I have just returned from a wonderful weekend with my wife. For my birthday this year, she and I attended a 3 day retreat of Yoga, Meditation and hiking in and around the Roosevelt National Forest near Red Feather Lakes in Northern Colorado.

We attended a program held by the Shambhala Mountain Center, my wife has been receiving their catalog for years and thought the course description sounded like fun. Most of the courses are centered around learning about Buddhism, Meditation, Yoga, and Health & Healing.

Personally, I had never done yoga before and as far as meditation go's, no formal training. I enjoy hiking, and thought the yoga and meditation sounded cool. I really enjoyed the relaxation and learning a little about the religion of Buddhism. It's my understanding that Shambhala is a sect of Buddhism. Anyway, it sure was interesting, I enjoy leaning about new things.

At the Shambhala Mountain Center they have this thing called a Stupa. They say it is the largest Stupa in North America. The Great Stupa is one of the most significant examples of Buddhist sacred architcture in the world. The Stupa is filled with original art and sculpture that preserve the endangered cultural heritage of Tibet. Inside this Stupa is a 20 foot tall seated Buddha, and beautiful art work.

Really beautiful floors! This section is of a pomegranate, the red seeds are loose stones, really cool. I might also note that all the photos where shot using my Canon G9. Since we we're hiking this weekend, I wanted to pack light.

The Great Stupa, which I kept calling the "Super Stupa" is about 110 feet tall on the outside. Here you can see our group heading out on a hike, passing the Super Stupa.

Anyway, I had a wonderful birthday, hiking, doing a little yoga and meditation. Here are a few more photos from my weekend. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

I might also mention I'll be conducting a Small Strobes, Big Results workshop in Denver on September 26th. Watch for more details at the SSBR website soon. DT