Rooted & Resourced: A 1-Day Retreat for Change-Agents

Are you feeling called to your Good Work but feeling depleted, disconnected, and scattered? Are you longing for a chance to recharge and renew your commitments in solidarity with others? Join GWI for a meaningful, joyful one-day retreat to find a rooted sense of belonging and to resource the important work ahead.

We have all been feeling the impacts of the accelerated pace of change and uncertainty brought about by the phalanx of challenges we face. A very incomplete list includes: federal governmental chaos, climate change, rising wealth disparities, extreme levels of inequity, all causing increasingly untenable pressure on people and ecosystems. GWI’s focus on Just Transition has positioned us to accept what is happening, understand it from a systems perspective, and focus on the solutions that will turn the system towards regenerative and just economies. At the same time, we know we are all in this together and it is a long game. It is essential that we support each other to stay focused on the Good Work, needed now more than ever, by acknowledging and tending to the potential for exhaustion and burn-out.

This one-day retreat is a chance to take intentional time away from day-to-day challenges to be in community with others who are working towards just futures and regenerative practices. We have three goals: to build relationships that bolster our access to mutual support, to refresh practices that help move us collectively towards durable and positive change, and to renew our energies in an environment crafted to open our hearts and light up our vitality.

What will we do?

GWI facilitators will offer a nourishing set of collaborative sessions, designed to balance energizing full group experiences and time to talk in smaller groups. We will invite participants in spaces that will allow everyone to share, learn and listen; we will provide time for renewing our energies; and we will offer space to practice the skills required for joyful, effective, cooperative action. 

We will be drawing from practices that include: setting working agreements; non-violent communication and empathy share; clarity on the vision that animates us; and tools for how to hold space and use equitable meeting practices in your organizing efforts or workplaces. We will end the day with a sound healing experience to calm our nervous systems and rest, before sharing dinner together at a local restaurant.

Who is this for?

There are many ways to work towards a just and regenerative future. Whether you are coming with decades of solidarity economy expertise or just starting the journey towards moving into social change work, we invite you to join us! If you are aligned with Just Transition and have been called to work towards positive, collective change, and want to spend time in reflection and discussion with allies, this retreat might be for you. We are open to all, and are particularly drawn to gathering people who are open to the concept that we are stronger together, who want to join a network of mutual support, and who are eager to connect and learn across arenas of experience. 

Stress Reduction | Techniques + Tools

 Join well + being Hudson Valley for a 6-class series featuring trauma-informed mindfulness and yoga practices to sooth and calm your nervous system. All are welcome. No experience, special clothing or equipment is needed. Come in your street clothes. Join in for all 6 classes or drop-in as you can.

Stress Reduction | Techniques + Tools

 Join well + being Hudson Valley for a 6-class series featuring trauma-informed mindfulness and yoga practices to sooth and calm your nervous system. All are welcome. No experience, special clothing or equipment is needed. Come in your street clothes. Join in for all 6 classes or drop-in as you can.

Stress Reduction | Techniques + Tools

 Join well + being Hudson Valley for a 6-class series featuring trauma-informed mindfulness and yoga practices to sooth and calm your nervous system. All are welcome. No experience, special clothing or equipment is needed. Come in your street clothes. Join in for all 6 classes or drop-in as you can.

Stress Reduction | Techniques + Tools

 Join well + being Hudson Valley for a 6-class series featuring trauma-informed mindfulness and yoga practices to sooth and calm your nervous system. All are welcome. No experience, special clothing or equipment is needed. Come in your street clothes. Join in for all 6 classes or drop-in as you can.

Stress Reduction | Techniques + Tools

 Join well + being Hudson Valley for a 6-class series featuring trauma-informed mindfulness and yoga practices to sooth and calm your nervous system. All are welcome. No experience, special clothing or equipment is needed. Come in your street clothes. Join in for all 6 classes or drop-in as you can.

Stress Reduction | Techniques + Tools

 Join well + being Hudson Valley for a 6-class series featuring trauma-informed mindfulness and yoga practices to sooth and calm your nervous system. All are welcome. No experience, special clothing or equipment is needed. Come in your street clothes. Join in for all 6 classes or drop-in as you can.

10Y GWI

Join us for an evening of connection, joy, and fortification to mark GWI’s tenth birthday!

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Sound & Tea

Sound can be a powerful therapy used to ease the nervous system, calm the mind, and help move and clear stagnant energy from the body. It has been known to offer deep rest and relaxation which can invite much needed healing to our mind, body, and spirit. Join Engather member Evelyn Ellis for a generous offering of sound at the GWI Greenhouse. Engather is a gift economy network founded and based in the Hudson Valley, a space where community members can offer and receive the gifts of others joyfully and unconditionally, reweaving a connective tissue of care throughout our community. Mats and blankets will be provided, we encourage folks to bring additional items–pillows, eye masks, etc.–to add to their comfort during the experience. We’ll be setting up at 1:30, feel free to come early to connect with other folks, and please arrive no later than 1:45 to get set up and comfortable. All are welcome to stay afterwards from 3-4 to connect and share some tea.

Climate Grief Conversations

GWI and Jenny Bates are holding ongoing climate grief conversations. This group will meet on the first Thursdays of the month, (though this one is on the second Thursday) at The Greenhouse 65 St. James St. on the corner of Clinton street and St. James Street in Uptown Kingston. This group is free and open to anyone who has concerns about the climate, about our City of Kingston, and who are stressed about an uncertain future.

“We are picking up distress signals, as living beings on this planet” – Jenny Bates.


Grief is not easily processed alone. The grief felt, consciously or unconsciously regarding the planet is on a scale previously unknown to our species. This series of conversations is an opportunity to share and verbalize what is felt in the context of group that will be facilitated with care, support and a sense of belonging in a confidential and fully respectful manner.


You can listen to Micah and Jenny speak on The Good Work Hour about this topic.
If you have any questions, email [email protected] or [email protected]

Community Meditation

Please join us every Sunday for a community meditation. This is a sitting meditation in the Buddhist tradition. These offerings will be mostly silent sitting, but we may do traditional prayers in Tibetan and English. We will be gathering from 5:00-6:00pm at the GWI Greenhouse (65 St. James Street, Kingston). For more information, please contact David McCarthy (845) 389-4903.

Community Meditation

Please join us every Sunday for a community meditation. This is a sitting meditation in the Buddhist tradition. These offerings will be mostly silent sitting, but we may do traditional prayers in Tibetan and English. We will be gathering from 5:00-6:00pm at the GWI Greenhouse (65 St. James Street, Kingston). For more information, please contact David McCarthy (845) 389-4903.