There are liberatory systems inside of you.

But, you need a parallel space to rest, heal, play and practice something different.

By moonlight retreat, refuge and strategic planning spaces run parallel to top down non-profit and corporate structures. This is strategic because changing white supremacist systems we live and work in is exhausting, divisive and violent. Innovation needs a different space.

Just like the Black Panthers created parallel systems to feed the youth in schools or like Black enslaved people who gathered in the middle of the night to share rhythms and escape plans and medicine or how contemporary Tricia Hersey “snatches” her rest because the system will never give it to her…

Your internal facing programming needs parallel spaces too. At By Moonlight we facilitate what we call unbounded spaces because there is no product driven agenda. The healing in our spaces takes place as we freely explore the praxis of liberation through the tools of rest, creativity and connection. From this space a new praxis always emerges, whether it be for individuals in the retreat or for the collective.

In the deep rest, play and belonging of our retreats, we support you to align with your value of a radically liberated work space or a radically rested team.

What Does Integrating Liberated systems look like?

All of the following examples have actually happened for organizations during their time with By Moonlight!

  • Your organization is exploring how rest and finances intersect

  • Your movement work is supported by emergent rituals of letting go and celebration

  • Your movement work is supported by tagging people in and out when rest is needed

  • You have new and exciting ways to engage yourself and your team and reignite passion and creativity. 

  • Your whole team is doing fun things like taking dance breaks, stretching on the floor and bringing nap blankets to work. 

  • You have created a refuge space in your office and now people have a place to go when they need to cry or have vulnerable conversations.

  • There is a standing session every month for your team to connect and intentionally move at the speed of trust.

Lets Talk

By Moonlight Retreats

Though we often facilitate virtually for organizations across the country, By Moonlight in-person retreats are where we show off. Not only do we get to offer an abundance of accessible tools that can be used to slow down, feel grounded in your body, breathe, listen to your inner wisdom, experience real connection with each other and enliven your imagination… but each space is an artistically designed sensory experience that may include any of the following: 

  • rest nest experiences

  • embodied play

  • deep stillness practices

  • relationship building 

  • ritual (letting go, celebration, abundance rituals)

  • storytelling

  • tactical interactive altars

  • collective movement singing

  • gorgeous space design

  • And the usual massages, acupuncture, sound bowl, wellness tea experiences

    By Moonlight weaves all of these elements together seamlessly while maintaining space to connect and integrate healing. 


Our retreats can be booked as:

  • 3 hour intro to cultures of care workshops.

  • 2-5 day retreats for your team to reconnect, rest and play

  • Strategic integrations of rest, belonging and creativity into your work culture

  • A refuge space for a conference participants to cultivate their own rhythms parallel to the business of the conference . 

Let's Create Your Retreat

By Moonlight Refuge Spaces

Revolutionary Wellness and Affinity Spaces

Story Time

I am going to share the power of a By Moonlight Refuge Space by sharing a story.

In October of 2024 By Moonlight designed and curated a rest space for the BIPOC people at the Granting in the Arts conference that took place in Chicago.

I had completely transformed the space to the point where the employees of the hotel joked that they wished they could keep the space that way in design and in intention. We want a place like this to come and take a nape or get a massge!

The Space

I had brought in beautiful hand painted art from my partner at the time who did deep studies in the spirituality of the circle. I set up four futons with blankets and pillows, I curated a gathering space in the center of the room with beautiful fabrics and meditation cushions. I covered the cream pillars with fabric and I set up stations around the perimeter of the room for crafting, a stim table, coloring books and more.

The Transformations

Halfway into the first of two days at the conference a woman walked into the space and was upset because her two white male bosses were micromanaging her. I went over to her and encouraged her to take one of the many pillows in the space and yell into it or hit it on the floor. She was hesitant at first but then she took the pillow out of my hand and slammed it down onto the ground. This impulse led to an even greater release as she moved through a flood of tears with her face buried in the pillow.

I put my hand on her back and after a moment of further ranting I encouraged her to generate her own sense of safety and ground by thinking about something beautiful that was happening in her life. She literally ended up dancing out of the space.

Later on that day I witnessed the miraculous full use of the refuge space. One woman was contently coloring, four people taking naps on the provided futons, people were journaling, I was facilitating a "tending grief workshop," in the center of the room, there was someone receiving a massage in the back of the room and then a person came in, rolled out their mat and started doing their Muslim prayers in the corner.

This moment touched me to my core and solidified a knowing in my whole body. Workplaces need restoration rooms and every conference should have a refuge space. These rest spaces hold the promise of a world that feels beautiful, nourished and connected. My radical vision is for every workspace and conference in the United States to have a rest room and a care facilitator on staff.

I want all employers to wake up and realize that we cannot leave our humanity at the door not matter how we try to mask all day. There must be a place for our whole selves to show up everyday. The benefit is connection and connection leads to innovation which leads to a world that aligns with our radical dreams of liberation.

Let's Design Your Refuge

Strategic By Moonlight Integrations

Creating an unbounded parallel dreaming and praxis space as a part of your strategic journey will bring you to otherwise inaccessible possibilities for the liberatory culture of your team.

This process can include:

  • And emergent and creative process to arrive at or asses your values and agreements

  • Establishing a process of repair that will support the group for when tension arises and includes a skill share of regulating somatic practices

  • A series of group retreats that use the tools of rest, creativity and belonging to let the wisdom of the collective generate practices and themes that only that group could explore

  • A recurring space to support the group to move at the speed of trust with each other, to support any challenges that arise along the way and to continue to deepen in collective values.

  • Mentorship for the group in weaving in principles of creativity rest, belonging and to continue to somatically dismantle white supremacist, patriarchal systems.

TESTIMONIES

  • "Sojourner, I can't thank you enough for the rest that you helped provide - it was amazing. I have never experienced anything like it in a retreat setting. I WANT MORE!!!"

    Terri Johnson, Director of Collective Impact

  • "Sojourner’s skill as a facilitator is unparalleled—whether guiding us through breathwork practices to regulate our nervous systems, leading creative movement sessions that invite us to reclaim joy and embodiment, or facilitating cultural leadership legacy work that reconnects us to our lineage and ancestral wisdom. Every space they hold is intentional, sacred, and deeply impactful."

    Anika Tene, Director of Grants Awards and Programs

  • “It was so much better than a mediator, not just people complaining but our staff talking about how they wanted to be better people at work and in their personal lives. By Moonlight held a safe space for our collective and individual healing processes. My staff commented that the experience was cathartic. I highly recommend Sojourner!.”

    Michele Young, Division Chiropractic and Acupuncture, Owner

  • “The wellness workshops facilitated by Sojourner were excellent — They did a phenomenal job facilitating and we were impressed with how well these went. Sojourner was attuned to where we are at this time, and provided not just a welcoming and inclusive style but real, tangible tools. We loved how we were guided to get in tune with our bodies and connect with colleagues in a different way. The breathing and movement techniques were great tools to help us refresh and calm ourselves during high-intensity times. It was a necessary and healthy moment for our community to signal to each other that we value care and respect for each other and each other's wellbeing.”

    Gabrielle Lyon, Executive Director at Illinois Humanities

Clients

Rest. Create. Belong.

Interested in a By Moonlight retreat for your team? Interested in a physical refuge space for your conference? Would you like us to be a part of your strategic planning? Let us know what you are dreaming up.