New Culture Fall Camp 2018 Program
Morning Circle – Daily
Every morning at 9:00 AM we’ll gather for appreciations, announcements, and connection.
Going Deeper – Multiple presenters
Over the years we’ve been building a culture that supports intimacy by teaching skills for healthy boundaries, handling painful emotions, holding space for others’ process, and so on. Now it’s time to take it to the next level. When the need arises to give difficult feedback or address something that’s getting in the way of getting close to another person, many times we still let it go, not wanting to ruin a happy moment or create a rift. But in reality, we’re keeping ourselves from intimacy when we could have it. When we’re willing to tell another person what’s keeping us from getting closer, we actually get closer.
In the “Going Deeper” spaces, we’ll have a chance to share difficult truths, intimate appreciations, and vulnerable parts or ourselves. Let’s get beyond this kind of sharing being an extraordinary experience, to where it’s an ordinary everyday thing. Every day we deepen our connections. Consider the possibility that we have no idea who our closest friends could be once we start sharing at this level. We have no idea what could happen when we really give our relationships our deepest attention.
ZEGG Forum – the Forum Team, Daily
Forum (http://www.zegg-forum.org/index_en.phtml) was created at ZEGG, an intentional community in Germany, and its sister communities as a way of promoting transparency and mutual understanding among community members. ZEGG members found that decision-making meetings often got derailed because of emotional conflicts and undercurrents that were not known to or understood by all. In Forum, each individual’s experience could be seen and understood, leading to greater empathy and creativity in the community. Now, many residential and non-residential intentional communities have adopted Forum as a way to maintain ongoing connection, intimacy and understanding.
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.
One of the gifts of ZEGG Forum is that it allows us a space to appreciate every perspective without taking it on as “truth.” Every voice has its own poignancy, its own wisdom, its own truth, that does not negate the wisdom and truth of other perspectives. Allowing all voices to surface and be known can lead to a profound and unexpected integration within a community. We tend to think that events leading to painful experiences and conflicts are bad, because they feel bad in the moment. However, when we open ourselves and compassionately witness what is happening for everyone, these experiences can be gateways to greater closeness, understanding, and love. When conflict emerges, whether or not we are in a formal Forum space, we can choose to listen in this way. This deep listening sustains and nurtures community life and relationships.
Orientation & Connection – Friday Evening
Dawson Driver
Let’s find out who’s here and what we have to offer each other! We’ll spend much of the time moving around, meeting new folks and deepening existing relationships. Here we will learn about each other, camp, and the land we will share for the coming week. Participants can engage with the group and get quick, direct feedback on issues they care about. We’ll also have time to go deeper in one-on-one connections. This is a quick, fun, easy way to lay the groundwork for our time together, get a sense of the group and the facilities, and get to know each other!
Snuggle Party – Friday Night
Indigo Dawn
Together, we will open up a playground to explore consensual, platonic touch in community. Nurturing touch has been shown to release compounds (i.e. oxytocin) which help lower blood pressure, heart rate, and cortisol levels, and contribute to feelings of connection and emotional well-being. No one is required to touch another person in this workshop; you’re welcome to talk, cuddle, read a book, or observe– observation is full participation.
Intention Setting & Boundaries – Saturday Morning
Indigo & Dawson
Mmm, that glorious moment when we are giving exactly what our partner wants to be receiving! 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.” In this workshop, Sarah will lead us to establish intentions for Gender & Beyond, to meet & connect with our “pods” or family groups, and to practice finding the sweet spot of mutual “yes”– through a series of juicy, experiential exercises.
Relationships Without Drama – Saturday Afternoon
Michael Rios
What would relationship, family, community be like if everyone realized that their feelings were theirs to channel as they chose? What if every surge of emotion was seen as an invitation to connect with their deepest self and rise to a new level of awareness and love? What if our happiness no longer depended on others? The more we do our own personal work, the more available and loving we are in the moment. We no longer cling to rules and impose agreements that we hope will keep our intimates from triggering painful emotions in us; we welcome those emotions, work through them, and delight in our connections whatever form they might take.
Tools for Building Sustainable Intimacy – Saturday Evening
Indigo Dawn
Connecting with another can be a co-creative, synergistic, and downright delicious experience, if both you and the other person are a “YES!” Sharing explicit, verbal boundaries helps minimize confusion and suffering, maximize clarity and joy, and cultivate sustainable intimacy. In this experiential workshop, we will practice sharing explicit, verbal touch boundaries and agreements. We’ll explore giving and receiving on-going consent in connection. And finally, we will cover some important communication pitfalls, and ways to identify when we are mis-communicating, mis-reading, or mis-sing the mark in connection!
Sensual Space Orientation – Saturday Evening
Dawson Driver
The Sensual Space is a warm and inviting space to explore Connection & 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. We will give an introduction to the space and we will practice the “Safe Sex Elevator Speech.”
Sensual Space Opening – Saturday Night
TBA
After the Sensual Space Orientation, 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 an open space.
Ecstatic Dance – Sunday Morning
Indigo Dawn
“If you have a body, you are a dancer.”- Gabrielle Roth. Ecstatic Dance is a movement practice that leads us to open places in ourselves. It is a collective journey that sheds the layers of stress, judgment, and restriction to make space for inner clarity. Stillness. Motion. Intensity. Release. We invite all modes of expression and being in the space– from yoga, to meditation, to shaking, to rest. All bodies, movements, and sounds are welcome… as we find Ecstasy through Dance.
TBA – Sunday Afternoon
Shamelle Richards
Authentic Relating Games – Sunday Evening
Harper Quante & Dawson
Who are you? Who am I? Who are we? In this high-energy, interactive workshop, we’ll explore the deep connection that comes from feeling truly seen. We will play a number of games aimed at fostering a better understanding of ourselves and others. We will practicing honesty and authenticity with others, so that we can learn to be honest and authentic with ourselves. Our time together will develop our empathy, strengthen our community and relationships, and help us gain a better understanding of our true selves.
The Five Love Languages – Monday Morning
Amy Curry
Connecting with Elemental Energies- Monday Afternoon
Harper Quante
Stable earth, flowing water, passionate fire, agile air – we are all made up of a variety of qualities that affect how we are feeling and how we relate to the world around us, though we often try to ignore or fight whichever aspects feel too strong, too weak, or too difficult to understand. In this workshop, we will explore ways to make friends with all four elements, strengthening our personal relationships with ourselves, the Earth, and fellow living beings. Participants will begin with meditative exercises on grounding and centering their own energy before reaching out to the essences of earth, water, fire, and air. The second half of the workshop will take the form of a ritual in which we recognize and honor the power of these elements within one another, working with them to deepen our understanding and connection as a community.
Love Ceremony – Monday Evening
Indigo Dawn
Allow us to invite you into a series of partnered and group interactions that will celebrate the divine in you and in your fellow participants. Beginning with ritually honoring one another, we will open up to emotional and physical intimacy. This love ceremony will focus on emotional intimacy, with the option to share loving, nurturing touch. All participants are always “at choice” to modify the interactions so that they are comfortable with them, or simply to witness.
Closing Circle – Tuesday Afternoon
As our time together comes to a close, we will connect, reflect, say goodbye, and prepare to re-enter the mainstream world. What gifts will we bring with us from Fall Camp? What will we create in our lives and communities?