Nature Companionship: Relationships, Reciprocity, and Justice in the Outdoors

This retreat will include elements of shinrin yoku (forest bathing), community building with each other and the more-than-human world, spiritual practices in the outdoors, and nature-inspired creativity. We will immerse ourselves in slow, gentle, playful walks in the woods to build and nurture reciprocal relationships, explore nature's impact on our creativity and discernment, participate in birdsong and poetry vespers, engage in conversations about eco-emancipation, earth-healing, and community care, and reflect in a community of trust, care, and curiosity.

About the Facilitators

Dr. Jeanette Banashak is a queer and bilingual interspiritual and interreligious companion. She has a diploma in shinrin yoku (forest bathing) and guides people of all ages in urban nature immersion experiences as an act of justice and is deeply committed to the work of integrating life’s experiences. She is the co-founder/director of The Spiritual Guidance Training Institute, which offers trainings in a new nature companionship program as well as interfaith & interspiritual direction. Jeanette also teaches social and emotional learning and child development at Erikson Institute and spiritual direction at the Graduate Theological Foundation. She has been on retreats at GilChrist and nearby retreat centers for over twenty years.

Rev. Simon Ruth de Voil is an ordained interfaith/interspiritual minister, trained to be a sacred presence outside the conventions of traditional religion. As a sacred musician, spiritual mentor, and worship leader he incorporates chant, ritual, poetry, storytelling, and mindful practice to create a space for profound connection and sacred witness. Simon provides music for worship, ceremony, and prayer in a wide variety of churches and non-religious spiritual communities. He particularly loves to create music for meditation, healing services, and rites of passage. Simon is also an experienced workshop and retreat leader, drawing on 15 years of study, training, and practice that grew from his time living and working in Iona Abbey. Although influenced by many traditions, Simon's spiritual path and teaching is deeply rooted in Celtic Christianity, the wisdom of the earth, and in the Scottish land where he's spent most of his life.

Retreat Schedule

Mornings: Forest bathing

Afternoons: Nature-inspired creativity, walking, resting, birdsong and poetry vespers

Evenings: Community building and integration

Registration and Lodging Details

First, email Jeanette (click here) to register for the retreat.

Cost is $1200. Space is limited.

Once you have registered and paid for the program, Jeanette will direct you to contact GilChrist to reserve your cabin using the online registration form (or by calling the main office at (269) 244-1130 with any questions). Lodging is $60/night per person in addition to the program fee. Participants will check into their cabins between 1:00 and 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 12. Cabin check-out is at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 17. Food will be prepared by Debra Paxton-Buursma in a style that is fairly close to the earth, creative, healthy, responsive to needs/preferences, and infused with global accents.