Solstice Mindfulness and Nature Retreat at Eden Hall Campus
Thursday, June 20-Friday, June 21 | Chatham University Eden Hall Campus
Join us for a contemplative retreat around this Summer Solstice on Thursday June 20th and Friday June 21st. We will gather on the beautiful, wooded land of Eden Hall for two days of mindfulness meditation, guided silent practice, and nature practices on the land. Come for both days or one day, whichever works best for you.
If you have been longing to begin, refresh, or deepen your meditation practice, this retreat is for you.
If you are curious about exploring intimacy and kinship with the more-than-human, living Earth community, this retreat is for you.
If you are either a new practitioner or someone with a regular meditation practice, this retreat is for you.
Our focus will be on simple mindfulness practice and connection with the natural world as support and guidance within the ecological loss and climate change of our times. Teachers will guide participants through multiple sessions each day, offering the opportunity to learn various meditation techniques, mindfully explore the land at Eden Hall, have solo contemplative time, enjoy light yoga practice, and share in group practice. Come be in lively contemplative community, embedded in the natural world. Our first day of deep and nourishing practice will culminate in a ceremony for the Summer Solstice.
Each day will begin at approximately 9am and conclude around 5pm. Participants can choose to bring their lunch or food will be available for purchase during mid-day break . A Farm-to-Fork dinner will be available for the general public during the evening of June 20th – Menu items can be found here.
For those who would like to stay the night at Eden Hall to facilitate a connected two-days of practice, dormitory-style accommodations are available at Eden Hall.
Retreat Leaders: Sheba Gittens, Adam Lobel, Will Adams, Lou Leonard, and Kristin Barker.
Sheba Gittens, Mother (Guide) to Alioune and sister to humanity, is an ancestor returned living in this iteration of the world. She is a heArtivist, Arts Educator, Co-creator of Space, Facilitator of Joy, Organizer with Community, and a Weaver of Truth. Sheba received her BA in Africana Studies from the University of Pittsburgh and has spent her career in the practice of equity and justice. She is a certified Wellness Coach (Institute for Integrative Nutrition), a Prenatal Yoga Instructor (SoulWork), and a 200-hr Raja Yoga Instructor (Yoga Roots on Location). Utilizing a multitude of mediums, Sheba presents workshops, co-creates integrative arts experiences, facilitates affinity group spaces with Folks of the Global Majority, and exists as a member of humanity. Through her role with YogaRoots On Location, she bears witness and holds space for the healing and self-discovery that nurture individual and communal balance.
Adam Lobel, Ph.D., MDiv practices at the threshold of ecologies, Buddhist-inspired meditation and philosophy, contemplative education, and psycho-social political change. He is a Guiding Teacher for One Earth Sangha and an adjunct faculty member at the Chatham’s Falk School of Sustainability and Environment and has lectured at Point Park University, Carnegie Mellon University, and University of Pittsburgh. He is developing the Four Fields of contemplative practice.
Will W. Adams, Ph.D. serves as a psychology professor at Duquesne University, and as an ecopsychologist and meditation teacher. Will’s training includes 38 years of practice with esteemed teachers, both Zen Buddhist and Christian. He is the author of the recently published ecopsychology/ecospirituality book A Wild and Sacred Call: Nature-Psyche-Spirit.
Lou Leonard, JD is the Dean of the Falk School and Eden Hall Campus. A long-time mindfulness practitioner, he has trained in nature-based meditation practices including through Awake in the Wild and is the co-founder of One Earth Sangha, a global community focused on the intersection of mindfulness and climate and social crises.
Kristin Barker is co-founder and director of One Earth Sangha. She is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leader program and now teaches with the Insight Meditation Community of Washington (DC). As a co-founder of White Awake, Kristin has been supporting white people since 2011 with a Dharma approach to uprooting racism in ourselves and in our world. With a background in software engineering as well as environmental management, she has worked at several international environmental organizations. She is a GreenFaith Fellow and serves on the advisory board of Project Inside Out as well as the steering committee for Interfaith Power & Light DMV.
