Collective Reset
A prototype - join us on Cortes Island, May 7-11 2025
I met Adrian Sinclair many years ago, drinking tea that he poured thoughtfully in a room filled with attentive humans. He made me laugh with his quick wit and divergent thinking. We were gathered at Hollyhock in a room filled with folks I wanted to spend more time learning from and being around. We would find ourselves giggling at the back of rooms as a way to process the complexity of the moment. Laughter is indeed medicine. A few years later we would teach together at SFU Semester in Dialogue and CityStudio and find ways to collaborate on projects and events.
Post pandemic, we have spent time drinking tea and thinking about how we can get out of the places we don’t want to spend any time in and find new places where new folks can meet and connect. We’ve been talking about how life changed in our communities and our patterns may never return to the 9-5, 5 day work week that many of us inhabited. We talk about the need for collective spaces to do things differently in order to move forward in new ways. We talk about the huge resurgence of sauna culture, possibilities for collective spaces and how work/life concepts need to keep finding new stories - we definitely need new ways of hanging out together.
Collective Reset emerged as an idea for crossing paths with folks that we don’t normally connect with so we could reconnect about the big ideas and at the same time find ways to co-create what might happen next.
What is Collective Reset?
We are inviting leaders from social, political, environmental, and educational impact organizations for a transformative 5-day retreat. Together, we will reimagine what it means to reset our nervous systems while connecting with others who are building enterprises and advancing movements in the systems-change sector. The retreat’s central purpose is to engage deeply with our own embodied systems, facilitating a reset and recharge that empowers us to return to our lives and work with enhanced clarity, focus, and energy.
Why are we offering this opportunity?
Interestingly, the inspiration for this retreat emerged from what might be called an "anti-retreat" experience. During a conference at Hollyhock, we both quietly confessed to each other that the most meaningful moments for us were not the structured sessions, but rather the unplanned, in-between moments—when we would skip a workshop to take a brief swim in the ocean or simply enjoy unscheduled time. It became clear that we were taking mini-retreats within the retreat itself. And from this realization, the idea for the Collective Reset was born. We asked ourselves, between sips of tea and lots of laughs: “What if we designed a retreat entirely around these kinds of unstructured, in-between experiences?”
Why structure a retreat this way?
If we seek different outcomes and wish to navigate a new way of being in both human and natural worlds, we must experiment with and experience alternative ways of being together while recharging and resetting. Could we prioritize emergent and innovative practices in how we support ourselves and fellow leaders? What if the highest priority was not only self-care but fostering mutual care, happening simultaneously? While artificial intelligence may dominate conversations these days, we remain committed to also cultivating our embodied intelligence as our collective and interdependent foundation.
In-between (liminal) reset moments may include:
- curated and randomized buddy hikes
- sauna/cold water sessions + hydrotherapy
- collaborative awareness expeditions
- gong fu cha tea appreciation
- eustress practices like moonlit beach campfire
- healthy meals from the hollyhock garden
- suggested daily nap times
If you are keen to sign up there are discounts for being early. If you are in need of financial assistance in the form of a scholarship, please contact Hollyhock directly.
Collective Reset: A Leadership Retreat.
Join SVI (Social Venture Institute) alum (Janet & Adrian Collaborative) at Hollyhock for a 5 day work/retreat to connect with our nervous systems and with other leaders open to deep conversation and possibility.
Join us in the early season -May- magic time- on Cortes Island and spend time getting focused on collective vision.
Janet Moore and Adrian Sinclair have co-taught a number of experiential courses together at SFU and CityStudio Vancouver, and continue to imagine what is possible in groups, spaces and community.