Join us to celebrate the changing of seasons and to welcome the summer. We’ll have a potluck, make flower wreaths, read poems around the fire, dance and enjoy.

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Details:
Date: Sunday June 21st
Where: Plaza
Time: 8 - 10 PM  
What to bring: warm clothes, flowers, food to share for potluck
Cost: Free, donations are welcome

Last week-end, the entire Lavra team joined the women bike ride to Big Sur as part of the AMWE Movement: a cross-cultural non-profit supporting and empowering women in Tharaka, Kenya. AMWE means "together" or "shoulder to shoulder" in the native Kii Tharaka language.

Join us for a hands-on cultural cooking event where participants will learn to prepare traditional African dishes. We will make chapati and lentil soup while exploring the ingredients, techniques, and traditions behind these foods. This is a fun opportunity to build cooking skills, experience African cuisine, and connect with others through food.

Robert, who founded AMWE with Kenz, will be there to share his stories and recipes!

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Details:

Date: Saturday June 20th

Where: Sunset Patio

Time: 6 to 8 pm

Cost: Free! Donation based to support the AMWE non-profit

This workshop will explore the amazing lymphatic system & ways you can support yours. During the event we will do a quick dive into an overview of the anatomy, physiology & holistic therapeutics of the lymphatic system followed by a group experience of self-lymphatic massage using salt scrubs, herbally infused oils/butters, and some tools! Join us to have fun in community while moving your lymph!

> What you will need to bring:

• Loose fitting clothes that can get oily and/or swimwear

• A towel for you to sit on/that you can use as needed that can get oily

• 2 small bowls/jars/cups to hold body oil/butter & salt scrub

• Optional: if you have any gua sha, dry brush, or favorite essential oils you are encouraged to bring them!

Details:

Date: Saturday May 30th

Where: The oak stage

Time: from 11am to 1pm

What to bring: 

• Loose fitting clothes that can get oily and/or swimwear

• A towel for you to sit on/that you can use as needed that can get oily

• 2 small bowls/jars/cups to hold body oil/butter & salt scrub

Cost: Donation based

We’re hosting a community potluck on the theme of “family recipes”. If you want to recreate one of you childhood or family favorite meal, now is the time to do it.

Come share the story and the taste of your family recipes with others!

Details:

Date: Thursday May 14th

Where: Sunset patio or Main house

Time: from 7pm to 9pm

What to bring: an item (food or drink) to share for the potluck 

Cost: Free

Bring any creative project you are working on, or have been meaning to work on: sewing, beading, painting, crafting, stamping, anything.

Let’s get crafty together!

Details:

Date: Thursday April 30th

Where: Sunset patio or Main house

Time: from 8pm to 10pm

What to bring: any art and craft project you are working on

Cost: Free

Join us for a community event. Bring some clothes you want to dye and/or swap. Felise Gutierrez will provide an Indigo Vat where people can dip and dye their clothes with beautiful hues of blues.

Felise will share her knowledge, wisdom and passion for dying with natural plant fibers. Bring your own clothes to dye and swap (natural fabric recommended: linen, bamboo, 100% cotton or silk). Together we will have a community indigo vat to dip your clothing in, and uncover the powerful colors of indigo.

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Details:

Date: Saturday April 4th

Where: Sunset patio

Time: from 11 AM to 1 PM

What to bring: Clothes to swap and/or dye (linen, bamboo, 100% cotton or silk)

+comfortable working clothes that you are not afraid to stain

Cost: Donation based

Join us for an interactive experience with Sadie Krier exploring herbs that can support us in welcoming back the darkness of the womb through their folklore, medicine, and tales alongside women.

Sadie is an herbalist in her hometown of Nipomo, where she is working on healing the relationship between humans and the land. With a deep passion for healing through nature, women’s health, natural cycles and art, she is excited to share her experiences and training with her community and is hopeful for the future of herbalism on the central coast. She holds a certificate in herbalism from the California School of Herbal Studies, a B.A. In Environmental Studies from UC Santa Cruz and she is currently working on a clinical Ayurvedic certification through Dhyana Essentials. She is a member of the Central Coast Herbalists Guild and an artist at Mystic Nature and Slocally Made.

Details:

Date: Saturday March 14th

Where: Garden

Time: from 11 AM to 1 PM

What to bring: comfortable outdoor clothes, notebooks

Cost: Free

Come to read your favorite poem, or just to listen and discover new voices!

Join us for an evening of sharing the words we love. We’ll share food and sit around the bonfire. We will read poems and texts to each other. Those who want can wear our mushroom hat. Everybody is welcome to bring their own texts! We will also provide books.

Details:

Date: Thursday March 5th

Where: Firepit by the Amphitheater

Time: 6:30-9PM

What to bring: food for the potluck, warm clothes to be outside, books or texts

Cost: Free

Join us for a presentation and discussion with Sadie Krier about the history of menstruation and explore ancient traditions surrounding this period of cyclical darkness that can aid us in reconnecting to the beauty of duality within our bodies.

Sadie is an herbalist in her hometown of Nipomo, where she is working on healing the relationship between humans and the land. With a deep passion for healing through nature, women’s health, natural cycles and art, she is excited to share her experiences and training with her community and is hopeful for the future of herbalism on the central coast. She holds a certificate in herbalism from the California School of Herbal Studies, a B.A. In Environmental Studies from UC Santa Cruz and she is currently working on a clinical Ayurvedic certification through Dhyana Essentials. She is a member of the Central Coast Herbalists Guild and an artist at Mystic Nature and Slocally Made.

Details:

Date: Thursday February 19th

Where: Yoga room

Time: from 6 PM to 8PM

What to bring: warm clothes, snacks and desserts to share

Cost: Free / wine will be sold to support the Lavra

Julie Herndon is a composer, performer, and sound artist whose interdisciplinary work explores the relationship between body, sound, and technology.

At the Lavra, Julie will share her new album of Electronic Études, music for piano and synthesizer. These pieces are moments of reflection, each growing from the seed of an improvisation with a focus on a specific aspect of live electronics: turning reverberation into a sonorous wall, distorting field recordings into textures beyond recognition, looping melodic delays, and scattering granulation. Part listening party, part live performance, the evening will include a music video by Christina McPhee and time for Q&A. Join us for music and conversation.

Her work invites listeners into intimate, unpredictable sonic worlds—described by Kulturpunkt as “truly brilliant” and by San Francisco Classical Voice as “surprisingly expressive.” Herndon has shared her music internationally, from Germany’s Blaues Rauschen Festival to National Sawdust in New York and Música Estranha in Brazil. Recent collaborations with Decoder, JACK Quartet, and [Switch~ Ensemble] investigate the convergence of social and musical ecologies. A graduate of Stanford University and Mills College, she is currently Assistant Professor of Music Technology and Composition at Cal Poly.

https://julieherndon.bandcamp.com/album/electronic-tudes

Details:
Date: Sunday January 18th

Where: Yoga room
Time: from 5pm to 7pm
Cost: Free

2025 is almost over! Let’s vision board together to enter into 2026 with a clear mind, beautiful dreams and collective hope. It will be very free-form, everybody is welcome to do whatever they feel: writing, collage, drawing, or anything else.

Bring some food to share for the brunch, your magazines, paintbrushes and all the things you like to create with. We’ll start at 10:26 AM.

Be there or be square :)

Details:
Date: Saturday January 10th 

Where: Sunset Patio or Main House 
Time: 10:26 AM to 1:26 PM 
What to bring: food for brunch (potluck), magazines, pens, etc
Cost: Free, everyone is invited, bring your friends!

Come celebrate the changing of the seasons around a bonfire, with old and new friends! We will read poetry, light candles, compose a nature mandala and dance :)

Details:

Date: Sunday December 21st

Where: Lavra Plaza

Time: 4 PM to 8 PM

What to bring: warm clothes, drinks and desserts to share

Cost: Free, everyone is invited, bring your friends!

Tis the season! Come craft some unique presents to spoil the people (and the animals!) you love this Christmas!

We will customize dogs/cats collards, print cards with blockprinting, knit beanies and sell Lavra 2026 calendars.

Come with your creativity and materials and let’s have fun!

Details:

Date: Sunday December 7th

Where: Main House

Time: 3 PM to 6 PM

What to bring: warm clothes, drinks and desserts to share

Cost: Free, everyone is invited, bring your friends!

Ex-Lavra resident, Kevin Graybill brings his band for a performance on our oak stage. They will play songs from his first and his second album: “The Path less Travelled”.  

“Graybill's music reminds us that thinking deeply and having fun are not mutually exclusive categories. In one song, Graybill can make us smile, tap our feet, and make us ponder the universe, sometimes in a single verse!  As a modern troubadour, Graybill's songs take us on journeys where we meet curious characters, lost loves, and future bar mates so that we come away with a feeling that we are all part of one big wide family destined to be together one day." - Stephen Lloyd Moffett

Details:
Date: Saturday November 15th

Where : Oak stage

What to bring: warm clothes, chairs and blankets, BYO food, Lavra wine to purchase
Cost: Free, we encourage donations to the band and through buying Lavra wine.

Get out of your head and into your earthbody! This silly workshop is for anyone wanting to practice connection to their innate creatureliness and the little scientist within them. Come ~ground~ yourself in nature with accessible/adaptable games and exercises followed by juicy debriefs to process what we're learning about our nature as we play outside.

Details:
Date: Saturday November 8th

Where : Oak Stage (outdoor)

Time : from 4pm to 6pm

What to bring: warm clothes to be outside and feel comfortable
Cost: Free

Bring all your favorite fall season food and halloween treats leftovers to our community potluck. We’ll share scary and funny stories. Come meet new people and reconnect with old friends.

Details:
Date: Tuesday November 4th

Where : Sunset patio, main house

Time : from 6pm to 8pm

What to bring: food and drinks to share for the potluck
Cost: Free

Bring Your Own Pumpkin and let’s get crazy creative carving together!

We will lit all the ones we carved during the evening.

Costumes are not mandatory at all, but very appreciated :)

Kids friendly and welcome.

Details:
Date: Saturday October 25th

Where : Sunset patio, main house

Time : from 5pm to 9pm

What to bring: warm clothes, pumpkins, carving tools, costumes (optional)
Cost: Free

After the success of the first one, we’re hosting our second poetry night. We’ll sit on the cob benches around the bonfire and read different poems and texts. Everybody is welcome to bring their own texts and we will also provide books.

Come to read your favorite poems, or just to listen and discover new voices!

Details:
Date: Friday October 10th

Where : Benches in the lower garden

Time : from 6pm to 8pm

What to bring: warm clothes to be outside, texts, poems, anything you want to read
Cost: Free

You have clothes you don’t wear anymore but still love?! Bring them to the table, let’s trade, share and find treasures into each others’ closets.

We will celebrate our resident Katie’s birthday with giant nachos and 40 different toppings challenge! Invite your friends and family. Come just for the clothing swap or the potluck, or both!

Details:
Date: Tuesday October 7th

Where: Sunset patio, Main house
Time: from 6PM to 9PM
What to bring: clothes to swap, food and drinks to share (potluck style)
Cost: Free, we encourage you to bring a dish or a nacho topping as part of the potluck

Central Coast Friendship Bridge Circle: Dinner and Chef's Demonstration Fundraiser

To support our Friendship Bridge sisters in Guatemala, we are hosting a cooking demonstration, wine bar, and dinner with renowned local Chef Candice Custodio. The evening will include a hands-on cooking demonstration and sit-down dinner, a wine bar and wonderful local Artisan goods, local art and jewelry, as well as handmade items from our sisters in Guatemala for sale. 

Menu: Latin American inspired dishes from local Chef Candice Custodio, a celebrated chef and entrepreneur based on the Central Coast. Candice is a James Beard Network Cohort graduate. She fuses her farm-to-table ethos with vibrant Latin influences. Wine will be available for a donation.

Attire: Casual attire. We suggest bringing a sweater for the evening and wearing comfortable, close-toed shoes (high heels are not recommended).

Space is limited to 40 guests. Please reserve your spot by June 29.

REGISTER HERE : https://secure.qgiv.com/for/circlesfriendshipcircleevents/event/ccwtdf/

$25 of each ticket purchase is tax deductible.

Come learn how to carve images, patterns or texts on a soft rubber block with simple tools. Our resident artists Emily and Olympe will teach you how to create and print your own design to print on paper or on clothes. Bring some paper, pieces of fabric or clothes you want to personalize!
Family friendly - children are welcome above 6 years old

When : Saturday June 28th from 3 to 5pm

Where : Sunset patio

What to bring : paper, pieces of fabric or clothes you want to personalize

Cost : free (donations welcome)

Come celebrate the changing of the seasons and the Summer Solstice around a bonfire, food and drinks. We will make flower wreath, read poetry around a bonfire, light candles, tie some wishes to our maypole, and dance!

Details:
Date: Friday June 20th

Where: Lavra Plaza
Time: starts at 7pm
What to bring: fresh flowers, warm clothes, food and drinks to share (potluck style)
Cost: Free, we encourage you to bring a dish or drinks to share as part of a potluck

Our bench in the garden needs a little love!

Betty Seaman will be teaching a hands-on workshop to learn how to care for and fix existing cob structures.

A natural builder and a teacher of natural building techniques, Betty Seaman shares her ideas with clarity and enthusiasm. Come learn from a highly experimented natural builder and get your hands dirty!

We’ll start with a conversation circle about cob’s superpowers: fire and earthquake resistant -to name only a few. Then we’ll mix sand, clay and straw to create a beautiful natural plaster. All ages are welcome, kids friendly.

Betty Seaman is a natural builder, craftswoman, and educator whose work blends time-honored techniques with practical innovation. A homesteader, Betty has spent over two decades immersed in natural building—designing and creating homes and structures that honor both the land and the people who live on it. Betty’s philosophy is rooted in sustainability, beauty, and community. She believes that good design should not only shelter, but inspire—that dignified shelter should be safe, affordable and available to everyone . Her teaching approach is inclusive, grounded, and empowering, always encouraging people to trust their hands, slow down, and build with what’s available.

Through workshops, writings, and community builds, Betty continues to pass along the knowledge that natural building is not just about the materials—it’s a lifestyle, a reclamation of skill, and a quiet revolution in how we live.

WATCH THIS VIDEO TO LEARN MORE

Details:

Date: Sunday April 27th

Where: in the lower garden

Time: from 2 to 5 pm

What to bring: comfortable work clothes and shoes

Cost: free / donations welcome

Event limited to 15 people

Not a free event / Register here

QiGong class with Rita Morris

Rita has been practicing Qi Gong for over a decade. Her certification as a Qi Gong instructor was attained from The Lee Holden Institute, Santa Cruz, California. Her background in medicine as a Registered Nurse, combined with her knowledge of Western 

Medicine, brings a unique approach to her teaching. She has had the opportunity to teach abroad in China and Indonesia.  As she explains… Qi Gong is a powerful practice. It has been scientifically proven that it is one of the only forms of exercise that promotes the length of telomeres, the end of the DNA strand associated with longevity. 

The art of Qi ( life  force energy or breath) is accessed through learning the skill ( gong) to connect with this energy within for an experience of mindfulness and flow. In this ancient practice we feel an interconnectivity with our universe and all that is living. In addition, this practice improves balance, flexibility and strength. 

Come join us in this beautiful experience of mind, body and spirit. 

Tea ceremony with Jen de Tréglodé

Jen de Tréglodé is a Certified Tea Sommelier and Chadao (Way of Tea) Practitioner based out of San Luis Obispo, CA. She considers herself a student of rituals from all cultures that involve tea, nature, craft, and community. As a self-proclaimed "tea evangelist", her mission is to spread the word about the incredible benefits of a life steeped in tea. She believes in the life-changing experience of savoring high-quality tea, the rich and beautiful history and culture surrounding this ancient plant, and the extraordinary medicine it offers in connecting us to nature, ourselves, and everything around us. Through her service-based business, Inari Tea & Art Experiences she facilitates transformative offerings through tea ceremonies, tea education courses, Taoist education courses, retreats, and more. In each offering she hopes to empower people to discover their own daily rituals for slowing down and finding mindfulness in the hustle and bustle of life. 

Not a free event / Register here (limited to 15 people) :

Details:
Date: Saturday April 26th

Time: 5:30 to 7:30pm
What to bring: comfortable and warm clothes
Cost: $40

Conversation with local farmers and land stewards: Brandon Hurd (The Ecologist Cowboy) Jesse Trace (Traceland Organics) and Shane Lovell (SLO city farm)

more infos to come !

Details:
Date: Friday April 11th

Time: 6 pm
What to bring: comfortable and warm clothes
Cost: Free