Preparing for the Power/Pleasure Retreat

First, we are thrilled that you have decided to join us at the Power/Pleasure Retreat. This space has been created with a lot of love, curiosity, and pleasure.

Below you will find information needed to help you prepare for this experience. And if you have questions that aren’t addressed here, please submit them below.

We can’t wait to see you!

- Yvonne, Adam, and Kai Cheng

Mental prep

Study the Wheel of Consent - We are asking everyone to watch all of the videos here or read the book The Art of Receiving and Giving before arriving. We will not be teaching the Wheel of Consent, but we will be using it as a map and we will all need some basic literacy of how it works.

Watch the videos Kai Cheng, Yvonne, and Adam recorded about the retreat.

Emotional & energetic prep

Journal and contemplate some, or all, of the following prompts:

What is my current relationship to pleasure?
In what parts of my life do I have a lack of power? How does this make it harder for me to ask for what I want and say no to what I don’t want?
In what parts of my life do I have an abundance of power? How does that make it easier for me to ask for what I want?
What does it mean for me to be in integrity in my relationships? How do I know when I am outside of it?
What is my purpose in life?
What are the gifts I want to offer in this lifetime?
What are the gifts I want to receive in this lifetime?

What to bring

Comfortable clothes, layers, and pieces that will allow you to express yourself in the ways you want to be seen
Hiking gear if you’re into that
Water bottle
Journal
Resources to help support you
2 Covid tests (we will test upon arrival and on day 3)

What not to bring

Scents
Animals & pets
Substances (marijuana, alcohol, poppers, psychedelics, etc.)

Logistics

Address: 391 Herrington Hill Rd, Greenwich, NY 12834

By air: From Albany Airport, order an Uber/Lyft and have them drop you off. Drive to the end of the road and we will check you in at the front office.

By bus/train: From Albany (via Amtrak get out at Albany Rensselaer), order an Uber/Lyft and have them drop you off. Drive to the end of the road and we will check you in at the front office.

By car: Drive to the end of the road, park, and enter the office for your Covid test and room assignment.

Times:

Check-in: Begins at 12 PM on Oct 11 - please come to the front desk at the end of the road first so we can do in-person Covid testing.

Opening Circle: Tuesday, Oct 11 at 2 PM. (It is vital that everyone be present for opening circle as we set the container.)

Closing circle: We will end by 2:30 PM on Sunday, Oct 16.

Name

First Name

Last Name

Housing accommodations

Each attendee will have one roommate and it is helpful to know if you have any accommodations you would like for us to consider. This could be about health, types of bodies you do not feel safe with, etc. We will do our very best to meet you and let you know if we cannot. e.g., I prefer to not room with someone who presents in a cis-male body e.g., I snore loudly and will need to be someone who can be compassionate about that

Pronouns, gender identity, and gender expression

We are being intentional about who is present and would like to know about your personal pronouns, gender identity, and gender expression. e.g., they/them, I consider myself genderqueer or non-binary, often appear a cis-man, but prefer to remove myself from that binary distinction e.g., she/her, cis-woman e.g., she/they, non-binary, usually present as a cis-woman e.g., whatever you want to include!

Body designation

We are being intentional about who is present so that we can hold the container in a way that challenges the dominant white-bodied supremecist culture. Getting a sense of how you identify helps us hold that with more clarity. e.g., person of color, Latinx e.g., white-bodied e.g., white-bodied, body of culture, mixed race e.g., cross-racial, mixed race, person of color e.g., white-bodied, white passing Indigenous person

Anything else you'd like us to know?