Our teachers are curated for their quality, depth, integrity and alignment with our educational purpose. Since 1982, a distinguished faculty of authors, educators, activists, artists, performers, and practitioners have shared their work at our Cortes Island campus and in Vancouver.
Wild Mercy: The Wisdom of the Feminine (Vancouver)
With Mirabai Starr
April 6, 2019
Blue Horizon Hotel, Baker+Arrowsmith Rooms (31st floor)
As the fierce and tender voice of the feminine rises again, we are gifted with renewed access to the women mystics and wisdom beings across spiritual traditions. Engage in contemplative readings, group reflections, evocative writing exercises, and inter-spiritual chanting as an awakened community.
Effective Grant Writing (Vancouver)
With Ellen Huse
April 11 - 12, 2019
The Post at 750 (beside the CBC Broadcast building)
Learn where to locate funding, how to network with partners and funders, and the language of successful written proposals. This story-filled, information-packed training includes extensive resources, inventories, and templates.
SVI: Social Venture Institute (Vancouver)
With Hollyhock Leadership Institute
April 24 - 26, 2019
SFU Woodwards - Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
Connect with other mission-based entrepreneurs and social venture leaders for our SVI program in an urban setting. Network with peers and build skills that will equip you to confidently tackle the day-to-day challenges of running a socially conscious enterprise. SVI is a practical, peer-learning, alternative ‘business school’ within a confidential and supportive setting. Designed to engage and connect leaders of established business and non-profit enterprises. Pre-approval required.
Metta Vipassana: Awareness as a Path to Liberation
With Michele McDonald and Steven Smith
April 24 - May 8, 2019
Cortes Island
Experience seven days practicing Metta and Vipassana meditation, followed by seven days of cultivating mindfulness. Develop compassionate awareness and a more loving heart with a unique integration of mindful movement.
Alchemy of Group Facilitation (Vancouver – May)
With Julian Griggs
May 6 - 8, 2019
Blue Horizon Hotel, Garibaldi Room (31st floor)
Finding meaningful and enduring solutions to real-life problems requires engagement with multiple interests across many lines of difference. Learn to empower groups with divergent perspectives to resolve conflicts, find creative solutions, and function at their full potential. Julian Griggs is an internationally-certified facilitator with 25+ years of experience. dovetailconsulting.com
Resident Service Program
Package Dates
Cortes Island
Support our work and get behind-the-scenes experience with our month-long immersion program, including: 3 wonderful Hollyhock meals each day Comfortable shared accommodation with other residents 4 hours/week of dedicated yoga, personal growth, mindfulness practice, island adventures, and guided nature immersion Access to a variety of onsite amenities and activities, including ocean-view hot tubs, presenter evenings, oyster BBQs, morning rows, guided hikes, and more. 30 hours/week of active service alongside our staff, including experience in our kitchen, housekeeping, garden, hosting, store, maintenance, and production departments. Available Session Dates: April 22 – May 23 May 23 – June 24 June 24 –…
Business Inside Out
With Mike Rowlands
May 8 - 12, 2019
Cortes Island
Take a fresh, bold look at ‘growth’. Reassess your sense of purpose in life, and reintegrate it with your work. Drawing insights from compassionate self-reflection and leading methodologies like Agile Strategy, renew your personal resilience, and create new habits to achieve new goals. Limit of 12 participants.
Eat Real to Heal: Boost Immunity & Reverse Chronic Disease
With Nicolette Richer
May 8 - 12, 2019
Cortes Island
Eat Real to Heal is a new way of eating and living based on a 100-year-old metabolic nutritional therapy. Rebuild your metabolism, kick-start your immune system, regenerate your tissues, and heal your body from the inside out.
A Hidden Wholeness: Leading from Within
With Dan Hines
May 8 - 12, 2019
Cortes Island
There is a built-in longing to be who we are; the ongoing discovery of our unique selfhood. Guided by principles and practices of a safe, respectful, quiet, and disciplined space; we are invited to realize our potential. Revitalize resilience and courage to sustain your passion, compassion, and vocation. -Dan Hines is a Courage & Renewal® facilitator, priest, and political activist.
Metta Vipassana: Cultivating Love & Wisdom (Vancouver)
With Michele McDonald and Steven Smith
May 10 - 12, 2019
UBC Liu Institute
Take a breath in the city through the practice of silent Vipassana (insight/mindfulness) and Metta (loving kindness) meditation. Join a connected community of new and experienced meditators. Enjoy guided meditations, sitting and walking sessions, Dhamma talks, and meditation instruction.
International Holistic Centers Gathering
With Holistic Centers Network
May 12 - 17, 2019
Cortes Island
Join us at Hollyhock for the next Gathering of the Holistic Centers Network! Together we will: Connect with peers from other centers around the world. Share wisdom and experience in an open and creative way. Participate in mutual learning and support. Exchange practical ideas, insights and information. Bond through shared values and intentions. Enjoy heartfelt nourishment and inspiration.
Consciousness & Healing: The Hakomi Way
With Donna Martin and Georgia Marvin
May 17 - 22, 2019
Cortes Island
A body-centered and experiential form of psychotherapy, the Hakomi Method - created by Ron Kurtz - draws upon scientific, psychological, and spiritual knowledge to promote mindfulness, nonviolence, unity, and mind-body integration. Everyone welcome.
Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life
With Rachelle Lamb
May 17 - 22, 2019
Cortes Island
Learn a simple, creative approach to sustaining connection and addressing conflict. Through instruction, discussion, and practice, discover this potent and emotionally-intelligent language rooted in heart and conscience. For lovers, leaders, and cynics alike.
The Wim Hof Method & Becoming Human
With Daniel Cortez
May 17 - 22, 2019
Cortes Island
Tap into your primal nature and discover the healing power of breath, cold, movement, and ancestral health practices. Benefits include increased energy, reduced stress, better sleep, and practical takeaways for daily life. Cold exposures are gradual and accessible to all.
Core Matter: Yamuna® Body Rolling & Pilates Essentials
With Namchi Bazar
May 22 - 26, 2019
Cortes Island
Activate a sense of centered well-being with simple routines easily practiced at home. Learn exercises that gently massage and adjust the whole body - inviting strength, release, and rejuvenation. Let go of unproductive movement patterns and heal injury. Namchi Bazar developed her unique somatic approach with 30+ years as a Yamuna® Body Rolling Practitioner, Pilates instructor, professional dancer, and mother of three.
Watercolour as a Path to Awareness
With David McEown
May 22 - 26, 2019
Cortes Island
Explore watercolour’s magical, flowing, spontaneity and learn essential techniques, as you paint directly from nature. Enhance your perception and connection to the earth with this travel-friendly medium. All levels welcome. David McEown has been using watercolour paint to explore earthʼs disappearing wilderness areas for 25+ years.
Activate: digital leadership
With Hollyhock Leadership Institute
May 26 - 30, 2019
Cortes Island
Join the sharpest digital minds from political and advocacy campaigns, creative agencies, and progressive causes, for four days of hard-skills training in digital tactics and leadership. Gain clarity on how to intelligently activate your organization from the inside, and crack the code to engaging your target audience to win campaigns, raise money, and hit your goals.
The Landscape of Expressive Arts
With Kathleen Horne and Tamara Teeter Knapp
May 31 - June 5, 2019
Cortes Island
Tune in to the natural rhythms of Cortes Island while exploring your own inner landscape with visual art, guided meditation, movement, writing, and sound. Attune to yourself and discover new possibilities for your life.
Fundraising from the Heart
With Lynne Twist and Sara Vetter
May 31 - June 4, 2019
Cortes Island
Examine and challenge your preconceptions around asking for money and transform your relationship with financial success. Discover breakthrough strategies to achieve extraordinary results with greater confidence, efficacy, and authenticity.
Fostering Resilience for Health Professionals
With Mark Lau, PhD and Andrea Grabovac, MD
May 31 - June 5, 2019
Cortes Island
Revitalize, restore, and build resilience during this Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) meditation retreat for physicians, health professionals, and their partners. This retreat includes teacher-guided mindfulness practice and discussion, with a focus on meditation technique. Drs. Lau and Grabovac, MBCT mentors with the UCSD Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute, also offer a 5-day MBCT Professional Training at Hollyhock, October 7-12.
Run for Office
With Hollyhock Leadership Institute
June 5 - 9, 2019
Cortes Island
Have you ever thought of running for office? Have you wondered what it takes? What it might mean for you? Run for Office will bring people from across Canada together for four days to learn how to build an effective campaign and explore the realities of supporting, running, and holding public office as people from communities who have been traditionally excluded from electoral politics. Join a group of progressives with an interest in running for office at all levels of government in Canada. Gain practical campaign skills, refine personal narratives, discover the personal and emotional realities of being or supporting…
IndigenEYEZ
With Kim Haxton
June 5 - 9, 2019
Cortes Island
IndigenEYEZ is about personal and cultural transformation. Strengthen your leadership skills through connection to self, others, land, and culture. This arts & land-based learning brings the wisdom of our Ancestors to this time of high need. Open to Indigenous and non-Indigenous people of all ages.
Advanced Group Facilitation
With Julian Griggs and Michelle LeBaron
June 5 - 9, 2019
Cortes Island
Learn to unleash the full potential of groups in this advanced training. Drawing from the latest in theory and practice, discover how to engage effectively across lines of cultural difference and move past impasse using creative methods. For experienced collaboration practitioners.
Creating a Climate for Change: Advocacy Training
With Clayton Thomas-Müller, Tzeporah Berman, Cara Pike and Hollyhock Leadership Institute
June 9 - 14, 2019
Cortes Island
A skills training and networking opportunity designed for people advocating for a safe and just climate future. Connect to a community of practice and learn successful campaigning strategies, while immersing in nature, practicing self-care, and nurturing community resilience. Scholarships available and prioritized for Indigenous applicants and grassroots organizers. -- Tzeporah Berman, author of This Crazy Time, has been designing and winning environmental campaigns in Canada and internationally for 25 years. Clayton Thomas-Müller (Pukatawagan Cree) is an organizer, facilitator and author on Indigenous rights and environmental and economic justice. Cara Pike is Executive Director of Climate Access and CEO of Social…
A Training in Lateral Liberation
With Kim Haxton and Kris Archie
June 9 - 14, 2019
Cortes Island
Explore Indigenous concepts of land, place, and decolonization. Learn about decolonial practices (language, art, economics, gender) and the embodied knowledge of Indigenous peoples. Deconstruct what is considered valid “knowing,” so we can laterally liberate consciousness together.
Morning Altars: Impermanent Earth Art
With Day Schildkret
June 14 - 19, 2019
Cortes Island
Slow down, open to wonder, and listen to the language of the land. Explore the natural beauty of Cortes Island and create meaningful and mesmerizing land-based mandalas. Use this artistic practice to connect to your inner child, the timelessness of nature, and the wisdom of impermanence.
Summer Solstice: Yoga, Ritual, Meditation
With Mara Branscombe
June 14 - 19, 2019
Cortes Island
Summer solstice honours the earth’s most dynamic time of expansion, growth, and abundance. Join the celebration with the art of breath, the healing of yoga, mindful meditation, and shamanic practices. Luminously integrate heart, body, and mind.
Media That Matters: The Nature of Media
With Hollyhock Leadership Institute, Bill Weaver, Nettie Wild, Emilee Gilpin and Greg Coyes
June 19 - 23, 2019
Cortes Island
Book now and get 15% off accommodation and meals. Offer valid until Apr 30, 2019.
In an era of divisiveness and disconnection, our relationship to media and technology must evolve. Join a collaborative community of professional and non-professional artists and media makers who want to explore new world views and create flow states that support reflection, dialogue, and a deeper relationship with nature.
Finding Flow: Yoga, Dance, Pilates
With Loretta Laurin
June 23 - 28, 2019
Cortes Island
Maintain health, fitness, and joy at any age! Enjoy accessible dynamic movement and foundational practices from yoga, dance, and pilates. Lubricate the joints, liberate the spirit, and invite more ease and flow into your life.
Radical Dharma: The Conversation
With Reverend angel Kyodo williams
June 23 - 28, 2019
Cortes Island
Reimagine a path of healing and manifest true justice with radical dharma, or complete truth. Navigate grief, apathy, alienation, and burnout while engaging in bold, inclusive conversation. Empower yourself to dismantle racial injustice and advance our collective awakening. Anyone wanting to deconstruct rather than amplify systems of suffering is welcome.
Going Under the Words: Writing Fiction & Memoir
With Shaena Lambert
June 23 - 28, 2019
Cortes Island
Creating fiction and memoir is part craft, part mystery. Discover ways to shuck the skin of your words, to find the beating heart. Connect with your voice, and wind drama and action into your writing’s DNA. Experience the creative thrill of going deeper.
Sea Kayaking Adventures Aboard Misty Isles
With Michael Moore
June 28 - July 3, 2019
Cortes Island
Learn to kayak safely and comfortably as you explore this place of exquisite natural beauty. Captain Mike’s 43-foot schooner takes you to a new destination each day to discover pristine scenery, fascinating wildlife, and remarkable local history. No experience required, everyone welcome. Limit of 12 participants.
Science to Source: Mantras & Chanting
With Pat Moffitt Cook, PhD
June 28 - July 2, 2019
Cortes Island
For centuries, civilizations have used mantra, chant, and melodic song to connect with nature and a “Divine Source”. Vedicism is one of the earliest practices to use the science of mantric language and sacred chant for healing and spiritual self-inquiry. Learn, listen, and practice this living, healing art of auditory stimulation.
Holy Sh*t: Writing the Sacred & Profane
With Ann Randolph
June 28 - July 3, 2019
Cortes Island
No mud, no lotus. Mine the mud of your life journey to uncover the lotus of your unique, powerful story. Profound transformation occurs when you write and speak aloud both the sacred and the profane, the joy and the suffering. Speak your truth on the page, stage, and in life.
Mindful Self-Compassion
With Megan Prager and Martin Thomson-Jones, PhD
June 28 - July 3, 2019
Cortes Island
Cultivate the skill of self-compassion in this empirically supported training program. Self-compassion is strongly associated with greater emotional well-being, less anxiety and depression, maintenance of healthy habits, and satisfying relationships.
Earth Mate, Soul Mate
With Alina Frank & Dr. Craig Weiner
July 3 - 7, 2019
Cortes Island
Find the “one” -- a life partner and best friend, pre-destined for you. Learn powerful steps to design, attract and keep your "happily ever after" in this first, behavioural program of its kind. With 16 years of success, this program is for people looking for monogamous, lifelong romantic partners. -- Alina Frank & Craig Weiner are the happily married founders of LearningtoFindLove.com.
Improv for Life
With Joshua Townshend-Zellner
July 3 - 7, 2019
Cortes Island
Tap into your most powerful thoughts, feelings, and desires in magnificent, dazzling, and unexpected ways. Learn to notice what you don’t notice. Gather insights and tools from improv theatre, writing prompts, creative games, and deep sharing - and apply them to all aspects of your life. Everyone welcome.
Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Creative Spirit Within
With Kenny Werner
July 3 - 7, 2019
Cortes Island
Are you ready to liberate the “master creator” within? Learn how to enter “the space” - a realm of effortless thinking, inspiration, and freedom, where creativity and confidence arise naturally. For anyone who seeks joy and mastery in ANY aspect of their life. Musicians and non-musicians welcome.
The Art of Stillness (Vancouver)
With Pico Iyer
July 6, 2019
Centre for Peace, Great Hall
As the world accelerates to a post-human pace, how can we preserve our humanity, our sanity, our contact with everything essential? Reclaim life’s hidden luxuries, spaciousness, intimacy, and attention through stories, statistics, and specific daily practices. This program includes a keynote and a workshop on stillness. Pico Iyer is the best-selling author of a dozen books, including The Art of Stillness—the second book
Discover Cortes: Nature Adventures
With Bill Ophoff
July 7 - 12, 2019
Cortes Island
With birds and wildflowers at their vibrant peak, explore Cortes Island’s magnificent rainforest and teeming waters. Learn about the stars, the sea stars, and everything in between on this adventure of inspiring hikes, kayaking, beach walks, and a sailing excursion to Mitlenatch Island – the “Galapagos” of the Georgia Strait. Limit of 12 participants.
Joy of Ukulele
With Kimo Hussey
July 7 - 12, 2019
Cortes Island
The ukulele is easy to learn, portable, and FUN to play. Kimo Hussey, Master Musician and Master Teacher, shares his blueprint to learning, playing, and enjoying this beautiful instrument for many years to come. All levels welcome.
Tantra for Couples: Cultivating Sacred Intimacy
With Devi Ward Erikson
July 12 - 16, 2019
Cortes Island
Tantra is an ancient spiritual science designed to activate, heal, and enrich every area of life. Learn practical and effective Tantric methods to cultivate a deeply sacred, utterly joyful, and profoundly pleasurable intimate connection - in and out of the bedroom.
Radical Aliveness
With Jody Holmes, PhD and Jonathan Godfrey
July 12 - 17, 2019
Cortes Island
Become RADICALLY ALIVE: present, whole, authentic, spontaneous. Through powerful group and individual healing processes, connect to your truth and strength, and allow your full potential to emerge. Live the life you long for. Continuing Education credits available.
Dance of Oneness®: Stella Maris
With Banafsheh Sayyad
July 14 - 18, 2019
Cortes Island
Explore the mysteries of Stella Maris through guided and free-style dance, whirling, Sufi poetry, chanting, yoga, meditation, wisdom teachings, deep silence, a sharing circle and lots of laughter. Dive into the sea of love as we dance in-doors, at the edge of the sea and in the sea.
Council of Waters and Trees
With Amos Clifford and Christy Thomson
July 17 - 21, 2019
Cortes Island
Sink deeply into the medicine of the forest. Combining Forest Therapy (Shinrin-Yoku) and the Way of Council, embark on a healing encounter with the more-than-human world, and gain skills for council leadership.
Music for Collective Sound
With Morley and Sheila Wahsquonaikezhik
July 17 - 21, 2019
Cortes Island
Celebrate the power of our shared humanity: our racial, cultural, and religious diversity, and our interdependence with nature. Explore self-expression with music, songwriting, storytelling, meditation, yoga, and vocal release.
The Future of Children
With Phillip Moore
July 17 - 21, 2019
Cortes Island
Experience the new educational paradigm. Re-wire your brain to the domain of possibilities by embracing all methods of learning. Connect with nature through a set of experiences that awaken new ways of teaching and exploring through play, imagination, songs, stories, and expanded consciousness.
Aung Medical Qi Gong
With Dr. Steven K.H. Aung, CM, MD, OMD, PhD
July 18 - 21, 2019
Cortes Island
Realign vital energies with this ancient Chinese wellness practice of breath work, concentration, and movement. Learn hands-on how to intuit, assess, harmonize, and heal vital Qi for yourself and loved ones. -- Dr. Steven K.H. Aung, MD is a Clinical Professor of Medicine and Family Medicine at the University of Alberta and a recipient of the Order of Canada.
Summer Gathering: Navigating the Tides of Change
With Rick Ingrasci & Peggy Taylor
July 21 - 26, 2019
Cortes Island
Book now and get 15% off accommodation and meals! Offer valid until May 17, 2019.
If you want to create a new culture, throw a better party! Join a diverse group of multigenerational change makers for some serious fun. Share your gifts and projects, and learn about local solutions catalyzing wide scale social change. -- Rick Ingrasci, MD, MPH, is a social entrepreneur and coach to NGO leaders. Peggy Taylor, M.Ed., is a master facilitator and co-founder of Partners for Youth Empowerment.
The Mystery of the Soul
With Margie Gillis and Thomas Atum O'Kane, PhD
July 21 - 26, 2019
Cortes Island
The mystery of the soul can be embraced, experienced, danced, and explored, but never exhausted or diminished. Reclaim and celebrate the mystery of your soul with dance and spiritual teachings.
Time of Transition
With Thomas Atum O'Kane, PhD
July 26 - 31, 2019
Cortes Island
Life changes are times of passion and opportunity. Working with teachings from Jungian psychology and various spiritual traditions, detach and break free from old roles and expectations. Ritual, reflection, and wisdom guide your journey and passage toward your new sense of self. Thomas Atum O’Kane, PhD, holds a doctorate degree in transpersonal psychology and is a former senior teacher in the Sufi Order International. atumokane.com
Dancing from the Inside Out
With Margie Gillis
July 26 - 31, 2019
Cortes Island
Move into your body’s experiential wisdom to reveal the soul in motion. Listen to your body’s inner impulses, conversations, and emotions to deepen your well-being along with your artistic and creative expression. An exceptional opportunity. All levels welcome. -- Margie Gillis is an internationally acclaimed dancer/choreographer, performing for 40+ years, and is an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Healing Family & Ancestors: Ritual and Resonance
With Jill Purce
July 26 - 31, 2019
Cortes Island
Transform inherited patterns into magical blessings. Jill’s unique ceremonial, shamanic healing rites, using chant and family constellations, restore coherence within family fields in oracular ways, unavailable in normal therapy. Excluded relations are reintegrated as powerful allies. Relatives do not need to be living. Individuals and families welcome. Renowned internationally, author Jill Purce pioneered both the sound and ancestral healing movements. healingvoice.com
Science & Spiritual Practices
With Rupert Sheldrake, Merlin Sheldrake and Cosmo Sheldrake
July 31 - August 4, 2019
Cortes Island
Science sheds new light on many spiritual practices, including rituals, pilgrimage, meditation, chanting, and rites of passage. Explore spiritual traditions and reconnect with the natural world through singing, listening, looking, telling stories, thinking, and having fun. Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, biologist and author, is joined by sons Merlin, PhD, and Cosmo. Full bios online. sheldrake.org
SUP Yoga: Breathe, Stretch, Float
With Jen Craig-Evans
July 31 - August 4, 2019
Cortes Island
Experience the magical combination of stand up paddleboarding (SUP) and yoga. Move fluidly with the ocean beneath you and feel the invigorating saltwater breeze on your skin. Guided forest meditation walks and SUP yoga evokes relaxation and empowers you to move naturally. Prepare to be humbled, and to laugh. A lot.
Founders + Friends
With Hollyhock Leadership Institute
August 1 - 4, 2019
Cortes Island
Gather with Hollyhock Founders + Friends for a few wondrous summer days on the shores of Cortes Island. Celebrate Hollyhock’s history of inspiring, catalyzing, and training changemakers. Learn about our history, current activities, and future; in a relaxed mix of culture, conversation, and scrumptious meals. Enjoy the company of great people, bask in the beauty of this special place, and help envision Hollyhock’s next chapter.
The Art of Leadership
With Robert Gass
August 4 - 9, 2019
Cortes Island
This dynamic, internationally acclaimed program is for leaders actively engaged in making a difference in the world. Through this powerful transformational training, learn to empower and engage others in effective action to broaden the impact of your work. -- Dr. Robert Gass, co-founder of Rockwood Leadership, is a globally-renowned coach to top non-profit, business, and political leaders.
From Point-and-Shoot to Brilliant Photography
With Dr. Charles Steinberg
August 4 - 9, 2019
Cortes Island
Master the magic of light, composition techniques, and visual storytelling. Make quantum leaps in skill and creativity with a fun, supportive group of new and experienced photographers. All equipment and devices welcome, including smartphones. -- Charles Steinberg is a published photographer with several beautiful books.
Reel Youth Inter-Generational Film Project
With Mark Vonesch and Tiffany Moses
August 9 - 14, 2019
Cortes Island
Co-create and inspire meaningful intergenerational connections through film production! Sign up as a youth/elder pair, or individually. Be featured in a film and/or learn the art of documentary filmmaking and create a short film that celebrates the life and wisdom of an older participant.
Song of the Drum, Dance of Life
With Gordy Ryan and Zoë Ryan
August 9 - 14, 2019
Cortes Island
Activate the fire in your hands, the heat in your feet, and the love in your heart. Sing, dance, and play with drum masters, in a soulful journey to the well of inspiration and creativity. Everyone welcome. -- Gordy Onayemi Ryan, Zoë Ryan, Sanga Francis, Ade Harris - the core of the Olatunji Drums of Passion - performed with Babatunde Olatunji.
Falling Awake: The Ecology of Wonder
With David Abram
August 9 - 14, 2019
Cortes Island
Awaken your animal intelligence, shake your senses free from outmoded concepts and invigorate your felt experience. Through elemental encounters with the land, creaturely shapeshifting, and heartfelt conversation, open a new relationship between your body and the breathing earth. -- David Abram, cultural ecologist and geophilosopher, is author of The Spell of the Sensuous and Becoming Animal.
Deep Noticing for Distracted Writers
With Sarah Selecky
August 9 - 14, 2019
Cortes Island
Writers will learn how to drop into a state of wordless receptivity, and bring presence into language and story. The writing will be generative and unexpected; participants will experience ripples of insight and a renewed love for their craft.
Sharing the Path: For Couples
With Judith Ansara & Robert Gass
August 14 - 19, 2019
Cortes Island
Rediscover and deepen the joy, intimacy, and renewed aliveness of your loving partnership. Break free from negative patterns while learning practices of authenticity, self-responsibility, empathy, deep listening, problem solving, and sacred sexuality. Enjoy a deeply connecting time together and take home profound tools to support your life as a couple.
Running with Balance, Mindfulness & Strength
With Marilyn Arsenault and Lindsay Lynk
August 14 - 19, 2019
Cortes Island
Purposeful running and breathing eases the mind and body. Learn to balance mobility and stability in the body, while minimizing injury. Enjoy functional daily movement practices, creative running techniques, and meditative trail running. No experience required.
Art Inspired by Ancient Alphabets
With Saki Mafundikwa
August 14 - 19, 2019
Cortes Island
Since the dawn of humanity, along with the need for food, clothes and shelter, the urge to communicate has been encoded into our DNA. Learn about all the known scripts of the world, and unpack them as inspiration to creating art and design.
Writing to Awaken: Memoir as a Path of Transformation
With Mark Matousek
August 23 - 28, 2019
Cortes Island
Memoir is a path of self-knowledge. Learn to tell the whole truth and your essential stories will emerge, bringing insight and transpersonal wisdom. Writing exercises and group dialogue guide you toward creative discovery, increased mindfulness, and better composition. Everyone welcome.
Forest to Sea: Earth Based Medicine
With Yarrow Willard
August 23 - 27, 2019
Cortes Island
Awaken the herbalist within and deepen your connection to the healing power of the natural world. Learn to recognize health and disease, stagnation, and flow as you sharpen your senses and build relationships with the medicinal plants, mushrooms, and seaweeds of the west coast.
The Art of Spiritual Guidance (2 year program)
With Thomas Atum O'Kane, PhD
August 23 - 28, 2019
Cortes Island
A Two-Year Training Program. Spiritual Guidance is an art, a gift and a calling that has been long practiced in contemplative traditions to support spiritual development and personal transformation. This in-depth training takes an interfaith approach while encompassing insights from transpersonal and Jungian psychology. -- Thomas Atum O’Kane, PhD, holds a doctorate degree in transpersonal psychology and is a former senior teacher in the Sufi Order International.
Podcasting: The Story from Hear
With Jennifer Moss and Jenni Schine
August 28 - September 1, 2019
Cortes Island
Tune into the power of sound, listening, and community storytelling. Attentive sound-walks, story creation guidance, and technical skills for podcast production, advance your acoustic projects within a supportive, group environment.
Come of Age: Meditations from the World Tree, Withered
With Stephen Jenkinson
August 28 - September 1, 2019
Cortes Island
Contemplative sorrow: the kind that is courageous and willing to learn the trouble of its time in a way that principled anxiety is not. We might yet craft an eloquence that serves the terrible beauty we are about to bequeath to the young. For elders in training, young and old.
Into the Heart: A Nature Retreat with Horses
With Oriane Lee Johnston
September 1 - 4, 2019
Cortes Island
Being in the presence of horses rebalances us by bringing the energy fields of our hearts and brains into a state of coherence. Experience guided body meditations in the field, and enjoy up-close connection and joyful play with horses. Everyone welcome. Limit of 12 participants.
Garden to Table: Cooking & Mindful Movement
With Rebeka Carpenter
September 1 - 6, 2019
Cortes Island
Cultivate a nourishing experience with Hollyhock chefs, gardeners, and yoga teachers. Enjoy hands-on culinary play inspired by the harvests of the garden, and refresh with gentle yoga and mindful movement. A rare opportunity to discover the process from garden to table, and to create some of Hollyhock’s extraordinary vegetarian dishes!
Climate Hope: Tools for Thriving in the Climate Era
With Hollyhock Leadership Institute
September 1 - 6, 2019
Cortes Island
In these times of growing uncertainty, climate change, and social upheaval, it can be difficult to hold our centre and maintain hope. Explore tools to strengthen your capacity for cultivating joy, acceptance, and collective action. Foster the personal and community resilience needed to face these unprecedented times, boldly and creatively.
The Naked Voice Wisdom School
With Chloe Goodchild
September 1 - 6, 2019
Cortes Island
Your authentic voice is your soul’s most intimate friend. Learn sound mantras, sonic codes, and deep-inquiry practices to access the unconditional loving presence within you. Release inhibition and allow self-remembrance to arise. Everyone welcome. -- Chloë Goodchild is a sound visionary, subtle activist, spiritual teacher, and author.
New Universal Gathering
With Akaya Windwood
September 6 - 11, 2019
Cortes Island
Cultivate and affirm leadership practices that grow other thriving leaders, rather than prioritize the development of single leaders or organizations. Envision a series of vibrant and emergent meeting, sharing, teaching, and learning spaces that center the wisdom of brown women, and in doing so, include all humans. By application.
Create to Liberate
With Khari McClelland and Rebekka Goldsmith
September 6 - 11, 2019
Cortes Island
Explore music, visual art, writing, movement, and imaginative play for self-development or for working with groups. Expand your individual and collective creativity to live a more meaningful, joyful and connected life.
Whole Human Health: Functional Medicine 2.0
With Dr. Lawrence Cheng and Dr. Devon Christie
September 6 - 11, 2019
Cortes Island
Embody your well-being potential! Create your own personalized optimal wellness plan for lasting health and happiness informed by a synthesis of integrative and functional medicine, mind-body medicine, and leading-edge neurobiology.
Your Soul’s Plan: Awakening to Your Life Purpose (Vancouver)
With Robert Schwartz
September 7 - 8, 2019
The Post at 750
What soul plan did you make before you were born? What circumstances and relationships did you choose and why? Find the answers in a “Between Lives Soul Regression,” along with insight, healing, and a greater capacity for joy. Recognize life’s challenges as the great teachers and healers your soul intended them to be. Robert Schwartz is an international speaker and author of Your Soulʼs Plan and Your Soulʼs Gift. yoursoulsplan.com
Social Venture Institute Hollyhock
With Hollyhock Leadership Institute
September 11 - 15, 2019
Cortes Island
Join entrepreneurs and leaders working in social ventures at our breathtaking Cortes campus. Connect with peers and build skills that will equip you to face the day-to-day challenges of running a socially conscious enterprise. From case studies to topical workshops to peer learning circles, SVI provides a confidential setting to support the growth of your business and mission. Designed for leaders of established business and non-profit enterprises. Pre-approval required.
From Age-ing to Sage-ing®: A New Paradigm for Growing Older
With Annie Klein and Nancy Gray-Hemstock
September 15 - 19, 2019
Cortes Island
Enhance and embrace the aging process with self-discovery and spiritual unfolding. Transform your life and imbue the next chapter with meaning, connection, service, and joy!
The Gift of Ground: A Yoga & Nature Immersion
With David Procyshyn and Fiji McAlpine
September 15 - 20, 2019
Cortes Island
Find your ground – physically and mentally – through the practice of yoga, pranayama (breathwork), meditation, and guided nature immersions. Learn to source the stability, energy, and harmony of the earth to discover a newfound lightness in your practice and in your life.
Seriously Funny: In Writing, In Life
With Janelle Hanchett and Lisa Page Rosenberg
September 15 - 20, 2019
Cortes Island
Humourless writing is dead writing. Learn how to incorporate humour into your own work as we celebrate the comedic in art: literature, film, theatre, and even political analyses. Infuse your narratives with humour, even in the most difficult of subject matter.
Your Money or Your Life
With Vicki Robin
September 20 - 25, 2019
Cortes Island
Put money in service to your values rather than your life in service to money. Develop a clear-eyed, compassionate, and systematic way to see and transform your beliefs and behaviors. Save more, spend less, and flatten debt. Expect lecture, games, conversations, journaling, and even laughter.
Move Without Pain: Essential Somatics
With Martha Peterson
September 20 - 25, 2019
Cortes Island
Learn to use your brain to reprogram your muscles and defy creaky old age. Create a routine of easy, safe and essential somatic movements to eliminate chronic pain and keep you moving fluidly and effortlessly throughout your life. -- Martha Peterson, CHSE, CMT, author of Move Without Pain, “tried everything” for chronic pain before finding Hanna Somatics.
Shifting Tides: Autumn Equinox Yoga
With Natalie Rousseau
September 25 - 29, 2019
Cortes Island
Gather together in honour of shifting tides, the autumn equinox, and our movement towards the dark season of the year. Explore yogic wisdom practices and teachings to gracefully transition from summer to fall, with an emphasis on personal ritual and true self care.
Painting & Drawing: Transforming the Ordinary
With Lori Goldberg
September 25 - 29, 2019
Cortes Island
Set your creativity free. Connect with your intuition and unique visual intelligence, while building skills in the techniques of drawing and painting. This insightful hands-on program is a playful exploration into self expression and awareness. All levels welcome.
Embody Your Leadership through Conscious Movement
With Bettina Rothe
September 25 - 29, 2019
Cortes Island
Lead your life with conscious embodiment. Become more resilient, present, and confident through body-based leadership principles, 5Rhythms® movement, and Japanese wooden sword practices.
Fireworks Factory: Camp David for Marketers
With Darren Barefoot & Julie Szabo
September 29 - October 3, 2019
Cortes Island
Book now and get 10% off accommodation and meals. Offer valid until May 30, 2019.
Fireworks Factory is unlike any marketing and communications conference you’ve been to before. It’s an intimate, four-night retreat where big ideas like trend spotting, neuromarketing, and campaign ideation will change the way you think about marketing and impact the way your organization communicates with the world. It’s also where you’ll meet thought partners, co-conspirators, and even friends.
Envisioning Peace: Foundational Practices
With Farah Nazarali
September 29 - October 3, 2019
Cortes Island
Bridge the inner practices of yoga, Buddhism, and meditation with the outer relational skills of nonviolent communication and conflict resolution. Use body, mind, and speech to envision peace, communicate with courage, and contribute to a fair and just future for all.
Living Awake: Grief, Grace & Gratitude
With Lilli Ruth Rosenberg and Katheryn Trenshaw
September 29 - October 3, 2019
Cortes Island
Now is the time to live your most radiant life from a place of resilient well-being. Experience and learn how surrendering into life’s rising and falling cultivates essential happiness and true freedom.
Mandalas: Art as a Spiritual Path
With Paul Heussenstamm
September 29 - October 3, 2019
Cortes Island
The practice of painting sacred art and mandalas is healing, meditative, spiritual, and joyful. Reveal the deep inner patterns that connect you to your soul and transform your everyday consciousness into the artist within. No experience required. -- Paul Heussenstamm is a fourth generation artist, well-known teacher, and creator of more than 2,000 unique spiritual paintings.
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) Levels 1-2 (Vancouver)
With Alina Frank & Dr. Craig Weiner
October 4 - 6, 2019
Blue Horizon Hotel, Baker+Arrowsmith Rooms (31st floor)
Learn powerful evidence-based Clinical EFT tapping techniques to quickly and effectively create changes in negative emotions, thoughts, beliefs, and behaviours. This training is for individuals looking to use EFT for self-help, and to integrate it safely into professional client-based practices. -- Alina Frank & Dr. Craig Weiner, DC, are internationally respected EFT trainers and directors of the EFT Tapping Training Institute.
Flying SOULO: Your Story on Stage
With Tracey Erin Smith
October 7 - 12, 2019
Transform your life’s stories into a Solo Theatre Show or Keynote. Through improvisation, writing exercises, and one-on-one coaching, uncover the stories that need to be told and reveal your truth in a powerful and entertaining show.
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT): 5-Day Professional Training
With Mark Lau, PhD and Andrea Grabovac, MD
October 7 - 12, 2019
Take your next step on the transformative journey to becoming an MBCT teacher. MBCT is an empirically validated group program designed to prevent depressive relapse. For mental health professionals. Pre-approval required. Drs. Lau and Grabovac, MBCT mentors with the UCSD Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute, also offer an MBCT Retreat for Health Professionals at Hollyhock, May 31-June 5.
Meditation & Internal Arts: Balancing Movement and Stillness
With Dr. Mark Sherman and Paul Bromley
October 12 - 17, 2019
Cortes Island
Open your body and relax your mind. Chinese Internal Arts such as Tai Chi, Qi Gong, and Bagua offer insight into the subtle energies of the human body. Interweave these practices with mindfulness and meditation to reawaken your capacity for healing and presence.
Mindfulness Meditation
With Robert Beatty
October 12 - 17, 2019
Cortes Island
Wake up from the trance of everyday life. You are not your moods, anxiety, compulsions, past wounds, or addictions. Awaken to the freedom, love, compassion, and joy that is your natural state. This program is held in silence (except sessions) — common areas on campus are shared spaces. -- Robert Beatty MES, MSW, is a Buddhist meditation teacher of 35+ years.
The Joy of Missing Out: Finding Balance in a Wired World
With Christina Crook
October 17 - 21, 2019
Cortes Island
Recover rest, identify your values, and master focal practices that will empower you to embrace the joy of missing out and find balance in a wired world.
Wild Mushrooms & the Mycology of Consciousness
With Paul Stamets, D.Sc (Hon.)
October 17 - 21, 2019
Cortes Island
Save the world, one mushroom at a time. Fungi offer powerful, practical solutions to enhance both human and ecosystem health. Roam the wilds of Cortes Island and learn mushroom identification, easy-to-grow cultivation methods, as well as various culinary and medicinal applications. -- Paul Stamets, D.Sc., is a renowned, award-winning mycologist. The Star Trek Discovery series recently named a character - Astromycologist Starfleet Lt. Commander Stamets - in his honour.
Alchemy of Group Facilitation (Vancouver – November)
With Julian Griggs
November 18 - 20, 2019
Blue Horizon Hotel
Finding meaningful and enduring solutions to real-life problems requires engagement with multiple interests across many lines of difference. Learn to empower groups with divergent perspectives to resolve conflicts, find creative solutions, and function at their full potential. Julian Griggs is an internationally-certified facilitator with 25+ years of experience. dovetailconsulting.com
Hello Again: A Fresh Start for Parents & Their Adult Children (Vancouver)
With Dr. Gabor Maté and Daniel Maté
November 22 - 24, 2019
Venue TBA
Explore what it takes to outgrow and transform old dynamics in parent/adult-child relationships. Clear the way for a new relationship grounded in authenticity and mutual compassion, unencumbered by what came before. -- Dr. Gabor Maté is the author of 4 bestselling books published in 25 languages, including In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, and recipient of the Order of Canada. Daniel Maté is an award-winning theatre composer and lyricist who also runs a popular "mental chiropractic" service.