❄️ ❄️ ❄️ Winter break ❄️ ❄️ ❄️
You can reach us again from March.
We’ll be recovering in the background and working on things that have been left behind so that we can be there for you again in a fully relaxed manner.
Best wishes from the Zähneputzen collective
Project "Zähne putzen"
Retreat spaces for activists of social-ecological change in ecovillages, communities and political communes
Dear people, if you are in need of rest and retreat in your left-wing activism, please get in touch with us.
To support you, we have been forming a care network in cooperation with a large number of ecovillages, political communities and some smaller communities since May 2019. We now have more than 30 locations making their spaces and skills available to us, mostly free of exchange logic. This initiative stems from a desire to show solidarity and work together for socio-ecological change.
What?
Retreat stands for withdrawal, for a planned time-out or break from your usual surroundings. A time that you take for relaxation, stress reduction and recuperation. We do NOT understand this to mean a fixed programme, e.g. with meditation and a fixed daily structure. Because you know best what you need to recover, reflect and strengthen yourself.
When?
Sooner rather than later! We would also like to invite you not to wait until you are already at or above your breaking point to take care of recovery in your activism. Overall, we want to promote a regenerative activist culture in which we all take ourselves seriously in remaining sustainably effective and healthy.
Which people can take a retreat through us?
It is important for us to emphasise that we have a broad understanding of left-wing activism. This means that we also have a broad understanding of socio-ecological change.
Ahead
Sea rescue in the Mediterranean, queer-feminist revolt, building an economy of solidarity, climate activism, anti-fascist work, … In our perception, all these ‘different’ movements go together and support each other.
Or in the background
Care work, cooking, IT or support from a distance. We want to strengthen you in all this diverse work with our care network.
To take a retreat...
We don’t offer you a ready-made programme, we arrange locations:
We have very different places: From small alternative house projects, to large eco-villages, from places in northern Germany to Austria and Switzerland. (‘Retreat places’) Some can accommodate larger groups for longer periods, others rather a few and/or for shorter periods. Of course you can also use our structures as an individual.
To find a suitable place we need some information from you.
In some places there are also other support options.
For example, if you would like explicit support in dealing with stressful experiences, we can see if we can find a suitable place and people to talk to.
For further psychological / psychotherapeutic support, we work with the organisation Psychologists for Future if required.
How long does it take to find a suitable location?
On average, we need two weeks’ notice to organise your stay. As we do this placement work alongside other activities, it can sometimes take a few days before you hear from us. We will always reply. Zähneputzen is alive!
It goes without saying that we offer no room for discriminatory and inhuman attitudes within our network.
Contact
You are welcome to contact us via the following e-mail address: retreat_in_gemeinschaften@riseup.net (Public Key right mouse click, “save as” to download)
Here you can also inquire about the possibilities of psychological support and which framework conditions you can find in the individual projects. And please send us the informations we need, to find a good place for you.
Write us if you have any other questions, criticism or if you would like to support us in one way or another. For example through additional rooms or your own abilities in the psychological accompaniment of activists.
In order to be able to continue our project, monetary donations are also necessary for us and a large support.