lojong: The Four Thoughts That Turn the Mind
A Deep Immersion in Yoga, Somatics, and the Medicine of Spring
with Kali Basman
May 20-23, 2027
Each spring, we return to True Nature for a fresh immersion in movement, stillness, and the deeper energetics of practice.
This year’s Yintensive enters the ancient Tibetan teachings of Lojong: a living tradition of mind training that transforms the circumstances of our lives into a path of awakening.
A rare weekend of deep practice: rooted in lineage, alive in the body, and shaped for the season of renewal.
This retreat will offer 10 Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Credits (10YACEP).
INVESTMENT PATHWAYS
$599 $549 early bird pricing
what is lojong?
Lojong means “mind training.” Rooted in the Tibetan Buddhist teachings brought to Tibet by the 11th-century teacher Atisha, it is a practical method for transforming the mind through the very circumstances that ordinarily unsettle us.
Rather than waiting for life to become easier, Lojong teaches us to meet change, difficulty, and relationship as part of the path. Its foundation is the Four Thoughts That Turn the Mind: contemplations on the preciousness of human life, impermanence, karma, and the inherent dissatisfaction of samsara. Together, they turn our attention away from postponement and toward a more awake, compassionate way of living.
Over four days, we will bring these teachings out of abstraction and into the tissues of the body. Each contemplation will be paired with a distinct somatic territory: the hara, the heart and lungs, the side bodies, and the central channel.
THE FOUR PRACTICE FIELDS
Over four days, we will bring these teachings out of abstraction and into the tissues of the body. Each contemplation will be paired with a distinct somatic territory: the hara, the heart and lungs, the side bodies, and the central channel.
The first thought asks us to recognize the extraordinary conditions that have gathered to make practice possible: a human body, a conscious mind, and the capacity to awaken.
We'll tend to the hara as the body’s center of gravity and embodied presence. Through the feet, inner legs, pelvis, psoas, and deep belly, we establish real refuge in our innermost selves.
Precious Human Life and the Hara
Everything we love is changing.
Through the diaphragm, ribs, lungs, chest, and upper back, we will practice meeting the continual arrival and departure of experience. Breath becomes our most immediate teacher: receiving without possession, releasing without collapse.
Impermanence and the Heart and Lungs
Karma reminds us that our thoughts, words, and actions leave traces. Repeated choices become tendencies; tendencies become the shape of a life.
Working through the lateral seams of the body, including the hips, waist, intercostals, shoulders, and outer legs, we will explore the side body to sense where we are bracing, avoiding, or moving habitually...and where another response may be possible.
Karma and the Side Bodies
Dukkha and the Central Channel
The fourth thought names the instability of samsara: the exhaustion of trying to secure lasting fulfillment through grasping, resistance, and the endless management of conditions.
We'll gather the central axis of the body- the living line between earth and sky, form and spaciousness.
The medicine of spring
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, spring belongs to the Wood Element and the Liver and Gallbladder organ systems. Wood carries the movement of emergence: sap rising, roots extending, vision returning, and dormant life finding its direction.
The Liver channel travels from the inner feet through the legs and pelvis, enters the abdomen, passes through the diaphragm, and continues toward the chest, throat, eyes, and crown. Its pathway gives us a somatic map for the weekend, linking the lower belly, respiratory diaphragm, lateral body, and upward current of the spine.
When the Wood Element moves freely, there is direction without rigidity, growth without force, and the capacity to adapt when life does not follow our plans. When this movement becomes constrained, we may experience frustration, stagnation, over-control, or the feeling of being unable to move forward.
The Four Thoughts That Turn the Mind as the ground of Lojong practice
The Three Excellences as a structure for meditation and embodied practice
Vinyasa, Yin, and Restorative Yoga rooted in the Wood Element
The Liver and Gallbladder channels through the inner legs, pelvis, side waist, ribs, chest, and eyes
Somatic study of the hara, heart and lungs, side bodies, and central channel
Meditation, pranayama, noble silence, and contemplative inquiry
Partner dyads that bring Buddhist teachings into lived experience
Practices for transforming difficulty rather than waiting for difficulty to disappear
Spacious intervals for integration, nourishment, and time in True Nature’s Peace Garden
together we’ll explore:
PRACTICE INSIDE THE KIVA
The Yintensive will be held within True Nature’s remarkable Kiva, a circular, earth-sheltered sanctuary inspired by the ceremonial gathering spaces of the Southwest.
Descending into the Kiva creates an immediate shift. The circular sanctuary gathers the practice inward, giving the weekend the feeling of entering both the earth and a shared contemplative field.
It is an especially resonant setting for Lojong: a place to descend beneath our habitual strategies, listen more closely, and practice in the presence of others without needing to perform for one another.
ITinerary
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7:30pm | Evening Arrival Session
Entering the Practice Field
Opening circle, grounding practice
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9–11:30am | Morning Session
Vinyasa Yoga and Buddha Dharma
Precious Human Life and the Hara2–4:30pm | Afternoon Session
Yin and Restorative Yoga with Dharma Inquiry
Impermanence and the Heart and Lungs -
9–11:30am | Morning Session
Vinyasa Yoga and Buddha Dharma
Karma and the Side Bodies2–4:30pm | Afternoon Session
Yin and Restorative Yoga with Dharma Inquiry
Samsara and the Central Channel -
9–10:30am | Closing Practice
Yang and Yin Yoga with Integration
Lojong and the Three Excellences
Who this is for
This weekend is for yoga students, teachers, meditators, therapists, bodyworkers, and curious practitioners who want to bring greater depth to the relationship between body practice and mind training.
No previous experience with Buddhism, Lojong, or Traditional Chinese Medicine is required. Come with a willingness to practice honestly, listen inwardly, and allow the teachings to meet the life you are actually living.
MEET YOUR HOST
KALI BASMAN
Internationally celebrated Dharma teacher of teachers, Kali Basman, intermingles Buddhist Psychology & Internal Family Systems Therapy into the living discipline of Yin Yoga
Kali’s work intermingles the outer constructs of anatomy & Traditional Chinese Medicine with the inner methods of mind training and trauma healing. She is a certified Internal Family Systems coach, holds an MPH in Environmental Public Health and serves as a Project Director for the United Nations Association Global Health Initiative on the Africa Affairs Committee. She has been working with the UN as a Global Health consultant for a decade.
We invite you to learn more about Kali Basman here
Check out free dharma talks / teachings from Kali here
A weekend devoted not to escaping the conditions of life, but to meeting them with a steadier body, a more spacious mind, and a heart available for the world.
Spaces for this enriching experience are limited to ensure an intimate, powerful experience for each participant.
Self-care and holistic wellness are at the center of True Nature’s spa services. We offer luxurious treatments meant to soothe, revitalize, and support introspection.
Please explore our nourishing offerings and book online to reserve a treatment during the weekend!
Food and lodging are not included with these tickets. There is an incredible Gourmet Cafe on campus, open everyday 9 AM - 4 PM!
Please refer to the travel and lodging recommendations below—Carbondale and the surrounding areas offer a wide range of wonderful accommodation options.
We highly recommend exploring our other regularly scheduled yoga program offerings in preparation for the weekend intensive.
We have an incredible crew of highly skilled yoga instructors, and a variety of nourishing classes to add to enrich your practice!
Refunds are available within 24-hours of purchase, otherwise, there are no refunds available.
Food and lodging not included in any of the packages. There is a wonderful Gourmet Cafe on-campus, and some great local dining options just down the block.
Joining us from out of town?
If you have logistic questions, or queries about the True Nature Campus, please feel free to reach out to Megan Miller, Director of Education and Programming
megan@connectionisthemedcine.com
If you would like to connect directly with retreat facilitator Kali Basman, you may reach her at kali.basman@gmail.com