It’s time to honor the wisdom that flows through you.
This honoring is essential for being free and feeling whole. It’s also how we move toward a more liberated future together. Join us as we collectively sync to the rhythms of within and all around and trust the magic that unfolds.
DETAILS | FAQ | YOUR GUIDES
Are you ready to deepen your relationship with the earth, your body and our more than human world?
Root & Unfurl is a gathering for women of color who recognize that unhooking from the pressures of the oppressive systems we live within is not a solo job. We heal together and we heal in relationship with spirit, our ancestors and the living world.
Details at a Glance
What:
Root and Unfurl an unlearning and reclaiming retreat for women of color led by Kelsey Blackwell and Chaiti Seth
Who:
Women of color who want to be in communion with land, community and the knowing that lives within
When:
June 18-22
How:
Just come
Where:
In Mi’kma’ki about an hour north of Halifax (Kjipuktuk)
Price:
$950 USD / Sliding Scale
Your Guides
Chaiti Seth (she/her) is a mother, farmer, researcher, and experiential educator from India currently living in Mi’kma’ki. She learns, writes, and teaches about sustainable food systems and the inner work and community practice of healing for equity and social change. Chaiti believes coming back into relationship—with our bodies, our whole selves, each other, our more-than-human neighbours, and the land and waters—is at the heart of healing and liberation. She explores and offers a multitude of ways of knowing and being as a means toward finding our way into closer, more honest relationships. Chaiti is a faculty member with the Department of Community Development at Acadia University. She lives with her partner and two children in an intentional community on south mountain above Sikunme’katik (the Gaspereau river).
Kelsey Blackwell (she/her) is the author of , Decolonizing the Body: Healing, Body-Centered Practices for Women of Color to Reclaim Confidence, Dignity & Self Worth (New Harbinger 2023). As a cultural somatic practitioner, ritualist and numerologist her work weaves spiritual and embodied practices for anchoring in our inherent “enoughness” and healing intergenerational wounds. In addition to being transformative, Kelsey believes walking towards liberation must also bring joy. She lives in San Francisco, CA, the land of the Ohlone Ramaytush.
The long of it
More details.
We’ll gather on well-loved earth at Sangam — a small family farm and straw bale home, watched over by two grandmother white pines, tucked into the edge of the lush, regenerating Wabanaki forest, close to the confluence (sangam) of two streams with much to say.
First, we will offer, then we will make space to attune and listen.
We will listen for what wants to be reclaimed within us.
We will listen for the creating that’s ready to unfold in small groups, alone and in circle together.
We will listen around a bonfire. We will listen as we swim, harvest, cook, dance, sing and move.
Here’s the truth.
You are not made to push and strive. You are designed to receive, trust and share your brilliance with those who recognize it.
Join Kelsey & Chaiti for one liberatory weekend of nourishment, somatic practice, ancestor journeying, storytelling, song, nourishing food and with-nessing within an intimate community.
We’re calling in women of color who are ready to
Deepen in somatic, spiritual, and creative practices that strengthen self-trust and feeling our fundamental interwovenness with the natural world
Plant seeds for balance, health, healing and the wellbeing of the collective
Sink into abundance through enriching conversation, storytelling, singing, dancing, swimming, and moving
Replenish with nourishing food, heart-centered practice, and ample rest in the farm and forest
This Retreat Includes
Somatic and creative invitations for entering the heart of your deep knowing
Guided practices for deepening your relationship with ancestors, spirit and landscape
Time to rest and attune to the life within and all around
Being with-nessed in your reclaiming within a supportive collective
Price
As Black and brown women, many of us have been conditioned to undervalue our time and underprice our labour. This is a narrative we endeavor to upend within ourselves and the communities we serve. Our standard rate allows us to sustain our work and tips its hat towards the heart and soul we’re pouring into Root & Unfurl — which, less face it, is priceless.
At the same time, accessibility is a core value of this retreat. If you’re heart knows you belong with us, we want to make that possible. In addition to offering a monthly payment plan option for the standard rate, we also offer sliding scale pricing starting at $550/usd. You’ll be invited to specify a financial offering in the application process.
This is the most elegant approach we’ve come up with to navigate the complexities of living inside of late-stage capitalism while also aligning our work with our values. Thank you for dancing with us.
This standard rate allows us to sustain our work. It can be broken into two or three monthly payments.
As a result of our time together you will:
Sync to the pace of the natural world
Make space for healing, joy and rest
Clarify where this chapter of life is moving you
Access your embodied wisdom and creativity
Gather with a community of like-minded and like-hearted souls
In addition to a weekend full of soulfully curated and guided liberatory practice + reflection experiences in a protected and kind space the following is provided:
Lunch and most suppers: we’ll serve fresh, locally sourced, seasonal, and nourishing meals.
Programming and facilitation
All supplies
Online pre-retreat grounding session with group + Kelsey on June 1, 2024 at 12:00-1:00 p.m. PT
A supportive community
FAQs
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This is for you if you are a woman of color who is ready to deepen in somatic, spiritual, and creative practices. This may be for you if you are wanting and ready to:
Slow down, taste, and savor moments of embodied liberation, ease, and connection
Be and feel more of yourself in relationship with others and the land
Sink into abundance through enriching conversation, storytelling, singing, dancing, swimming, moving, playing together
Sync with the rhythms of the natural world and trust the magic that arises
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Lunch and most suppers: We’ll serve fresh, locally sourced, seasonal, and nourishing meals. Breakfasts are up to you.
Programming and facilitation
All supplies
Does not include:
Lodging (ask about billet options)
Flight or other travel to NS/ Mi’kma’ki
Local travel to and from the retreat space (connect with other participants to explore carpooling options)
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Halifax Stanfield International Airport is the closest city and airport, about 100 km. from the retreat space.
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Wolfville, Kentville, and New Minas are all good places to look for accommodation options with plentiful Bed & Breakfast, inn, and AirBnB options. There may be a small number of no-cost billeting (home stay) options in our extended community where a family Chaiti knows is happy to have you stay in a guest room in their home. Please email us if you are interested in exploring this option.
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We’ll begin at noon on June 18th and wrap up after lunch on June 22nd. Arrive with enough time to land and easefully join us by noon on the 18th and plan to leave after lunch on the 22nd.
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The retreat will be hosted at Sangam, Chaiti’s family home and small farm on the edge of 180 acres of Wabanaki forest, home to two streams, a beaver pond, and many creatures including river otters and barred owls. We will use both indoor and outdoor spaces during the retreat. Our home is a straw bale and mud plaster building built with love and designed for shared family and community use. The house opens onto a small permaculture farm, encircled by a ring of pine, red maple, aspen, oak, and evergreen trees. In quiet moments, you can hear the creek running at the base of the hill. Sangam is located on South Mountain above Sikunme’katik ( the Gaspereau river) in the community of Black River, about 10 km. outside of Wolfville, which is the closest town.
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Depending on where you find accommodation, you will travel 10-20 km. to and from your lodging to the retreat space. The retreat space is in a rural area with no public transportation. You will need a vehicle for transportation. Coordinating carpooling within the group feels like an effective and convenient way to resource share. Email us if you are open to sharing transport to and from the retreat space with others in the group.
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Comfortable clothing for a range of weather conditions. Temperatures in June in Mi’kma’ki can range between 10-25℃/ 50-75℉ during the daytime and between 5-15℃/ 40-60℉ at night. In a changing climate, we’ve even seen the odd 30℃/ 75℉ day in June. It is a time of year that tends to be warm and sunny, but cool and rainy days are not surprising. Layers work well for a coastal climate where weather conditions can change quickly. The local saying goes “if you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes.”
Bathing suit
Sun protection
Basic rain gear
Footwear that is suitable for moist and uneven ground conditions and for dancing
Personal care items & medications
Anything else that will support you in feeling settled and comfortable in a space
One thing that connects you to the landscape you call home (a leaf, rock, shell, seed)
Your songs
The medicines that you bring and offer to the collective
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We’ll serve home cooked and nourishing meals made from locally sourced and seasonal ingredients. Meals will be simple, abundant, and flavourful, and primarily vegetarian. One celebration meal may include meat for those who eat it which will be sourced from a local farm with intentional and caring relationships with the animals and birds. Breakfasts and snacks are up to you. We will do our best to plan meals with your food requirements in mind. You’ll have a chance to share these with us and we’ll work with you to find options that are nourishing for your body. Our intention is to have everyone well-fed in all the ways!