If you are ever planning on attending a Good Medicine Confluence, now is the time! In the 13 years we have been hosting these unique events, we have never had a more exciting mix of teachers and practices, class topics and hands-on workshops than what we bring to you in July 2023… and we have never held a Confluence in a more incredible location. Campuses and conference centers are fine, but it feels extra good bringing everyone together out in nature this round!
The mountain town of Lake George nestles at the southern end of the great Rocky Mountains, surrounded by magnificent forested peaks, incredible flora, lovely rivers and the picturesque lake itself… only 2 hours from Denver and 1 ½ hours from Colorado Springs airport. Our new site lies just a few miles further, a nearly unbelievable property with proprietors personally devoted to a mission of physical and emotional healing:
Puma Hills Nature Retreat Center
Entering the Retreat Center, the experience is one of spectacular mountainsides parting before us like giant gates at the threshold of a most fantastic dream, the thickets of Spruce and Fir opening up to us like the pages of a book whose entire tale is yet to be written.
Having flown or driven from homes across the country, here we find ourselves not only in a refreshing new subalpine landscape but a veritable Otherworld, a realm of the numinous and an enchanting stage for explorations and discoveries, for the learning of new skills and developing of connections and alliances, for a profound encountering not only of the medicine of nature but of our most healthful, purposeful and hopeful selves.
Lodging, meals, the Masquerade Ball, and our 6 simultaneous classes in each time slot will be spread among a number of beautiful and unusual spaces.
It should be said that the founders of Puma Hills themselves have long focused on providing opportunities for healing from PTSD as well as physical injuries, especially for oft neglected veterans and heroic first responders – an ethos in keeping with Plant Healer’s aims of serving the underserved, and of contributing to health as an essential wholeness of body, mind and spirit. As you know, a return to wellness and wholeness can benefit not only from the use of curative herbs and fungi, but also from intimate time out in the natural world.
Every structure found at the Center is dedicated to that caring mission, with lovely window-filled architecture designed to reflect the vibrant green nature they each seem to grow out of.
The Main Lodge at the Retreat Center will be host to daily classes, as well as some lodgers. A covered patio behind will also feature classes, overlooking the nearby woods. The Pavilion building will house the Healer’s Market, where Confluence teachers and other vendors will offer information, answer your questions, and sell their herbal and artisan wares. Middle-Ages style festival tents will hold additional classes and workshops, as well as the Thursday night teacher introductions, Friday night presentation with Kenneth Proefrock, and Saturday night dance concert. The largest of these is a sight to behold, particularly when lit up beneath a star speckled Western sky.
In every direction there are wildflower lined trails leading out into the dense conifer forest, perfect for plant walks and quiet diversions when the seasonal monsoon showers allow – usually sunny days with banks of clouds rushing in most afternoons and painting the mountains with a faery glimmer.
