Rest and Restoration for Earth Stewards Of Color

Song of the Spirit Institute and Ayeko Farm have partnered in their second year to bring the Reclaiming Alignment retreat back to Enumclaw, Washington. From October 3- 8th, 2023

30 Farmers, climate organizers, food justice workers, and those with a rich and dedicated relationship to nurturing the care of our planet were held in rest, restoration, and the chance to be resourced for the coming seasons of frontlining essential work.

To ensure the sustainability of this work and to take care of all those who contributed to making this retreat possible we need your help in raising $11,000 during this giving season.

Recap of Our Time Together

Joined by a stewardship and facilitation team of past participants and space holders, with some holding over 2 decades of experience, the community that gathered was held with great care, attention, integrity and collective wisdom.

Our time together included daily restorative and mindfulness meditation practices, workshops offering resources in herbalism, capoeira and ancestral culinary wisdom. We spent time together harvesting camomile, lying on our backs in the sun, singing to the salmon pushing against the stream in the river and laying down our grief on the mountains edge at Mona Tahoma (Mt. Rainer). We met ourselves, restored our ancestral connections to our beloved planet and found home in a community with one another.

In an article written by Cly Samson a farmer and organizer who attended this years retreat shared this beautiful re-account of their time on retreat.

"We all have a piece of the vision, we must come together to see the whole picture.

At our first opening circle, Deepa (Co-Steward of Ayeko Farm and Reclaiming Alignment) explained how amazing it is for all of us to simply be here. We come into our jobs/roles feeling hopeful to make change and transformation, but we get stuck in a loop of endless Zoom meetings, applying for the next grant, organizing the next big fundraiser, and so on. It is the non-profit industrial complex that stops us from doing what we actually are here to do. Deepa said, “We all have a piece of the vision, and it’s our intention to come together so we can see the whole picture”

So when we said yes to this retreat we were also saying yes to clarity, yes to resistance, and yes to evolving together.

Just imagine, if all of us, not just farmers, in the world had the opportunity to rest and have the space to breathe and reclaim alignment – the world would heal seven generations back and forward, no doubt. What would the bigger picture look like then? What beautiful possibilities can be imagined further when healing has already taken place?"

Contribution of Your Invaluable Support

Each retreat is an offering made with love, held by the care and generosity of our community. As the African proverb goes, If you want to go far, go TOGETHER.

Together please offer what you can to helping us reach and raise beyond our $11,000 goal completing our fundraising efforts for this years retreat.

Your funding will cover the financial reciprocity and compensation to the stewards, hosts, and holders of the October retreat.