We are Volunteers Endeavoring a Labor of Love as We Learn to Live and Work Together
In an expansive setting where plains meet the Rocky Mountains, one of the country’s most enduring intentional communities took root.
A small and eclectic group of individuals, we have lived together as a vibrant and highly functioning community for over nigh on 40 years. Having a strong vision and common aim of sharing what we have learned is the glue that has kept us together.
We have chosen a lifestyle which focuses on healthy living techniques and personal growth. Drawing from teachings and spiritual traditions both ancient and modern, we have worked together to forge a way of living that brings spiritual awareness into even the smallest and most mundane practical aspects of our everyday lives, while keeping true to the contemplative thrust that is part of all the great spiritual traditions. As with most traditions of spiritual work, we lead a disciplined and rigorous lifestyle. We are dedicated to change and growth and testing personal limits, as well as exploring and furthering the work of conscious evolution.
Teachings of Value is our offering to you.
Out of this personal experience we have heaped up all manner of practical skills and knowledge. The result is a practical model for living that aims to take into account the real needs for moving forward sustainably into the twenty-first century. Our efforts have resulted in an integrated approach to living that has far ranging implications beyond our group. We have taken a long deep look at the human situation and how we live our lives. We have arrived at some pretty compelling conclusions about the dilemmas of contemporary life, along with practical solutions for moving beyond them.
We formed Teachings of Value as a cooperative outreach, offering some of what we have learned. (Some of it we learned the hard way and we want to share it so that it does not have to be so hard for you.) Teachings of Value is a non-profit (read: no profit) focused on the development, demonstration and dissemination of contemporary teachings geared towards helping people to realize their human potential by experiencing the benefits of a comprehensive and holistic approach to living life more fully.
We offer a variety of courses and workshops in areas where we feel our experience can be of value in meeting a need for others—lifestyle, healing arts, somatic awareness, athletic training, foundational spiritual practices, and more.
Our Backgrounds
Our varied backgrounds range from: technological wizardry, electrical and mechanical design and repairs, to zero mechanical aptitude; all phases of the building trades, furniture building; to traditional food crafts and all phases of food growing, preservation and preparation; environmental, political and social activism; visual, musical and theatrical arts, and instruction thereof; fishing, camping, hunting, and outdoor survival skills; nutrition, healing, bodywork and somatic education; athletic training and competitive endurance athletics; therapy and social work, child and family education; management, organization and scheduling. In addition we also house some of the fastest dishwashers in the West, skilled storytellers and DJs, enthusiastic dancers, and some rather adorable cats and dogs.
Together we form a synergistic combination of diverse talents, capacities, experiences and interests. This combination helps us to maintain healthy lifestyles and inner lives as we develop and maintain an off-the-grid learning center and organic farm in the wilderness and keep it together amid the stresses of modern-day urban/suburban living.
Our Learning Centers
After years of assisting ourselves and others to make positive changes, we have learned that the most effective way to do this is through offering direct, hands-on experience. Opportunities for this can be found at both our learning centers. We have two locations: one with the advantages of a remote mountain setting in western New Mexico and the other with the accessibility of a more urban setting in Colorado—where we began. While each center is unique they work together in a continuous flow of information, ideas, efforts and camaraderie.
The Retreat
Our official long name for this center is the Evolving Sanctuaries Retreat Learning Center but we call it the Retreat for short. The use of “retreat” is more like you would find in the I Ching hexagram of the same name—in this case a retreat from the hustle, bustle and swarms of the world to a better relationship with nature, remembering that indeed we are a part of nature. It is a work learning center, not a spa or meditation center.
From one of our brothers—
You know, people around here tell me how surprised they are when they find out I’m 71. I tell them, “Well, that’s nothing. You wouldn’t believe my sister. She’s older, heartier, healthier, fitter, living a storybook lifestyle off the grid in the mountains of NM.”
Highland
Our official long name for this center is the Highland Project but we call it Highland for short. We call it the Highland Project because it’s a lifestyle demonstration project—showing how you can keep together an inner life amid the stresses and strains of an urban/suburban setting.
