Fall Camp – Program – Center For A New Culture

PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS FOR FALL CAMP 2023

In order of appearance on the schedule.

* indicates that the workshop is highly recommended for all and required for new people.

NOTE: The organizers highly recommend the book Undefended Love, by Lyons & Psaris, as background reading for our collective journey into Love and Courage. You can purchase it here: https://www.undefendedlove.com/buy-the-book/. We will also have copies available at camp.

*Orientation & Opening Circle – Rebo – Friday 7:30-9:30pm

We’ll gather the energy for this event, open up our theme of exploring Love and Courage, and start getting to know each other. There will be a mix of paired, small-group, and whole-group activities to help us get curious about each other and share how we experience love and courage. Everyone is welcome to participate in the way that works for them, either by joining in or by observing. We’ll also learn essential details about our schedule, spaces, and guidelines.

Making Music & Cuddles – Friday 9:30-11pm

After the Opening Circle, everyone is free to chill, connect, and cuddle. Our musical instruments will be available for use – feel free to bring your own too! Quiet hours will start at 11pm.

Morning MMM – Quanta – Daily 9-9:45am

MMM means Meditation.Movement.Music! This gentle, accessible process includes focused breath, freedom mindfulness and intentional movement all infused with thoughtfully curated music. All Bodies and Abilities are Welcome.

*Morning Circle – Organizer Team – Daily 9:45-10:30am

The camp community comes together for appreciations, announcements, and other sharings. Please attend if you can – new information and conversations about emerging issues happen here!

*Pod Creation – Rebo – Saturday 10:30-11am

Pods are groups of 5 or so people who meet daily during the event for supportive sharing and listening. We’ll create our pods and have the first pod meeting.

Where Do Big Emotions Come From? – Sarah – Saturday 11:15am-1pm

Most people from time to time have big painful mental/emotional reactions to something that others or even they themselves might consider minor. Relationships are a prime place for these reactions to surface.

In this interactive session, we’ll explore three parts of our selves from the book Undefended Love: our essence, which is warm, present, and completely whole; our cracked identities, which are deeply-held painful self-concepts such as “I am incompetent,” “I am broken,” and so on; and our compensatory identities, such as “I am competent,” which arise out of an ongoing struggle to disprove our cracked identities. If we hold rigidly to our compensatory identities, anything we perceive as a challenge to them reactivates the pain of our cracked identities, leading to big emotional triggering.

Come learn about your compensatory and cracked identities, get a taste of your essence nature, and find understanding and empathy for big emotional reactions in you and the people you love.

*ZEGG Forum – Sarah & Forum Team – Saturday 2:30-4pm and daily at various times thereafter

The ZEGG Forum process is a transformational container created by free-love radical communitarians and tuned for bringing up what’s under the surface in COMMUNITY. When undertaken with a group of sovereign beings who are dedicated to individual and collective transformation, it provides a cauldron for personal growth and community resilience unlike any other.

The goal of Forum is to reveal what is alive but not known to all. The community sits in a circle, forming a stage for one person at a time to stand and show what is true for them. Facilitators may assist the person (or “presenter”) to reveal themselves more deeply. Afterward, community members may offer reflections, or “mirrors,” on what they saw.

Especially when interpersonal conflicts and polarizing issues arise, each person shares from the heart and is facilitated to go to the root of their truth, not just their superficial egoic needs.

When we “get” each other, we go the extra mile to figure things out. Empathy motivates the group to find a collective solution, while understanding gives the raw material needed for the solution.

Feeling Into Your Yes and No – Rebo – Saturday 4:30-6pm

Mmm, that glorious moment in connection or collaboration when everyone is a “hell yes” to exactly what’s happening! Sometimes we find that “sweet spot” spontaneously—but more often, we find it through clear communication and feedback. How many of us say “yes” to things we don’t actually want out of guilt or a fear of losing connection? In many ways, “no” is the most daring and intimate response possible – if I can hear your “no”, I can trust your “yes.” Let’s practice finding that sweet spot of mutual “yes” through a series of fun and juicy experiential exercises.

Community Sing-Along and Drum Time – James Dietz – Saturday 7:30-8:30pm

Let’s attune our voices, our hearts, and our bodies with simple songs that evoke the energy of love. All are welcome, no musical skill is needed.

Snuggle Party – Harold – Saturday 8:45-11pm

Join us for a nurturing, non-sexual cuddle gathering focused on connection and consensual, loving touch. Everyone is at choice about how to participate. The facilitators will start us off with some simple cuddle-inspiring activities, and then be available for support as needed.

Relationships Without Drama – Michael – Sunday 2:30-4pm

Why do relationships that begin with such high hopes often lead to ongoing stress and disappointment? Why do we fall in love with this person, but not with that one? How can we deal with the storms of emotion that seem to follow connections of great joy? What does it take to create a relationship that is supportive and appreciative for both partners? The insights and techniques that are shared in this workshop are drawn from many sources, including the facilitator’s polyamorous path, Eastern spirituality, and hard science. They can be applied to all our relationships and interactions with others, sexual or non-sexual, polyamorous or monogamous, casual or intimate. Join us as we discover how we can come to a place of power and choice in how our lives and relationships unfold.

Safe Sex: The Latest Info – Michael – Sunday 5-6pm

What do you need to know to keep yourself and your partner(s) safe from sexually transmitted conditions and infections? Learn the basics and uplevel your info at this state-of-the-art presentation. Highly recommended for everyone engaging in open relating, polyamory, and/or open sexuality, and especially for new folks!

*Sensual Space Orientation: Exploring Intimate Connection in Community – Leslie – Sunday 7:45-9pm

The Sensual Space is a warm and inviting space to explore connection and intimacy by engaging all of the senses. This is a space to lounge together after spending the day learning communication and intimacy tools – the perfect place to practice communication and share affection in a relaxed and sex positive atmosphere. This short session will introduce the space and its etiquette. We will also practice conversations based on Z Griss’s guide “8 Steps to Creating the Intimate Explorations You Love” – take a look here for the details!

Sensual Space Opening – Sunday 9:30-10pm

Immediately after the previous session, those who wish will proceed to the Sensual Space for its official opening. All are invited to explore the Sensual Space – the opening activities will be sensual but nonsexual, and the Sensual Space Team will create a clear transition when the space becomes open for sexual connection.

Befriending Big Emotions – Sarah & Harold – Monday 10:45am-12:30pm

It’s late at night, and your partner is out and hasn’t called. Your feelings are driving you up the wall – angry, lonely, anxious, you name it. You think, “Am I a bad person for feeling this way? Should I suppress these feelings and pretend nothing is wrong?”

The answer to both questions is an emphatic “No!” Most loving, intimate, open-hearted humans have big painful feelings arise in one situation or another, and the two worst ways to deal with them are to act them out or to suppress them until they explode. Big painful emotions, our fierce friends, have so much to teach us – they are signs of deeper needs not being met. But we must be wise in our dealings with them – when painful emotions arise, the stories they tell us are usually false or misleading, and they encourage actions that will not get us what we long for. When welcomed skillfully, they are gateways into our deepest desires, and they enable us to take active steps toward a more loving and joyful existence.

In this experiential workshop, we’ll practice tools for uncovering and addressing the needs that give rise to these painful emotions, and we’ll journey into the wholeness that they uncover for us.

Dance It Out! – Monday 7:30-9pm

“Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are great because of their passion.” ― Martha Graham.

Whether you’ve danced all your life or never set foot on a dance floor– come express yourself with radically accepting, loving community! In this space, all forms of expression are welcome– from stretching, to laughter, to shaking, to rest. All bodies, movements, emotions, and sounds are welcome… in this ecstatic Dance.

Sensual Space Activity – Monday 9:30pm

Topic and description TBA

INTER-CONNECTIONS: REVELATIONS – Quanta, Cutty, & Leslie – Tuesday 4:15-6pm

Shining a light on our Bio-Lineage, Intentional Momentum, and Shadow Activations that make Choices for Us.

Join Leslie, Quanta, and Cutty for an exploration of elusive and under-recognized factors that have profound effects on who we are and where we’re going. A highly interactive session of self-discovery through Expanded Awareness and Shifting Perspectives.

Love Ceremony – Tuesday 7:30-9pm

Allow us to invite you into a series of partnered and group interactions that will celebrate the wondrous mystery that is you and your fellow participants. Beginning with ritually honoring one another, we will open up to emotional and physical intimacy. This ceremony will focus on emotional connection and nurturing touch. All participants are always “at choice” to modify the interactions so that they are comfortable with them, or simply to witness.

Sensual Space Activity – Tuesday 9:30pm