Compassion Camp
Co-Creating Heart-Centered Connection and Skills
July 16-19, 2026
Earthaven Ecovillage
Near Asheville, NC
Compassion Camp registration is closed for 2025.
Join the wait list to be the first to know when Compassion Camp and our other NVC-based programs are open.
Compassion Camp is a four day event for adults and children where we create a community of people who learn, play and celebrate together, empowered to then send each other back into the world to spread these seeds of justice and love. Our time together is designed to foster community among the growing number of people in Western North Carolina and beyond who are passionate about living and promoting compassionate consciousness. Located at Earthaven Ecovillage, it is an opportunity to have fun, enjoy ourselves, learn together, and connect deeply in a beautiful natural setting.
I laughed hard, cried hard, hugged harder, sang heartily, felt ice cold water on bare skin, dewy grass beneath my feet, perfectly ripe juneberries on my tongue, sweaty people dancing around me, tender eyes taking me in, so much vulnerability, so much connection, and so so much love.
About the Experience
Compassion Camp is inspired by the life and work of Dr. Marshall Rosenberg, the creator of Nonviolent Communication (NVC). We believe that the theory and practice of NVC is a life-changing tool for cultivating compassion in our hearts, communities, and the world. In addition to NVC, other topics may include: social justice, ecology, circling, restorative circles, healthy relationships, feminism, families and children, eco-sexuality, community, economics, and authentic movement.
Compassion Camp combines experiential and traditional approaches to learning, including professionally led classes, small-group conversations, hands-on practices, movement, self-reflection, and interactive activities, to provide an intimate, well-rounded, and powerful experience. Through Open Space sessions, Compassion Camp seeks to concentrate the creativity and inspiration of participants into an ongoing, life-serving energy for the community and create networks among affinity groups such as educators and social activists.
Compassion Camp also features relational activities centered around singing, dancing, storytelling, and silence, which cultural anthropologist Angeles Arrien has identified as the four most common ways that humans create wellness, community, and connection.
So much WOW! I’d been craving a deeper level of community connection and Compassion Camp provided an incredibly nourishing experience. I’m so grateful for this collaborative community of growth-oriented, open-hearted humans who came together to share, connect, and support each other in our healing, our learning, and our play.
Compassion Camp participants will likely experience:
- Increased connection to self, others, and nature
- A deeper commitment to being of service
- A broader understanding of the ways you can live compassion
- More skill in creating supportive community in your life
- More practical tools and resources to inspire yourself and others
Program
Compassion Camp hosts a broad selection of topics to explore through group-selected open space offerings. Connection and movement activities, meals, and rituals also contribute to a rich and nourishing experience.
Families & Youth
We welcome families with children to attend and will do our best to support you and your children. We offer a Youth Program for children 4-12 years old. The village setting of Earthaven offers a safe and fun place for people of all ages and stages to explore. Much of the content involves focused, sit-down presentations, so attending with a young child will likely mean being less able to participate fully in the program.
Camp is primarily designed for adults. However, mature young adults under 18 years old are also welcome. Please contact SOIL to discuss the enrollment of passionate individuals under 18 who would like to attend without an adult.
Statement of Transparency
It is our intention as Compassion Camp Co-Directors to relate to ourselves and participants in a way that cares about all of our needs equally. We are aware that because of our dominator culture conditioning, we have blind spots that at times lead us to say and do things that are not in harmony with our needs or the needs of others, and that could land as hurtful and insensitive to marginalized groups.
We are passionate and excited to learn and grow and liberate ourselves from these unconscious patterns so that we can co-create both interpersonal relationships and social structures that promote justice and celebration for all beings. We are grateful for the many people and movements who are helping us clarify our thinking and increase our understanding about these blind spots.
Logistics
Food
Delicious, omnivorous meals are prepared by talented culinary artists from the Earthaven community. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free options available. Snacks and beverages (tea, coffee) are provided. Participants are invited to help with meal clean-up. Many hands make light work.
As much food as possible is sourced from Earthaven and its surrounding farms and gardens, with some ingredients sourced from grocery stores. Our meals are created with seasonal, local, fresh, wildcrafted, humanely-raised, and organic ingredients.
***If you have dietary needs beyond the ones listed here, please be prepared to bring supplemental food to support your nourishment and well-being. Our kitchen cannot accommodate all diets.
*** Although we would like to know if you have any allergies, we cannot provide an anaphylactic safe meal. There is always the chance of cross contamination.
Click here for more information about food.
Program Specific Info
Nine meals are included. Breakfast, lunch and dinner; from Thursday dinner to Sunday lunch.
At Compassion Camp, I feel so nourished by the food, the community, depth of connection, vulnerability, quality of presence, and care for the well being of others.
About the Facilitation Team
Compassion Camp Co-Director and Nonviolent Communication Faculty As a lifelong peace, justice, and ecology educator and activist with over 40 years of community living, Steve has sought to integrate personal and social transformation in his own life, in the communities where he lives, and in the larger society. His passion for integral living and thinking has led him to study and experiment with a wide range of spiritualities, psychological systems, and social theories as they relate to creating a more just and sustainable world.
Steve Torma
Dr. Terrie Lewine
Compassion Camp Co-Director
Terrie focuses her work on deep self-awareness, communication and relationship work. She offers online classes and in-person workshops for individuals and couples, private coaching sessions, and supports organizations in team building and effective conflict resolution strategies.
In-person Programs Director, Faculty Throughout the last two decades, NikiAnne has been immersed in community and in service to a wide range of educational endeavors focused on nature connection, personal empowerment, and community resilience. No matter what she’s teaching, NikiAnne is always on the same mission: to raise awareness of our whole selves – gifts, passions, blind spots, shadows – and help those whole selves find and fill niches in their communities.
NikiAnne Feinberg
Financial Co-responsibility and Scholarships
Because some people have more financial means than others, we have created a sliding-scale fee system to accommodate a range of economic realities. We offer several price tiers and leave it to you to select the most appropriate tier. The price range aims to take into consideration economic disparities, historical injustices, and personal circumstances. The system is designed for those with more resources to support those with less.
At Earthaven and through the School of Integrated Living (SOIL), we strive to practice a culture of financial transparency, authenticity, and generosity. Trusting each other to assess their needs, what is within their ability, and when to ask for help. We are excited to include you in our experiment with financial co-responsibility.
We are now offering self-selected scholarships for many of our programs. No proof of need, no questions asked. Just the clear intention of trust that registrants can assess whether the cost of a program is truly a barrier to attendance and the growth of self and community our programs seek to foster.
In addition, we offer partial scholarships (50% of the middle of the sliding scale) to black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) with financial needs who otherwise would not be able to afford to attend, even with the self-selected scholarships. We understand that BIPOC may experience more financial and institutional barriers to participation, and this is one way we are able to create more access. If you identify as BIPOC with financial needs and would like to receive a deeper scholarship, please contact us.
SOIL endeavors to support the healthy flow of all resources; whether that be monetary or the skills and information that seed cultural change; and widen the doors of accessibility to what we offer.
Cost
Adults
Tuition Sliding Scale: $325 – $525. Scholarship rate $225.
What’s Included for Adults
Adult tuition includes meals, instruction, and materials. Accommodations are available for an additional cost.
Infants and Young Children ages 0-3 ($0 includes food)
Young children are welcome to attend with a parent or guardian at no cost. We do not offer a program or childcare for this age group. If you decide to bring your young child to sessions, please understand that if your child is crying or playing loudly, you and your child may need to step outside so that others may participate fully.
Children ages 4-12 ($200 includes youth program and food)
Children are welcome to attend with parent or guardian. Parents are responsible for their children at all times. For this age group we offer a youth program that runs during open space sessions and will include games, crafts, and/or nature connection activities. Parents are responsible for their children during all other times. Space in this program is limited.
Teens ages 13-17 ($200 includes food)
Teens are welcome to attend with parent or guardian. We do not offer a program for this age group. Teenagers may attend sessions, but parents should be aware that there may be adult content, and parents are responsible for them and what they attend.
Registration
Complete the registration form once per participant. It takes 5-10 minutes, and you will complete your enrollment with a credit card authorization.
After your enrollment is processed, you will receive several confirmations…
- An automatic confirmation of receiving your registration form
- A payment confirmation from our card processor
- Confirmation that your registration has been processed
Please contact us before registering if any of these apply:
- You would like indoor housing and have an electrical device, such as a CPAP, that needs power overnight. The indoor accommodations for this program do not provide overnight electrical power.
- You have a service animal.
- You are bringing a trailer or vehicle longer than 25′. There are limited spaces to park large vehicles at Earthaven.