Wow, it’s so strange to realize that you have been visiting a place for more than 25 years of your life! But it does indicate that there must be something special about this particular location among the billions of places one could chose to spend time. For me, that place is the Feathered Pipe Ranch, outside of Helena Montana. Although the ranch has been hosting summer retreats for 50 years now (congratulations on this Silver Anniversary), I discovered this magical getaway back in 1999 when they had been at it for 25 years already.
And for most of these years, the woman who started it all, India Supra, was the supreme host of each weeklong event from around Memorial Day through Labor Day. I don’t exactly remember my first meeting with India, but I know it was like coming home to a loving parent or grandparent. Her warmth, kindness and interest in you as a person were there each time I arrived at the ranch. Over time, she entered the pantheon of powerful, caring women in my life that have been my mentors of the heart along with my own mother Mary, Grandmother Lopresto, my violin teacher Cecil Vashaw, and yoga wizard Mary Paffard. (India’s story is a moving and important one which you can experience, along with others, about the History of Feathered Pipe Ranch.)
The Feathered Pipe has been a place for me personally to grow as a yoga practitioner by spending a concentrated week of study with some of the deepest practitioners of yoga of the time, such as Patricia Waldon, Erich Schiffman, JJ Gormley and others. It’s also a place to feed the soul through communing with Nature in a stunning natural wonderland of mountains, spring-fed streams, forests in continual change, and of course that “Big Sky” that Montana is so famous for. But at the ranch, there is so much more, especially for those who crave quiet solitude, because India made sure to create spots around the ranch grounds for you to easily slip into that state of gentle awareness- the welcoming wooden bench where the stream meets the lake, the natural labyrinth for walking with awareness, and of course the Stupa on a high point overlooking the lake and lodge for connecting to other traditions of the heart and love.
Feathered Pipe is also a place for powerful collaboration. I’ve had the great pleasure of co-leading retreats over the years with wonderful yoga practitioners, from my first one back in 2004 with JJ Gormley through today with my amazing yoga teacher, fine art photographer and creative genius wife Melina Meza. I always think that those of you joining us are getting twice the value through the alchemy of collaboration. Often, I also get to collaborate with guests and the staff in doing one of my great loves, making music! I have so many fond memories of playing my violin around a bonfire that last night of a rich and joyful week, or slipping into the main lodge yoga space between classes to create something unique with a few young musicians.
A trip to the ranch is also like going on a gastronomical tour of the world. It’s a foodie’s delight, with each day taking your taste buds to a new country, from Thailand to Greece to India. Your body is fed as much as your soul there. And mealtimes are the times for great conversation under the open sky, and where you get to know people from around the country and sometimes around the world. It's where I’ve seen new friendships blossom, new perspectives discovered, and where a brief but vibrant new community emerges.
Why am I sharing my reflections on the Feathered Pipe Ranch with you today? Well, my reasons are 3-fold. Firstly, because of the undying gratitude for the role that India Supra and ranch has played in my growth as a yoga professional, practitioner and person (India passed a few years ago, but her amazing daughter Crystal is carrying her tradition on).
Secondly, because I want all of you to know more about this special place and its Foundation, and spread the word far and wide. The Feathered Pipe Foundation not only helps to keep the ranch going, but sponsors amazing projects in the world, from the Tibetan Children’s Fund to the Veterans Yoga Project, to so many more.
Thirdly, and somewhat selfishly, because I want to invite you, you and a family member, or you and a friend to join Melina and me this summer for our retreat entitled “Yoga for the Seasons & the Senses: A Yoga and Ayurvedic Summer Retreat”, July 5th-12th, 2025. I won’t go into the details of our newest phenomenal creation here, but you can get the information you need HERE.
Also, if you are one of the many people who have mentioned really wanting to join me there “sometime”, but maybe finances have gotten in the way, the Foundation is offering scholarships to help you make this Summer the year to do it! The window for applications is only open through Feb. 28th, 2025, so click here to get your application in today.
And whether at Feathered Pipe Ranch or one of my other yoga getaways or online of in person at an upcoming class, I hope to see you soon!
Baxter
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