The Dharmakaya Center for Wellbeing is recruiting a full-time Executive Director to firmly establish our presence and to lead our growth.
Nestled deep in the Catskill Mountains, the 90-acre Dharmakaya Center for Wellbeing is a world apart—a place of peace, ease and elegant simplicity, where spiritual energy resonates, a sense of structure creates calm, and service is joyful, attentive and unobtrusive. We opened in July 2017, dedicated to the fundamental premise that physical and emotional wellbeing are equally essential, and that each serves the other. Our programs address both, with a core curriculum designed for spiritual growth, and a range of teachings and retreats grounded in ancient wisdom practices designed to expand participants’ wellbeing. We are a small, nimble organization with a fulltime staff of four and a team of resident volunteers running approximately 40 programs annually.
Practicing Mindfulness during COVID-19 Times
With 85 million cases and counting, the COVID-19 pandemic has redefined our personal and professional lives. Everything, from our daily routines and work ethic to dietary habits and mental well-being, has felt the impact of living an isolated life devoid of human interaction.
If you have been feeling stressed out, depressed, or anxious in the last few weeks, you are not alone. There are millions of people who are experiencing the same paradigm shift in their lives due to COVID-19. The good news is that there is a remedy you can rely on – mindfulness. Many of us are familiar with this practice through our deep connection with holistic education and as we embark on 2021 we offer this resource as a supportive reminder.
[Read more…]Opportunity for Guest Service Manager
Hollyhock creates, curates, and hosts inspiring, meaningful experiences that provide both the inner and outer skills for personal development and social transformation. Our oceanfront Cortes Island campus in British Colombia, Canada rests in the traditional territories of the KIahoose, Tla’amin, Homalco Nations; and as the current stewards of this land, we are committed to renewing our relationships with these First Nations peoples.
Our vision is to achieve a future where people live in right relations with ourselves, each other, and the natural world; understanding that these are intricately connected. We host over 100 programs each year, immersing our staff in a culture of connection, honesty, trust, and authenticity.
ABOUT THE ROLE
Our Guest Service department is the support hub for our guests, presenters, staff and residents. Offering guidance from the initial reservation before they arrive and throughout their stay on campus. Hollyhock utilizes our online reservations system Retreat Guru for record keeping.
The Guest Service Manager provides supervision, encouragement, training and role modeling for our Guest Service, Registration and Housekeeping departments. You will be the department contact for the campus.
You will glide through a fast-paced environment, with connected communication and thorough follow up. You have a genuine enthusiasm towards our guests and have a positive impact on their experience at Hollyhock.
[Read more…]My Hungry Heart – the road to Findhorn
By Yvonne Cuneo
At 26 I left Sydney to travel the world on my own for a year. I had left a marriage which I had wanted with all my young, innocent and needy heart, because I was restless, starved of something unnameable, and hungry to put myself out there to explore the infinite possibilities of life. My father said I had read too many books; he was probably right.
I didn’t realise that apart from the one small bag I took with me, I was carrying much excess luggage from a childhood rife with tension, hostility, and a lack of tenderness and love, a malnourishment of an emotional and spiritual kind. That luggage, which contained unconscious defiance, recklessness, unfathomable pain and a hungry hungry heart, remained locked and bolted for some time.
At 38, and two relationships later, I was living the life I thought I wanted. After a year in Cairo, then in Dubai, New Orleans and Aberdeen, I had an international lifestyle with endless travel, shopping trips to exotic locations filling my home with beautiful artefacts, excitement, adventure, a lively social scene and a healthy body. I had done an Experience Week at the Findhorn Foundation and found a temporary calm and some hope for a world I had given up on as violent and cruel. I felt safe and fed in some ways but was dependent on constant movement and tension to feed a gnawing emptiness.
The “Anxiety Pandemic” – Manage, Transform and Move Beyond.
Sunday, November 15th with David Raithby & Jennifer Hilton
Even before COVID-19, people talked about anxiety as a growing challenge for themselves and others in their life. With COVID-19, almost everybody has experienced some level of isolation, uncertainty, overwhelm, and what might be called helplessness, all of which are the hallmarks of anxiety.
This 5-hour event, ‘Anxiety and Beyond’, hosted by The Haven addresses the current high level of individual and societal anxiety and, more importantly, explores how we can go beyond anxiety into transformative and life-affirming understandings and actions.
Explore a truly unique and fulfilling perspective on anxiety, while offering valuable information, vital connection with others, practical and usable “take-home” tools, and a mix of creative, embodied and experiential learning opportunities.
[Read more…]Opportunities for Health & Community, Norfolk, UK
West Lexham is an eco-retreat centre in a beautiful river valley in Norfolk, England. We offer different types of training, retreats and holidays focused around nature, healing and crafts. Our vision is to grow into a larger Complementary Health Centre, so we are looking to recruit people with whom this vision resonates.
We are looking for people who love nature; helping others on their healing journey, and are keen to build a Community Hub. Previous experience and skills in the following roles is preferable, but heart, motivation, drive and clarity will be the main determining factors.
As well as continuing to build a Social Enterprise, we are growing community based on the common values of a deep relationship with nature, an interest in self-development, and the wish to create positive change in the world through service. We are happy to assist with relocation for those of you called to come from further afield.
Justice in Motion: the JEDI Wheel
Published by kind permission from the Retreat Center Collaboration (RCC).
In a recent RCC Community Call with Jenyng Wu, we explored the work of retreat centers through the lens of JEDI — Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
Let’s take a closer look at the collaborative design process and our collective takeaways coming out of the call. If you weren’t able to join us, we invite you to explore the JEDI Wheel and take note of elements you might apply at your retreat center or allied organization. Check it out!
[Read more…]Join the Art of Dying Virtual Event
What is Art of Dying?
The Art of Dying Institute, an initiative of The Open Center, is dedicated to fostering an engaged community of practitioners; researchers & scholars; educators; front-line innovators; partners; and investors to address the need for a cultural awakening around the theme of death and our mortality, how we die and the consequences for how we live. Join the 25th Anniversary Event Oct 31 and Nov 1st 2020.
Join the Virtual Esoteric Quest
Celebrating 25 Years of Exploring the Western Mystery Tradition: October 23-27
For the first time in its 25-year history, The Esoteric Quest — one of the leading global conferences on Western Esotericism — will be held as a digital summit. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the anniversary conference will take place online for The Open Center’s first-ever Virtual Esoteric Quest and you’re welcome to immerse yourself in the journey.
This five-day event will bring together the world’s foremost experts, writers, artists and scholars for an interactive online experience exploring the lost or half-forgotten spiritual history of the West through lectures, musical performances from Iceland to Occitania, breakout sessions and much more. Join us for an immersive, virtual journey through history and across the world, as we go deeply into the wisdom traditions of the West, including: [Read more…]
The Long Game
By Peter Wrinch.
It was August 15th. That was the day that the full reality of the pandemic hit me full force. It was then that I realized that we are in this for the long game – virtual connections, physical distancing, limits to gathering, frequent hand washing, and masks. It seems obvious now with a number of provinces actively talking about being in the second wave, but at the time it was a revelation for me.
If we are in it for the long game, the question becomes: How do we maintain resilience? [Read more…]