Bear Your Soul: Winter Hibernation ‘25

Workshops with a * contain nudity and/or some level of erotic touch. If you have concerns or questions, please see the facilitator or a host.

Alumni Day

Thursday, Jan 16th - (Alumni Only)

7:00 PM - 8:00 PM: Dinner - Dining Room (circle at 6:50)
8:00 PM - 9:30 PM: Sharing Circle - Great Room

Friday, Jan 17th - (Alumni Only)

8:30 AM - 9:30 AM: Breakfast - Dining Room
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM: Time for Pop Ups
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM: Lunch - Dining Room
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM: Time for Pop Ups

Friday, January 17th

5:30 pm - 6:20 pm - Welcome Reception - Sun Room
Get acquainted before dinner with wine, non-alcoholic beverages, cheese and crackers.  

6:30 pm - 7:30 pm - Dinner with our Houses - Great Room (meet at 6:20 for Dinner Circle)  

8:00 pm - 9:30 pm - Opening Circle - Great Room
Gather to hear about all the exciting things we have planned and set our intentions for the retreat!  

9:30 pm - 10:30 pm - Puppy Pile with Jay Freeman - Great Room
A warm and fuzzy clothing-on, non-erotic guided group snuggle and relaxation experience. This is a great way to ease into the retreat with some connection and warmth!

Saturday, January 18th

7:30 am - 8:30 am

Morning Yoga with Tim Cooley - Great Room
Join Tim for a yoga practice emphasizing listening to your body. Fine for beginners or more advanced yogis! 

Silent Meditation with Intentional Journaling with Shaan Prokopton - Temple
Shaan will guide you through a calming, reflective experience of silent meditation and journaling. Step away from the noise and reconnect with your inner voice. Through thought-provoking prompts and simple techniques, you’ll learn how to start a daily meditation practice. No experience needed, and people of all beliefs are welcome. As a student of Zen meditation and a practitioner of Stoic philosophy, Shaan offers thoughtful guidance on this journey to everyday serenity.

12 Step Meeting - Hunter Reynolds Room

8:30 am - 9:30 am - Breakfast (with Morning Cartoons with Dave Dietz in the Great Room)
Stay in your PJ’s, bring your breakfast and your teddy for classic cartoons (with a selection of fun cereals).

9:30 am - 10:30 am - Small Groups - Various Locations
Please attend your small group and be on time.

11:00 am - 12:30 pm - Yes, No, Maybe and More! with Tyler Wansley and Shane Scott - Great Room
How do you ask for what you want? How do you say YES to what works for you and say NO with kindness and clarity?  How do you deal with rejection? What are some tools to get more connection at the retreat and beyond? We will try to answer some of these questions together through sharing, non erotic touch, and role play exercises! Come open the toolbox! This is a CORE Bear Your Soul workshop. It is recommended that participants attend, especially newcomers.

12:30 pm - 1:00 pm - Lunch

1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

*Loving Our Bear Bodies with Goldenheart and Jay and Freeman - Temple
A chance to affirm the beauty of your body and erotic self. Through touch exercises, we will give and receive support and appreciation with our brothers. The workshop involves nudity & erotic touch. This is a core workshop of Bear Your Soul. This is a CORE Bear Your Soul workshop. It is recommended that newcomers attend. If you are interested, but apprehensive, speak to your group leader or a host.

Felted Rocks with Mr. Larrie - Great Room
This project makes it easy to carry the spirit of nature with you wherever you go. In this session participants will select a natural stone and wrap it in a colorful layer of wool felt roving for a custom keepsake that can be practical or decorative! Plus, you’ll learn about the ancient art of felting and how you can take this project even further at home. (Advisory: This project uses sharp needles, and also uses wool fiber).

3:30 pm - 5:00 pm

Bollywood Dancing  with Shaan Prokopton - Great Room
Shaan will lead you through a high-energy session where you will learn the basics of Bollywood dance, with a focus on Bhangra and Mujra styles. Shaan will select vibrant songs and inspire your self-expression, openness, and creative interpretation. The session will end with an exhilarating dance performance.

Unearthing Our Empowerment with Ace Ricker - Temple
This interactive workshop will look into how we have navigated life through patterns that we have been taught in the Bear community and other communities we find ourselves in. Reflecting on how that certain community has helped or hindered us in some way, due to the stereotypes that are seen within them. We will do small and large group conversation, self reflection, an "Action Exercise" to do after the workshop if you choose to. This workshop is to help find your inner voice of empowerment for yourself to enrich others and yourself with your authentic self!

5:30 pm - 6:30 pm - “CAMPFIRE” Movie Screening and Q&A with Austin Bunn - Great Room
In this short film, a married farmer travels to Hillside gay campground to find his long lost love… and discovers the past isn’t done with him yet. Followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker.

7:00 pm - 8:00 pm - Dinner - (meet at 6:50 for Dinner Circle) 

8:30 pm - 10:00 pm - Talent Show with your host Adam B. Shapiro - Great Room
It’s time for you to share from your heart with your brothers. You can sing, dance, juggle, read, whatever! Everyone has something to share! Show us what you got! (Signup required)

10:00pm - Evening Activities
Our Wood-Fired Sauna will be running and spaces in the Temple will be open to connect, discover, and play! There is also a closet full of games you can play together in the Sun Room!

Sunday, January 19th

7:30 am - 8:30 am

Morning Yoga -with Tim Cooley - Great Room
Join Tim for a yoga practice emphasizing listening to your body. Fine for beginners or more advanced yogis! 

Silent Meditation with Intentional Journaling with Shaan Prokopton - Temple
Shaan will guide you through a calming, reflective experience of silent meditation and journaling. Step away from the noise and reconnect with your inner voice. Through thought-provoking prompts and simple techniques, you’ll learn how to start a daily meditation practice. No experience needed, and people of all beliefs are welcome. As a student of Zen meditation and a practitioner of Stoic philosophy, Shaan offers thoughtful guidance on this journey to everyday serenity.

12 Step Meeting - Hunter Reynolds Room

8:30 am - 9:30 am - Breakfast (with Morning Cartoons with Dave Dietz in the Great Room)
Stay in your PJ’s, bring your breakfast and your teddy for classic cartoons (with a selection of fun cereals). 

9:30 am - 10:30 am - Small Groups - Various Locations
Please attend your small group and be on time.

11:00 am - 12:30 pm

Name Medallions with Mister Larrie - Great Room
Wear your name with pride! In this session each participant will design a custom commemorative wood and resin medallion showcasing his bear name, favorite colors, a mosaic image - whatever his creative heart is inspired by. We will also explore how creativite activity and an appreciation for the arts can be a powerful means to nurture the soul.

UnMasking Masculinity with Ace Justice - Temple
An interactive workshop, looking at the different ways we wear masks in our lives; with each other and ourselves. Breaking through 'barriers'  of masculinity and or "how to be a man" has put us in and taking steps to acknowledge and overcome stereotypes and find empowerment with ourselves.

12:30 pm - 1:00 pm - Lunch

1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

The Bearamount Studios Experience with Adam B. Shapiro - Great Room
In this workshop, participants will have the opportunity to channel their inner movie star, clown around and build their confidence in front of a camera,and collaborate on a hilarious video trailer of a movie we all know and love…with a bearish twist. Lights! Camera! Confidence!

*Behold the Bear with Shane Scott and Jeff Greenblatt - Temple
Take a journey of self-discovery and body positivity. Through a series of reflective exercises and group sharing, we’ll explore your own perceptions of your body, challenge self-limiting beliefs, and cultivate a deeper sense of self-acceptance with the support of your peers to help challenge some of your own self-beliefs. This workshop includes activities involving disrobing and the use of mirrors in small groups.

3:30 pm - 5:00 pm

*Massage a Trios with Adam B. Shapiro and Goldenheart - Great Room
Join us for an erotic massage experience. We will work in trios, each taking a turn on the table, building individual and communal erotic energy. Nudity and erotic touch are required for this workshop. Space is limited!

Improv Playshop with Andrew Deitch - Temple 

Andrew will take you through some fun improv/theater games and some Meisner techniques. This improv playshop will teach you to think on your feet and allow you the freedom to be anything your imagination can come up with. Hilarity will ensue! Because who needs reality nowadays?

5:30 pm - 6:30 pm

Ecstatic Dance with Andrew Deitch - Great Room
In this workshop, DJ SYNES will take you through a series of 5 musical rhythms to get your body moving and your spirit soaring. This is a silent event. Speak only with your body and sounds, but no speaking words. Let’s get primal!

Seeking Peaceful Refuge with Tyler Wansley - Temple
Each of us has a spiritual center, a peaceful refuge for when the world gets to be too much. This refuge is called different things in different religious traditions, and can be a source of inspiration and guidance. Come connect with yourself and decompress with this short, guided meditation workshop

7:00 pm - 8:00 pm - Dinner - (meet at 6:50 for Dinner Circle) 

8:30 pm - 9:30 pm -  Bear Your Soul Naming Ceremony with Jay Freeman - Great Room
Your chance to step fully into the tribe, claim your name, and celebrate your brother bears. We will gather in the great room by the fire, where we will drum, chant, celebrate and honor everyone! An important ritual of Bear Your Soul you don't want to miss!

9:30pm - ?? - Bears in Motion with DJ Sean McLaughlin - Great Room
DJ Sean McLaughlin, former 25+ year veteran of "HomoRadio," will get you movin' and groovin' with his big bear boogie! It might be chilly outside, but this dance is gonna be HOT!!! Feel free to dress up, raid the drag closet, come as you are, or strip down as bare as you dare, and enjoy a non-stop mix of fresh, fab, and funky flashbacks!

10:00 pm - Evening Activities
Our Wood-Fired Sauna will be running and spaces in the Temple will be open to connect, discover, and play! There is also a closet full of games you can play together in the Sun Room!

Monday, January 15th

7:30 am - 8:30 am

Morning Yoga -with Tim Cooley - Great Room
Join Tim for a yoga practice emphasizing listening to your body. Fine for beginners or more advanced yogis! 

Silent Meditation with Intentional Journaling with Shaan Prokopton - Temple
Shaan will guide you through a calming, reflective experience of silent meditation and journaling. Step away from the noise and reconnect with your inner voice. Through thought-provoking prompts and simple techniques, you’ll learn how to start a daily meditation practice. No experience needed, and people of all beliefs are welcome. As a student of Zen meditation and a practitioner of Stoic philosophy, Shaan offers thoughtful guidance on this journey to everyday serenity.

12 Step Meeting - Hunter Reynolds Room

8:30 am - 9:30 am - Continental Breakfast

9:30 am - 10:30 am - Small Groups - Various Locations
Please attend your small group and be on time.

10:30 am - 11:30 am  - Closing Circle - Great Room
An important time to affirm, appreciate, and bid farewell to your brothers before you head home.

11:30 pm - Farewell Brunch

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• The Sauna will be available each night at 10 pm Saturday and Sunday nights. 

• We have a full closet of games in the Great Room that folks can play together. 

• You can book an individual massage with Tim Cooley. See the Front Desk for prices and sign up.