Mindfulness
M̓i tel'nexw Leadership Transformation
With Chepximiya Siyam' Hereditary Chief Janice George, Squamish Nation, Skwetsimeltxw Willard ‘Buddy’ Joseph, Squamish Nation, Ta7talíya Michelle Nahanee, Squamish Nation and Lloyd James Attig, Muskoday First Nation, Plains Cree
Expressive Journaling: Tending the Fire Within
With Jenn Forgie
"I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing. I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back..." —Oriah Mountain Dreamer, "The Invitation" Designed to ignite your vision, spark creativity, and fuel your soul, […]
Meditation, Movement, Mystery
With Jeff Warren
Join writer and meditation teacher Jeff Warren for a journey into the mystery of meditation and what it can teach us about being human. This will be a different kind of retreat. Less structured, more room for silence and spontaneity. The idea is to make space for some of the deeper and more personalized movements […]
Pilgrimage to Silence: A Nature Based Retreat for Rest & Renewal
With Valerie Brown
Please note: This is a dãna-based retreat (see below for details). The registration fee is included in package pricing and does not include teacher compensation. Deeply immersed in nature and exploring the theme of pilgrimage, this silent retreat is designed to cultivate rest, reflection, renewal, and restoration. In these times of change, high stress, and […]
Qi Medicine: Healing Through Qigong & Nature
With Stephanie Nosco and Ben Leggett
Experience the medicine of Qigong and Nature Connection on this transformative inner journey back to yourself. Join Qigong teacher, author, and somatic educator Stephanie Nosco, alongside nature connection guide and educator Ben Leggett, for this special silent retreat that explores the art of Qigong and the practice of deep relationship with the living world. We […]
Awake in Our Lives: A Silent Meditation Retreat
With Celeste Young
Please note: This is a dãna-based retreat (see below for details). The registration fee is included in package pricing and does not include teacher compensation. During this silent meditation retreat, we will focus on practices that calm the mind and awaken the heart to support the deepening of insight and inner freedom here and now, […]
Resilience for Uncertain Times: Wild Earth, Steady Heart
With Kristan Childs and Teddy Kellam
Join Kristan Childs and Teddy Kellam for the Work That Reconnects spiral, a joyful and coherent path to inner wisdom and vitality during unsteady times. “To be alive in this beautiful, self-organizing universe — to participate in the dance of life with senses to perceive it, lungs that breathe it, organs that draw nourishment from […]
Opening to Inner & Outer Change: A Life Balance Retreat
With Celeste Young
How well we navigate changes and transitions has a direct impact on the degree of well-being, meaning, and balance we experience in our daily lives. Whether you’re contemplating a major change, are in the midst of one now, or are still feeling the impact of past changes, this unique retreat offers you personal understanding and […]
From Age-ing to Sage-ing®: Deepening the Sage Within
With Annie Klein
A great gift of our older years is the potential for deepening wisdom and expanding possibilities. As more and more of us are living longer, we want these extra years to be vibrant, inspiring and fulfilling. This program will help you discover what gives your life meaning as you age. An intimate gathering where we […]
Mindful Self-Compassion
With Susie Fairchild and Martin Thomson-Jones, PhD
Application is required before registering. You may apply here. This 5-day residential program is an intensive form of the internationally recognized, eight-session Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) training developed by Christopher Germer and Kristin Neff. It is open to laypeople and professionals alike. Participants will learn to: understand the science of self-compassion, practice self-compassion in daily life, […]
Contemplative Mind, Spontaneous Brush: Ink, Colour and Japanese Washi Papers
With Heather Midori Yamada
Relax body, breath and mind with short guided meditations and simple perceptual exercises. Follow brushwork demonstrations using Japanese sumi ink, watercolour and acrylic on various Japanese washi papers (provided). Inspired by the natural beauty of Cortes Island, we will explore mixed media approaches of layering, tearing and collaging. Deep intuitive and directed studies lead to […]
Skymind: Sacred Land, Sacred View
With Lopöns Pieter Oosthuizen and Charlotte Rotterdam
"Anyone who is interested in learning how to practice open awareness has come to the right place." -Skymind Participant Immerse yourself in the profound nature of mind teachings of Buddhism, with transformational practices inspired by the great 11th century Tibetan yogini Machig Labdrön. Relaxing your body onto the earth, gazing into the vast expanse of […]
Watercolour and the Art of Seeing
With David McEown
Explore watercolour’s magical flowing spontaneity and essential techniques as you paint directly from nature. Enhance your perception, way of “seeing”, and connectedness to the earth with this travel-friendly medium. Enjoy dynamic watercolour demonstrations; exploring paint as a form of meditation and play. Uncover the secret hydrodynamics of watercolour paint and the brush work manipulation of […]
The Sovereign Soul: Relating in a Rapidly Changing World
With Dené Logan
The relationship structures that have existed for centuries are being challenged in ways they never have before. We are beginning to question the origin points of survival strategies rooted in codependency, people-pleasing, and whether or not longevity is the best marker for what constitutes relational success. While this questioning can lead to a deep sense […]
Cultivating Wellbeing for Health Professionals
With Andrea Grabovac, MD, FRCPC and Erin Burrell, MD, FRCPC
Replenish Yourself and Gain Tools for Living with Intention Join us for this mindfulness-based meditation retreat for health professionals and partners. Come away to the serene shores of Cortes Island to be replenished, restored, and equipped with tools to help navigate life in modern healthcare. This retreat emphasizes connection as key to vitality, and fosters […]
Reclaiming the Feminine Elements
With Andrea Menard
Discover the feminine faces of the 4 Sacred Elements that dwell within you. Have you met your own version of Earth Woman, Wind Womxn, Water Woman, or Fire Womxn yet? You are the medicine wheel that contains these four Sacred Elementals. In this western world that has undermined the Sacred Feminine, unwind the wounds inflicted […]
Resonance: A Deep Listening, Somatic Retreat
With Kiko Pace and Charlie Gates
Join Charlie and Kiko for an offering of deep listening and sonic exploration as we gather in the belly of Spring on Cortes Island. From sound meditations, reflective journaling, meditative movement practices, and dreaming, we venture to explore and expand our relationship to ways of listening, receiving, and generating creative awe. During our time together, […]
Awaken Your Senses to Creativity
With Zebith Thalden
Allow the natural landscapes of woodland, garden, and marine habitat be the location of your creative inspiration. We will spend time mindfully witnessing to expand the senses. From this awareness, we will then sketch both the profound and uniquely subtle elements of the environment. We will transform our observations into the visual, translating sound into […]
Groundwork: Breaking the Cycle of Overwhelm
With Amrita Ahuja and Tommaso Biasiolo
If you feel like life has become a constant cycle of reacting, pushing, and catching up — you’re not alone. Most of us are running on systems that keep us overloaded and exhausted. Surrounded by the beauty of Cortes Island, reset your patterns and restore your focus. Groundwork integrates mindfulness with a simple system for […]
We Are Elemental: Embodying Earth, Water, Fire, Air & Ether
With Sebene Selassie
You are nature. Your bones are earth. Your blood is water. Your warmth is fire. Your breath is air. And the mystery that animates it all? That's ether (also called spirit or space). Various elements are honored across countless traditions—from ancient Egypt and Greece to India and China to Indigenous cultures throughout Africa, the Americas, […]
Embodied Practices for Collective Thriving
With Roula Said, Julia Aplin, Shannon Litzenberger and Andrea Nann
In this time of intersecting social, political, and planetary crises, how do we embrace and honour all that is arising in us as bodies? What if we listen closely to what we feel in our hearts, what we know in our bones? Can we resonate care and connection across our differences, tuning into our sense […]
Freedom Begins with Letting Go
With Chelene Knight
Join award-winning writer and creative practitioner Chelene Knight for a transformative journey into letting go and deepening your understanding of self. Through emotionally rich and immersive activities, such as letter writing, discovering personal connections in meaningful objects, guided meditations, and discussions on abstract ideas like love, loss, and grief explored through literary greats such as […]
When Love Liberates: Buddhist Meditations for Hearts Broken/Open
With Dawn Mauricio and Kate Johnson
The liberated heart knows how to expand and contract, allowing love to flow in and out like the tides. Like roots that deepen through coastal storms, through practice we discover that opening and softening our hearts in challenging times, with wisdom and discernment, is itself an exercise in freedom. In this retreat, we’ll work with […]
Radical Dharma: Conversation
With Rev. angel Kyodo williams Roshi
Together we can create the conditions for healing, reconnection, authentic community, and justice. Radical dharma (“complete truth”) is a way to enter the critical conversation about how the legacy of racial injustice and white supremacy plays out, preventing our collective awakening and connection. To shift, we must create conditions for radical honesty, where we drop […]
Writing with Intuition: A Journey into Creative Consciousness
With Sarah Selecky
Join author and creative intuitive Sarah Selecky to learn the magical art of writing from your whole self, using intellect and intuition at once. These skills live in the heart of story and poetry, yet they're rarely taught in traditional writing programs. While academic courses focus on craft and technique, they often overlook the mystical […]
From Chaos to Calm: Bringing Presence & Purpose to Your Daily Life
With Caroline Welch
Feeling overwhelmed, or untethered? Finding no time for you, and what's most important to you right now? Feeling that you will never "catch up?" Embarking on a new chapter in your life? Dreading a transition that you know you need to make? Yearning to spend more time in nature? If you answered "yes" to any […]
Whole Human Health
With Lawrence Cheng, MD, CCFP(EM), MPH and Devon Christie, MD, CCFP, RTC
Journey into the science and art of optimizing well-being at every level—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Guided by Dr. Lawrence Cheng and Dr. Devon Christie, this immersive program integrates functional medicine, mind-body practices, and cutting-edge approaches like precision medicine to empower you with the tools to live a longer, healthier, and more vibrant life. This […]
SoulCollage®: An Enchanting Path to Inner Wisdom & Creativity
With Kimberly Lee, J.D.
Set out on an enlightening journey of self-discovery, guided by the power of your own creativity and intuition. In this immersive workshop, you’ll uncover and access inner wisdom through the inspiring SoulCollage® method. Developed by the late Seena Frost, MA, and based on the work of Carl Jung, this enchanting personal practice harnesses the magic […]
Slow Art, Somatic Practice, and Creative Rest
With Shauna Kaendo, Registered Art Therapist | BFA, RCAT
Being in conversation with art, process, and ourselves. The theme for this therapeutic arts program is Mapping the Sensory. We will get curious about the sensory experience of art making. Through creative meanderings with solo and collective art processes we will work on slowing down and paying attention to what arises in the process of […]
Somatic Summer Camp: Authentic Expression in Tumultuous Times
With Kevin Yee-Chan, Rachel Athey and Winchester Victor
Clear the clutter and return to your innate authenticity through the traditions of yoga, qigong, and somatic therapy. Revitalize somatic trust as you explore the nuances of your window of tolerance, navigate inner work with safety vs intensity, and anchor into your body’s inherent wisdom. Open pathways of expression as you uncover emotional anatomy, engage […]
An Autumn Contemplative Retreat: Rooting, Unfurling, Letting Go
With Caverly Morgan and Deborah Eden Tull
What does it mean to truly let go? What are we letting go of, and how? At the threshold of autumn, inspired by the natural world—a natural teacher—join Deborah Eden Tull and Caverly Morgan for this contemplative and restorative journey. We will delve into the profound themes of rooting in presence, unfurling into embodied being, […]
Kintsugi: Embracing Imperfection
With Yuka Morino
Kintsugi, 金継ぎ translated literally from Japanese means "golden joinery". This traditional Japanese art used to repair broken ceramics uses natural materials, like tree sap, clay and flour dusted with gold (or other precious metals) to make the cracks, or broken lines beautiful. The cracks are called Keshiki 景色 and in Japanese, mean scenery, landscape or […]
The Language of Flowers: Contemplation and Realization in Nature
With Heather Midori Yamada
At first glance there is harmony, balance and beauty underlying many Japanese arts. Ikebana, the art of Japanese floral arrangement has a rich and long history with many schools, rules and philosophies developing and evolving over time. Originating from a traditional Japanese environment to contemporary expression worldwide, the language of flowers includes everyone and anywhere […]
Return to Stillness: A Yoga Nidra Retreat
With Ally Boothroyd and Kristyn Rose Foster
Immerse yourself in the beauty of nature and the quiet rhythm of island life as you journey into deep rest and inner awakening during this nourishing Yoga Nidra retreat. This deeply nourishing experience welcomes all, from sincere beginners and curious seekers to seasoned teachers, into an environment of stillness, learning, and renewal. Guided by experienced […]