The Re-membering Retreat
Cultivating Home and Community From the Inside Out
September 26-29, 2024
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.
Most of us think of belonging as a mythical place, that if we keep diligently searching for, we might eventually find. But what if belonging isn’t a place at all, but a skill: a set of competencies that we, in modern life, have lost or forgotten? And that when we coax, weave, and tend to the roots of our separation, we restore our membership in belonging.
Collaboratively, we will co-create the retreat space in such a way that it will foster restoration for 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 into this world, and ultimately into this community-based experience.
With intention, and courage of course, we will practice at being in relationship with what we long for most through ritual, play, creative expression, time in nature, hand-crafting, song, fire, releasing grief, laughter and reflection.
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.
Cultivating a strong sense of belonging is essential to our soul’s expression… regardless of where we call home.
This program is for adults and mature teens.
The Re-membering Retreat was such a gift. The mysterious gift. My “prayer” going into the weekend was to discover a deeper sense of rootedness within myself. During the course of the richly intensive days we spent together, I couldn’t always sense or name with my mind where we were headed or how what we were engaging in was leading us toward deeper belonging. And yet, as if by magic, when I woke up on our final day, I had it. I had this deep seemingly unshakeable sense of belonging to myself, belonging to the Earth and to this world, wherever I may choose. A firm, internal relaxation and contentment that I often seek, and don’t often find.
Have Questions?
Check out the recording from the 2024 Q&A session below. If you have additional questions, please contact us.
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.
Program
Within our four days together, our sacred work of showing up to What Is will unfold as a spiral journey – each threshold crossed naturally making way for the next. The journey helps us experience first hand that we are larger, stronger, more creative, and more deeply interconnected than we know.
The form of our journey draws 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. It’s been said that of all the species only humans have forgotten their original instructions. Through reciprocity and following nature’s lead, we will be guided to find our way into remembering our original instructions and play with that always-never-known knowledge in our group so that we can bring it back with us into our lives and respective communities.
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
Everything we do will be an invitation. No one is expected to engage in anything that is not working for them. It’s also worth mentioning that although there may be some similarities in why participants are choosing to attend the retreat, there is no expectation that everyone is coming for the same reason. Everyone participating has full permission to hold reasons that are very unique to them. The beauty of this space is that all is welcome… all of our similarities and all of our differences. It all belongs.
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.
Why do we need ritual?
Simply put, to remember what we have forgotten. When things seem so fast and overwhelming, ritual can slow us down so that we can re-collect what is most meaningful to us and practice being in relationship with all our relations, including ourselves, in ways that are nourishing, grounded, and life-giving.
Before you start judging yourself for forgetting, know that forgetting isn’t wrong; it’s human. When forgetting inevitably occurs, we need ritualistic and ceremonial ways to come together and remember again. Forgetting is what actually gives a ritual its purpose.
But remember what? What it means to be human, which includes temporarily forgetting what it is to be one. Rituals are a way to keep taking our frayed and tattered memory and making it whole again.
Ritual isn’t so different from cooking: maybe you have a recipe that’s been passed down through the generations or maybe you experiment with the ingredients you already have in your kitchen to make something completely new. Cooking and rituals are both ways to remember and experiment — both work with the continuation of ancestral knowledge and respond to fit with new circumstances. Rituals, like recipes, have an adaptive ability, but serve up another kind of nourishment — food for memory. We need them to remember where and who we came from, as well as to remember who and where we are now.
The retreat was profound. The facilitators worked magic. The music and singing were awesome, really tying the whole experience together. It’s clear that TONS and TONS of thoughtful preparation went into pulling off this life-augmenting experience for the group. The experience served to strengthen and deepen our sense of kinship (and belonging) with other people, with nature, and with Earth (and Earthaven). It brought us home to ourselves.
Tentative Schedule
Thursday
11:00 Optional Earthaven tour
1:30 Arrive. Check in to Accommodations and Retreat
3:00 Casual Connection around the Fire
3:30 Opening 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
1:00 Lunch
2:30 Depart
The Group
We expect the group to have 25-30 adults. In 2023, all ages from the 20s through the 80s were represented. This intergenerational group led to connections among peers and mentorship with elders. Most participants were going through a life transition — first or second Saturn return, moving, retirement, or relationship changes.
In 2023, a quarter of the participants were men. Based on registrations so far, we are expecting a third of the particpants to be men.
Many participants live at or near Earthaven or have participated in other School of Integrated Living programs. A few people look forward to this retreat each year to put down the work of the busy summer and settle into the autumn coolness.
Financial Co-responsiblity 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
Registration is closed for 2024. Please join us next year, October 23-26, 2025.
General
Tuition Sliding Scale: $425-575. $250 scholarship rate
Optional walking tour of Earthaven: $25-35 sliding scale. Register separately on the Ecovillage Tours page for the September 26 tour.
What’s Included
Tuition includes meals, instruction, materials, and a virtual tour recording to watch before the retreat.
Accommodations are available for an additional cost.
Logistics
Food
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 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.
Program Specific Info
Nine meals are included: Thursday dinner through Sunday lunch.
Facilitation Team
In-person Programs Director, Faculty Throughout the last two decades, NikiAnne has dedicated much of her life energy to facilitating transformative learning journeys, particularly in community settings, and with folks in transition — between vocations; stages of live, including death; and those working to live into new, more life-giving stories of the world and themselves. In all her work, NikiAnne partners with the ancestors, the natural world, the power of ritual, and others to best serve the whole.
NikiAnne Feinberg
Chloe Lieberman
Facilitator
Chloe (she/her) is a student and steward of the living mystery that is this generative Earth body. Throughout her life, Chloe has explored and engaged the intersections of food, environment, community, and spirituality. She has long yearned to understand how and why we humans have gotten into such a dysfunctional relationship with the sources of our sustenance, and how we can heal and thrive. Her nurturing and natural curiosity lead her into deep, attentive connection with the people around her, humans and others.
Mirna McWilliams
Facilitator
Mirna is a resident of Earthaven Ecovillage, where she is learning what it means to live together in Village. She is a lifelong artist who has spent many years of study and practice in various lineages of theater, dance, and music, now turning these capacities toward the possibility of healing, liberation, and cultural transformation. In all that she studies, offers, and practices, she is devoted to moving through the complexity of these times in the spirit of prayer, pleasure, and deep play.
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…
- An automatic confirmation of receiving your registration form
- A payment confirmation from our card processor
- 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.
Registration is closed for 2024. Please join us next year, October 23-26, 2025.