How can we stay centered and responsive in the midst of life’s complexity?
When life gets busy or uncertain, presence often feels like the first thing to disappear. In our time together, we'll explore how to find your ground right where you are—no matter what life throws at you.
Awake in Action: A Path to Embodied Presence
Build a foundation with four online sessions, then develop your practice in an immersive four-day retreat at Crestone Mountain Zen Center. With the dramatic high-mountain landscape supporting clarity and attentive presence.
We’ll begin by exploring the depth of “Now” – Situated Immediacy. Through lectures, collective sitting, and practical guidance, you’ll discover how to bring practice off the cushion and into the richness of everyday life—while staying grounded at your center.
If you can’t join us in person at Crestone Mountain Zen Center, you’re welcome to participate in this 4-day retreat Online Only, or simply take part in the 4-week journey without the retreat. Explore your options below and choose what fits best for you.
What You'll Cultivate
Online journey (4 Weeks):
Session 1 ‒ Sept. 25 (Nico):
Situated Immediacy – Finding Your Ground in Every Moment
Discover practical ways to ground yourself amid chaos.
Details
• A reliable way to ground yourself when things feel chaotic or pressured
• A deeper felt-sense of presence as embodied and contextual (not an abstract idea)
• Greater ability to respond to life with clarity rather than reacting from habit
• A foundation for the rest of the series and retreat
Session 2 ‒ Oct. 2 (Nicole):
The Art of Letting Go– Stop Grasping, Start Living
Learn how to release control and find freedom in change.
Details
• Practical ways to stop over-grasping and soften around what you can't control
• A direct experience of impermanence as supportive, not threatening
• Greater emotional resilience in the face of change and loss
• The ability to stay open, even when life feels uncertain
Session 3 ‒ Oct. 9 (Nico):
Awake in Action – Bringing Presence into Daily Life
Transform everyday actions into mindful experiences.
Details
• Tools to carry presence through challenging conversations and situations
• A sense of daily life itself as your practice field
• More confidence in living from awareness rather than reactivity
• A deeper trust in your capacity to meet life fully
Session 4 ‒ Oct 16. (Nicole)
Integration – Living from Effort and Effortlessness
Create a sustainable practice for ongoing presence and calm.
Details
• A personal plan for bringing your practice into daily life
• An understanding of how to balance discipline with ease
• Readiness to engage fully in the intensive retreat
• A felt sense of continuity between the online sessions and your everyday experience
Four-Day Retreat in Crestone, Colorado
October 22‒26 (Wednesday through Sunday) with Nicole Baden Roshi and nico hase PhD
The four-day intensive isn’t just an optional add-on—it’s where the teachings of the course come fully alive in your body.
Practice face-to-face with the community, meet the teachers directly, and savor the lived experience of what this path is really about.
Immerse deeply in contemplative practice at 8,000 feet in Colorado's breathtaking high-desert landscape. With expert guidance, experience sitting and walking meditation, dharma talks, personal mentorship, and profound connection to inner stillness.
Your Teachers
Drawing on over 50 years of combined practice and having guided students worldwide, nico and Nicole bring complementary approaches to embodied awakening.
Tatsudo Nicole Baden Roshi recently became Abbot of Dharma Sangha after receiving transmission from Zentatsu Baker Roshi in Suzuki Roshi's lineage. With a background in psychology and body‒centered therapy, she brings a uniquely embodied approach to contemplative teaching, emphasizing "contextual presence" and practical transformation.
In 2024, Nicole founded the Dharma Academy as an online platform to support transformative Zen practice in the midst of daily life.
nico hase lived for six years at Crestone Mountain Zen Center before earning a PhD in counseling psychology and becoming an Insight meditation teacher full‒time. He studies closely with Joseph Goldstein and has trained extensively in Zen and Vajrayana practices. He is co‒guiding teacher of Refuge of Belonging, an online Dharma community, teaches retreats, and offers one‒on‒one dharma mentoring. Along with his life partner devon, he co‒authored How Not to Be a Hot Mess: A Buddhist Survival Guide for Modern Life.
What People Are Saying
"Nicole’s blend of psychology and Zen is profoundly helpful and immediately practical. Her teachings clarified my path through life's challenges."
— Hans-Werner
"What I love most about nico is that while honoring the sacred Buddhist tradition, his teaching is refreshing, playful, practical and so applicable to our crazy hectic everyday lives."
— Jade Young
Program Details
Space for the In-Person Retreat is limited to a maximum of 30 participants - reserve your spot now. If you can’t attend in person, you can still take part: either join the retreat online or choose the 4-week online journey without the retreat.
Our recommendation, however, is the full experience—beginning online and culminating in the in-person retreat—where the continuity of practice and the shared immersion with others create the deepest impact.
Please note: Accommodation will be in studios (with bathrooms), single rooms or double rooms. This price secures you a spot in a double room. Availability of studios and single rooms depends on how early you book and how full the retreat will be. If you’d like to get in touch with our Guestmanager before booking, please contact Laurie at: guestmanager@dharmasangha.org.
What Teachers Are Saying
"nico is a deeply experienced practitioner, with a strong dedication to his own meditation journey. He has immersed himself for many years in long intensive practice, and I highly recommend his teaching."
— Joseph Goldstein, Author of Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening, Co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society
"Nicole, Ungan Tatsudo Roshi, has been my student for over 25 years. I have watched her develop into one of the most gifted Dharma Teachers of her generation. Her deep understanding of both Dharma Practice and her psychological insight creates a unique depth that meets people exactly where they are. When I asked her to become Abbot of Dharma Sangha Crestone Mountain Zen Center in Colorado; Zentrum Schwarzwald in Germany, it was because of her wisdom, compassion, and practical skill in guiding others toward awakening."
— Zentatsu Richard Baker Roshi, Dharma Holder in Suzuki Roshi's lineage
