Joanna Macy's Work That Reconnects: A Retreat For Recognising Ourselves As Part Of ‘Nature’, Connecting With Ourselves, Others And With Earth

Teacher: Tsunma Tsondru

Cost: 2 days accommodation

Dates: Wednesday 24 February 2027 - Friday 26 February 2027

tsunma tsondru Are you carrying painful awareness of climate breakdown, economic inequality, social rupture, environmental degradation, systemic greed, and ecological loss? Do you at times feel isolated in these feelings, unsure how to move forward, or how to channel your care into meaningful action? Do you feel with David Attenborough that ‘I would rather not think about what the future holds’?

The effects of climatic unravelling are becoming unavoidably apparent. It should be no surprise that we are experiencing a profound loss of confidence in the future. The personal anxiety we are feeling about this is perhaps the major unacknowledged underlying social crisis of today. Our society tends to pathologize this anxiety, ascribing it to personal ‘failings’ that must be ‘fixed’. Our lonely coping mechanisms are numbness, apathy, and/or panic. Rightly understood, though, these anxieties are simply the rational response to what we see happening around us. The Work That Reconnects is based on this understanding, and seeks to reconnect us to these feelings, bringing them into the light to be understood, rather than fixed, to propel our inner transformation.

This three-day retreat invites you into a container of truth-telling, deep listening, and collaborative hope - grounded in the transformative Spiral of The Work That Reconnects developed by Joanna Macy which will guide us through an ever-deepening spiral of gratitude; honest acknowledgement of anxiety, fear and loss; a realising that our anxieties are no less than messengers from our compassionate hearts and proof of our deep caring for, and belonging to, Earth and to one another. The Spiral teaches us to feel fully, witness clearly, and act creatively—alone and together for an Earth future that is life-sustaining, flourishing, compassionate, and equitable.

Awareness and mindfulness are the indispensable ingredients throughout. By cultivating present-moment attention, participants develop the capacity to notice the gifts of life, witness difficult
emotions without overwhelm, make conscious and wise choices rather than be reactive, and sustain engagement even amid crisis. This contemplative foundation makes space for our inherent
wisdom to flourish, preventing burnout and driving transformation.

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Tsunma Tsondru is a nun ordained by Tai Situ Rinpoche in the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. She met Buddhism through Louis van Loon at the BRC in the 90's. After working as a lawyer and environmental scientist, she left for Spain for a traditional Kagyu three-and-a-half-year retreat, followed by a second retreat of four years. Returning to Cape Town, she served on the Board of the Southern African Faith Communities Environmental Institute - a multi-faith NGO - for 6 years and as its Executive Director. She later spent a 10-day intensive retreat with Joanna Macy, engaging with Macy’s “Work That Re-Connects”, which she teaches at the BRC and other places, Her particular interest is deep ecology, eco-philosophy and wilderness work, and the role that spirituality, ethics and connection/interdependence can play in transforming us and our economic and social systems in protection of the Earth.