A Home for Transformational Learning
Welcome
Since 1972, the Whidbey Institute has nourished, inspired, grown and changed people. We welcome you to your 2026 journey with us.
Experience Us
Come see us. Walk the land. Sink in. Feel yourself again as part of a larger whole. We believe that the well-being of each of us is deeply connected to the well-being of all living things in this living world.
Get Inspired
Join a program, be a part of our community events. Learn, grow, be inspired. Have fun, meet others, step into your sense of belonging with us.
Refugia
-an excerpt from Executive Director Rose Woods's letter to the community
"There's a word ecologists use for the places that survive when everything around them doesn't: refugia. A shaded ravine that stays cool after a wildfire has scorched the ridge above it. A tide pool that holds steady through a storm that reshapes the coastline. A patch of old forest, untouched, that becomes the seed source for the whole hillside once it starts to grow back.
Refugia aren't where the world hides from what's happening.
They're where life holds on — so that when the smoke clears, there's something left to reseed everything else.
Recently, at a dinner with beautiful humans I refer to as the Illuminati — Oren Slozberg and Michael Lerner from Commonweal among them — this word came into the conversation as an idea that Commonweal is working with as well. I can't stop thinking about it, because it's the truest description we've found for what this place tries to be.
When the world feels like it's on fire — and this year, it's felt that way more than most — it's tempting to think the answer is to build higher walls. Refugia teach us something different: the point was never to be untouched by the fire. The point is to be one of the places that makes recovery possible afterward. To hold something intact long enough that it can spread again.
That takes tending.
Refugia don't sustain themselves — they're sustained by whoever chooses to protect them.
That's what the Gala is, at its heart.
It's not simply a fundraiser for a building or a budget line. It's an investment in keeping this particular pocket of ground — this place of rest, of return, of multigenerational belonging — intact enough to keep doing what it does: sending people back out into the world a little more whole than when they arrived.
You don't have to be the fire, or the flood, or the thing being survived. You can be the reason a refuge is still standing when the smoke clears.
Join us. Help us keep being refugia."
Whidbey Institute 2026 Gala
Saturday, September 26
6pm - 9pm
in Thomas Berry Hall and the Courtyard Tent
Breathe Deep: Take Heart Together
Come to our Gala, 2027!
Be sure to RSVP soon: the first 50 tickets are reduced in price!
The land teaches us.
There's a knowing that happens at the edge of the woods; where the grasses give way to the deep woods, and the boundaries between self and the world get a little less certain.
This is where Whidbey Institute has always done its best teaching and learning: not through talk as much as through silence, cedar and the slow work of paying attention.
Gratitude Report 2025
What people are saying…
“I just loved the forest meditation walk. The forest steward, Larry, had a beautiful manner and thoughtfully gave us a summary of how he came to work for the Whidbey Institute. He shared his personal story of coming into a place of deep resonance with the forest. He invited us to use our senses, one at a time, to experience the forest. It was very respectfully done and without judgment. I think we all felt held in the container of the woods, and I think we all made some discoveries that morning that were impactful. At least, I came away with that sensation. I will definitely come again for another forest meditation walk, and I hope future walks are planned! Thanks so much for this opportunity.”
- Deb S
“Hi Friends!
You have an amazing place. I found it to be extremely clean, have all the modern amenities but also adhering to the older style of decor and architecture. I stayed in the Farmhouse. I so enjoyed making my own fire and relaxing in the evenings and wee hours of the morning when up on "east coast time".
I eat plant based so VERY MUCH appreciated the food. I overate and gained 2 lbs!”
-Rebecca M. Hoelsken
“My first visit to Whidbey Institute has left only good feelings in me. Being very sensitive to my surroundings, the general effect of being on this land is quite enchanting. Everybody I spoke with from your team was helpful and caring, which feels lovely. The food was wonderful, tasty, abundant. (If you could share the recipe of the strawberry syrup served at breakfast, and the protein patties, I would love it .) I was lodging in Sorrel, and loved the feeling of being cradled by the cabin and the forest.
Hopefully I get to visit again, Thank you for making such a beautiful place available for us to enjoy.”
- Annie Francoeur, Saguenay, Québec, Canada
Whidbey Institute Forest Steward Larry Rohan guides many Forest Walks/guided sensory tours on the land during the year.
Recently he led Nourished, a group program, on a sweet walk with many moments to pause and notice.
Along the way Larry encouraged, as always, a sensory forest experience of noticing: smelling, touching, tasting, hearing, seeing, breathing, and, always, giving thanks.
See the video here for a delightful 1- minute snippet of 'find a spot in nature and breathe.' Thanks to Nourished for this video!