2025 Montana Men’s Foundation Gathering in the Potomac Valley
Acting from the heart in challenging times
“Dancing with our Shadows & Joy”
Fall Gathering: October 2nd – 5th 2025 – Thursday – Sunday
Register now!
This Year’s Focus:
Acting from the heart in challenging times.
We live in challenging times. As men, how do we respond to increasing hatred, judgment, animosity and fear in our communities and on the media? How do we continue to engage with strength, authenticity and sensitivity?
We feel stressed, fearful or even hurt when we open our hearts to the chaos in the world and the challenges in our lives. Yet, it is important to stay connected to our hearts to find an authentic, empowered response to our stresses.
We will explore and share together how we are feeling stress, depression, pain, hurt, and anger and how these difficulties can move us towards change and positive movement, when we listen and act from our hearts. We will explore how to move from our own pain, trauma and challenge towards seeing and acting on the gifts we receive when we engage from the heart. We explore together through various modalities: intentional ritual, rhythm & drumming, singing, poetry and creativity sharing, intentional sauna sweats, shared meals, breath work, meditation, yoga and time on the land together. Come join us and rejuvenate your soul & mind!
Questions? Feel free to call Patrick, one of the facilitators: 406-443-3439.
About Our Gatherings
We gather to explore these themes and explore the full range of our beings in retreat with other men. We gather intentionally, welcoming our joy and creativity, our frustration and confusion, our challenge and conflict, and our purpose, humor and playfulness. Our retreat and intentional time together help us enter a liminal space – where we can see beyond our limitations. We have time for reflection, exuberance, connection with others and the land, and internal time connecting with ourselves. In the container of the retreat, we can remember more of our whole selves in a clearer light, celebrate the mystery in our lives and also find inspiration and insight.
What is the ‘container’ of a men’s retreat? Gathering with purpose, we create a safe, intentional space to be authentic, to look and go deep into ourselves and the meaning and purpose of our masculinity. It is our intention as a community to hold together a safe space to express, explore and understand our gifts, talents, as well as shadow aspects of ourselves. Collectively we create this container by expressing these intentions and showing up with each other fully to hold that space. Setting the intention and the container sets the stage for a transformational time and remembering of our whole selves. We just as intentionally close the container at the end of the weekend, with the purpose of helping each of us carry back into our lives self-awareness and understanding and clearer purpose.
Facilitation
Facilitation of this year’s theme will be guided by Matthew Nord and Patrick Marsolek. Additional themed activities will be presented by other participants. More info. about the facilitators here.
Costs for the Gathering
Holding this year’s retreat in Potomac was partially with the intent to make the gathering more affordable to participants. Fees gathered will go to the cook, food, logistics on the property, a small fee to the workshop space and some fees to the facilitators.
Would you be willing to pay extra on the sliding scale to help further this purpose? Would you be willing to sponsor the costs of younger men to attend?
Register now! • Donate to MMF here.
Join our event on Facebook.
Location and Arrival
Dates: October 2nd – 5th 2025
Location: At a private retreat center in Potomac MT, just east of Missoula. Location information and directions will be provided upon registration.
The Setting: Potomac Yurt
Just outside of Missoula is the small valley of Potomac. At the wooded rural property we will be using there’s a 30 ft. Yurt on forested property. We will have the yurt, home and property to ourselvese: which includes kitchen/dining space, space for tents and parking for campers, an outdoor shower, a sauna and access to more forested land. Sleeping arrangements will be in tents, campers and some indoor accomodation available on the property. Contact Patrick if you have special needs. As this is autumn in Montana and some of our activities will take place outdoors, be prepared for any type of weather including possible snow.
Other Thoughts:
We offer these events as a gift to ourselves and each other, a time and place to find restoration, insight, and renewed energy. All you need to do is bring yourself and whatever it is you’re carrying. We welcome the ordinary, enthusiastic, dramatic, bored, bedraggled, and rambunctious.
Our time together will be shaped around what we each bring to the gathering, the challenges we are facing and the ideas and creative impulses that are inspiring us. Long-standing members of the Montana Men’s Foundation community will guide our time together and will offer a structure to our days and number of group activities including: rhythm, movement, ceremony, soulful discussions, self-awareness exercises, time on the land, and more. And if you need to step back from and chill for a time, take a solo hike, or just not do anything for a while, we’ll respect that too.
Our goal is to relax into our authentic selves and be present without any pretense. This gathering will be a place to lighten the load, retreat into nature to get some perspective, and spend time with some truly amazing men.
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