Divine Chaos - Holistic Recovery Farm!

Learn More About Divine Chaos 
UPDATE:  Dear Friends & Family,

Thanks to your support I have got DCM off the ground with the website, videos (still in progress) and more! As you might have seen in my recent newsletter, I have just been offered 1 hectare of land (2.5 acres) to get the Holistic Recovery Center up and running. My work will be part of a larger community project called Aventura Ranch, just 20 minutes from Playa del Carmen, QR. I will be managing the farm, the kitchen, and the healing retreats (short and long term).

As I mentioned in the first round of funding, we will be hosting healing retreats for survivors of violence and those suffering from mental health conditions. The current owners have generously offered me the land so that I can get the farm up and running and build out the teaching/retreat spaces while paying what I can over time (land itself will cost $50K USD). I need help paying for the buildout and the farm so I can start offering affordable/free events to those who need it most, like my counseling clients who have lost everything due to their abusive relationships. We are planning on running profit driven events as well in order to keep ourselves afloat but our priority is providing for the community.

Our farm will produce high quality, organic produce for the 50+ families in our direct community (that they can actually afford) while serving as a teaching and gathering location. We also have several other high revenue projects to run at the farm so that we can provide food/services for our community and those who need it most, for next to nothing. We will be working closely with the Mayans who have lived here for centuries to preserve traditional ethical land stewardship while also paying them what they deserve. Moreover, our location will serve as a learning farm so that we can support other families living within this territory in producing their own, nutrient rich food while healing the planet. Help us facilitate pandemic/disaster proof food sources!

...MEANWHILE...

Gillian is still in partnership with Pathways For Victims - a six month program that offers holistic support for victims and batterers to facilitate recovery from and prevention of domestic violence. Your donations will fund the farm project, Divine Chaos events and Gillian's further work with the organization.

MORE ABOUT DCM:
Divine Chaos Movement:  a Movement Program inspired by the principles of yoga, Pilates, and martial arts for body liberation. Initial donations from this campaign are being used to put the Movement Program online and make it available for next to nothing therefore making it accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Furthermore, the platform will be available by subscription for those who are able to pay so that we can fund our long-term project of establishing a trauma recovery center. 

Thus far, Divine Chaos has partnered with Sarvodaya Farm & Nursery, an urban farm in Pomona, to host private and semi-private events which have helped us gather initial start up funds. Each event includes a workout, emotional support group, and a true farm to table meal to top it off. Your donations to this campaign will allow us to make these events available FOR FREE for people suffering from mental illness, economic hardship, with a priority for those living in domestic violence shelters. 

Right now, all of the work on this project is done for free. I, Gillian Ashdown, make very little money as my work has been seriously affected by the pandemic and I am not receiving unemployment. I do not make enough to afford housing in the state of California, which is part of the reason why I feel so passionate about tackling issues such as trauma caused by houselessness (we say "houseless" because lacking a house does not mean one lacks a "home"). Moreover, I know from personal experience how difficult it is to reach a state of "wellbeing" when you lack the financial or emotional ability to seek support in your healing process. There is a mental illness pandemic in tandem with COVID-19 as most healing modalities in our current system are extortionately priced. 

MOVEMENT IS MEDICINE. It can be available anytime, anywhere. The problem is that most people do not know where to start. Let me and Julian open the door so that those who are ready to take healing into their own hands, can begin to move their bodies safely and effectively. 

Your support will truly save lives. Remember the absolute, worst day of your life? What if someone had come along, helped you breathe through the pain, and reminded you - at the very least - how to care for your body? Your body had to function for you to make it through that day, that month, or those years. We can be that person for you, and more importantly, for those with no other options. Remember your absolute worst day? What if someone had offered you a helping hand and a light at the end of the tunnel?