Alchemy in Nature at Camp Earnest: A Dance Retreat

Welcome to our first dance and movement retreat built around the lifelong learning of our celebrated instructor, Raquel Santiago.

Step into the Sanctuary of Nature: A Transformative Dance Retreat

Immerse yourself in a weekend of movement, mindfulness, and connection near the serene beauty of Yosemite National Park. This retreat is an invitation to explore the profound interplay between body, mind, heart, and the natural world. Through the practice of Alchemy Spinning™, we will delve into conscious movement, dance, meditation, and the rhythms of nature, creating a harmonious balance between action and rest, and aligning with the cycles of life.

This retreat is for everyone—whether you’re an experienced dancer or new to movement. It’s for those who feel called to deepen their relationship with themselves, their community, and the Earth.

Beyond dance and mindfulness, we will also embrace the pleasure of connecting with nature. There will be time to rest, soak in a soothing cedar hot tub, sweat in a Finnish sauna, enjoy peaceful walks in the woods, and savor amazing healthy meals crafted by a renowned chef. This is an opportunity to nourish your body, mind, and spirit while being held by the tranquility of the natural world.

Come as you are, move with what inspires you, and leave feeling renewed, grounded, and deeply connected to yourself and the living world around you.

Our Journey Together

Alchemy Spinning™ is a guided somatic practice that blends dance, organic movement, mindfulness, meditation, and contemplative whirling. Inspired by the Sufi Dervishes and other whirling traditions of the world, this practice makes the physical, psychological, and spiritual benefits of spinning accessible to all.

Through this holistic fusion of movement and inner exploration, Alchemy Spinning™ becomes a transformative super-mindfulness practice, guiding you toward self-discovery, expanded consciousness, and your highest potential.

Body Wisdom 

• Discover your body’s innate intelligence as we explore the three vital centers—pelvis, torso, and head—as an interconnected ecosystem.
• Experience movement flowing organically through your fascial network and skeletal structure, grounding yourself in the here and now.
• Work with the vertical axis to connect Heaven and Earth, anchoring presence, and the horizontal axis to open to the world and manifest your authentic Self.
• We will create a sacred space for whirling where participants are invited to enter and leave freely. Through comprehensive guidance, participants will gain tools to whirl safely and confidently. Additionally, the prior somatic and mindfulness practices will prepare your body and mind to move in harmony, avoiding dizziness and enhancing presence during the whirling experience.

Dancing with the Wild

• Let nature be your dance partner as most practices unfold amidst the woods and beside a creek.
• Engage your senses in a deep dialogue with the natural world, allowing its rhythms and wisdom to inspire your movement.
• Strengthen your connection to the Earth’s living systems while discovering your role within them.

Mindful Movement Practices 

• Explore mindfulness in motion, meditative movement, and Sufi whirling to quiet the mind, awaken the body, and expand consciousness.
• Cultivate a profound awareness that integrates the body, the space around us, and the dynamic relationship between the two. This practice invites us to embrace the authenticity that arises naturally—welcoming both the familiar aspects of ourselves and the parts yet to be discovered.

Creative Art Exploration

• Channel your creativity through improvisational dance and art, fostering self-expression and deeper awareness.

Meditative Reflection

• Participate in guided meditation to cultivate presence, grounding, and inner calm.
  

Space is limited, so we encourage you to register early to secure your spot. To register or to learn more about the retreat, please register here on Eventbrite. If you have questions, you may contact us through our website at
https://www.campearnest.com

Glad you asked.

This is a warm time of year, so layers of loose clothing are wise, as well as shoes you can easily slip on or off as you enter and leave Hilltop Hall.

Please bring your own water bottle and metal cup and reuse these all weekend. Reusing cups really helps cut down on dirty dishes.

Bring sunscreen, mosquito repellent, camping gear (if you choose this lodging option) and snacks or drinks you might like to share. We may travel uphill or downhill and weather can vary a lot. We are at 3,500 feet of elevation and it can be much hotter or cooler uphill or downhill from us.

We ask that you please carpool in as few vehicles as possible. Parking is limited. The drive is just 140 miles or about 2.5 hours from SF.

• Comfortable clothing for movement
• Journal for reflection
• An open heart and curious spirit
• Willingness to explore, play, and connect
• Specific details will be emailed before the retreat.
  

We encourage you to consider a visit to Yosemite National Park before or after this retreat. If you choose to go, please visit their web site and be sure to reserve an entry pass.

Please remember to be super fire safe.

OUR INSTRUCTOR:
is a Climate Action dancer, dance therapist, and eco-anxiety group facilitator.  Dubbed by the press as “the New Isadora Duncan of the Environment”, she thinks of her dance as a service to people and the planet, bringing awareness about environmental problems such as climate change and plastic pollution, fostering personal and collective healing and transformation. 

Her creative process relies on a deep listening to the body in a state of complete presence in the here and now, which allows for the emergence of an expanded consciousness, and for the channeling of creativity and healing.

Her explorations in this space has allowed her to develop Alchemy Spinning™, an accessible, pleasurable, and powerful guided somatic practice, inspired by Sufi Dervishes, that takes your body, your mind, and your spirit through a journey of self discovery, expanded consciousness, and higher potential.

Raquel has developed BioResilience, a somatic method for those suffering from eco-anxiety. Trained in climate change and its health impacts at Harvard University, and in plastic pollution at Cornell University, she collaborates with environmental organizations and performs at conferences worldwide. 

Raquel has taught yoga and dance in Spain and California. She is trained in yoga and a variety of dance styles such Contemporary Dance, Middle Eastern, African Dance, Butoh, Body Weather, Creative Dance, Danza Duende, Noguchi Taiso, Dance Movement Therapy and Asymmetrical Motion.

She has studied Mindfulness and Resilience to Stress at Work at University of Berkeley and Psychological Astrology at Cosmograma. 

She has worked as a dance therapist with people with eating disorders at Sant Pau Hospital in Barcelona.

Above: Chef, author, naturalist and forager Maria Finn has fed us at previous retreats.

CHEF:

To be announced soon.

To be announced soon.

Please email us at least 72 hours in advance if you have any dietary restrictions and we'll do our best to accommodate them.

Friday, August 1st

3:00pm Welcome Circle, Connection Exercises

Intention and expectation setting, getting to know each other.

3:30pm Dance-Movement session

4:45pm Mindfulness-Meditation

5:00pm Wildcrafted Cocktails, Mocktails & Wild Foods Grazing Platters

6:30 Family style Dinner in the GP Lodge

8:30 Silent Disco by the fire pit on the lawn in front of the lodge

Saturday, August 2nd

7:00 Tea and coffee available in lodge

8:00 Yoga Dance in Nature

9:00 Breakfast in lodge

10:00 Dance-Movement session in Nature

11:00 15 minute break

12:00 Dance-Movement/Mindfulness-Meditation session in Hilltop Hall

1:00 Lunch in lodge

2:00 Time in nature

3:30 Relaxation Practice/Dance-Movement session in Hilltop Hall

4:30 Tea and coffee break

5:00 Dance-Movement-Whirling session in Nature/Hilltop Hall

6:30 Dinner in the lodge

7:30 Fireside inspiration stories

8:30 Free time (hot tub and sauna)

Sunday, August 3rd

7:00 Tea and coffee in lodge

8:00 Yoga Dance in Nature

9:00 Breakfast in lodge

10:00 Dance-Movement session in Nature

11:00 Break in nature

11:30 Dance-Movement-Wirling/Mindfulness-Meditation session in Hilltop

1:00 Lunch

2:00 Closing circle and gratitude

SAFE ONWARD TRAVELS!

ABOUT CAMP EARNEST:

Welcome to Camp Earnest, a former summer camp in the mountains of northern California, just over an hour from Yosemite National Park. We invite you to visit with us to relax your mind, open your heart, move your body, fill your belly and enjoy nature.

Camp Earnest is our home, and a gathering and event space near the towns of Twain Harte and Sonora, just two and a half hours (140 miles) east of San Francisco. We're at 3,500 feet of elevation in a ponderosa pine, cedar and manzanita forest with light snow in the winter and mild summers. Thirty minutes east you'll find Dodge Ridge Ski Resort and an hour north of us are the wineries of Murphys and the giant Sequoias of Calaveras Big Trees State Park. Your hosts Raman and Karin will ensure you have an excellent stay.

Our 21 acres includes several cabins, two yurts, an Acoustic Amphitheater and a meditation and movement hall and more. Enjoy our fire pits and circles, rock labyrinth, and walking path down spring fed Turnback Creek, with little waterfalls. We provide a relaxing place to stay and chef prepared farm to table feasts. We bring Good People together, produce and host facilitated programs and workshops that ground us in our shared humanity and hopes for an inspiring future.

Host or Publisher Raman Frey