Affinity Belonging Camp

2024 Facilitators

  • Aaron Johnson (he/him) is a facilitator, public speaker, and touch activist who works towards identifying and interrupting barriers between people. As co-founder of both Holistic Resistance and Grief to Action, Aaron takes the time to hold the stories of black people around homophobia, transphobia, internalized racism, and those that are Chronically UnderTouched. Because oppression is a part of historical and present American culture, the long term impact of those trauma stories should be acknowledged and held as a map for our collective healing. Aaron Johnson practices and invites various methods of moving through these stories, such as the communal listening ear, sound healing, meditation, and closeness to the earth.

    Workshops:

    Building a Nest That Helps Us Get Ahead of the Trauma Story
    What change do you believe is possible? What change do you seek?

    This workshop is about birthing the diverse change that we seek in New Culture and our broader communities. We use singing, somatic practices and mutual listening to envision what we dream possible. We will notice the Chronically Undertouched material and explore the idea that listening is the first hug. We will start building actionable goals for sustainable diversity. All voices are welcomed. We prioritize and center People of the Global Majority (BIPOC). We will do our best to be trauma and carnage informed. We want and need your hands, voice and spirit to build this nest.

    Song Circle with Holistic Resistance
    Everyone is welcome!! This workshop is an anti-racist, black-led space to reclaim our community and our voices as singers. The song circle is partly comprised of improv singing, learning traditional African heritage songs, beatboxing, and sounding with our voices. We will be noticing where we can bring music back into our homes and community. All singers have a choice when it feels good to sing, and can also just observe.

  • Hema (she/they) is a Holistic Empowerment Mentor and helps clients release what's blocking them from achieving their full potential so that they can freely live a juicy life of purpose, passion and abundance. Hema works with clients on a variety of topics including abundance mindset, intimacy and relationship coaching as well as generational trauma : http://hemaholisticmystic.com

    Workshops

    Heart Connection Ritual
    Join us on opening night for a beautiful, intimate Heart Connection Ritual (formerly known as puja) that will create deeper, meaningful connections between you and other campers. Be prepared to be seen and accepted just as you are and find deeper love for yourself and others. This is a sensual activity with no nudity.

    Laughter of Life
    Come and play in this workshop where you are invited to put away all inhibitions and engage in fun improv exercises. This is for all levels including people who have never done improv before. Lots of laughing and smiles are guaranteed!

    Decolonizing The Body

    In our modern world, the impacts of colonialism continue to manifest in various aspects of our lives, including our relationship with our bodies. "Decolonizing the Body: Healing and Empowerment Workshop" invites participants to embark on a transformative journey of self-discovery and healing. This workshop is designed to explore the ways in which colonization has affected our perceptions, attitudes, and experiences related to our bodies, and to offer tools and practices for reclaiming ownership and agency over our physical selves.

  • Mischa Bryuck (he/hi ) is a men's coach focused on dismantling patriarchy. He supports men to understand themselves and their sexuality, which helps them succeed and thrive at work and in their relationships.

    In 2020, he founded and ran forLove, a 500+ member virtual erotic adventure community.

    He has worked as an activist and community organizer, helping to prosecute corrupt developers, defend immigrant rights, raise the minimum wage, and defeat anti-gay laws. Following Hurricane Katrina, Mischa founded Emergency Communities, an innovative $10 million humanitarian relief organization that built a chain of relief camps along the Gulf Coast at which 4,000 volunteers served 300,000 locally sourced hot meals and distributed food and clothing to over 50,000 people.

    Mischa has worked on the East and West Coasts, in the Midwest and the Deep South, and in Brazil, Ghana, India and Nepal. He holds a BA from Columbia University and an MPA from NYU.

    Workshops

    Cuddling Up to Power Dynamics
    Based on the core insights of liberation philosophy and sex-positivity, this workshop introduces an embodied understanding and a useful framework for navigating sexual, intimate, and social interactions through a power-informed lens. It covers the ever-shifting and context-based nature of power, the way power can impact consent, and the responsibilities of being in both up-power and down-power roles. Through scenario analysis, real-world examples, and dyad exercises, students learn core skills like noticing and naming where power lies; somatically sensing when power has been conferred on them or they’ve projected power onto others; and using pauses, invitations, and simple phrases to mitigate possible harm. Students walk away with a fresh new lens for understanding and engaging in intimacy and community!

    Fuck Up Better: Gold Standard Apologies
    A powerful restoration practice is a transformative tool for maintaining trust and connection within our communities and relationships, and can even give us the confidence to take more risks together. The Gold Standard Apology is a six-step process informed by the best minds in restorative and transformative justice, coaching, and conscious communication. Activities include dyad story shares, practice sessions and discussion of the most common pitfalls of harmful apologies. Participants emerge with an elevated and even transcendent understanding of what real accountability actually looks like and a concrete practice for conducting restoration in their own lives.

  • Melanie Rios (she/her) assists people in moving towards health and justice by offering communication, self-management, decision-making, and conflict transformation skills to intentional living, activist, and social entrepreneur groups. She is committed to dismantling racism, not by using shame and blame but by building connections.

    Melanie has been attending and presenting at NFNC summer camps off and on since 1999, and she has lived in intentional communities for most of that time. She currently lives in Portland, Oregon immersed in a three-generation extended family that lives nearby.

    Workshop:

    Liberation is a Collective Endeavor
    Come share and listen with open hearts to our experiences of being harmed and/or benefited by the roles we play as agents and targets of oppression based on race, gender, and other identities that we hold. We will explore Letitia Nieto’s model of stages people go through on their journey towards liberation, and we will generate ideas for how our community can become a more welcoming nest for all.

  • Osprey (they/them) is a nonbinary singer, songwriter, and song leader. They write quirky, authentic lyrics about love, healing, community, justice, and our relationship with the planet. Their songs have taken flight through the community singing circuit (such as Grief and Praise). Osprey’s catchy tunes go deep and stay in your head for days, but it’s all good because they hint at answers that are relevant to now. A blend of queer-folk-pop (with a hint of 90s R&B), their songs are genuine, heartfelt, and easy to sing along to.

    See ospreyfliesthenest.com for more info.

  • Otter Heartfountain (They/Them)

    My personal growth journey over the past 25-plus years has included experiences as a Black Rock Ranger at Burning Man, a Buddhist lay monk, a HAI Intern, an NFNC Summer Camp West Scamp, and an elder of my Native American tribe. That journey has transformed me from a heady intelli-geek into a “heart with legs”! Connection is my juice, community is my joy, and compassion is my jam. I love to hold space for folx to connect with themselves and others, and to help them discover who they really are deep inside. I’m gender-nonconforming, neurospicy, indigenous, and queer, and am very passionate about shifting the old-culture paradigms that trap so many people into socioculturally defined roles that don’t fit their hearts, minds, bodies, and lives. I’ve earned my livelihood working in the tech industry for several decades, and am currently transitioning out of that world into right livelihood as a diversity activist and educator.

    Touch Pu’uhona (He/They)

    My dominant passions are curiosity, creativity, and love. I'm continually challenged by the infinite games of listening and learning. I have the privilege of volunteering for events and organizations that help me to constantly learn more about the human experience: I'm a HAI Intern, Black Rock Ranger at Burning Man (where I also invented and run the Human Carcass Wash) and I'm also a coach in Landmark's Self-Expression and Leadership Program. Despite such excellent and ongoing training, I'm constantly in my own way and struggling to avoid staying completely in my head! I'm seriously interested in diverse intellectual areas, including science, philosophy and rationality. Professionally I'm a computer scientist working on software which makes us smarter, both individually and collectively. I'm interested in "having it all" and playing the best win-win game possible: Assisting you in daring to dream big and having your dreams come true!

  • Sheniqua (she/her) is a singer-songwriter, community leader, and vocal empowerment coach who offers unique vocal empowerment experiences. Sheniqua’s session goes beyond simply singing together; she creates a holistic journey of self-discovery and connection. Through intentional breath work, gentle stretching, and guided meditation, she helps participants release tension, center their minds, and open themselves up to the full potential of their voices.

    She creates sessions that culminate in the joyous expression of collective harmony, where seasoned vocalists and complete beginners alike come together in a non-judgmental space to share their voices and connect with others. Whether you're seeking vocal empowerment, community connection, or simply the joy of singing, Sheniqua welcomes you to join the transformative experience.

    Follow her journey on IG at @_elevatedexpression.

  • Victor (he/him) is an erotic rewilder, somatic (body-centered) sexuality educator, mentor, coach, and erotic activist. He is passionate about supporting people in discovering the truth of their erotic sovereignty and removing any self-imposed, internalized or socially imposed blocks that interfere with the expression of their erotic brilliance.

    Using a full spectrum of supports, from counseling to experiential movement practices to sexological bodywork to partner surrogacy, Victor offers permission and a safe container for clients and communities to “normalize the normal” human desire of erotic wholeness.

    Victor is also a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) educator, and works with people in understanding the intersections where the body, sexuality, inclusion, oppression, racism, white supremacy, and decolonization are interwoven.

    To see more about his work or to make inquiries, visit his website and Instagram.

    Workshops:

    DeColonizing Eros
    What does it mean to truly liberate our bodies, our sexuality, our relationships? What does it look like to begin to deconstruct the limitations and oppressions of colonized sexuality from our somatic and community spaces? Often when we attempt to rewrite the script on how we would like to inhabit our erotic and relational lives we end up recreating the obstacles present in mainstream society into the experiments that we hoped would liberate us. Sometimes we are left wondering why we still feel unfree and unsafe or why we are still struggling so hard. We fail to recognize the depth to which colonization lives in our bodies and the degree to which it impacts our sexuality and what we even see as possible within our our lives and relationships. We may end up having playful romps in the woods or cathartic experiences in workshop retreats yet never make the shift towards the verdant, empowered, and sustained erotic lives we yearn for. In DeColonizing Eros, we will begin to unpack and explore the foundations of somatic decolonization. We will look at the elements of secure attachment, community, erotic sovereignty and relationship fluidity from a somatic and decolonized perspective. We’ll get to play with these principles with each other in community. You will leave with a better understanding of how to take your next steps into erotic liberation.

    DanceEros
    Eros is the glue of community and dance is one of our most ancient human community expressions. With permission to dance in erotic expression within community, what will you do? With the invitation to move your ecstatic body within the container of affinity and belonging and inclusion, how will you show up? DanceEros is your playful opportunity to invite Eros through the front door in ecstatic dance however it arrives: in decadent glory, in nuanced shyness, in quiet strength, in reverent irreverence, in bawdy ridiculousness — all manifestations are welcome as we create a powerful community field through the moving and celebration of eros. We will establish an erotic-inclusive, consent-driven container of agreements at the opening of the dance and then segue into movement, dance, and play!