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Initiation into culture of wisdom and responsibility 🌎
Wise Innovation Project | Headwaters Outdoor School | HYPE
🗓️ Sept 6 - 11
🗺️ Mt. Shasta, CA
📋 Apply
✨ TL;DR
Inspired by Embodied Ethics in the Age of AI, The Earth Caretaker Way, The Healing Magic of Forest Bathing and universal practices of connecting with wisdom through nature immersion: this first-of-its-kind retreat is for those who wish to reconnect with the source of life in order to initiate themselves into a greater state of maturity in their work in the world.
Join a curated group of change agents in tech to slow down, practice embodied ethics, take next steps on the journey, and realign for the coming cycles.
Over the course of six days immersed in majestic Mt. Shasta’s abundance of wildlife, creeks, meadows, forests and breath-taking views, you’ll experience:
- Real Nourishment | Silence and stillness, digital detox and reflection, sweat lodges, cold plunge, right hemisphere activities, healthy organic meals, stars and animals and tree climbing.
- Deep Learning | Overnight solo, fireside storytelling, and embodied practices with wisdom keepers around tending fire, aligning with natural cycles, Earth intelligence and self knowledge. With emphasis on integrating new insights and practices into life, communities, and creations.
- Embodied Ethics Initiation | Self-generated ceremony to commit/re-commit to embodied, relational, attuned leadership. Get clear on and consecrate a path in service of Earth’s living systems.
- New Relationships | Build rich connections and engage the big questions with kindreds on a journey towards greater wholeness: humane founders, responsible AI professionals, Chief Philosophy Officers, bridge-building coaches and healers, wise innovation advocates, next gen engineers and those serving at the intersection of [tech] & [wisdom].
Mt. Shasta: sacred to the Shasta, Wintu, Achumawi, Atsugewi and Modoc peoples. Considered the root chakra of the world.
🪄 Context & Intention
“What if the way we are responding to the crisis is part of the crisis?” - Bayo Akomolafe
How can we know which way is up if we don’t take regular time to decelerate, step away from our screens and goals, and reconnect with our body, soul, purpose, and the relationships that sustain them?
As the world around us accelerates and destabilizes, those of us who seek to create external change must come together and practice new and ancient ways of being with ourselves, each other and the natural world. Lest we reproduce the same problems we aim to transcend.
“We are but a strand in the web of life. What we do to the web we do to ourselves.” - Chief Seattle
It’s a long road ahead for those who were educated in a culture that optimizes parts of the web at the expense of others. But we can remember what our ancestors and first peoples since time immemorial have known. We can begin by humbly learning from those devoted to caring for the web, and simply spending more quality time building a personal relationship with the greatest teacher of all.
Changemakers who are in a reciprocal relationship with nature will be more attuned and resilient, creative and meaningful, trusting and trustworthy, and ultimately effective.
“To lift up a faltering and declining society one must reestablish initiation.” - Eliphas Levi
As the frenzied harvest season begins anew this September, we’ll gather IRL at revered Headwaters Nature School to initiate ourselves into greater levels of maturity by enacting our connection the larger world around us.
We’ll rest, play, study, grieve and celebrate the wonder of life on Earth together, integrating the ever-flowing fountain of wisdom available into our lives, innovations, and organizations.
Join a growing community dedicated to practicing what we preach, so that we may more walk our path of service with more care and joy in these mysterious times.
ℹ️ Logistics
High level overview of what the retreat includes:
- Three delicious organic meals per day
- Sleeping inside wooden teepees or under the stars
- Overnight solo fast
- Two sweat lodges
- Integration Guide with additional inquiries and practices for you to explore on your own time
- Zoom prep and integration calls
- Optional integration days at nearby Hestia retreat center (booked separately)
✅ Enrollment
Limited spots available. We offer a sliding scale payment model in accordance with various levels of financial ability as follows:
- Supporter Rate: $3000 for executives, funders, and those of greater financial means; who understand the amount of work that goes into creating an experience like this and want to support the long-term vision
- Professional Rate: $2,250 for tech professionals, those with access to leadership development budgets, and who are able to contribute a little more to the vision
- Practitioner Rate: $1,500 for students a1nd practitioners (coaches, guides, therapists, ethicists) with less expendable income
We have a limited number of scholarships available. Tell us your story!
Sponsors are welcome to get in touch to create additional opportunities. We are prototyping an experience that we hope to expand access to across bioregions and affinity groups.
Can’t swing it this time? Sign up to stay in the loop about upcoming offerings.
🧑💻 Meet Your Retreat Facilitators
Tim Corcoran (Teacher) began a career teaching wildlife conservation, in 1974. His most recent and important wilderness experiences have been greatly enriched by the teachings of Tom Brown Jr. the well known tracker and author. In 1992, with Headwaters Outdoor School, Tim realized his lifelong vision to share what he have learned from the Earth and to inspire people to discover their own connection with the Earth. He recently published The Earth Caretaker Way.
Julia Plevin Oliansky (Teacher) is the author of The Healing Magic of Forest Bathing and the founder of The Forest Bathing Club. In addition to having over a decade of experience working in innovation and brand strategy, she has studied Earth-based healing with elders around the world and is trained in forest therapy, yoga, permaculture, energy healing, and kambo.
Andrew Murray Dunn (Producer) is a student and interstitionary at the intersection of human development and innovation, currently focused on co-activating Wise Innovation Project. Before serving as Innovation Lead at Center for Humane Technology, Andrew spent over 10 years in early stage startup operations experience, most notably with the pioneering Public Benefit Corporation Siempo while they developed an award-winning open source humane smartphone interface.
Leslie Freeman (Guide) is an entrepreneur and consultant for social and cultural transformation, helping thought leaders and organizations create change. Her work aims to bring human-created systems into coherence with living systems. She is a wilderness rites of passage guide and council facilitator, and studies various wisdom traditions and centering practices in service of a more socially and ecosystemically integrated model.
🙋🏼♀️ FAQ
What’s the registration process like?
Who is this for?
What does “Embodied Ethics” mean?
Where is this taking place? How would I get there?
I can’t make these dates. Will you offer the retreat again?
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👀 Primers
Check out the following media artifacts for a taste of the retreat:
🎙️ Headwaters Outdoor School Podcast
🎙️ So You Want to Be a Sorcerer in the Age of Mythic Powers… (The AI Episode)
💻 School of Lost Borders Resources
This retreat is brought to you by Wise Innovation Project, an emerging non-profit initiative with a mission to re-imagine innovation education; and HYPE: a climate creative agency for those who place the Planet at the center of their purpose.