[Belonging to Each Other: Ecodharma Retreat for People of Color]

Retreat details

Join us at the pristine and healing Rocky Mountain Ecodharma retreat center for a gathering created to support belonging, resilience, and collective healing in these times of climate crisis, genocidal wars, xenophobia, pollution, fascism, and mental health strain. This retreat is especially welcoming for those working in climate and social justice, including community organizers, healers, educators, activists, artists, scientists, journalists, lawyers, authors, and storytellers.

Through silent meditation, yoga and movement, guided dialogue, a deep grief and rage ceremony, extended Solo time in nature, small affinity group work, and dharma talks from the teachers, we will explore how to deepen love for one another and cultivate kinship with all beings. Two central elements of the retreat will be the grief/rage ceremony and the extended Solo practice in nature, which will anchor the journey inward and outward.

Who this retreat is for

This retreat is for those who have grown disillusioned with conventional activism, yet still know that racial justice and climate justice are deeply connected. It is for people who understand that inner trauma healing is part of building collective power, and who are beginning to see the link between personal wellness and the effectiveness of their work.

You may be ready to explore deeper connection, vulnerability, and what becomes possible when we relate honestly with one another. You may want to meet grief, fear, and anger with care, without being ruled by them. While this is not a fully silent retreat, you are open to trying silence and meditation. You understand that spiritual practice is not always comfortable, and you are comfortable with being challenged, following COVID protocols, and spending time away from internet and phone connection.

Schedule

Each day will include silent seated and walking meditation, yoga, and relational practices in small groups or dyads, along with dharma talks by the teachers. These sessions will explore how trauma is held in the body and how movement, meditation, ritual, and group work can help express and release stress. We will also engage practices that connect us with gratitude, grief, anger, and fear, and invite meaningful action.

Please see a draft schedule here.

Food and meals

Ayurveda-based vegan meals will be prepared for this retreat. You are also welcome to bring your own snacks to eat privately in order to meet any medical needs.

Retreat manager

Disha [they/them] is a space holder, farmer, and creative who believes in the transformative power of spiritual community, the outdoors, and snack sharing. A student of South Asian medicinal plants and bees, they find peace in working with their hands, feeling small in the mountains, and staying close to fire and moon cycles.

They are committed to helping build a world where people feel at home, from our bodies to our neighborhoods and communities. They feel most alive when taking action toward that vision, whether reconnecting people to food and land-based ways or carrying heavy things. Embracing the mystery of surrender, they describe this bio—as with their life—as a work in progress that is always flowing, changing, and growing.