Natural Attraction: Eco-erotic Mini-Retreats at an Eco-village

Sunday June 2, Sunday August 11 and Sunday September 15, 2024

10 am to 5 pm

Dancing Shiva Tantra Monastery, Black Mountain, NC

Community shared dinner and fire to follow

Overnight accommodations before or after the events are available at $45 per person per night, please email dancingshivatantra@gmail.com to reserve your space.  Meals are not included. 

“Nature is the supreme teacher of spiritual sovereignty.”

Does nature inspire, soothe and calm you? 

Looking for spiritual guidance and wisdom from Gaia herself?

Curious to experience the transformative power of pleasure?

Desiring more connection and fulfillment in your everyday life?

Wondering where an even deeper devotion to the mysteries of nature might take you?

If these questions resonate with you, please join us for this one day personal eco-erotic retreat. Eco-eroticism is the practice of combining your love of nature with your personal sense of erotic attraction - to beauty, to movement, to mystery, to the source of life itself. 

It is our pleasure to invite you on a guided exploration of your own desires, and how they can take you more deeply into connection with yourself, others and nature. Through the practice of eco-eroticism, you can gain an increased sense of intuition, clarity, self-awareness and a deeply felt sense of the inherent harmony of the universe. 

We’ll play with the plants, the rocks, the mud, the water, with the insects, with the cool mountain breezes, with ourselves and with each other. Through careful facilitation and authentic hospitality, we’ll welcome you into a sense of safety and permission to journey into inward places where you haven’t been before. Together, we’ll cultivate a sense of playfulness as well as devotion, while we release shame, limiting beliefs and the toxic effects of the hustle of day to day life. 

This is an opportunity for your inner mystic or poet to have a day to breathe, move, play and be nourished by other kindred spirits - both human and elemental. 

Our day will start with an opening circle during which you will have an opportunity to share from your heart, and to witness the shares of others. Throughout the morning, we will build a temporary community of playful souls, through touch, breath and movement practices. After our lunch break, we will reconvene for an invitation for you to step through a portal into another dimension of your personal connection to nature. During the afternoon, we’ll create the space for you to have an individual “sadhana” experience - a spiritual practice of connecting with the sacred earth, rocks, plants, animals and waters of the consecrated land at Dancing Shiva. 

Our experience will close with more group heart sharing and some integration time - for you to harvest the messages that you have received from your personal sadhana. 

“All dissonance dissolves in coherence.”

This event will be facilitated by Sarah Belzile and Garrell Bevirt.

A note from Sarah: Garrell and I have been fast and beloved friends since pretty much the day we met at Dancing Shiva. It's an honor and a joy to facilitate with him - we will both be leading exercises and practices during the event. I trust the clarity and wisdom of Garrell's facilitation, and I hope you will enjoy it as well.

 Garrell (he/him sometimes they) is an artist, designer, dreamer and currently a student, practitioner, and teacher of yoga, meditation and tantra. For the last ten years he has been immersed in a full time, live in tantra/ yoga/ meditation/ sacred sexuality/ permaculture mentorship/ teacher training with Swami Ravi Rudra Bharati (Rudolph Ballentine MD), who himself underwent twenty years of intensive training with his teacher, Swami Rama of the Himalayas. Garrell’s yoga training has also been influenced by Diane Long, a practitioner and teacher of Vanda Scaravelli Yoga. Garrell wears many hats at Dancing Shiva where he lives, teaches and stewards the land. Dancing Shiva is a Tantra Monastery and Healing Center within the Earthaven Ecovillage in western North Carolina. Garrell is dedicated to offering folks tools and attitudes to balance inner and outer life. He is eager to share practices that invite awareness to our erotic and vital selves.  He is excited and privileged to be a part of helping shift consciousness through meditation, movement and connection to the vital nexus of nature.

Who is this event for?

This retreat is for people who have a love of nature, are comfortable with being outdoors, and are curious to explore new dimensions of their sexuality and eroticism. It is for people of all gender expressions and sexual orientations. It is for people who are willing to step into brave space and learn new things about themselves while connecting with others. 

Who is this event not for?

Unfortunately, this retreat is not geared towards people who have mobility challenges as the terrain at Dancing Shiva is uneven and unpaved. 

This retreat is not for people who are uncomfortable with being outdoors or who are unwilling to use composting toilets.

What to Expect

• To be welcomed into a circle of others who are curious to explore nature, themselves and one another. 
• To be given space to explore your own experience
• To be reminded about the principles and practice of consent - both inside yourself, with others and with nature.
• To be invited into an experience of the subtle realms of consciousness, through the precise and nuanced practice of pleasure and connection

How to prepare and what to bring:

• Please dress appropriately for the weather, as we will be outside all day - rain or shine. Bring a backpack for carrying your water bottle, notebook, pen, and a small blanket or something to sit on outdoors. 
• Pack your lunch as well as any snacks you might need. 
• If you would like to stay after for the shared dinner, please bring dinner for yourself and (optional) some food to share. There is a small refrigerator available for cold food storage, but it is small, so if you can bring a cooler to keep your dish refrigerated, that’s a safer bet. 

Pricing

$110 Early bird Tickets available

• June 2nd - Early bird ends May 19
• August 11 - Early bird ends July 21
• Sept 15 - Early bird ends Aug 25

$135 Regular Ticket 

$275 if you register for all three events

Extra Discounts!

$10 off your ticket if you bring a friend! Please just email us and let us know that you registered with a friend and we will issue a $10 refund on your ticket. 

Earthhaven Residents get an additional $25 discount

FAQ

Why attend all 3, will the content be different for each event?

By registering for all three events, you are setting aside nourishing time for yourself to potentially go more and more deeply into your personal connection with nature. The content for all three events will be similar, but will vary depending on the people who are in the circle, the weather, and the energy that emerges during our time together. There will be a progression in the practices that are offered, since we will be building our capacity for play, creativity and connection. Attendance at all three is recommended, as a way to experience the most expansion and deepening of your connection to nature and your inner most wisdom.

What will I get from this experience?

What each person experiences will be distinctly personal and different. Much like a “shamanic journey”, the wisdom and value that you receive will depend on how available you are for connection and receptivity to the mysteries of nature. We will provide guidance, framing and support for you throughout the experience. It is our hope that you come away from the event with an increased sense of inspiration, fullness and depth of connection. 

Will there be nudity? How spicy will this get?

We will be inviting and celebrating the practice of nudity during this event. Nudity will not be required. The focus of this event is primarily solo eco-erotic practice, so while there will be partnered exercises, the emphasis will be on exploring the erotic energy in your own body. In the partnered exercises, there will be an invitation to explore erotic energy, but we will not be inviting genital touch.

Do I need to come with a partner?

No, a partner is not needed. If you do come with a partner, you may opt to do the partnered exercises together or separate. 

Will I have to touch other people?

No. You will be at choice the whole time, including during any partnered exercises.

Will this be socially awkward?

We will be providing structures and prompts for connection and sharing during the facilitated portions of the day.  If you are coming to this event alone, and this feels challenging for you, please let us know and we can match you up with a “buddy” for the event so you can have someone to check in with during the experience, and during lunch and/or the potluck. 

Will I fit in?

It’s important to us to create a welcoming and inclusive environment. There will likely be individuals at this event who already know each other, since it is being offered at Earthaven, which is a tight knit intentional community. We invite you to notice what most enables you to feel a sense of belonging and inclusion in circles like this, and to potentially share that with us so we can support you better. We are eager to welcome newcomers to this community and to support you in making new connections and friendships. 

Extra Info

Overnight accommodations before or after the events are available at $45 per person per night, please email dancingshivatantra@gmail.com to reserve your space. 

Meals are not included in the price of this event. Please bring any lunch or snacks and water you will need during our time together.

For more info about Dancing Shiva and Earthhaven, click the link below.

Cancellation Policy

Cancellations with more than 48 hours notice will refund minus a 20% fee.

Cancellations less than 48 hours notice will receive a 50% refund.

Cancellations the day of the event are non-refundable.