HEARTH
[heart]h he[art]h h[earth]
jan 1-4, 2027
@ the hostel in the forest
brunswick, georgia
with calls on 12/15 & 1/26
7-8:30 EST
Hearth: a sacred center of community where one can rest and receive warmth & nourishment.
In this time of winter + transition into the new year, we will gather in the beautiful sandy forest of coastal georgia to drop out of “clock time” and into “hearth time,” where rest, spaciousness, and attunement to the here and now are given priority, giving us ample space + support to metabolize the past year+ dream into the year ahead.
Through art-making, somatics, singing, ritual, and contemplative service, we will connect with our bodies, each other, and the land, and co-create a sense of “Hearth.”
As we build security in our shared “hearth,” we will get the opportunity to honor our past and step more into the selves we are becoming: the versions of ourselves with the capacity to meet the conditions of the present moment with courage, vulnerability, and creativity, transforming the world around us in alignment with the liberated futures we dream of.
What We'll Practice
Wintering: just as the natural world goes through cycles of rest & stillness, we know that our bodies and communities also need to be in these cycles. We trust what becomes possible when we give ourselves space & permission to slow down, rest, feel, dream, and metabolize our experiences.
Relationship with Earth: inspired by the writings of Robin Wall Kimmerer, along with other indigenous teachers, we view the Earth as animate and inspirited, full of more-than-human beings that we are able to be in active relationship and reciprocity with.
Emergence: we draw on many concepts from adrienne maree brown's "Emergent Strategy" in our facilitation, such as "moving at the speed of trust," designing spaces to be intentionally adaptable, and embracing change.
Abolition: We believe that a world without prisons and policing is possible. We recognize that it is only possible where there are robust systems of community connection, care, and accountability, and that the emergence of the carceral state comes out of the vacuum of those things. We believe that growing our collective capacity to create and sustain these robust systems comes in part from the ways we practice relating with ourselves, one another, and the more-than-human world.
We have crafted the Hearth retreat with the intention of it acting as a supportive environment for this practice at a small scale, so that we may be resourced and emboldened to deepen into it in our daily lives. May the practices, environment, facilitation, and relationships we form with one another in this space resource and support us in recognizing where we are out of alignment with our values, and help us be curious about what resourcing and support we need to re-connect with our inherent worth, re-align with our values, and move from a place of creative agency.
KINDLING FOR THE HEARTH
Nature Connection: sensory nature walks, fire building & tending, a nap in the hammock by the lake, stargazing, and more
Intentional Relationship-Building: through storytelling, dialogue, and deep listening
Journaling & Reflection: including somatic and creative practices, prompts, + containers for an embodied, contemplative experience
Intentional Service: practicing reciprocity with each other, the Hostel, and the land through acts of collective care like cooking, cleaning, wood-chopping, and land-stewarding
Somatics: connecting to the wisdom of the body through movement, sound, the senses, and intuitive art practices
Communal Singing: using song as a tool for presence and connection. No singing experience needed
Sound Baths: deepening into rest & relaxation through a container of gentle sound
Art-Making: time for crafting + guided creative activities, like cyanotype + life drawing
Ritual: tending & invoking our relationships with land + spirit through music, movement + more
WHO THIS IS FOR
We are designing this retreat for an intimate group of 6 - 12 participants. Participants should:
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be interested in exploring new edges, challenging yourself, and growing your capacity for creative agency/ability to navigate your life in values-aligned ways, and see this retreat as an opportunity to do that with care and support.
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have some awareness of when you’re outside of your window of tolerance, and some practice supporting yourself in returning to your window of tolerance, including reaching out to others for help.
This is a queer-led & "queer-centric" retreat, open to anyone who shares the value of challenging heteronormativity & the gender binary, has experience sharing space with queer & genderqueer folks, is practiced in using gender-inclusive language, and is comfortable and experienced with receiving feedback gracefully.
HERE WE ASK
what are we practicing?
what edges do we want to explore?
what is asking for our presence, creativity, nourishment + protection?
where are the whispers and rhythms of nature leading us next?
how can we nourish both our sovereignty + collective thriving?
what supports our capacity for all of the above?
ABOUT THE HOSTEL IN THE FOREST
Founded in 1976 and located in Brunswick, Georgia, The Hostel in the Forest is an eco-sustainable center which promotes and teaches environmental sustainability, while also serving as a spiritual retreat. Accommodations at the Hostel are simple and rustic, featuring:
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treehouses & cabins with screen walls & no heat
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compostable toilets
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outdoor (private) showers & bath, with hot water
The Hostel has a no-phones-in-public rule, and trash-in / trash-out rule that we will be keeping with. There is no wi-fi on site.
While much of our time will be spent together with our cohort, participants of this retreat will be sharing space and meals with other Hostel guests. All kinds of people visit the Hostel from many walks of life and you never know who will be there when. You will likely find the group to be intergenerational (including families with young children), cross-class, majority white, majority from the south, with an ideological center of gravity towards the left and new age spirituality. Many queer and trans folks, and folks of color have loved the Hostel and helped steward it over the years.
Learn more about the Hostel, it's facilities, and it's history here.
ABOUT THE LAND
The Hostel sits on 140 acres of forest and wetlands, and is close by the beloved “Golden Isles” of St. Simons Island, Jekyll Island and Sea Island.
What is now known as Southeast Georgia was originally stewarded by the Mvskoke, Yamasee & Guale, and Timucua, who through war, genocide, and forced removal, have been largely dispossessed of their original lands. Learn more about their histories and current nations in the links above.
Additionally, the coastal regions and sea islands of the lower Atlantic coast are the historical homes of the Gullah Geechee, descendents of enslaved Africans who maintained a distinct culture and language with deep African retentions, and have contributed greatly to art, foodways, and musical cultures of the South and the US as a whole. To learn more about Gullah Geechee history, view the following: The Gullah Geechee People (Gullah Geechee Corridor), GullahGeecheeNation.com, and Queen Quet Defines Gullah/Geechee Nation Flag
ABOUT THE FACILITATORS
Jordan Mudd [he/him] is a queer & gender-nonconforming community musician, songleader, grief tender, and ritualist based in Boston, MA, where he stewards the Boston-Area Singing Circles community, cycles of seasonal rituals, queer-affirming men's work spaces, and runs a private practice of vocal coaching & grief accompaniment.
He has family in Jacksonville, FL and has been visiting the Hostel annually in January since 2018, and served as the Hostel’s artist-in-residence in winter ‘25 - 26.
Em Tebbetts (they/them) is a multi-disciplinary artist and creative somatic alchemist living, grieving, creating, and playing in midcoast maine, boston, and the golden isles of georgia. Their art, facilitation, and perspective is informed by their experiences with cptsd, neurodivergence, queerness, gender, whiteness, disability, fatness. also, by the transformative quality of connection with nature, self, one another, and the great mystery of life.
They served as the Hostel's artist-in-residence in april 2026, collaborating with Jordan and other staff members to create a grief portal space on the land.
NOTE ON WHITENESS
We are both white; this is a specific and limited experience of being a human. Both of us have engaged in years-long processes of interrogating our internalized white supremacy, and the conditioning of white supremacy culture, intellectually and somatically. And we are always learning, sometimes fumbling, cyclically falling out of alignment with our values, beliefs, and practices and then returning again.
While interrogating whiteness, internalized white supremacy, and the complex dynamics of multiracial groups is not the focus of this retreat, being present to what is alive in the group is an intention, and we are aware that these dynamics are always at play whether they are named explicitly or not. While we both feel able to approach, lead conversations around, and receive feedback on these topics, we recognize that there are limitations to how we can engage without a facilitator of color also helping hold the space. With awareness of these limitations, and welcoming further questions, we welcome people of color who feel called to be at this retreat to apply, or to reach out with any questions.
Participants should arrive by 2pm on Friday, January 1st, to allow time to settle before an opening afternoon session. Our programming will officially end at 2pm on Monday the 4th.
An idea of how a day could go:
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8am: optional morning practice: gentle movement by the lake
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9am: breakfast
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10am: morning session: reflecting, relating & orienting to the day
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11:30am: break-out groups
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Group 1: art-making with em
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Group 2: fire building skills with jordan
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Group 3: lunch prep with head chef
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1pm: lunch
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2pm: break
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3:30pm: afternoon session: somatic nature walk in the woods + earth-connection ritual
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6pm: break
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7pm: dinner + clean-up
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9pm: evening session: sound bath + gratitude circle
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10:30pm: closing
This is a rough outline. We will be letting go of "clock-time" in this retreat and not keeping a strict timed agenda.
TRADE DAY
We invite all who want some extra spaciousness to stay the night on Monday the 4th. After our official programming closes at 2pm on Monday, we'll open the floor for participants to continue connecting by offering "trades" to each other, for example: I'll trade you a massage for a portrait!
SCHEDULE
LOGISTICS
Travel: The Hostel is a short drive from the local Brunswick Airport (connections to ATL only), and around an hour drive from the Jacksonville, FL and Savannah, GA airports.
A number of bus lines stop in Brunswick running from cities like Atlanta, Orlando, Jacksonville, and Miami.
Pick-ups from the Brunswick Airport and Brunswick Bus station can be arranged for a small fee. After registering, participants will have the opportunity to arrange carpooling with each other as well.
Accommodations: options include shared lodging with other retreat participants, or we have a limited number of private cabins/treehouses for an extra $100 fee, due upon registration. Please note your preference in your application and we will do our best to accommodate everyone. All buildings are simple and rustic, with screen windows and no heat.
Weather: January in Georgia generally ranges from lovely 60 degree days to cool nights in the 40s. Cold spells that drop below freezing at night are possible. In such cases, sleeping indoors in a shared space heated by wood stove is possible. Sheets & blankets are provided by the Hostel, bringing a sleeping bag or electric blanket is recommended if possible.
Food: A simple breakfast will be provided each morning, and lunch will be cooked by our head chef + a few participant volunteers each day. A vegetarian dinner is provided to all Hostel guests nightly by Hostel staff. Participants are welcome to bring their own food and snacks as well. Provided meals will begin with dinner on Friday and end with lunch on Monday.
Health Policy: We ask all participants to take a covid test before traveling to the Hostel and not to attend if you test positive. We will provide a second test for everyone to take upon arrival: if you test positive, you will still have the option of staying at the Hostel and social distancing, but not fully participating in the retreat. There are some activities you could participate in outdoors, masked, and at an appropriate distance.
It is important to note that while most of our time will be spent with our group, other Hostel guests and staff will share space and dinner with us, and the Hostel does not require testing of guests.
BEYOND THE RETREAT
Oftentimes, retreats or "peak experiences" give us the opportunity to experience new ways of being and expressing ourselves. When we return back to our everyday lives and routines, it can be challenging to continue accessing those ways of being. Our group calls & group chat are help us stay connected to our shared experience beyond the retreat itself. We ask all participants to do all in their power to attend our two group calls live.
Orientation Call: Tuesday, 12/15, 7 - 8:30 EST. The purpose of this call is to start to get to know each other, provide important information, and orient towards our time together.
Integration Call: Tuesday, 1/26, 7 - 8:30 EST. The purpose of this call is to help take the insights, practices, and ways of being that we cultivated during our retreat and integrate them into our lives.
Community Group Chat: before and after our retreat, our group chat will allow for continued connection between us.
PRICING + REGISTRATION
Cost: payment for this retreat is done in two parts: an initial deposit and a facilitator's offering.
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Non-refundable deposit: $400, due upon sign-up. These deposits will cover our operating expenses for this retreat.
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Facilitator's offering: suggested: $700, sliding scale $350 - 1100. Due on the final day of the retreat. These payments will go towards compensating our facilitators' time & labor. You will be asked to consider what you received, and what reciprocity with us feels like before making this second payment.
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In total, the suggested cost of the retreat is 1100, sliding scale $750 - 1500.
Scholarship: We have limited scholarships available, where you pay a $100 initial deposit, and a $100 - $300 facilitator's offering. Please note in your application if you would need a scholarship to attend. If you'd specifically like to contribute towards a scholarship fund (which would make more scholarships available), please note that in your application as well.
If you feel a strong pull towards this retreat but are unsure how to make it work financially, we encourage you to apply and/or schedule a free consultation with either of us. We want the people who feel aligned with this offering to be here, and are open to working with you to explore creative solutions.
Redistribution: At least 5% of the proceeds of this retreat will be shared between Kate’s Club, and The McIntosh County Shouters.
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Kate’s Club (Brunswick branch) is a Georgia-based nonprofit that provides free in-person and virtual grief support, education, and advocacy for children, teens, young adults, families, and professionals experiencing the death of a parent, sibling, or caregiver.
Extending your stay: If you would like to arrive early or extend your stay (including for our optional “trade day” on Monday), please make those arrangements yourself by calling the Hostel. Shared dorms are $30 - 50 a night, private treehouses and rooms are $40 - 60. Let them know you are participating in the Hearth retreat when you book.
Application: please fill out a short application form. We will accept participants to this retreat on a rolling basis, aiming to respond within a week of your submission.
Questions? email jordan@jordanmudd.com AND info@emily-tebbetts.com, or schedule a free consultation call with jordan or em.
