Residential Retreat for our LGBTQIA2S+ Community (2023mar28stow)

We are so gladdened to be welcoming Pascal Auclair and Anushka Fernandopulle back to BCIMS to lead a LGBTQIA2S+ Retreat from March 28 – April 2 at the beautiful Stowel Lake Farm on Salt Spring Island. This retreat is intended for the LGBTQIA2S+ sangha to connect in affinity. We ask that you register only if you identify as a member of the LGBTQIA2S+ community to help support the container of safety.

We also ask retreatants to commit to attending the entirety of the retreat, to again support the retreat container.

We will open up a waitlist once the retreat is full.

We’ll create a space of ease and support for LGBTQIA2S+ people to cultivate mindfulness, kindness, and wisdom through insight meditation. Sharing silence and meditative space with community allows us to make greater peace with ourselves and our lives, one moment at a time. While listening to the teachings of wisdom and compassion and mindfully sitting, walking, eating and resting, liberating insights arise, and clarity and freedom is gained. We can learn to find an ever-deepening sense of well-being, touching joy and fostering the heart's release. We practice in this way both for our own benefit and for the benefit of others. Open to beginning and experienced meditators who self-identify as queer, questioning, trans, genderqueer, non-binary, bisexual, lesbian, gay, agender, intersex or two-spirit.

Through registration and financial assistance, we are prioritizing the participation of BIPOC folks (black, Indigenous, and people of color).

Registration Date: This retreat will go on sale December 14th at 10am PST. We anticipate tickets will sell out very quickly. We recommend you register as soon as possible once the tickets go on sale.

COVID-19: It is anticipated that small gatherings will be allowed by the BC Provincial Health Authority at this time. All health guidelines in place at the time of the retreat for small gatherings will be followed and communicated to attendees.

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement: To honour precaution during our time together, all attendees must have received or will receive a COVID booster within 6 months of the start of retreat (between Sep 28 2022 to March 28 2023). For more information, visit our COVID Safety Page or reach out to [email protected]. Please note we will be requiring attendees to wear their masks in shared indoor spaces until seated in the meditation hall or at the dining room table. Please be prepared to share proof of vaccination during check in.

Tuition and Room Assignments: We are offering a sliding scale for this retreat. Folks who select the Benefactor Rate will receive a tax receipt for the $400 tax-deductible donation above the base rate.

Fees do NOT include a financial offering (dana) to the teachers. There will be an opportunity to offer dana to the teachers once you are at the retreat.

Please note that the Benefactor Rate does not guarantee you a single room. All registrants are assigned overnight rooms based on needs indicated in the Registration Order Form, and at the discretion of the organizers. For more information, please see "Overnight Rooms" below.

Financial Assistance: Financial assistance is available for this retreat. Please apply by emailing [email protected], and let us know what amount you are joyfully able to contribute. The deadline for financial assistance applications is December 2, 2022.

DEI Financial Assistance: We are also offering financial assistance from our DEI fund (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). This is intended to offer support to folks from underrepresented and systemically marginalized communities to attend residential retreats. In addition to supporting folks in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, we encourage folks who identify as BIPOC (black, Indigenous, and/or people of colour), have a visible or invisible disability, or are from underrepresented and systemically marginalized communities, to apply by emailing [email protected]. Please specify in your email that you are interested in applying for the DEI fund and please indicate your community(ies), and share what amount you are joyfully able to contribute.

The deadline for DEI financial assistance applications is December 2, 2022.

BCIMS Cancellation Policy:

Until March 20 - 50% refund offered.

After March 21, 2023 - no refund guaranteed.

Please note, our BCIMS Cancellation Policy applies to all ticket holders, including those with discounted tickets.

About the Retreat Centre: Stowel Lake Farm (SLF) is a rural organic farm, retreat centre and community on Salt Spring Island, BC. The farm is located on acres of mixed forests, fields, rocky outcrops and rolling hills. For more information, please visit the SLF Website.

Accessibility Needs: There will be an opportunity on the Registration Order Form to specify any special needs or accommodations, including any needs or requests on overnight rooms, washrooms, dietary, and access needs.

We may not be able to meet everyone’s preferences but we will do our best to accommodate needs and make the retreat as safe and accessible as possible. We encourage you to please reflect on the difference between needs and preferences for your stay as you fill out the Form, as this allows us to more easefully accommodate all retreatants.

Overnight Rooms: Stowel Lake Farm has buildings for dining, meeting, and sleeping. Most accommodation is in shared rooms (2 or 3 yogis per room). Many areas of the property may be designated mixed gender areas. Rooms will be assigned in advance. In shared rooms, people will be housed with others with similar gender requests for housing.

Given the complexity of creating a safe and welcoming space for people’s diverse needs, we ask for your understanding and flexibility on room selection.

Washrooms: There are washroom and showering facilities for all genders: some areas of the farm have stand-alone individual facilities; there will also be one common washroom-shower room designated for all genders, which is composed of individual private toilet stalls, as well as private change areas attached to private showers; a similar common washroom-shower facility will be designated for those who identify as women. If you have any questions or concerns about the washroom and showering facilities, please indicate on the Registration Order Form.

Meals: The SLF team on the farm create each day's menu with as much locally grown produce and high-quality ingredients; either from the farm itself or other farms nearby. All of the meals will be vegetarian and mostly organic. Lunch will be the main meal of the day with dinner being a light meal. There is a tea table available at all times with a selection of organic herbal and black teas, fruit bowls, and toast and crackers with nut butters. Each meal will have options for gluten and dairy free people. Other allergies will be accommodated as much as possible.

There is a guest fridge and microwave for those who wish to bring their own dietary supplements or supplies.

Meal times are as follows: breakfast 8:30am, lunch 12:30pm, dinner: 6pm

Fees: Cover retreat organizing costs, accommodations, and meals only. Voluntary donations (dana) for the teachings may be offered to Pascal and Anushka at the retreat.

Guest Check In/Check Out Times:

Check in is between 3-5 pm on Retreat Start Date (dinner is served at 6pm.)

Check Out is after lunch on the last day of the retreat. Guests need to be checked out of their rooms by 1:30pm PST and must depart the farm no later than 3pm PST.

Transportation Options:

Ferry Bookings: If you are planning to travel by car on the Ferry, we recommend you reserve your spot well in advance for routes that accept reservations.

Ridesharing: If you would like to rideshare with another retreatant, information will be collected in the Registration Order Form regarding and will be distributed by email to all interested retreatants about six weeks prior to the retreat. Each individual is then responsible for directly making ridesharing arrangements.

SLF Pick up/drop off service: SLF offers a complimentary pick up/drop off service for two ferry departures/arrivals between SLF and Fulford Harbour: March 28, 3pm or 5pm sailings from Victoria, and on April 2 for the 1:50pm sailing from Fulford to Victoria. Please note these sailing times are subject to change.

SLF also offers one complementary pickup from Ganges Harbour on March 28.

SLF does not pick up from Vesuvius or Long Harbour.

Please indicate your interest in the pick up/drop off service on the Registration Order Form and we will reconnect with further information.

Anushka Fernandopulle has trained for over 30 years in the Theravada Buddhist tradition in the U.S., India and Sri Lanka and teaches retreats and workshops around the globe. Her teaching is informed by nature, creative arts, political engagement, innovation and modern urban life. Anushka is on the Teacher's Council at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California. She lives in San Francisco and also works as a leadership coach and management consultant, influenced by a BA in anthropology/religion from Harvard and an MBA from Yale.

Pascal Auclair has been immersed in Buddhist practice and study since 1997, sitting retreats in Asia and America with revered monastics and lay teachers. He has been mentored by Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield at the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Massachusetts and Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California, where he is enjoying teaching retreats. Pascal teaches in North America and in Europe.

He is a co-founder of True North Insight and one of TNI’s Guiding Teachers. His depth of insight, classical training, and creative expression all combine in a wise and compassionate presence. In addition, his warmth and humour make Pascal a much appreciated teacher.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Stowel Lake Farm, 190 Reynolds Road, Salt Spring Island, Canada