Awakening to Wellness: Spring Retreat with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and Special Guest
April 9–13, 2025 at Serenity Ridge and online on Zoom
As nature renews itself this spring, a unique opportunity for personal renewal awaits at the “Awakening to Wellness” retreat led by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. This transformative four-day experience, scheduled for April 9-13, 2025, offers participants a chance to harmonize with nature’s rhythms while exploring ancient wisdom and modern science.
Held at the serene Serenity Ridge Retreat Center with an online option available via Zoom, the retreat brings together an impressive lineup of experts. Joining Rinpoche are Dr. Tawni Tidwell, the first Westerner certified as a Tibetan doctor; Dr. Danny Lewin, a sleep and circadian researcher; and Dr. Wenli Liu, an integrative medicine specialist with extensive experience in cancer treatment.
The retreat’s holistic approach combines meditation, movement, breath work, and nature connection. Participants will start their days with sunrise meditation and Tibetan yoga suitable for all mobility levels. The program includes forest bathing, nature walks, and evening bonfires to foster connection with natural elements. For those seeking additional wellness challenges, optional cold plunges and intermittent fasting are available.
What sets this retreat apart is its integration of traditional Tibetan practices with contemporary health science and practical, take-home knowledge. Presenters will share actionable information on sleep optimization, stress reduction, anxiety management, and energy rebalancing. We will also explore finding balance and healing through connection to nature. The retreat aims to empower participants to make healthier lifestyle choices that enhance overall wellbeing.
This event is intended for everyone, whether you have experience in meditation and wellness or are just beginning your journey.
For those looking to extend their transformative experience, a Tibetan Yoga Retreat with Alejandro Chaoul follows immediately after, with a free night’s stay offered to those registering for both events.
As we emerge from winter, this spring wellness retreat offers a timely reminder that by reconnecting with nature’s patterns and our own inner wisdom, we can discover new sources of vitality, peace, and joy.
Registration is now open for both in-person and online participation.
International news
Supporting Ligmincha International – A Message from Rinpoche
Dear Friends,
For over 30 years, Ligmincha International, through the inspiration, vision and tireless commitment of our founder and Spiritual Director, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, has been bringing the ancient Tibetan Bӧn tradition to the West. These teachings and practices of meditation, prayer, breath, and movement have helped thousands of students all around the world make powerful and lasting changes in their lives. Not only do they help us decrease stress, anxiety, and bring healing to the body and mind, but they can lead us to self-realization and the manifestation of our innate capacities for love, compassion, joy and equanimity. What is more needed in our world at this time?
Rinpoche’s faith in the capacity for each of us—individually and collectively—to cultivate wisdom and compassion is boundless. And his vision for Ligmincha is expansive—to share the essence of the teachings to benefit as many people as possible, while also preserving the Bön tradition. For this to manifest, your financial support is needed.
Ligmincha was very active during the global pandemic. We moved teachings online, raised funds to support Indian and Tibetan relief efforts, provided support for Ukrainian refugees in Europe, published new books, and more. Now we must turn our attention to Ligmincha’s own financial needs to create a strong foundation for the future.
Rinpoche encourages us to think about the future in the long term. How are we supporting these precious teachings to benefit others today or in 50 or even 500 years? Your gift will go to support immediate needs of the organization and his long-term vision. This includes:
- Training programs for Western students taught by Ligmincha’s resident lamas and geshes: Bön rituals (raising lungta, soul retrieval, prayers for the dead, the five elements), mantras (the three heart mantras), meditation, and more
- New online courses and books, in multiple languages.
- Financial sustainability by paying down debt and creating an endowment.
- Scholarships to create opportunities to better support practitioners.
- Ongoing maintenance, increased utilities and property insurance, and staffing for Serenity Ridge, the center of our Ligmincha mandala.
Please consider a contribution to support this work. Our goal is to raise $200,000 in this calendar year.
In gratitude,
Robert Patzig, President
Ligmincha International
PS – Shanti Music group has prepared two special offerings – one of A Om Hung and one of the Sa Le Ö mantra. These recordings are their gift to you for any donation of $108 or more. Thank you, Shanti Music!
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s Worldwide Teaching Schedule
Here is Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s upcoming teaching schedule so far for 2024.. Rinpoche will be traveling a lot! His schedule includes retreats throughout the year in the U.S., Mexico, Italy, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Hungary and Nepal.
You can find the latest listings and any changes in the Events section of the Ligmincha website or the Serenity Ridge website. Please register for these online retreats through the specific Events box on the website. Updates will be provided on the website as they become available.
- February 26-March 1, 2024. Big Sur, California. Tibetan Dream Yoga
- March 8, 2024. Houston, Texas. Public Talk, Melody of Luminous Poetry
- March 9-10, 2024. Houston, Texas. Healing with Form, Energy and Light
- March 15-17, 2024. Berkeley, California. 21 Nails, Part 5
- March 22-24, 2024. Mexico City, Mexico. Dream Yoga
- April 10-14, 2024. Serenity Ridge Retreat Center, Shipman, Virginia. Spring Wellness Retreat
- April 19-21, 2024. Bologna, Italy. Spontaneous Creativity
- April 26-28, 2024. Ligmincha Ireland. Practice of the Six Lokas
- May 3-5, 2024. Berlin, Germany. Nine Winds, Part 2
- May 10-12, 2024. Bulle, Switzerland. The Heartdrop of Chamma, the Loving Mother
- May 17-19, 2024. Vienna, Austria. Sleep Yoga
- May 24-26, 2024. Madrid, Spain. Awakening the Sacred Body, Part 2
- May 31-June 2, 2024. Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The Six Lamps
- June 22-July 6, 2024. Serenity Ridge Retreat Center, Shipman, Virginia. Summer Retreat: Tummo, Part 4
- July 19-21, 2024. London. Dream Yoga
- August 13-18, 2024. Wilga, Poland. Tummo, Part 4
- August 19-25, 2024. Buchenau, Germany. TBA
- August 30-September 1, 2024. Bourg-en-Bresse, France. TBA
- September 6-8, 2024. Budapest, Hungary. Sherab Chamma Healing Practice
- October 9-13, 2024. Kathmandu, Nepal. Fall Retreat: Chod: Awakening Confidence by Taking Fear as a Path
- November 16-17, 2024. Online: 3 Doors Retreat. TBA
- December 27, 2024-January 4, 2025.Serenity Ridge Retreat Center, Shipman, Virginia. Winter Retreat
Attend Spring Wellness Retreat at Serenity Ridge
In spring the world is born anew. Connecting to the rhythms and patterns of nature, we come into our own well-being. The April 10-14 Spring Wellness Retreat, Transforming Life and Health Through Nature, Movement, Breath and Meditation, is an invitation to bring awareness into the patterns of our daily life for reflection, renewal and transformation.
The retreat will be held at Serenity Ridge and online on Zoom. Experienced and practitioners and those new to meditation are both welcome!
Over four days, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and guests will share ancient methods, supported by modern research and scientific findings, to realize our inner source of well-being and grow beyond often unconscious self-defined limits to engage with our lives in creative, inspired and fun ways. We will discover ways to release stress, decrease anxiety, rebalance energy, deepen inner peacefulness, and reconnect to ourselves and the world around us. Be empowered to make healthier choices that support your wellness on every level!
Our days will include:
- Sunrise meditation (weather permitting)
- Tibetan yoga (for all levels of mobility)
- Meditation instruction appropriate for beginners and experienced meditators
- Connecting to the elements of nature through forest bathing and nature walks, river and stream access, sky gazing and evening bonfires
- Time for journaling and reflection
- Delicious, healthy, plant-based meals
- Guided relaxation
- Ancient Tibetan treatment for better sleep and relaxation
- Intermittent fasting (optional)
- Cold plunges (optional)
- Other modalities of self-care (optional, and additional charge)
- More opportunities to be announced!
Registration for the in-person retreat at Serenity Ridge is now open.
Zoom registration is expected to open in March.
Join Rinpoche in Crestone, Colorado in September for Part 2 of A-Tri Dzogchen
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will return to Crestone, Colorado September 23–25 to continue his teaching on the dzogchen text, The Stages of A-tri Meditation. The A-tri is an essential meditation guide to one of the three main dzogchen lineages in the Tibetan Bon tradition.
Rinpoche will present these teachings at the beautiful Colorado College campus in Crestone, Colorado, and simultaneously with our worldwide sangha via Zoom.
Join Us for the Newly Combined 2022 Fall Retreat and Serenity Ridge Dialogues in October
For the first time this fall, Fall Retreat and Serenity Ridge Dialogues will merge! The retreat, titled The Five Elements and Serenity Ridge Dialogues, will be held October 11–16, both at Serenity Ridge Retreat Center in Virginia and online via Zoom.
In the mornings, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will teach on the five elements. The afternoons will bring presenters together around specific areas of scientific investigation to explore how practices work.
New Book by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche: The Seven Mirrors of Dzogchen
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s newest book, The Seven Mirrors of Dzogchen: Teachings and Commentary on an Ancient Dzogchen Text, is now available in the Ligmincha Bookstore and Tibet Shop. The book is based on teachings that Rinpoche gave during his 2020 summer retreat.
The teachings and commentary in this book are based on a profound text on the nature of mind called The Seven Mirrors of Dzogchen by Drenpa Namkha.
Summer Retreat: The Seven Mirrors of Dzogchen Practice Retreat In Person and Online
Join Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche for the annual two-week Summer Retreat at Serenity Ridge in Virginia or online via Zoom. The Seven Mirrors of Dzogchen is an essential text of the Tibetan Bön dzogchen tradition, which directly introduces us to the clear, open awareness that is our true nature and offers methods for maintaining a connection to the natural state.
Interfaith Prayers for World Peace
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Free Yearlong CyberSangha Program with Full Moon Practice and More
With the Tibetan New Year which began on March 3, 2022 (Year of the Water Tiger), Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche launched a new online program of 24-Hour Full Moon Practices, plus related live teachings and science/spirituality dialogs with Rinpoche and invited guests. Every offering of this yearlong program is free and open to all.
Ligmincha International Launches a Fundraising Campaign to Benefit Refugees of the Crisis in Ukraine
March 1, 2022. Ligmincha International today announced a fundraising campaign for victims of the Russian/Ukrainian conflict. Initially, this program will focus on providing support to Ukrainian refugees in Europe, and especially Poland. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and...
Losar: Prayers for World Peace March 3–6
Please join us online from March 3–6, 2022, as we celebrate the Tibetan New Year. All events are free and all are welcome! This year we will be joined by Ligmincha resident lamas, guest teachers and Ligmincha instructors.
The Parinirvana of His Eminence, Shensé Norbu Wangyal Rinpoche
It is with sadness that we are announcing that His Eminence, Shensé Norbu Wangyal Rinpoche passed into parinirvana on February 3, 2022, in Lhasa, Tibet. As a member of the Shen lineage, Rinpoche was a direct descendant of Lord Tönpa Shenrap Miwoche. His life was...
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s Upcoming Teaching Schedule
Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s teaching schedule for 2022 continues to grow! And more dates will be added soon. At this time, four seasonal retreats at Serenity Ridge are planned to be offered both in person to a limited number of participants, following social distancing guidelines, as well as online.