Hope Springs Institute

Hope Springs Institute Transformative programs on Sacred Land

Some people give to an organization, and others pour themselves into one. Betsy Pourvakil is the latter.Over years of se...
05/29/2026

Some people give to an organization, and others pour themselves into one. Betsy Pourvakil is the latter.

Over years of service, Betsy has walked alongside Hope Springs through some of its most uncertain and transformative seasons. She held the organization with steadiness and love when it needed both most.

As she steps into a new chapter of her own, she shared these words with us:

"My time in community and service with Hope Springs has been one of the deepest honors of my life. To walk with her, listen to her, and be shaped by the land and the sacred spaces held there has changed me forever. I carry immense gratitude for every moment of connection, ceremony, learning, and shared devotion that unfolded within her embrace.

As I shift into supporting from the outside, I do so with trust in the threshold of a new way of being that is emerging for the next generation. I have long felt that the land already knows her purpose, and that our role is simply to listen deeply enough to follow what she is guiding us toward."

Betsy, we receive your trust as a gift. We will keep listening. We will keep tending. And we will carry you with us, just as you carry Hope Springs. 🌿

This week, the Cincinnati q***r community experienced a profound loss. In response, we are rescheduling Roots and Horizo...
05/28/2026

This week, the Cincinnati q***r community experienced a profound loss.

In response, we are rescheduling Roots and Horizons: A Q***r Futures Workshop. We intend to honor the grief present right now and take the time to make this workshop as accessible and intentionally held as possible, including offering scholarships so that no one who needs this space is turned away.

The vision at the heart of this workshop is to connect to the resilience of those who came before us, and to dare to imagine bold, joyful futures together. This work feels essential right now. We want to create the space and time to offer it with the care it deserves.

📅 New Date: Saturday, August 22 | 1–3:30 PM EDT
💻 Virtual via Zoom

Already registered? Your spot is held. If you've been on the fence, we hope you'll join us. We need all of us in the work ahead.

And if you're hurting: you belong here. 🌱

Medicine for the Long Dark 🌑🔥In times of collective upheaval and grief, what do you actually need to stay rooted?Join us...
05/27/2026

Medicine for the Long Dark 🌑🔥

In times of collective upheaval and grief, what do you actually need to stay rooted?
Join us for an intimate virtual evening exploring Francis Weller's primary satisfactions — the primal nourishments that sustain a life of depth, meaning, and resilience. Not luxuries. Necessities of the soul.

Through reflection, conversation, and guided practice, we'll slow down together, feel what's true, and remember what actually feeds us.
This is for those who feel the weight of the long dark — and are ready to tend the inner fire.

✨ Save 10–15% with early registration (14+ days in advance)

https://www.hopespringsinstitute.org/events-1/medicine-for-the-long-dark

There is something that happens when hands work together toward a common center.Building a mandala in community is about...
05/26/2026

There is something that happens when hands work together toward a common center.

Building a mandala in community is about what emerges in the making - the negotiation of color, the patience, the moment someone places a stone exactly where it is needed to go, and everyone feels it.

Want to try it with your own community? Here's all you need:

Gather your materials. Stones, flowers, leaves, seeds, petals - anything natural and beautiful. No special supplies required. Let the season guide what you collect.
Find your center. Choose a single stone, flower, or object and place it in the middle. Everything grows from here.

Work outward in rings. Take turns adding to the pattern, one layer at a time, moving away from the center. Let there be pauses. Let people look. Let the pattern surprise you.

When it's complete, sit with it. Before anyone moves or photographs it, take a moment of silence together. Notice what you built. Notice who you built it with.
Then let it go. A mandala is meant to be temporary. Its impermanence is part of the teaching.

This week, we invite you to gather your people, find a patch of ground, and begin at the center.

You don’t need the perfect conditions. You need what the wildflower has. The stubborn, quiet courage to open anyway.What...
05/25/2026

You don’t need the perfect conditions. You need what the wildflower has. The stubborn, quiet courage to open anyway.

Whatever you’ve been waiting to begin, the field is ready. 🌼

We're back! The Winter Sabbatical is behind us. Retreats have returned to the land. Virtual programming is underway. And...
05/23/2026

We're back! The Winter Sabbatical is behind us. Retreats have returned to the land. Virtual programming is underway. And thanks to the extraordinary generosity of this community, the Fund the Sabbatical campaign raised $156,208 — exceeding our goal and giving the organization real breathing room for the first time in years.

We've also updated our systems, welcomed new team and board members, and launched a new virtual series, Tending the Threshold, that's already reaching people well beyond Ohio.

But we're not going to pretend everything is resolved. Summer retreat bookings are slower than we'd hoped. Leadership and governance conversations are ongoing. The question of what it means to steward a large piece of sacred land for future generations, on a mission-driven budget, isn't a simple one.

What we can say: we're asking the right questions, sitting with them honestly, and building something more sustainable than what came before.

Our newest blog post shares the full picture of what we've accomplished, what you told us in the community survey, and what comes next, including open community gatherings in May, July, and September.

Read it here: https://www.hopespringsinstitute.org/post/orienting-to-the-present-moment-where-are-we-now

We are so grateful you're walking this with us. 🌿

There is something quietly profound about practicing intentional silence in the company of others.No agenda. No small ta...
05/20/2026

There is something quietly profound about practicing intentional silence in the company of others.

No agenda. No small talk. Just presence, and that of others moving gently through the same space. People who have experienced Enter the Quiet often share their surprise at how connected they feel, even without a single word exchanged. When we release the social expectation of conversation, we effortlessly gift one another with our presence.

At Hope Springs, the silence has companions: the labyrinth, the Celtic Mothers circle, Spirit House, and the land itself. You can move in and out of solitude as you need. Resting in common spaces, wandering the trails, drinking deeply from the beauty all around you. And before long, you feel yourself join the river of all who have walked this land before you.

If something in you is longing for this kind of rest, we'd love to welcome you.
✨ Enter the Quiet — Summer Silent Retreat at Hope Springs

https://www.hopespringsinstitute.org/events-1/enter-the-quiet-summer-silent-retreat-2

One month from now, Enter the Quiet begins at Hope Springs, and we don't want you to miss it.This silent retreat is one ...
05/20/2026

One month from now, Enter the Quiet begins at Hope Springs, and we don't want you to miss it.

This silent retreat is one of our most beloved offerings for good reason. There's something that happens when you step out of the noise and into intentional stillness in the company of others. People arrive carrying the weight of full lives. They leave lighter. More themselves.

The land at Hope Springs — the labyrinth, the Celtic Mothers circle, Spirit House, the trails — holds this work in a way that's hard to put into words. You have to experience it.

If your body, mind, or spirit has been quietly asking for rest, consider this your invitation.

Space is limited. Registration closes soon.

🔗 Register here: https://www.hopespringsinstitute.org/events-1/enter-the-quiet-summer-silent-retreat-2

The fungi performs its works in the dark, feeds the roots, holds the whole forest together, and asks for nothing in retu...
05/18/2026

The fungi performs its works in the dark, feeds the roots, holds the whole forest together, and asks for nothing in return.

We live in a world that rewards the visible. The bloom, the fruit, the thing you can point to and say I made that.

But the fungi reminds us that the most essential work often happens underground, out of sight, in the quiet exchange between living things.

Do less. Connect more. Trust the network holding you. 🍄

Volunteer. Board member. Finance Committee. And now — Operations Manager.Nan Miller has worn nearly every hat Hope Sprin...
05/15/2026

Volunteer. Board member. Finance Committee. And now — Operations Manager.

Nan Miller has worn nearly every hat Hope Springs has ever offered, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. She knows this place from the inside out, and we are so grateful to have her on the team. 🍃

Address

4988 Mineral Springs Road
Peebles, OH
45660

Telephone

+19375872602

Website

https://www.hopespringsinstitute.org/

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