I attended my first Holistic Centers Gathering in 2010 and recall two participants from Queenswood Retreat Centre in Victoria, Canada. I rediscovered this article written soon after they closed and share it here to explore the value of holistic centers. Fortunately in recent gatherings we’ve noticed the proliferation of new centers, in particular in China and the USA, and how we can support each other to evolve and thrive continues to be an important conversation.

By Margaret Critchlow

The news that Queenswood Retreat Centre in Victoria, Canada is closing after forty years (Monday Magazine, June 18, 2010) comes at a time when retreat centres matter more than ever. Why? As an anthropologist studying the culture of retreat centres for the past five years I have been asking: What is the value of holistic centres as the second decade of the twenty-first century begins? [Read more…]

By Margaret Rodman, republished from the original article in 2007

As an anthropologist writing a book about holistic centers, one of my contributions to this year’s Centers Gathering is to facilitate an online conversation about the meaning and purpose of the Centers Gatherings, to help put the story into words. [Read more…]