The Re-membering Retreat

Cultivating Home and Community From the Inside Out

October 19-22, 2023

Earthaven Ecovillage
Near Asheville, NC

The Re-membering Retreat is an intimate four-day journey in a supportive community container, exploring what it means to Belong: to Belong to Oneself, to Each Other, to a Lineage, to a Place, to this Life. This retreat is designed to enliven your sense of connection and provide you with time to access nature’s candid mirror that informs the truth of how you want to live.

The retreat creates the space to restore our belonging in the world and in our own seat of well-being. When we reconnect to the parts inside of us that long to belong, we ignite more authenticity, meaning, and pleasure in all our external connections.

This retreat is held in a sacred container, with meals provided each day, and the space to re-member your whole self, and what brought you to community. Within the arms of the forest, Earthaven Ecovillage, and a dynamic team of facilitators, we will explore the Competencies of belonging so that we can journey further into our understanding of community and belonging… regardless of where we call home.

Earthaven Ecovillage in the woodlands of the ancient Appalachian mountains with streams, vital forests, and naturally built infrastructure will serve as our container, mentor, and classroom for this work to unfold within.

This program is for adults (and mature teens).

Fire mandala at The Re-membering Retreat
Grieving woman with owl for Re-membering Retreat

The Re-membering Retreat was a beautiful weaving experience of the parts of us that we’ve barred from our own belonging. I had a lot of fun exploring and making deep connections. Probably the most valuable experience I had was a mirroring of myself through the collective experience.

I came away with even more questions than I started with, but the difference is that they are questions that have been breathed new life to. What a wonderful feeling to know who and what I belong to and all the ways I am loved, even in the depths of grief and loss.

Pamela Yap

Leaves in a pond
Fire Circle
Tunnel through trees

Program

This four-day retreat will unfold as a spiral journey through four stages: Coming from Gratitude, Honoring our Pain, Seeing with New/Ancient Eyes, and Going Forth. Each of these stages leads naturally to the next. The journey helps us experience first hand that we are larger, stronger,  more creative – and more deeply interconnected – than we know.

While this spiral comes from The Work That Reconnects, based on the teachings of Joanna Macy, our journey will also be drawing on the wisdom of many elders and ancestors from around the world that our facilitators have been blessed to have as teachers.  And of course, Mother Nature herself will be guiding and assisting us to re-member ourselves and open to the innate wisdom we each embody. 

Together, we will explore:

  • Deepening our sense of belonging within ourselves, in our relationships, and in community
  • Honoring the grief that blocks us from experiencing the full breadth of our joy
  • Embodying practices for the re-membering process, including time in nature, song, music, ritual, movement, and storytelling
  • Getting in touch with our gifts, sense of purpose, and true nature
  • Leaning into trusting the mystery so we can experience more than we ever could have imagined was possible

Alongside the intention to go inward to cultivate home and community, this retreat is intended to allow attendees to experience Earthaven and its community members in an organic, subtle way. The focus of the weekend is not about Earthaven itself, but rather how we can strengthen our sense of belonging within the communities we already have or nurture them into existence wherever we are.

Your registration includes a virtual tour recording that you can enjoy before coming. We request that participants who have never visited Earthaven or haven’t been here in a while, take the virtual tour before the start of this retreat so you’re more oriented before you arrive.

Tentative Schedule

Thursday
2:30 Arrive. Check in to Accommodations and Retreat
4:00 Welcome Circle
5:30 Dinner
6:45-9:00 Opening Circle

Friday – Saturday
7:45 Morning Stretches (optional)
8:15 Breakfast
9:30 Morning Session
12:30 Lunch
2:30 Afternoon Session
6:00 Dinner
7:30-9:00 Evening Activity

Sunday
7:45 Morning Stretches (optional)
8:15 Breakfast and Pack up
10:15 Closing Circle
12:30 Lunch
1:30 Depart

Sliding Scale Tuition

Because some people have more financial means than others, we have created a sliding scale fee system to accommodate a range of economic realities. The high-end of the scale reflects the value we believe the program holds, and the low-end offers a more accessible entry point.

By choosing a higher price point, you are helping make the program more accessible to others for whom the low-end may be cost-prohibitive. Please consider your needs and resources to determine what might be a stretch, but not a strain.

Cost

General
Tuition Sliding Scale: $425-575

What’s Included
Tuition includes meals, instruction, materials, and a virtual tour recording. Tour of Earthaven, accommodations, and transportation are available for an additional cost.

Tour of Earthaven (not included): Please contact us if you’re interested in scheduling a walking tour of Earthaven before the program begins.

Scholarships
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. We understand that BIPOC 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 scholarship, please contact us.

Logistics

Lodging

Several accommodation options are available at Earthaven Ecovillage and in the surrounding area.

Camping
Cost per person: 3 nights $65

Campground Cabin Shared Lodging
Cost per person: 3 nights $85

Shared Indoor Lodging
Cost per person: 3 nights $125

Private Indoor Lodging
Cost for 1 person: 3 nights $190
Cost for 2 people (shared bed): 3 nights $285

Off-Site Options
Various options in Bat Cave, Black Mountain, and Asheville.

Sleeping bags and pads are available for rental for $15/set. Cleaning supplies to clean mats are available before and/or after use. SOIL launders the sleeping bags once a year. FYI: There are a couple of loaner tests that live in the campground, no guarantee on condition. First come, first served on tents.

Read More About Accommodations

Food

Examples of food served at School of Integrated Living programs

Delicious, omnivorous meals are prepared by talented culinary artists from the Earthaven community. Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-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 local 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 simply cannot accommodate all diets.

Program Specific Info

Nine meals are included: Thursday dinner through Sunday lunch.

Cancellation & Refunds

If you cancel your registration, you may:

  • Donate your tuition to support our continued work
  • Request a refund per our policy:
    • 90% refund for cancellations prior to 30 days before the start of the program
    • 50% refund for cancellations prior to 10 days before the start of the program

If SOIL cancels this program for any reason whatsoever, you would receive a 100% refund.

Contact us at [email protected] with registration questions.

Crowdfunding & Fundraising

Check out our Crowdfunding & Fundraising page for creative ways to engage your community and launch a "Community Supported Education" campaign. This approach can help support your investment in yourself, your community, the planet, and future generations.

Location

This program takes place at Earthaven Ecovillage. This permaculture-based community offers a unique living classroom where participants will engage with the natural world, eco-infrastructure, and the intimate experience of rural community living.

What to Expect at Earthaven

Facilitation Team

NikiAnne Feinberg

NikiAnne Feinberg

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.

Luke Cannon

Luke Cannon

Faculty

Luke Cannon is a long time pursuer and teacher of our astounding natural world. His passions to study the ecological intricacies of our living Earth have led him throughout the Americas and across the globe. An avid naturalist he blends biological studies with ethnobotany, ecology, animism, permaculture, survival skills and experiential education. He offers regular public woods walks and classes to share his knowledge of the local plants, birds, and mushrooms and his enthusiasm for building closer relationships with the wilds around us.

Natalee Facey

Natalee Facey

Faculty
Natalee was born on the island of Jamaica, where she credits her love of nature, and her love of laughter, song, and dance as expressions of life. After living in New York City for several years, she moved to Earthaven in June 2022. Natalee has been working as a Resilience Coach and Embodiment Healing Guide, helping people to alchemize difficult past experiences so they can reclaim their inner power.

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…

  1. An automatic confirmation of receiving your registration form
  2. A payment confirmation from our card processor
  3. Confirmation that your registration has been processed

Note: Program participants may not bring pets to Earthaven. If you have a service dog, please contact us to discuss options before registering.

Contact Info - Step 1 of 3

The Re-membering Retreat

Oct 19-22, 2023
Given what's alive for you in life right now and where you want to go in your life, how would participating be most valuable to you?