Kalaa Dhari, in collaboration with ReConectando invites you to be part of Interconnected Roots.
In a world where many are sensing the multi-crisis—the collapse of familiar structures, whether social, ecological, or spiritual—this gathering invites us on an ancient yet urgently needed journey: to remember our deep interconnection with the web of life. Through ritual, dialogue, embodied practices, and nature-based learning, we will traverse the Spiral of The Work That Reconnects, transforming our pain, rekindling our vitality, and reigniting our sense of purpose in service of a more life-affirming future.
This gathering is a living field—a sanctuary, a forge, a remembering.
If you feel called to walk this spiral path with others committed to healing and regeneration, join us here in Himachal Pradesh, India. Together, let us become kin once more—not only to each other, but to the Earth who breathes us into being.
The Power of Theater and Imagination
At the heart of our journey is the transformative power of theater—a space where imagination is not an escape, but a portal. Through Theater of the Oppressed (Boal), Social Presencing Theater (Arawana Hayashi), and Ritual Theater (Aristizábal), participants will activate their inner vision, giving voice to unspoken truths, ancestral memories, and future possibilities. Theater becomes a sacred space where hidden emotions are embodied, witnessed, and transformed.
Collective Healing: Addressing the Wound of Separation
This is not merely a personal journey—it is a collective one. We come together to address the trauma of separation—the deep wounds inflicted by the illusion that we are separate from each other and from the Earth. Through shared rituals, breath work, peace dances, theater, and dialogue, we will witness each other’s pain and joy, reclaim our connection, and reweave the fabric of belonging.
Thematic Currents: Aligned with the Spiral
Coming from Gratitude: Remembering What Sustains Us
We begin by rooting ourselves in gratitude—not as an escape, but as a stance of resilience. Together, we will attune to the rhythms of the Earth and the web of relationships that nourish us, drawing on diverse ecological traditions, sacred poetry, and indigenous wisdom to rekindle awe and reverence for all earth beings.
Honouring Our Pain for the World: Opening the Heart of Compassion
Rather than turning away from the grief, fear, or rage we may carry, we will create brave space to listen—to ourselves, each other, and the Earth. Our shared mourning will become a gateway to deeper empathy, revealing our interconnectedness and allowing our pain to transform into love.
Seeing with New Eyes: Shifting into Inter-being
Here we invite a new way of seeing—one that arises not from domination or despair, but from relational intelligence. Drawing from deep ecology, and contemporary regenerative practices, we will explore how collective imagination can illuminate the path of social transformation and Earth regeneration.
Going Forth: Cultivating the Courage to Act
With insight and embodied clarity, we ask: What is mine to do now? Participants will leave with grounded commitments and shared visions, nourished by the collective wisdom of the group. Through ritual, storytelling, and co-creation, we will bless the seeds of our future actions.
Core Practices & Lineage
Our journey will be woven with methods that awaken the body, imagination, and spirit:
- Emergent Design from Dragon Dreaming and Theory U, supporting real-time innovation from a place of listening and collective intelligence.
- The Spiral of The Work That Reconnects, offering a coherent and emotionally intelligent path through despair into empowered engagement.
- Embodied Ritual and Circle Practice, inspired by ancestral traditions of gathering in sacred space—Council circles, Truth Mandala, Council of All Beings, and collectively designed rites of renewal.
- Theater, dance and other participatory forms that brings hidden truths and future visions into movement and voice.
- Deep Time and Earth Dialogues, integrating contemplative practices that foster communion with nature and ancestors.
How can you participate?
This gathering will take place between October 2 – October 9, 2025 in Dharmalaya Institute for Compassionate Living is a campus made of earth building in deep resonance with the local ecology, that nestles amidst the foothills of the mighty Dhauladhar range of the Himalayas, in Bir, Himachal Pradesh, India. Dharmalaya Institute is an Indian educational and charitable organisation devoted to empowering compassionate changemakers, with a practical focus on solutions for sustainable thriving and the adaptation of traditional wisdom for modern needs. Here, through rituals and community practices, a deep connection with the living in all its forms is fostered.
To participate you must register, pay the registration fee according to your way of participation and arrive at Dharmalaya where our gathering will unfold.
Please note that the gathering has limited number of seats only. REGISTER SOON in order to save your spot.
Ways to Participate
The registration fee includes lodging and three, healthy & vegan meals @ Dharmalaya Institute.
Please note that all accommodation is on shared basis. It is a unique opportunity for cultural exchange, growth & weaving solidarity.
💛 Solidarity Contribution 💛
*Tickets Available*
INR 50,000 ($600)
This range is above the break-even rate, and 100% of that surplus will be used to support applicants who need support to participate at the subsidized rate. We thank you sincerely for your generosity in choosing this rate if you can.
🌿 Sustaining Contribution 🌿
*SOLD OUT*
(Tickets selling out fast)
INR 22,000 ($250)
This rate is essentially a break-even rate, with enough to cover the program costs.
🌷Supported Contribution 🌷
* SOLD OUT*
INR 12,000 ($150)
This rate is below our break-even rate, which means it is not quite enough to cover the program costs, but that shortfall is covered by participants who choose to pay the ‘Solidarity Contribution’
The Team
Héctor Aristizábal
Primary Facilitator
Born in MedellÃn, Colombia, Hector is a therapist, actor, director, and activist with over four decades of experience weaving together the arts, healing, and social justice. Exiled to the United States in 1989 after surviving torture by the Colombian military, he worked as a bilingual therapist with people affected by violence, HIV/AIDS, incarceration, forced migration, and systemic trauma.
In 2000, he founded ImaginAction, bringing participatory theater and ritual to more than 50 countries to address personal and collective wounds.In 2017, Héctor returned to Colombia to co-found Reconectando, a project that integrates deep ecology, social theater, and healing rituals in service of collective transformation. With a focus on reconciliation and memory, Re-Conectando accompanied the Colombian Truth Commission by creating Laboratorios de Verdad y Reconciliación en el Vientre de la Madre Tierra, working with ex-combatants, victims, and communities across the country. He also co-founded Dreaming Action, which supports cultural evolution in organizations and communities.
Héctor’s work has been recognized with awards such as the Otto René Castillo Award for Political Theater. His life story and philosophy are chronicled in his autobiographical book The Blessing Next to the Wound, co-written with Diane Lefer.
Arundhati Samudra
Co -facilitator
Arundhati is the Founder of and co-Director at Kalaa Dhari: The Art of the Inner Revolution.
She is a Psychotherapist with a focus on Multidimensional Trauma Healing, a Womb Medicine Woman with a focus on the Menstrual Spiral & a Theatre Facilitator with a focus on Theatre of the Oppressed.
The epiphany that ‘the answers to my questions are within me’ came to her in the midst of a burn out she experienced while labouring for social justice and empowerment amidst indigenous women in Central India. Amidst the intensities of the conflicts with-in & with-out, she began to listen to the whispers of her womb, the movements of her body and the songs of her heart to realise that the exemplar of her agency nestled deep within her body.
Consequently, she delved deeper into methods that began to support her journey back ‘home’. Today she offers & shares these methods that have helped her alchemize my pain into beauty with the world around her.
With much love & gratitude
Kalaa Dhari & Reconectando
kalaadhariworkshops@gmail.com
reach.kalaadhari@gmail.com
Kalaa Dhari 