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Sacred Kinship Gay Men's Spiritual Retreat
Overcome the expectations, blame, fears and judgements that prevent deep connection during this 3-day gay men's spiritual retreat. Make new friends for life and experience a supportive community in safe, queer space.
Do you ever find yourself wishing...
- to be heard, seen and deeply understood by others?
- to belong to a community that supported you and celebrated your uniqueness?
- to feel accepted and valued regardless of your age, size, race or other physical attributes?
- to know that you have the skills to great deep and lasting connection with anyone open to connecting?
- to not be weighed down with the expectations, blame, fears, and judgments that prevent you from creating authentic connection with other gay men?
Sacred Kinship is a process and program for creating authentic connections
At a Sacred Kinship retreat, you will experience a safe, queer space with other spiritual gay and bisexual men in which you will be seen, heard, and accepted. You will come away from this gay men's spiritual retreat with powerful tools for creating connection, lifelong friends, and a connection to a community of men.
What is "sacred kinship"?
kin noun one's family and relations
When I was thinking about the character of the queer community I had experienced upon first coming out, one word that came to mind was "tribe". We were a tightknit group that looked out for one another so tribe felt like it fit. At the same time though, tribe is a word that is frequently appropriated by non-indigenous people so I wanted to honour the word but not using it in that way. In thinking about the way that people in the community often become our chosen family, I settled on the word "kin".
So what exactly then is sacred kinship? Sacred Kinship is both a process and the result of that process. It's a group of gay and bisexual men who view one another as family. They truly see one another, protect each other, and support each other in a loving way. It is also the process I created to help men find that level of connection with each other. This process uses a variety of tools and guided exercises to help overcome the expectations, blame, fears and judgments that get in the way of creating these strong connections.
Do I need to have taken the Sacred Kinship program?
No. The Sacred Kinship retreat is like an intensive version of the program. It's also a refresher and an opportunity to practice these skills for those that have. Either way, you will leave the retreat feeling able to create strong connections and build community.
Why does making these connections matter?
In many ways, our community is still at risk from the outside. Gay and bi men are often targeted by others. Many gay and bi men experience loneliness and have difficulty making friends in the community. This process is about keeping our own safe and allowing us to truly see the wonderful uniqueness of everyone in our community.
What happens at a Sacred Kinship Retreat?
While specific activities depend on the amenities of the venue and the participants, these are some of the many things that happen at a Sacred Kinship gay men's spiritual retreat.
Heart Felt Sharing
During the retreat, we will do various exercises in which we learn to share from our heart and tell our personal story.
Deep Listening
The other aspect of sharing is being seen and heard. Through exercises, we'll learn to listen without judgment and without preparing to talk.
Gentle MoVement
During the retreat, we'll use gentle movements (yoga, dance) to connect with our somatic (body) wisdom and heal emotional blocks.
Shared Mealtimes
Meals are shared and social times during the retreat. Depending on the venue we may also prepare our meals together.
Journaling
Journaling can be a powerful process to connect us with our deeply held values and gain awareness of what we're feeling or experiencing.
Guided Meditation
Guided meditations help to still the judgmental mind and guide us to find deeper insights around why we hold certain expectations or judgments.
Time in Nature
Depending on the retreat venue, we may take a short nature walk or spend time outdoors connecting with nature.
Breathwork
Awareness of the breath can ease fear and blame allowing deeper connection with others. Through beathwork we'll deepen our awareness of ourselves.
Touch
Men in our society have been conditioned to avoid touch. We will reclaim loving touch (fully clothed) in a non-sexual way.
Group Coaching
During our group discussions, hot seat coaching will be offered to help overcome blocks and gain great insight into community building.
Social time
The real benefit of this work to great connection is more friends and chosen family. There will be plenty of unstructured time to simply socialize.
QueeR Space
Greater acceptance has made many men forget the value of being in queer space where they do not have to police how they behave or what they say.
FAQ
Sacred Kinship is held at various venues depending on the state and time of year. Venues are typically lodges or cabins, never camping. Most venues are located near hiking trails or other natural settings.
No. Sacred Kinship is an alcohol and drug-free zone. The type of deep work that we do at Sacred Kinship is best done in a sober environment. Additionally, Sacred Kinship is structured to support those in recovery or who have chosen a sober lifestyle.
Prices vary on location and venue but range from $450 - $1100. The price to attend the retreat includes all accommodations and food.
The work we do at Sacred Kinship is best done with a small group. The maximum size of a Sacred Kinship Retreat is 10 men.
I'd be happy to answer any questions you have about the Sacred Kinship gay men's spiritual retreat. Just head over to my contact page and drop me an email. You can also message me on social media.
Join the waitlist and be notified of upcoming retreats
Providing your state allows me to gauge if there is enough interest in an area to seek a venue and hold a retreat there.