In our outreach to centers we’re grateful for our deepening connection with Nazare Uniluz in Brazil and Sacha Runa Shamanic Community in Bolivia. Friends from both communities will be joining us for the Virtual Gathering 3-6 May as together we serve the personal and global transformation that the world calls forth. We invite you to join us in conversation with anthropologist Wade Davis as we explore the roles our centers play within the global north and south. As we collectively expand our awareness around the injustice in the world and the ways we can engage and educate around inner and outer action, we’ve also invited mindfulness teacher Rhonda Magee and environmentalist Bill McKibben.
[Read more…]Earth Day Decolonized: 22 April Free Program
KRIPALU AND HOLLYHOCK’S LIBERATION SERIES
Join renowned speakers Karen Mahon Carrington, Melina Laboucan-Massimo, and Nick Demeris in the next program of our Liberation Series, a collaboration between Kripalu and Hollyhock. Spend time online in this live program unpacking our current climate crisis and how we can collectively move forward in liberation.
The pandemic has been a long haul. We are slowly starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we know we are not quite there yet. We know you’ve had to demonstrate a lot of resilience this year, and that this pandemic has affected some people more than others. The pricing options on the program below have been updated to offer you the option of joining this virtual program free of charge.
[Read more…]Recognising the Pain of the Asian Community
Dear friends,
During our webinar this past Wednesday we acknowledged the pain and hurt of the Asian community and read the names of the eight lives lost, six of which were women of Asian descent, in Atlanta, Georgia; Yong Ae Yue, Hyun Jung Grant, Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Suncha Kim, Soon C. Park, Delania Yuan and Paul Andre Michels.
We recognise the pain of the Asian community within our retreat centers (be they staff or guests) at this pivotal time in the work against racial injustice and hate crimes, exacerbated by the pandemic over these last 12 months.
HCN has and always will be in the spirit of collaboration, seeking to co-create a more just and loving world. We exist to bring people together and to share the benefits of inner reflection for outer action, leading towards the transformation of society. Despite the suffering that exists in the world we believe in the importance of this collective work and that it matters now more than ever. We’re grateful to be in this with you and seek to create ever greater diversity, inclusion and compassion.
[Read more…]Virtual Gathering 2021: Announcing our Keynote Speakers
This year the annual Centers’ Gathering 3-6 May, 2021 takes place once more under unique circumstances. Not only are we online rather than in person, we are also re-emerging from over a year of a grave pandemic which has deeply affected the whole world. And of course, it has had a profound effect on the activities of our centers. Some have closed temporarily, some have shifted online, others are uncertain how to proceed. In all cases, we face unique opportunities in considering how we can emerge in a way that speaks to the profound challenges of our times and build resilience personally and collectively.
[Read more…]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…]Commitment to Change
Written by Jenyng Wu; Adopted by the HCN Board of Directors and Executive Director, this June 12, 2020
While the tragedies of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor happened recently, the systemic racism, discrimination, and oppression of Black people have been part of our social fabric for centuries. It’s time for change.
Black lives matter. The Holistic Centers Network (HCN) stands in solidarity with the international movement Black Lives Matter.
We stand in solidarity with the entire BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) community against systems that degrade and harm the innate humanity we all share. Systemic racism, discrimination, and the oppression of any people have no place in the work of holistic education. [Read more…]
The Power of Love and Diversity
Exploring the value of diversity and inclusion was our theme for the 2018 Gathering. Following on from our heartfelt time together earlier this month, ripples continue to flow out through the many centers we represent and into the world.
Carol Donahoe, Program Director of Omega and co-host of the Gathering, shares some thoughts that came to her this weekend as we watched the Royal Wedding together early Saturday morning.
Bishop Michael Curry shared this quote in his sermon, ‘We must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love. And when we do that, we will make of this old world a new world. Love is the only way.’ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. [Read more…]
The Value of Diversity and Inclusion
Our 2018 webinar series began by exploring ‘The Value of Diversity and Inclusion in our Holistic Centers’ hosted by the Omega Institute in upstate New York. This is a theme Omega have been actively diving into for nearly four years and although they don’t claim to be experts they offered practical tools that we can all learn from.
Carol Donahoe, Program Director of Omega, began by sharing how life changing the conversations have been and highlighting the necessary first step to embrace the learning journey, “It’s vital to have everyone on board. The leadership team must be in agreement that this topic is a priority.”
Insights from Diversity Webinar
Our monthly webinar in March focused on the theme of diversity and participants contributed from The Haven in BC, Canada, Breitenbush Hot Springs in Oregon, Abrevista in Florida, Omega in New York and the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland.
In advance of the call, we were invited to reflect on the following questions and this formed the framework for our discussion.
Unity in Diversity
Welcome to 2012, may it be a year filled with peace and love, joy and harmony, health and happiness all over the world.
Sharing words of wisdom from Eileen Caddy
Let there be unity in diversity. See the many paths all leading to the centre, each one different and yet each one leading in the same direction. The closer they come to the centre, the greater the unity, until all become one and there is no longer diversity but complete unity.
You will find it taking place more and more with the many centres of light all over the world. As the world situation grows darker and worsens, so shall they grow brighter and brighter, until light overcomes all darkness.
It is good to see a wider picture of what is taking place, but it is also very important to realise that it all starts within you. Realise that what is taking place within the individual goes out into the world and is reflected in the world situation.
That is why peace of heart and mind is so essential within you, and why harmony, understanding and deep love should flow between you and others.
From Opening Doors Within
365 Daily Meditations from Findhorn