Activate is a five-day gathering on Cortes Island for people who want to step back from the daily churn, learn from campaigns that are winning, and guaranteed, you will return to your work with sharper strategy, stronger relationships, and renewed energy. Across North America, organizers face rising inequality, democratic instability, climate crisis, and deepening social […]
Cortes Island
Sketch by Sketch: Connecting with the World Through Drawing
Learn to sketch without fear of making mistakes! Join celebrated author/illustrator, Emma FitzGerald as she leads participants through a series of exercises that build confidence and improves observation skills, while allowing for the happy accidents that make a drawing that speaks from the heart. Using pen and watercolour paint, and working both together and independently […]
Creative Journaling: Tending The Fire Within
“I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing. I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back…” — Oriah Mountain Dreamer, The Invitation There are fires within each of us. What are yours? […]
Social Venture Institute Hollyhock 2027
If you believe that business can (and should) be a catalyst for social and economic transformation, you belong at Social Venture Institute. Join Canada’s longest-running social enterprise gathering to find the inspiration, resources, and relationships you need to propel your mission forward. SVI is a five-day oceanside gathering of 100+ CEOs, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, movement leaders, […]
Sense Writing: An Ecology of Creative Practice
What if you didn’t have to wait for inspiration to connect to your deepest urge to create? Sense Writing merges somatic principles with the art of writing to help you tap into the rich landscape of your stories, memories, and imagination — whether you already think of yourself as a writer or simply want support […]
Reclaim Your Mind: Finding Rest and Play in a Wired World
Reclaim your mind, reset your nervous system, and master the art of intentional living in a hyper-connected world. Join Jay Vidyarthi, best selling author and certified Unified Mindfulness meditation teacher, at Hollyhock on Cortes Island, for a 5-day immersion into your freedom of attention. Learn how to rewire your relationship with technology with Jay, a […]
Navigating Life Transitions: A Courage & Renewal® Retreat
“Wholeness is never lost, it is only forgotten.” — Rachel Naomi Remen Are you seeking clarity and support as you face a life transition? Do you want to ‘have your own back’ with compassion and self-confidence? Are you ready to prioritize your needs? Live a whole life. Clarify and affirm your values and life direction […]
Erotic Ecology: Awakening the Senses and Returning to Nature
Our sensual connection to our bodies and the living world is under threat. We have become numb to the Earth’s touch. But the Earth is calling us home. Are you yearning for the analog, messy, and real? Do you desire to return to your body and shed the phantasms of the overculture? This week-long workshop […]
Pilgrimage to Silence: A Nature Based Retreat for Rest & Renewal
This program is held in silence. Deeply immersed in nature and exploring the theme of pilgrimage, this silent retreat is designed to cultivate rest, reflection, renewal, and restoration. At these times of change, high stress, and high anxiety, we need now, more than ever, to exhale deeply and feel fully nourished through resilience-building, heart-opening, peace-making […]
Awake in Our Lives: A Silent Meditation Retreat
This program is held in silence. Focus on practices that calm the mind and awaken the heart to support the deepening of insight and inner freedom here and now, in our lives just as they are. A silent meditation retreat offers us the unique conditions to allow the mind and heart to settle more deeply, […]
Writing with Intuition: A Journey into Creative Consciousness
Join author and creative intuitive Sarah Selecky to learn the magical art of writing from your whole self, using intellect and intuition at once. These skills live in the heart of story and poetry, yet they’re rarely taught in traditional writing programs. While academic courses focus on craft and technique, they often overlook the mystical […]
Slow Art, Somatic Practice, and Creative Rest
Being in conversation with art, process, and our senses. This is a therapeutic art immersion. A space to be in conversation (and collaboration) with our art materials, creative process, and the sensory experience(s) of art making. To focus less on technique, and control — and more on how we FEEL when we’re engaging with art […]
Reclaiming the Feminine Elements
Discover the feminine faces of the 4 Sacred Elements that dwell within you. Have you met your own version of Earth Woman, Wind Womxn, Water Woman, or Fire Womxn yet? You are the medicine wheel that contains these four Sacred Elementals. In this western world that has undermined the Sacred Feminine, unwind the wounds inflicted […]
Dance of Connection
Come home to yourself, find connection and nourishment in community, and with the land. What if dance could become a place to meet yourself more honestly – and to discover new ways of being with others? Together we take refuge in our primary language: rhythm. We will dance every day, exploring how movement can open […]
Meditation, Movement, Mystery
Join writer and meditation teacher Jeff Warren for a journey into the mystery of meditation and what it can teach us about being human. This will be a different kind of retreat. Less structured, with lots of room for silence and spontaneity. The idea is to make space for some of the deeper and more […]
Watercolour & the Art of Seeing (Intermediate/Advanced)
Inspired by the ocean shorelines, ancient forests, and mountain landscapes of Canada’s west coast, we will explore the magical spontaneity and flow of watercolour by painting directly from nature. This session is designed for Intermediate to Advanced artists wishing to enhance their perception, technique, composition skills and express their own unique voice and mark making […]
Watercolour & the Art of Seeing (All Levels)
Inspired by the ocean shorelines, ancient forests, and mountain landscapes of Canada’s west coast, we will explore the magical spontaneity and flow of watercolour by painting directly from nature. This session can accommodate the Beginner in watercolour and those artists wishing to learn and grow essential techniques, colour mixing and drawing / perception skills. What […]