style is warm, steady, and rooted in the belief that grief is not something to “get through,” but something sacred that deserves to be held with care.