Park City nonprofit launches garden meditation, mini retreats & mindful yoga

PARK CITY, Utah — Mindful. Summit County, a nonprofit mindfulness organization, will bring its summer lineup outdoors, pairing meditation, yoga and creative practice “so people can meet their own attention in living landscapes,” co-founder Rebecca Brenner said.

The weekly Mindfulness in the Garden sessions will anchor the season. From June 1 to Aug. 31, the one-hour class meets Sundays at 9 a.m. in Summit Community Gardens for a 30-minute talk on mindful awareness followed by 30 minutes of guided community meditation. “Noticing breath and sound in an open, outdoor space steadies attention before the week starts,” Brenner said. Fellow co-founder Randi Jo Greenberg added, “The structure is basic on purpose. Everyone practices the same skills of observing and returning.”

For practitioners seeking more depth, First Monday Mini-Mindfulness Retreats will run 6–8 p.m. on June 2, July 7, Aug. 4, and Sept. 1 at Sage Mountain Sanctuary. “Two hours is enough to feel how awareness expands when pace slows,” Brenner said. Greenberg noted that “practicing near rescued animals turns the idea of interconnectedness and active-compassion into a direct experience.”

Mid-summer brings “Walking and Writing Into the Living World,” a special event July 12 at 6 p.m. at Kimball Art Center. After a presence practice and walking meditation, poets Brenner and Nan Seymour will read and discuss writing as a form of embodied attention. “Writing after mindful walking shows how language can rise from direct perception, not analysis,” Brenner said. A Q&A will follow. Brenner’s memoir-in-verse, Paper House, and Seymour’s collective praise poem, irreplaceable will be available for purchase.

Greenberg will also lead Mindful Movement classes throughout the summer. Family Mindful Yoga meets 9:30–10:30 a.m. on June 7, July 12 and Aug. 2 in Summit Community Gardens. “Linking breath with simple poses helps kids and adults learn to come back to the body together,” she said. Adult Mindful Yoga follows on Sundays at the Basin Recreation Fieldhouse, with sessions from 2:45–3:45 p.m. and 4–5 p.m. “Slow movement paired with deliberate exhalation lets the nervous system reset for the week ahead,” Greenberg said.

For more information, visit Mindful. Summit County.