Resilience Retreat: Reflections on the Stoics
AdvocatesROC recruits cohorts of professionals to study classical philosophical works for reflection to support their personal and professional development. This retreat will facilitate critical group and individual reflection on personal resilience by immersing participants in Stoic philosophy and practice as outlined in the works of Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius.
Wisdom Harvest: A Yoga and Art Experience
For many of us concerned with the state of our world, these are challenging times. This retreat will offer an opportunity to reconnect to our internal resources and restore a sense of groundedness, supported by arts exploration and yoga practice. Participants will be invited to practice Kundalini yoga (breathwork, physical postures, and meditation), make art together in community, connect with nature, and process their experience in a group setting. The weekend will include ample time for solitude and quiet reflection on the GilChrist grounds.
Fall Yoga Retreat: Just as You Are
Underneath the routine of doing and expectation, a gracious joy for simply being awaits. Fall is a glorious time to slow down and revel in the beauty of being enough. Open landscapes, cozy cabins, and sounds of nature are a balm to busyness, affirming you are enough: just as you are. With this retreat, you are invited to reflect and relax into who we are as the hustle and bustle melts away. Poetry, nature, solitude, and togetherness will cocoon this special time of unwinding and unfolding layers to bask in your inner light.
Generational Patterns that Block the Spiritual Path: Healing the Family Soul
Have you wondered why some of your life patterns seem impossible to resolve? Have you felt spiritually blocked and can’t figure out what to do next? Come to GilChrist to explore and heal the family generational patterns in your family soul that influence and energetically block your spiritual path through contemplative exercises and family systems constellations. You will have time alone and in silence during the retreat to reflect, journal, and walk on the beautiful GilChrist grounds.
Teachers in Residence
Ten one-week residencies provide the opportunity for selected preschool through fifth-grade teachers to spend a quiet week of reflection, writing, reading, and planning for the following school year.
This teacher residency program is sponsored by the Nancy M. and Douglas M. Yeager Family Foundation in partnership with the GilChrist Retreat Center of the Fetzer Institute.
December Practice: Manners Matter
Democracy cannot flourish without civility, a.k.a. good manners. Such simple behaviors as saying “please” and “thank you” signal our respect for other people. Manners are important for any gathering when people are sharing views and trying to make decisions, including social media, where it’s far too easy to forget our manners or civility as our emotions and righteousness take over. In fact, since fall 2017 in “democracy conversations” that we and our partners have held, we’ve heard over and over how social media contributes to the growing divisions and incivility in our society.
Practicing Democracy with Your Faith Community
Eighteen ways your faith community can help strengthen the bonds within our democracy. Faith communities serve as pillars of light modeling civility and hospitality to the stranger; they boldly denounce injustice and offer programs to enhance the common good. Here are some ways your faith community can strengthen the bonds within our democracy.
Developed with Spirituality and Practice as part of the Practicing Democracy Project.
Willa Cather on being present
When we are fixed on an endpoint, it’s easy to lose sight of the “scenery” we pass along the road of our lives. When do you find yourself losing sight of the present? How do you bring yourself back to this moment?
Rabindranath Tagore on faith
In your darkest moments, how has your sense of something greater—whether the divine, in whatever form that takes for you; love; or nature—lifted you?
Nobel Peace Laureates: Adolfo Esquivel on Silence, Meditation and Light
Mother Teresa on family
Our family members can be some of our greatest teachers. What have you learned about love from your family and how do you use that out in the world?