Retreat Program Overview
Please join Lev, Bita and Gayah at Shelterwood Retreat Center in October. We will be offering a Metta Retreat for Queer, Trans, Intersex, Gender Expansive, Mixed Race and People of Color and a limited number of BIPOC allies as we create a place of refuge for us during these times. Our retreat will feature meditation, movement, rest, an opportunity to grieve and experience joy in community.
The retreat will be primarily silentwith optional times for sharing while discovering or touching into the love within and beyond that is available to us. We will offer practices we hope will encourage self-compassion and equanimity as we also honor the struggles and burdens we each may experience in the world today.
Metta, also known as Lovingkindness, is a virtue of Buddhism that encourages love for ourselves and all beings. It can be cultivated as a foundation for compassion, or self-compassion. We wish love for ourselves and others no matter what’s happening, and especially when we are suffering. Metta is one of the Four Divine Abodes we will learn about and practice. The others include Karuna (Compassion), Mudita (appreciative joy) and Upekkha (equanimity).
Many of us in the QTBIPOC and BIMPOC community have been working very hard for our own rights as well as others, this is why rest will also be included in our daily practices.
This is a silent retreat. There will be no talking except as instructed by the teachers or as needed with teachers or staff.
All levels of meditators, including beginners, are welcome. All activities are optional and the morning and evening sessions will be strongly encouraged.
Metta, also known as Lovingkindness, is a virtue of Buddhism that encourages love for ourselves and all beings. It can be cultivated as a foundation for compassion, or self-compassion. We wish love for ourselves and others no matter what’s happening, and especially when we are suffering. Ajahn Chah, a monastic from the Thai Buddhist tradition reminds us: "There are two kinds of suffering: the suffering, which leads to more suffering, and the suffering, which leads to the end of suffering. The first is the pain of grasping after fleeting pleasures and aversion for the unpleasant, the continued struggle of most people day after day. The second is the suffering, which comes when you allow yourself to feel fully the constant change of experience – pleasure, pain, joy, and anger – without fear or withdrawal. [This] suffering of our experience leads to inner fearlessness and peace." We practice to learn how to meet our moment to moment experience with love, compassion, and joy to benefit not only our own well being but for all beings.
As Shelterwood is a new and blossoming community space, accessibility is currently limited. Please contact asha@offgridretreats.org with any questions or concerns you may have about access.
Retreat Site & Lodging
This retreat will reside at Shelterwood Collective, a Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQ-led community forest and retreat center. Comprised of 900+ acres, Shelterwood Collective is nestled above the Russian River in Sonoma County, CA, on Unceded Kashaya and Southern Pomo territory.
The majority of retreat practice will take place outdoors. There many gathering spaces in nature near camp. There is a loop trail that starts / ends at camp too. This trail is 3 miles on gravel and takes about 1.5 hours. There is another hike up to a natural clearing that looks out on neighboring ridgetops and a couple that meader along the creek. All of the hikes all require decent mobility. For more accessible paths, individuals are able to walk around camp and/or along the winding path for cars.
There are a couple lodges and a few smaller cabins that surround the camping meadow at Shelterwood. Each building has a fireplace, wood stove or portable electric heaters. And there are hot showers (indoors & out!) along with ADA accessible bathrooms. Participants in glamping and camping tents will need to walk to access bathrooms (less than 1 minute away).
Inside the Main Lodge, there is a commercial kitchen and a spacious meditation hall. Starting with dinner, we’ll enjoy 3 vegetarian meals / day along with access to snacks, tea and coffee throughout each day. The meditation hall faces large sliding glass doors that connect the space to the outdoors. If need be or after the sun sets, practice may be held indoors here. During nature retreats, weather and temperatures vary so we also provide a packing list to ensure comfort and safety.
Our sliding scale lodging options are listed below. Unless specified otherwise, lodging is all inclusive with a bed, bed frame, bedding and pillow. Visit our registration for more.
Single pre-built glamping bell tents (w/ elevated cot, sleeping pad, sleeping bag and pillow)
Twin bed in large shared bunk-room with bathroom (up to 3 ppl / room)
BYOTents or Vans (participants to bring their own sleeping amenities - cot, pad, sleeping bag and pillow)
Retreat Cost
The Buddha asked that the teaching of the Dharma be offered freely, without charge, since it is of infinite value, and beyond any price that could be put on it. In this spirit, your registration fee does NOT include compensation for Lev, Gayah & Bita for planning and teaching the retreat. On the final retreat day, you will be invited to share dana (AKA donations) to the Retreat Teachers.
Our registration fees are priced on a sliding scale (based on the lodging you choose - glamping, bunkbed or BYOTent / Van) with varying rates. Please choose the payment rate that best suits you. All options include access to the site and vegetarian meals.
Benefactor rate - This is 1.3x the sustainer rate. By selecting this option, you help us offset the costs of those that register with the basic rate. The excess that you pay above the sustainer rate is tax deductible.
Sustainer rate - This rate covers retreat costs (site fee, food, cook, equipment, etc.)
Basic rate - This rate is partially subsidized through community generosity / fundraising. It is $100 less than the sustainer rate.
Visit our registration for more.
Cancellation Policy
If you request a refund before July 14, 2026 we're able to provide you a full refund minus an administrative fee (less than $100). If you request a refund between July 14, 2026 and September 14, 2026, we'll provide you with a 50% refund minus an administrative fee (less than $100). We’re unable to provide refunds after September 14, 2026.
To keep the retreat as affordable as possible, our retreat fees are set to simply cover the expenses of putting on the retreat—renting the venue, compensating retreat staff, etc. When someone drops out, we still incur all of those expenses. For this reason, we are unable to make exceptions to our cancellation policy—even when you have a very good reason for canceling. Thank you for your understanding.
Retreat Teachers
Lev Michael Moses, formally known as Fresh “Lev” White is a love and compassion activist.
He graduated from Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioner and Community Dharma Leadership programs. He also received coaching and leadership certifications from the Co-Active Training Institute.
He is mindfully grounded at the East Bay Meditation Center. He teaches and coaches individuals, households and professional teams on secular mindfulness, non-secular meditation and diversity. He credits his ability to reach diverse audiences to his years growing up in multi-ethnic communities in New York.
Gayah Imani Gillson aka Mother Gayah Samahita, is a BIPOC, QTPOC, TwoSpirit International Artist, Healer, Visionary Activist, Lay Monastic, and Spiritual Worker. She is the founder and artistic director of Theater of the Liberated, a performance community in Gowanus, Brooklyn, and soon to launch, 'Artist Temple,' a multi-media online company.
Gayah's work spans multiple disciplines:
1. Activism: Social justice, racial equity, community engagement, and empowerment
2. Spirituality: Meditation, mindfulness, ancestral wisdom, rituals, sutras & healing arts practices
3. Education: Workshops, retreats & trainings
4. Art: Interactive, socially conscious, intersectional visibility, enriching, movement & performances
Bita Shooshani has been a student of the Dharma since her teens when she asked her grandmother questions about the meaning of life. Her grandmother lived an inspiring life led by love and compassion as a remedy to the challenges she faced of anti-semitism, poverty, war, and eventually escaping her homeland, Iran, to reunite with her family in exile in the U.S. Bita continues to deepen her understanding of suffering through a dedication to meditation and early Buddhist teachings. These practices heal trauma (including internalized oppression) and may guide the world to end collective suffering. She completed the Commit2Dharma (C2D) program at the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland and the Dedicated Practitioners Program (DPP) at Spirit Rock.