Rejuvenate, re-divine, and connect with Queer family in nature for three nights and four days in the pristine beauty of Mendocino. Nestled between the ecosystems of coastal redwoods and oak chaparral on unceded Pomo land, River’s Bend Retreat Center is a refuge for rest, play, and building community. We will have 10 acres with ample time to swim or lounge by the Navarro River and explore the hiking trails into the redwoods.

Dive deep into the Yogic & Buddhist tradition with Asana (physical Yoga postures), meditation, pranayama, mantra, stories, and discussion for connection and deep soul growth. No Yoga experience is necessary. Lucid teaches Hatha Flow and gentle Yoga in a radically inclusive way with an emphasis on therapeutics, alignment, and preventing injury.

Afternoons will include free time and optional excursions to hiking, ocean kayaking, and nearby beaches.  Nourish yourself with exquisite farm-to-table meals from renowned chef Redwood Hill.

This retreat is for folks who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Gender non-confirming, Asexual, and Two-Spirit AND our allies. Our intention is to welcome and celebrate folks from all experiences, 18+ in age, religions, abilities, immigration statuses, sizes, and sexual orientations. Our intention is to co-create a space that is pro-Black, pro-Immigrant, pro-Queer, and pro-Trans. We will co-create community agreements to embody these intentions.

Arrival: Friday, September 1st, 5 pm

Departure: Monday, September 4th, 12 pm

 *late arrival and early departure are strongly discouraged. Please consider the retreat an investment in your own well-being and in building community. We are unable to accommodate arrivals after 8:30 pm* 

Rev. Liên Shutt (she/they) is a priest lineage holder in the Shunryu Suzuki tradition. Born to a Buddhist family in Vietnam, she received her meditation training in the Insight and Soto Zen traditions in the U.S., Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam. They were a founding member of the Buddhists of Color in 1998 and currently is the guiding teacher of Access to Zen, an inclusive, anti-oppression sangha and non-profit in the SF Bay Area. She lives on Ohlone land, currently called San Francisco, with her partner, exploring waterways and forests as often as they can. Visit AccessToZen.org for ways to connect and practice together.

Sabrina Davidson (she/they)  is Soulflow Oakland’s Creativity and Communications Director. She is an artist and meditation practitioner whose work explores pleasure, community and healing through play. She shares practices such as meditation and art therapy on retreat.

Lucid Dawn, ERYT500+ is alive to help others thrive.  As a non-dual Tantrik, trauma-informed, therapeutic yogi, & queer witch, with 30+ years of immersion into healing practices, she weaves the teachings of Yoga; movement, breath, meditation, & philosophy w/ ritual & practice that acknowledge;  season, celestial movements, and phases of life.  lucid also includes the use of sound healing & expressive arts practices from decades of performing arts background.  lucid’s studies in neuroscience, nutrition, essential oils, herbs, plant medicines, Non-Violent Communication, earth magick, energy medicine, peer counseling, grief work, writing, crafting, community organizing & trauma healing also inform their teaching.
lucid is dedicated to embracing all beings & all aspects of being for a full celebration of life, including courageously facing death and gracefully embracing processes of grief, loss, and change.

Redwood Hill (ours/Red)

Born in the Mid East of the US to upwardly mobile black folx and professionally raised in bars and restaurants in the Bay Area, Redwood Hill has collaged a career within and around food & beverage service for the past 15 years, engaging every role from the dish pit to the conceptualization and ephemeral pop-up proprietorships. Having deciphered a distinction amongst the illusory divisions between “Front of & Back of House” to be direct connotations of the pre-antebellum hierarchies of chattel slavery, Redwood seeks to disrupt classifications and bifurcation to become a comprehensive service provider, in the interests of food sovereignty and decolonizing food systems and working towards right relationship with this planet and the reality of abundance for all. They are a cheffy dive bartender, a busser who dish-washes as a student of fine dining & simultaneity and are stimulated by the invented and inspired diets of Afro-futurist communities found in the works of Octavia Butler and Samuel Delany. Redwood constructs and reconstructs culinary perspectives incorporating the aesthetics of a timeless nutrition that is sustainable & renewable. With Transplanted Californian sensibilities, mindful indulgence, and folding language intersect with the comforting provocations of Southern dishes of their ancestors, as an exploration of color, texture, nostalgia, and being/belonging. Food and words are cites of their reclamation.

Dr. Annie Malcolm is a queer Jewish creatrix who lives in Oakland. She writes about art and cares for her community.