The International Holistic Centers Gathering serves as the principal meeting point for Centers both well established and new that address the new consciousness currently emerging worldwide. It includes rural retreat centers, urban learning centers, accredited and non-accredited organizations, that work toward the goal of transforming individual lives and fostering a culture of greater holistic, ecological and spiritual awareness and practice.
The Gathering is characterized by a spirit of openness, warmth, candor and mutual support and aims to benefit attending Centers through both the exchange of information, best practices, and successful strategies on the one hand and the cultivation of spiritual connection, mutual support and inspiration on the other.
Most Centers are devoted to the creation of transformational experiences for their participants. This Gathering addresses the needs of those who run these organizations for their own nourishment, community of peers, and sense of participation in a larger, global movement of positive change.
As the chronology demonstrates, the Gathering has been held at points as far West as Hawaii and as far East as Moscow. Although most participants have come from the United States, Canada and Europe, the Gathering has also attracted Centers from as far afield as Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and Japan.
After its initial formation in North America in the 80’s, it moved to both Western and Eastern Europe in the 90’s, and returned to the United States and Canada in the 2000’s. After the 2011 Gathering at Harbin Hot Springs in Northern California, it returned to Europe in May 2012 as part of the Findhorn Foundation’s 50th birthday celebrations in Scotland, the most global so far with representatives from Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and Australia. In October 2015 it was hosted in Asia for the first time, by the House of I in Beijing. Ultimately, the Gathering aims to include Centers on all continents and serve as a valuable instrument of planetary awakening.
In the words of Ralph White, founder of the New York Open Center, “The heart of the International Holistic Centers’ Gathering is the meeting of so many diverse groups in a spirit of love, mutual support and unity. Whether they come from Australia or Siberia, Scotland or Santa Cruz, a similar noble vision lives at the core of most centers and changes for the better the lives of the many thousands who attend their programs. Holistic centers always take courage, inspiration and insight from each other’s work. Ultimately they know that their very existence worldwide is powerful evidence that the awakening for which we all yearn is alive and well, and probably living in a center near you.”
If your Center is interested in participating in the next Gathering please click here for more details.