This Retreat is an immersive experience designed for the New York Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community age 13 and up. A couple spots are open for non-New Yorkers to support the building of partnerships.
What to Expect
This three-day residency is designed as an affinity space for Asian Pacific Americans Survivors of Sexual Assault and their communities. In collective, we will co-create a safe and nurturing space for healing, empowerment, and play. Disclosure is not required. You do not have to have "it" figured out or have any experience with creative movement.
Expect voluntary story sharing and natural cross-pollination among participants, fostering a collective learning experience. Participants will be introduced to the Moving Rasa framework through guided exercises and reflections, both indoors and outdoors, with a focus on creating a playful and trusting community that is able to openly address and move through our relationships to sex, sexualities and sexual violence in a healing, culturally specific and empowering way.
Moving Rasa: Grounding Knowledge and Social Justice
The term "Rasa" means taste or essence in Indonesian, and Moving Rasa connects participants to their Rasa, embracing their cultures, histories, and spirituality as vital for authentic relationship-building and creating unity through diversity. Participants will learn to trust their interconnectedness with others and the world around them, navigating obstacles to self-expression and expanding their capacity to improvise in changing and challenging environments. You can hear from a prior participant from August here.
How is this possible?
This opportunity is possible thanks to the American Rescue Plan for Culturally Specific approaches to Survivors of Sexual Assault. This inclusive workshop is free and open to individuals of the local New York AAPI community, embracing all abilities, ages, and classes. The cohort size will be limited to 10 people with priority given to marginalized identities within the AAPI community especially who are Southeast Asians, Pacific Islanders and non-Brahmin South Asians. That said, all AAPI are encouraged to apply.
Details
Upon registering, we will get back to you by the last week of October if not sooner to confirm your status. We look forward to welcoming you to this transformative experience.
Location: Wildheart, 183 East Road, Wallkill, NY 12589
Basic Itinerary
(Subject to shift as needed by the group via consensus)
Friday Nov 15th
6-9p Introduction to Moving Rasa, the Container and the Theme: Addressing Sexual Violence in our Communities
Saturday, Nov 16th
10-1p Embodying Community Agreements and Consent Labs
1-3p Break and meal co-creating and sharing
3-6p Exploring Core Values around Intimacy and Connection
Sunday Nov 17th
9:30-12:30p Active Witnessing and Improvisation
12:30-2:30p Break and meal co-creating and sharing
2:30-5:30p Collective Design and Synthesis
Transportation, Lodging and Culturally specific meals are all included.
Bio of Facilitator:
Andrew Suseno is an Indonesian-Chinese American movement artist, Doctor of Physical Therapy, Feldenkrais Practitioner, and Certified Laban Movement Analyst based on the unceded land of Lenapehoking. With over a decade of experience in martial arts, improvisational dance, and Contact Improvisation, Andrew has centered his work on healing and liberation, particularly for communities of color. He is the founder of Moving Rasa, an organization that blends indigenous Indonesian philosophy with movement improvisation, somatics, and community building.
Drawing from his rich background, Andrew’s work focuses on helping marginalized communities reconnect to their bodies, reclaim agency, and heal from trauma. His unique approach integrates Rasa, the Indonesian word for taste, which also means the discernment of feeling through the heart. Through workshops, residencies, and retreats, he creates culturally specific spaces where participants can explore movement, healing, and cooperation.
Andrew has collaborated with national organizations like NAPIESV and the Guam Coalition, creating wellness guides and retreats for sexual violence survivors. His efforts extend to building men's consciousness spaces, where participants address systemic oppression and explore new ways of being. Andrew's vision bridges movement and social change, offering pathways for individuals and communities to move through trauma and thrive.
Bio of Chef:
Shandra Woworuntu, a chef with League of Kitchens, will be sharing flavors from Indonesia, Japan, and Korea. Born in Manado, Indonesia, and raised in East Java, Shandra grew up immersed in her family’s food businesses, where she developed a deep love for cooking. Her culinary journey began in her grandmother's kitchen, igniting a lifelong passion that she later carried to New York City in 2001. Shandra, a fierce anti-violence activist, also founded a nonprofit to empower human trafficking survivors through vocational training and support. Now based in Astoria, Queens, she continues to innovate in the kitchen, blending traditional and modern flavors and delighting in NYC’s culinary diversity. Through her League of Kitchens classes, she brings the vibrant flavors of Indonesian culture to new audiences.
Bio of Mental Health Support:
Marie Janiszewski, a crisis counselor from Loving Kindness Wellness Services, holds a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Naropa University, specializing in mindfulness-based transpersonal counseling. With training in trauma-informed somatic therapies like Hakomi, Somatic Experiencing, and Indigenous Focusing-Oriented therapies, she helps clients access healing through body-based practices. Combining these with parts work approaches like Gestalt and Internal Family Systems, Marie guides clients to see challenging emotions as pathways to resilience, strength, and connection. In her free time, she enjoys painting, dancing, hiking, biking, and practicing meditation, alongside her research interests in nutrition, environmental health, and psychology.