GilChrist

June blooms. 🏵

This immersive experience from Emergence Magazine was shared by a Fetzer Institute colleague at a recent meeting, and we just had to share it here! Take a moment to breathe and remember our deep connection to trees, birds, insects, earth, and air.

Breathing with the Forest – by Marshmallow Laser Feast An immersive experience of shared breath with the Amazon rainforest.

Springtime friends.

Everyone deserves rest… cats included!

🌳Please excuse our dust: we're doing some tree work around a couple of cabins for safety during heavy storms, and to increase air flow around the buildings. We'll be planting native bushes and understory plants to fill in the open areas. Guests in Karuna and Jeremiah may see some evidence of machinery and get a little more sunshine! 🔆

We have Mark Nepo's books of poetry in our library, and he has long been connected to GilChrist and The Fetzer Institute. Check out this reading event on May 28 if you're in the Kalamazoo area!

Meet the Author: Mark Nepo Hear Mark Nepo read passages from his new book, The Fifth Season: Creativity in the Second Half of Life, and participate in a discussion with the author.

Our neighbors down the road at Apple Farm Community are now offering morning meditation practice facilitated by Carl Witt, Monday through Saturday in the Garden Room from 7:30-9:00am.
You are warmly invited with this message: "Drama and ordinariness, pain and pleasure, an endless parade of this and that, appear to make up the content of our lived experience. But like clouds and birds, all these phenomena arise and pass away against the background of an unchanging sky. By sitting down and holding still, we give the mind a chance to gradually learn to identify with the sky, which is ultimately not separate from the clouds and birds. In inner work, this kind of awareness practice can help the Ego become less insistent in believing its own rigid authority. Come and go as you need to. Brief instructions will be given."

💜 We eagerly await the arrival of lupine in May.
Also in May: we open up group retreat proposals for 2027! If you've been contemplating leading a retreat at GilChrist, now's your chance. Submit your request by June 30!
https://gilchristretreatcenter.org/plan-your-visit/host-a-group/

Woodland patterns.