Create to Liberate
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Hollyhock Leadership Centre
- 445 Highfield Road, Cortes Island, British Columbia, Canada
- Sep 6 - 11, 2019 (6 days)
- Single w/shared bathroom* - CAD $1,880.00 Couple w/ensuite Oceanfront* - CAD $1,820.00 Couple w/ensuite* - CAD $1,670.00 Couple w/shared bathroom* - CAD $1,520.00 Twin w/ensuite oceanfront* - CAD $1,820.00 Twin w/ensuite* - CAD $1,670.00 Twin w/shar
About This Event
Creativity is not reserved for the professional artist. Creativity is a means to meeting our individual and collective challenges, and cultivating joy. It can also be an incredible tool for group cohesion and community building.
Whether for your own personal development or for working with groups, we will explore themes and practices that engage body, mind, and heart. These activities will build a foundation for creative facilitation techniques and effective engagement with groups of people, as well as support your own personal creative growth.
There will be a mixture of large and small group-work, as well as solo time, with space for rest and relaxation in a beautiful natural setting.
During our time together we will:
Deepen our understanding of power
Explore different types of power
Locate where power sits
Explore breaking the rules that keep us small
Bring awareness to how power affects group dynamics, and how to shift this
Connect to tools of personal and collective liberation
Connect to gratitude, joy, and a sense of wonder
Connect to our strength, courage, and vulnerability
Connect to our creativity
Connect to our individual and collective stories
Connect to ritual and reflection
Connect to nature as a repository of wisdom
Connect to embodied knowing
Connect to deep listening
Use creativity as a method of facilitation
Learn how creativity can be a means to meeting our individual and collective challenges
Explore how to weave connection with creative exercises
Apply creativity to team-building and group cohesion
Hollyhock definitely captured my heart. The food is wonderfully balanced and full of flavour. The garden is mesmerizing and the staff is always welcoming with a smile. Accommodation was comfortable and clean. There is something enchanting about this place that is calling me back ~ Monica G

Venue Highlights
Hollyhock sits on the traditional territories of the Klahoose, Tla’amin, Homalco Nations. We are committed to renewing our relationships with the First Nations peoples on whose territories we are guests.Since 1982 Hollyhock has built upon the history of this land as a place of gathering, a pioneering homestead, and the site of an important human potential education centre. On this foundation of gathering, pioneering and learning, Hollyhock’s founders dreamed of creating a lifelong learning and leadership curriculum to inspire, nourish and support people intent on service to a better world.
Hollyhock became a not-for-profit in 2006 to strengthen carrying out our mission into the future. With your help we can keep this as a thriving centre for skill-building, lifelong learning and stewardship of the natural world, inspiring, nourishing and supporting people making the world better for another 30+ years.

Accommodations
A variety of accommodations are located throughout our lush campus, ranging in price to suit most budgets. Choose from private, beachfront or ocean facing rooms, dorm-style lodging or cabins that nestle in the quiet seclusion of the forest. Our beautiful campsites are also available, with a cedar bath house conveniently located for your use.Room fees include all Hollyhock basics, like stimulating presenter evenings, delicious, organic meals, morning yoga/meditation classes, guided naturalist walks and tours of the garden, as well as luxurious soaks in our ocean-view hot-tubs. Telephones and wireless Internet are centrally located.
Room Options Include:
Single: 1 Person
Twin: Couple or Friends, 2 beds.
Couple: Couples or Friends sharing 1 bed.
Family/Friends: 3 or more adult friends or family /2 beds
Dorm: Up to 6 people/bunk beds
Tenting with full-service bath house (bring your own tent and bedding)
Roommates can be assigned, upon request, in twin and dorm rooms only.

Amenities
- Free Wifi
- Spa
- Towels
- Free Parking
- Tour Assistance
- Hot Tub
- Coffee/Tea
- Restaurant

Menu Types
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
- Organic
- Dairy Free

Menu/Cuisine
A feast for the senses! Renowned fresh, sumptuous food has made our Hollyhock kitchen famous. Our French-Intensive garden supplies vegetables, herbs, fruit, and flowers to each meal, gracing your table with food that is nourished with care every step of the way.Our healthy, organic, vegetarian fare features ingredients from our abundant gardens located just outside our kitchen door, and well as local BC foods.
Meals at Hollyhock are globally-inspired and prepared with love and skill in our Hollyhock kitchen. Enjoy weekly wild seafood dinners and beach-side oyster appetizer barbecues. We serve organic grains and organic produce sourced locally, whenever possible. Organic herbs, flowers, greens, and vegetables are harvested daily from the Hollyhock garden. Our orchard produces many beautiful fruits featured on the dessert menu seasonally and served in our 24/7 fruit bowl, offering. Our meals are created and served “family style”.

Directions
Our address is: PO Box 127, Manson’s LandingCortes Island, B.C. V0P 1K0 Canada
There are a variety of ways to get here. They include:
Seaplane:
1 hr from Vancouver
2 hrs from Seattle
Fly & Water Taxi:
2 hrs from Vancouver
3 hrs from Seattle
Roadtrip
Approx 6 hrs from Vancouver
Approx 10 hrs from Seattle
Public Trnsport (Ferry)
Approx 6 hrs from Vancouver
Approx 10 hrs from Seattle
Other ideas:
Rideshare:
Lighten your footprint and cost by sharing a ride with a fellow Hollyhock traveler – you might make a new friend! Create a free account on our secure Ride Share Board.
Electric Charging Station:
We are proud to offer an electric vehicle charging station on campus. Plan your stops with PlugShare.
Hollyhock Shuttle:
Complimentary for Onsite guests to and from ferry, seaplane, water taxi and ferries.
Reviews
Write a review - tell others about your experience.-
S.Portico Bowman September 24, 2019
Do not let the planes, ferries, shuttles, or taxis required to reach Hollyhock deter you. This is part of the magic of the place. By the time you arrive much of what you need to leave behind has been untethered into one of those named transportation devices. The setting is astounding. The overall vibe is that everyone is happy to be there, and happy to have you among them.
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Leslie Knight September 22, 2019
Great session! Not too large, not too small. Our group came together with just the right energy and the retreat centre provided the serenity and safety to let us be both serious and crazy. Hollyhock is well known for its beauty of location, but even better known for the delicious dishes its amazing staff serve up. And equally famous for its bread...both gluten and gluten free. Best of all...inter conversations between everyone attending concurrent sessions. Just pick a table and jump in. This is where lifelong friendships happen. In this crazy world it's reassuring to know that Hollyhock is there. Thank you. Did I mention the view from the outdoor Hot tub? Or the oyster roast on the beach? Yum!
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Odette Auger September 04, 2019
The Podcast from Hear was an audio storytelling program at Hollyhock. How much honesty and strength a circle of women can have, multiplied by the setting. We shared and grew, our group of diverse identities and experiences. Young empowered women and courageous professionals and artists of decades of expertise. Poets, scientists, Indigenous artists, sound engineers, soundscape artists, audio storytellers, professors of journalism and writing~ we had it all, we shared openly and with great heart. I strongly recommend this amazing program! https://hollyhock.ca/p/909/podcasting-the-story-from-hear/
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Tay Müller July 22, 2019
1. Arrival experience - I was greeted by a shuttle during which the driver informed of us history and wildlife on the island. Upon checking in my accommodations were reviewed and explained. 2. Stay - All of my needs were met at Hollyhock. The room was clean - I was staying in a dorm and all of the beds were comfortable and well-equipped with extra blankets and pillows. The shower in the dorms is a bit small if you are a large person but there is a bathhouse as well. Meals were EXCEPTIONAL and more food than anyone could ever require was provided as well as 24/7 available refreshments in the guest lodge. Many beautiful places to enjoy your meals with a deck with an outstanding view. Hollyhock is right on the beach with access to many trails nearby. 3. Check out - Reception staff helped me find transportation off the island and checked with water taxis to see if there was room available for me. Overall, hosts and facilities were exceptional the entire time.
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Claire Delisle June 14, 2019
A wonderful experience. The staff is courteous, gracious, and hard-working. The garden is delicious. There is one person who volunteers at the Centre and she was rude to me. We had left our full cups at a table and gone to get dinner. When I returned, she was sitting at our table, and so I spoke to her. She then told me that she was trying to get some quiet time. And she seemed to think that I had welcomed myself to her table. It was an awkward moment. I think she maybe has issues with people.
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Erica Køhn May 28, 2019
I am two days out of my retreat with Namchi Bazaar at Hollyhock and am amazed at how that retreat continues to inform my daily life. Not only am I more aware of my alignment, but I am bringing more awareness and relaxation to muscles I habitually tense. I feel younger and taller in my body and my breathing is fuller than it has been in years. More than anything I feel so deeply relaxed. This was my 8th retreat at Hollyhock and the space was so supportive for diving deep. The hot tubs under the stars and looking out over the Salish Sea were the perfect support to unravelling my tensions and muscles. I loved the walk in the forest to our class and the beautiful skylight that allowed me to look up at the swaying cedars while I melted into the mat. May is the perfect season at Hollyhock, the garden is bursting, days are long and the hot tub is a welcome warm counterpoint to the brisk ocean. Hollyhock generously granted me a 'locals' scholarship which made my retreat possible. I am ever so grateful!!
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Dustin Murray East May 18, 2019
Arrived on a sunny day with big smiles and hugs in the reception area. Flowers and forest and ocean. What more could I ask for other than... Incredible garden sourced food, net level facilities, and a staff that truly cares about m well being. I feel alive and full of new knowledge to truly change the world and take my life to another level. Power spot. Go when you can, as life will never be the same. Bless you Hollyhock and all the people who have touched it.
