Emergence Foundation’s First Full Retreat
The first Emergence Foundation Retreat took place over three days from April 17-20, 2026. Having transitioned from grant-giving to supporting grantees themselves, as well as others involved in social justice or activism, EF wanted to offer a space for regeneration, contemplation, movement, and enquiry.
As a team we were were moved by the immediacy of the trust and willingness to fully engage that everyone who attended expressed.
From meditation, to enquiry, to deep movement sessions outside in the beautiful grounds of the venue, we travelled both alone and together. It was a space that allowed us all to let go, to listen, to be challenged, and to open up to the richness and diversity held in the gathering.
This retreat was facilitated by the Emergence Foundation team. Steve Murphy’s closing words capture the essence of this powerful time together.
The timeless idea of a retreat is to remove ourselves for a time from the endless distractions of the mind, of our responsibilities, of the demands that life places on us, so we can remember and re-engage with the deepest parts of ourselves, and infuse our lives more with the qualities we find there – peace, joy and the knowledge that in that deep place we mysteriously are never truly alone, we’re always connected to something bigger.
When we listen deeply, the gap between that mysterious depth, and ourselves and each other, gets thinner and starts to fall away.
It’s always a joy and a relief seeing and feeling and knowing each other from depth and connection. Where differences dissolve into a natural joyful knowing that – there you are, and here I am, and here we are, alone/together.
When we make the effort to listen, there is a deep wisdom always willing to speak to us. Listening to depth – in the silence of meditation, making the effort to offer patient restraint in dialogue, and listening to our bodies – is how we give depth a voice in our lives.
As we head back into our lives, we will inevitably experience the abrasion of the world as it is. We’d like you to remember that this weekend you took the risk to experience the discomfort of the unfamiliar, but you listened deeply anyway.
The weekend was an open invitation to all of us, to remember that underlying our day-to-day experience, is a depth that is always present, always available, ever regenerative, always loving, always giving. It offers a way to come together in new ways; with a fresh innocence, in true vulnerability and with attention and care.
Emergence Foundation will continue to host events that support those engaging in making the world a better place.
