Body Songs: explorations in creativity, community, playfulness, and presence
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Body Songs: explorations in creativity, community, playfulness, and presence *
Body as Earth Song
Five magical summer days of somatics and movement-based expressive arts for Vitality, Voice, & Vision
“joy is not meant to be a crumb” Mary Oliver
Come rest into creativity, community, and relations with Earth, on Salt Spring Island.
A residential offering of Relational Ecology -movement magic to call us alive and weave the wild beauty of creative solidarity for Life.
Stowel Lake Farm is a gem of a retreat center - nourishing Land, beautiful calm gathering places, organic food, and expansive, relaxing atmosphere for creative rejuvenation.
Located on the South end of SaltSpring Island, the retreat center is nestled into a place known for its artistic community and gorgeous Forested landscape.
Relational Ecology is
a cauldron of creativity for vitality
a fertile ecotone between you and I
a dynamic, playful current of creative adaptation
a lineage of embodied nourishment
a practice of grounded solidarity
Many of us are feeling deeply in these turbulent times.
Many of us are carrying grief in relation to human cruelty, violence, and the suffering of Earth.
Perhaps you too have been feeling sorrow, fear, or depletion? Perhaps you too need some kind, playful, and restful time to empty and restore?
Come, step into
an alive field of
movement arts magic:
soulful loving care
for your body,
heart-mind,
and spirit,
through relations with Earth and creative community.
This retreat will nourish a myriad of rivers:
kind and connective time to rest, reconnect, & replenish
wild and gentle creative play in community
practices that rekindle and sustain aliveness in hard times
deep solace for aching hearts
In this retreat we will explore Somatics, Arts, and Movement methods for weaving ourselves into the wild, welcoming, undeniable generative pulse of Life -
Fertile nectar to nourish the creative wellspring of voice & vision within You, to support your creative participation in Life as it is and could become…
“let the beauty we love be what we do; there are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the ground”
- Rumi
FAQs
When:
July 31st to August 4th,
Arrival 3 pm on the 31st, departure 1pm on the 4th.
Where:
This is a residential retreat at Stowel Lake Farm, on Salt Spring Island. We will be the only group gathering on the Land at this time.
190 Reynolds Road, Salt Spring Island, B.C.
Canada, V8K 1Y2
Salt Spring Island is an easy ferry ride
from Victoria, Swartz Bay to Fulford Harbour, about 35 minutes
or Vancouver, Tsawwassen to Long Harbour, about 1 hour and 25 minutes for a direct sailing
Stowel Lake Farm is located close to Fulford Harbour, a 4 minute drive, and is a 22 minute drive from Long Harbour.
Accomodations:
Beautiful, comfortable, cozy. Stowel Lake farm has a range of options for accomodations. Prices for the retreat vary based on accomodation choices. See this booking link for more details.
Is there a commuter option?
This is a residential retreat - however, for Salt Spring Residents some commuter spaces are available. Please contact Katrina for more information.
What is the food like?
Stowel Lake Farm retreat cuisine is fresh, organic and made from whole food ingredients. The meal plan is primarily vegetarian, however, the talented kitchen team can accommodate many dietary restrictions including dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan and non-vegetarian.
What will be doing?
Enjoying deep time and spaciousness with one another in a very beautiful location. Playing together, reflecting together, exploring voice, vision, and vitality together, through movement, arts, writing, and group process.
Who will be there?
Fellow voyagers of heart and soul. Folks who yearn to be creative with others. Folks who value embodied play and reflective opportunities. People who need some down time. People seeking renewal. People longing to feel more free and more alive. People feeling the times we are living through and who yearn to engage deeply with LIFE.
Queer & Trans Folks, BIPOC, Neurodivergent folks, & Women of all varieties are heartfully encouraged to come and gather for this retreat.
Accessibility?
The retreat spaces are in buildings with stairs and the paths on the land are some gravel and some earthen.
The degree of intensity of movement is particular to each participant - explorations into what feels restorative and expressive for each person in movement and stillness. There is no need to have any prior movement, art, or writing experience, nor to be in any kind of body shape or fitness level in order to participate. Come as you are.
Please email Katrina with any other accessibility inquires and concerns that you would need clarified prior to booking in for the retreat.
Six Accommodation options below * Scroll down for Direct payment discount, payment plans, and cancellation policy below *
Six Accommodation options below * Scroll down for Direct payment discount, payment plans, and cancellation policy below *
getting to Stowel Lake Farm, Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada
Stowel Lake Farm is located at 190 Reynolds Road on Salt Spring Island, on the beautiful West Coast of British Columbia. Visitors to the farm and retreat guests will need to make their way to Salt Spring Island by foot, automobile, ferry, or airplane.
From Vancouver by Ferry
By Foot
Take the thru-fare trip to from Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal to Fulford Harbour via Swartz Bay.
By Car
Take the thru-fare trip from Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal to Fulford Harbour via Swartz Bay or take the direct ferry from Tsawwassen to Salt Spring Island (Long Harbour). It is highly recommended to make reservations with BC Ferries when travelling by car.
From Victoria by Ferry
Commute to Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal and take the ferry from Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal to Salt Spring Island (Fulford Harbour).
Note: Reservations are not available between Swartz Bay and Fulford Harbour, it is first come first serve.
From Vancouver by Air
Option 1
Fly from Vancouver to Victoria Airport. Take a 10 minute cab ride to Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal. Take the ferry from Swartz Bay to Fulford Harbour Terminal, Salt Spring Island.
Option 2
Take a floatplane (Harbour Air Seaplanes, SeaAir Seaplanes) from Vancouver to Ganges Harbour on Salt Spring Island.
Please note that the price of the workshop varies depending on your accommodation choices, private room, shared room, yurt, or tent
Prices are listed in Canadian dollars
Prices listed below are all inclusive: they include your accommodation, all meals (3 organic meals a day on full days), and the tuition costs for the workshop event
Six Accommodation Options
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(1) Shared Yurt
2 single beds, shared bathroom
Reserve until July 15th, 2025: $1839 Canadian per person
Investment includes 4 night accommodation, all meals, and 5 day workshop tuition
Inclusive of all GST, PST, and MRDT taxes and 5% credit card processing fee
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(2) Shared Regular
2 beds, shared bathroom
Reserve until July 15th, 2025: $1899 Canadian per person
Investment includes 4 night accommodation, all meals, and 5 day workshop tuition
Inclusive of all GST, PST, and MRDT taxes and 5% credit card processing fee
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(3) Private Room, in the Bath House Building
1 bed, shared bathroom
Reserve until July 15th, 2025: $2059 Canadian per person
Investment includes 4 night accommodation, all meals, and 5 day workshop tuition
Inclusive of all GST, PST, and MRDT taxes and 5% credit card processing fee
-
(4) Private Regular
1 bed, shared bathroom
Reserve until July 15, 2025: $2059 Canadian per person
Investment includes 4 night accommodation, all meals, and 5 day workshop tuition
Inclusive of all GST, PST, and MRDT taxes and 5% credit card processing fee
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(5) Deluxe
2 beds, private bathroom
Reserve until July 15, 2025:
$2059 CAD per person SHARED
$2612 CAD per person PRIVATEInvestment includes 4 night accommodation, all meals, and 5 day workshop tuition
Inclusive of all GST, PST, and MRDT taxes and 5% credit card processing fee
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(6) Tenting
A few tent sites are available on the lawn, shared bathroom in the shower house building. Participants must bring tenting gear with them to the land.
Reserve until July 15, 2025: $1659 Canadian per person
Investment includes 4 night accommodation, all meals, and 5 day workshop tuition
Inclusive of all GST, PST, and MRDT taxes and 5% credit card processing fee
Important details
Direct Payment Discount: a 5% discount available for payments tendered through etransfer (for Canadians) or Venmo or Zelle (for US folks) - contact to arrange.
A 2-installment Payment plan is available - contact to arrange
Cancellation Policy:
Spaces are limited.
$350 of registration payment is considered a non-refundable deposit.
Cancellations after May 31st receive a 50% refund until June 30.
No refunds for cancellations after June 30th.
Creative rivers that kindle vitality
When we unfold our creative currents through embodied improvisational explorations, within a playful approach, we reconnect with a place in us that is in flow, a place of presence - dynamic, intuitive, vibrant, grounded.
Relational ecology
We will slow down together to experience our embodied and mystical relations with Earth. These practices help us feel a relaxation in our nervous systems, help us feel a genuine sense of place in the collective, and find a deeper courage to connect with one another in presence.
Through spacious inquiries we will gather in dyads, triads, and larger group configurations, through creative explorations that help us find our own rooted and generative place in the collective.
Writing reflections
There is a wise voice that is available, that comes to the surface, when we write reflectively. This voice is from the deep currents within. Connecting with this voice can feel very centering and supportive. We will evoke this voice, strengthen this voice, and weave this voice into spoken spaces. Structured and spacious inquiries will help strengthen your wise voice in this kind cauldron, dear heart.
embodied listening
“This is the first, the wildest and the wisest thing I know: that the soul exists and is built entirely out of attentiveness” Mary Oliver.
When we listen through our embodiment to the ripples of Life moving through us, alone and together, through the spaces between us, through the collective, and with Earth, we feel our place in the whole and we find solace in the midst of turbulence. Come, weave some magic in this vibrant land!
art making
Image is a place that brings into form the impressions, the gists, the felt sense, the longed for, the glimpsed and whispered elements of our experience. We will play with materials that call our creative fire alive, creating magic - finding unexpected and surprising meanings. We will play with images through writing and movement, finding center, ground, freedom, and heart spaciousness. Folks will be well-supported to play through art materials and ecoarts to unfold their inner world wisdoms.
movement play
Life is in motion and dynamic stillness. When we play together we kindle our aliveness. Playfulness through the body sings our hearts and souls into a state of warmth and freedom. Improvisation is a wise way to feel more at ease in ourselves in community.
We will explore different rivers of movement play, exploring relations with Earth and Sky and one another, through inquiries rooted in the terrain of Authentic Movement, Expressive Movement, Soul Motion, & Somatic Inquiries.