Covid and Consent Policies
Ecstatic Community Immersion
August 5–8, 2022
Everyone who attends this retreat must agree to these policies.
Covid Safety
Breitenbush management is aware this retreat offers a lot of close-proximity activity and physical contact. They have a responsibility to keep the community healthy, including all of their staff. Fortunately, a lot of our sessions are outdoors, and the indoor spaces have great ventilation in summer.
Here are the mandatory covid safety procedures for our retreat:
Entire Retreat Cancellation Due to a Major Covid Surge
The retreat will proceed as scheduled unless there is a covid surge so severe that the state of Oregon mandates outdoor masking or outdoor social distancing. If such a mandate happens anytime up until July 22nd, the retreat will cancelled and complete refunds issued to everyone. If such a mandate happens from July 23rd through Aug 4th, you will have the choice of either cancelling your registration for the cost of your lodging (and get a refund of the complete Retreat Fee) or attending a completely repurposed retreat that follows the state of Oregon mandate(s).
Breitenbush management is aware this retreat offers a lot of close-proximity activity and physical contact. They have a responsibility to keep the community healthy, including all of their staff. Fortunately, a lot of our sessions are outdoors, and the indoor spaces have great ventilation in summer.
Here are the mandatory covid safety procedures for our retreat:
- You must provide a negative PCR test that is lab verified and taken within 72 hours of your arrival (regardless of already having covid in May, June, or July).
- You will need to sign a waiver of liability at check-in.
- We will follow whatever state and county mandates are in place at the time (for example, masking indoors if required).
- If you experience ANY covid symptoms while at Breitenbush, you are required to mask immediately and report to a staff member.
- Participants may be required to mask in the Lodge, except while in our well-ventilated North Wing retreat sessions or while actively eating in the dining hall.
- We strongly request that participants minimize their exposure risk to covid for at least a week leading up to our event. Please avoid indoor group events or situations where covid is likely to transmit.
- Note: For indoor retreat sessions, we will keep windows and doors open for maximum cross-ventilation, which improves safety significantly by reducing airborne virus concentrations.
Entire Retreat Cancellation Due to a Major Covid Surge
The retreat will proceed as scheduled unless there is a covid surge so severe that the state of Oregon mandates outdoor masking or outdoor social distancing. If such a mandate happens anytime up until July 22nd, the retreat will cancelled and complete refunds issued to everyone. If such a mandate happens from July 23rd through Aug 4th, you will have the choice of either cancelling your registration for the cost of your lodging (and get a refund of the complete Retreat Fee) or attending a completely repurposed retreat that follows the state of Oregon mandate(s).
Our Culture of Consent
Many of the activities in this retreat offer the possibility for physical touch and/or emotional intimacy. To hold a strong container of physical and emotional safety, we place the highest value on consent. We ask everyone to be sensitive of others' personal boundaries, considering the wide range of comfort to being approached and/or touched. We have a community agreement only to give attention or contact to whom enthusiastically welcomes it.
Some people who come to ecstatic community events are working through trauma, and only want attention from people they've learned to feel very safe around. Therefore, following someone around--on or off the dancefloor--who has not shown any interest in engaging with you constitutes unwanted attention. The same with staring at anyone. It feels predatory, no matter how innocent the intention. The responsibility for keeping things comfortable and safe is on the person offering/requesting/giving attention, not the person receiving the request or attention. If in doubt, keep your attention and energy contained to yourself.
You may see people dancing in intimate contact dances, and you may want to explore that here too. Please understand that those relationships are built on trust that has developed over the course of experience. When you approach people for contact, do it very conscientiously and gently—and pay careful attention to body language. If someone dances away from you once or twice, it means they are not interested, and you should not give them attention for the rest of that dance.
It's also important to know that consent for one type of contact does not imply consent for another. For example, someone may share a fun, dynamic contact dance with you, but that does not mean they are comfortable with you embracing them, lifting them, or grabbing them in any way. It's best to whisper a request before taking any contact to a new level of connection.
Finally, it’s important to note that while some of our sessions involve sensual touch, this is not a sex retreat. Please do not attend this retreat if you have an intention to find a hookup, because your energy will feel predatory and unsafe.
If you or any of your friends feel you are receiving any nonconsensual touch, unwanted attention, or inappropriate requests to connect, we encourage you to seek out PJ (Baron von Spirit), AveryDeane, or Saffire. We will make sure it gets addressed right then and there.
Some people who come to ecstatic community events are working through trauma, and only want attention from people they've learned to feel very safe around. Therefore, following someone around--on or off the dancefloor--who has not shown any interest in engaging with you constitutes unwanted attention. The same with staring at anyone. It feels predatory, no matter how innocent the intention. The responsibility for keeping things comfortable and safe is on the person offering/requesting/giving attention, not the person receiving the request or attention. If in doubt, keep your attention and energy contained to yourself.
You may see people dancing in intimate contact dances, and you may want to explore that here too. Please understand that those relationships are built on trust that has developed over the course of experience. When you approach people for contact, do it very conscientiously and gently—and pay careful attention to body language. If someone dances away from you once or twice, it means they are not interested, and you should not give them attention for the rest of that dance.
It's also important to know that consent for one type of contact does not imply consent for another. For example, someone may share a fun, dynamic contact dance with you, but that does not mean they are comfortable with you embracing them, lifting them, or grabbing them in any way. It's best to whisper a request before taking any contact to a new level of connection.
Finally, it’s important to note that while some of our sessions involve sensual touch, this is not a sex retreat. Please do not attend this retreat if you have an intention to find a hookup, because your energy will feel predatory and unsafe.
If you or any of your friends feel you are receiving any nonconsensual touch, unwanted attention, or inappropriate requests to connect, we encourage you to seek out PJ (Baron von Spirit), AveryDeane, or Saffire. We will make sure it gets addressed right then and there.
