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.
Resident Service Program
Package Dates
Cortes Island
Applications will be opened for the 2020 season in January. It was amazing, like coming to paradise to stay for a month. Time flew by so fast, I cannot believe it is already time to pack up and return back to city civilization. - Delta, 2019 Support our Cortes campus and get an intimate behind-the-scenes Hollyhock experience in our month-long residential program. 30 scheduled hours per week of work service in all departments, including experience in kitchen, housekeeping, garden, hosting, maintenance, and production. 4 hours/week of facilitated connection circles, dedicated yoga, island adventures, and guided nature immersion Hollyhock amenities and activities, including ocean-view…
Hello Again: A Fresh Start for Parents & Their Adult Children (Vancouver)
With Dr. Gabor Maté and Daniel Maté
November 22 - 24, 2019
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.
Metta Vipassana: Awareness as a Path to Liberation
With Michele McDonald and Steven Smith
April 22 - May 6, 2020
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.
Wim Hof Method, Breathwork & Your True Nature
With Cian Dalton
May 6 - 10, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 15% off listed prices. Offer valid until Mar 31, 2020.
Optimize your health with oxygen and cold exposure, reducing inflammation and strengthening your immune system. Learn practical tools to overcome stress, and develop a deeper connection to yourself and nature.
What Ails Thee? Myth, Fairy Tales & The Post-Heroic Journey
With Sharon Blackie, PhD
May 6 - 10, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 15% off listed prices. Offer valid until Mar 31, 2020.
From finding treasures to defeating our enemies, the guiding mythology of the West is intensely individualistic and goal-oriented. What might a post-heroic mythology look like instead? Explore rich folkloric stories that remind us of all the secrets for a deeply meaningful and sustainable life.
Watercolour as a Path to Awareness
With David McEown
May 6 - 10, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 15% off listed prices. Offer valid until Mar 31, 2020.
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.
Dancing Into Wholeness
With Bettina Rothe
May 15 - 20, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 15% off listed prices. Offer valid until Mar 31, 2020.
Lead your life with conscious embodiment. Become more resilient, present, and confident through body-based leadership principles, 5Rhythms® movement, and Japanese wooden sword practices.
Mindful Self-Compassion
With Megan Prager and Martin Thomson-Jones, PhD
May 24 - 29, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 15% off listed prices. Offer valid until Mar 31, 2020.
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.
Sea Kayaking Adventures Aboard Misty Isles
With Jonas Fineman and Kai Harvey
May 29 - June 3, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 15% off listed prices. Offer valid until Mar 31, 2020.
Learn to kayak on the pristine and protected waters around Cortes Island, from the comfort of the 43 foot Schooner, Misty Isles. Certified local guides share their knowledge and passion for the coast. All levels of experience welcome. Limited to 12 participants. Jonas Fineman is the seasoned sea captain and owner of Misty Isles. Kai Harvey is a wilderness guide and owner of Cortes Kayaks. They will also be offering this program on Sept 11-16. mistyislesadventures.com
Core Matter: Yamuna® Body Rolling & Pilates Essentials
With Namchi Bazar
May 29 - June 3, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 15% off listed prices. Offer valid until Mar 31, 2020.
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.
Radical Dharma: The Conversation
With Reverend angel Kyodo williams
June 12 - 17, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 10% off listed prices. Offer valid until Jan 31, 2020.
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.
A Training in Lateral Liberation
With Kim Haxton and Kris Archie
June 12 - 17, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 10% off listed prices. Offer valid until Jan 31, 2020.
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.
Going Under the Words: Writing Fiction & Memoir
With Shaena Lambert
June 12 - 17, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 10% off room and meals! Offer valid until Jan 31, 2020.
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.
Radical Dharma Camp
With Reverend angel Kyodo williams and Suzanne Hawkes
June 17 - 21, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 10% off listed prices. Offer valid until Jan 31, 2020.
Gather with people who are already committed to racial justice and anti-oppression. Dive deeper into approaches that confront the intersections of dominance and isolation that keep us from personal and collective liberation. Learn effective tools to challenge the systemic suffering within all of us; practicing wonder, vulnerability, accountability, and love. Reverend angel Kyodo williams is an ordained Zen priest, founder of the Center for Transformative Change, and author of Radical Dharma. Suzanne Hawkes is a facilitator, leadership trainer, and organizational development consultant focused on equitable systems change.
Summer Solstice: Yoga, Ritual, Meditation
With Mara Branscombe
June 17 - 21, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 10% off listed prices. Offer valid until Jan 31, 2020.
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.
Tantra for Couples: Cultivating Sacred Intimacy
With Devi Ward Erikson and Chris Erickson, PhD
June 29 - July 3, 2020
Book now and get 10% off listed prices. Offer valid until Jan 31, 2020.
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.
Discover Cortes: Nature Adventures
With Bill Ophoff
July 3 - 8, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 10% off listed prices. Offer valid until Jan 31, 2020.
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.
Eat Real to Heal: Boost Immunity & Reverse Chronic Disease
With Nicolette Richer
July 8 - 12, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 10% off listed prices. Offer valid until Jan 31, 2020.
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.
IndigenEYEZ: Leadership Essentials
With Kim Haxton
July 12 - 16, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 10% off listed prices. Offer valid until Jan 31, 2020.
This leadership training invites you to personally experience and practice change. Strengthen your capacity for healthier relationships; reclaiming your innate power and agency. Learn to create culturally safe spaces for community building that support movement towards positive systemic change. Open to Indigenous and Non-Indigenous participants alike.
Aung Medical Qi Gong
With Dr. Steven K.H. Aung, CM, MD, OMD, PhD
July 16 - 19, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 10% off listed prices. Offer valid until Jan 31, 2020.
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.
The Mystery of the Soul
With Margie Gillis and Thomas Atum O'Kane, PhD
July 19 - 24, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 10% off listed prices. Offer valid until Jan 31, 2020.
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.
Summer Gathering: Navigating the Tides of Change
With Rick Ingrasci & Peggy Taylor
July 19 - 24, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 10% off accommodation and meals! Offer valid until Jan 31, 2020.
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.
Healing Family & Ancestors: Ritual and Resonant Family Constellations
With Jill Purce
July 24 - 29, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 10% off listed prices. Offer valid until Jan 31, 2020.
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.
Time of Transition
With Thomas Atum O'Kane, PhD
July 24 - 29, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 10% off listed prices. Offer valid until Jan 31, 2020.
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 24 - 29, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 10% off listed prices. Offer valid until Jan 31, 2020.
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.
Forest to Sea: Earth Based Medicine
With Yarrow Willard
September 1 - 6, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 10% off listed prices. Offer valid until Jan 31, 2020.
Awaken your inner herbalist and deepen your connection to the healing power of nature. Learn to create lasting health practices, make herbal medicines, and sharpen your senses as you build relationships with the plants, mushrooms, and seaweeds of the West Coast.
Beyond Interfaith: From Spiritual Misfits to Interconnected Communities
With Shahar Rabi, PhD
September 20 - 25, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 10% off listed prices. Offer valid until Jan 31, 2020.
Learn the tools and skills needed to establish trauma-informed methods of developing long-lasting and sustainable spiritual communities. Engage in meaningful dialogue about the future intersection of faith, psychology, and science. Bring home essential practices for today's diverse and complex world, and embody the heart of your contemplative life.
Peace, Poetry & Prayer
With Farah Nazarali
September 20 - 25, 2020
Book now and get 10% off listed prices. Offer valid until Jan 31, 2020.
Peace is at the core of our being. Peace visionaries know that bringing peace into the world involves courage, collective action, and renewal of the spirit. This program combines peace, poetry, yogic practices, and universal prayers and rituals to dedicate ourselves to inner harmony, family reconciliation, reverence for the Earth, and peace in our world.
Whole Human Health: Functional Medicine 2.0
With Dr. Lawrence Cheng and Dr. Devon Christie
September 30 - October 5, 2020
Cortes Island
Book now and get 10% off listed prices. Offer valid until Jan 31, 2020.
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. For anyone seeking an empowered approach to their own personal health.
Wild Mushrooms & the Mycology of Consciousness
With Paul Stamets, D.Sc (Hon.)
October 5 - 9, 2020
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.
Wild Mushrooms & the Mycology of Consciousness
With Paul Stamets, D.Sc (Hon.)
October 14 - 18, 2020
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 named a character - Astromycologist Starfleet Lt. Commander Stamets - in his honour.