Reflections 6.0 | 7/25-28, 2024
Belonging That Sets You Free
Saratoga Springs, Northern California
The Reflections Retreat is a soul nutrient infusion. We serve up a potent cocktail of belonging, embodiment, vulnerability, self-expression, and celebration. We acknowledge the subtle pain of the disconnection and isolation inherent in our modern lives. We gather each year at Reflections to reunite with the deep-felt sense that we belong to ourselves in our body, with our people in the community, and at home here on Earth.
The transformative power of togetherness is often overlooked in the everyday commotion of our lives. is t Our separation from ourselves, each other, and the natural world gives rise to a kind of restlessness that Francis Weller identifies as an existential need to belong. In his book, Weller illustrates the origin of our longing to be under the Fourth Gate of Grief: What We Expected and Did Not Recieve.
"When we are born, and as we pass through childhood, adolescence, and the stages of adulthood, we are designed to anticipate a certain quality of welcome, engagement, touch, and reflection. In short, we expect what our deep-time ancestors experienced as their birthright, namely, the container of the village. We are born expecting a rich, sensuous relationship with the earth and communal rituals of celebration, grief, and healing that keep us in connection with the sacred. Our profound feelings of lacking something are not a reflection of a personal failure, but the reflection of a society that has failed to offer us what we were designed to expect and did not receive. At the core of this grief is our longing to belong.”
At Reflections, our rotating faculty is intentionally selected to remediate the repercussions of the loss of the village with content from facilitators devoted to (re)claiming residency in the heart, with one another, and on the planet. Immersed in the healing salve of our togetherness, a magical container is co-created with each person playing a vital role in the experience of the whole.
Nourish your soul with California fresh organic meals, restorative yoga, personal growth workshops, live music, art, massage, pool dippin’, inspiring heart-centered people, and the holy medicine of nature! Our retreat center is nestled in a private 260-acre pristine valley, 2.5 hours north of the San Francisco Bay Area in Mendocino County. Considered a sacred site, Saratoga Springs provides a unique opportunity for guests to drop in with themselves and the surrounding nature via acres of hiking trails, a meditative stone labyrinth, and a huge hot soaking pool.
What’s included?
In its first three years, the Reflections Retreat facilitated personal growth for professional development opportunities for cannabis professionals on an invite-only basis in Santa Cruz, CA. After two pandemic-related cancelations, we re-launched at a bigger venue in Lake County, CA, and opened doors to individuals working in the psychedelic medicine space, too. The constancy of change pushed us further, and we eventually evolved into a public-facing retreat. Reflections was founded in 2017 by Jess Dugan and carried out of the pandemic in 2022 by Troy Dayton. Jess and Troy have worked together for the last decade and are well-known for their capacity to create unforgettable group experiences. Together, their work emphasizes the spirit of play, acknowledging laughter as one of the most powerful remedies.
Origins and Evolution:
Who will be there?
Historically rooted in mind-body health and plant medicine, our cohorts draw in like-minded humans collectively dreaming up a brighter future with a more open-hearted culture. It includes a vibrant group of humans from every walk of life. It’s a uniquely diverse group economically, racially, geographically, and age-wise. There is also a wide range of experience level with deep personal growth work like this. Our goal every year is to make family out of a particularly disparate group so that we all hopefully walk away with the realization that our identities are not what binds us together, but rather our shared humanity, our shared capacity for joy, and the shared existential crises we face as a species.
We invite all who yearn for a greater purpose beyond the materialistic and separate world we’ve been sold to join us. Our application for participation is our attempt at getting to know you better and to ensure that we - in all of our free wildness - are a good fit for you.
:::Praise:::
“Reflections gets better each year! Jess has built something truly special and her ability to create a roster of amazing people is absolutely extraordinary! ”
“The retreat was a reminder that there is magic in the world greater than us all. The atmosphere was one of complete trust and acceptance, a place to be your best self and be inspired by others to reach higher. ”
“I had a profoundly healing experience. We were somehow willing to drop pretense and social convention and reveal ourselves to each other. This led to powerful insights and peace, and I know from talking to other attendees that they were similarly affected. ”
“This retreat is exceptional, in both the curated experience that Jess crafts and because of the mindful executive community she magnetizes.”
