All Programs
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Mindfulness

Spiritual Development

Relationships

Natural World

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.

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.

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 –…

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.