I stayed at HYA for about 2 weeks. Overall, it was a beautiful experience, and I personally went through both a lot of challenging moments and a lot of beautiful growth moments. I arrived in acute distress from something totally unrelated, and the folks there made me feel very welcomed and tended to me very sweetly. The property is beautiful - lots of trees, mushrooms, and mountains to explore. Great for impromptu hiking adventures. While I was there, we foraged a bunch of chanterelles and cooked them for dinner! The leadership and permanent/semi-permanent residents there really care about you. They put a lot of time and energy into teaching us their system of spirituality, both from a theoretical perspective and a practical perspective. I feel like I gained a lot from this - certainly a feeling of being closer to God as well as more connected with all beings and a sense of being closer to eternal love energy. 

For me personally, the accommodations were probably the most challenging part. Volunteers sleep in a tent, and the high level of humidity often made it hard for me to sleep. The sleeping pad was not that comfortable for me; the tent was a little too small for my body to fully fit comfortably and was also at an incline. All of these factors made it difficult for me to sleep most nights. With that said, I am a very sensitive sleeper and have dealt with sleeping challenges off and on throughout my life, so a less sensitive sleeper may not have issues with this. The folks there did try their best to improve my sleeping situation with resources on hand, and I appreciated those efforts, although I was still pretty sleep deprived most days. There also was not an easily accessible communal area where folks could just lay down/rest and think having this would be a game changer.

There is a strong community feeling there which I deeply appreciated. We often cooked and ate meals together, did activities together both on site and off site, and people were happily willing to have engaging conversations either one on one or in groups. I really felt a lot of love and care from the people there, especially when I was struggling hard emotionally. The work trade part usually consisted of either working in the garden or helping build structures. It was fun to work with their version of cobb, with red clay sourced on site. The garden is young and I am sure it will continue to develop. I also enjoyed watching the chickens and ducks and eating duck eggs. 

I haven't really kept up with the practices back at home, which I feel some regret about. However, there is definitely a lot of potency and growth available in the system of spirituality that they teach there, and even now I do still feel more connected to The Divine/the universe/love/other beings. I did have a lot of emotional/spiritual/physical challenges come up during my time there (some related and some not) which I think is normal for an intensive spiritual experience like this. Along with that was also a lot of emotional/spiritual/physical growth as well as experiences where I felt truly very happy, very connected, and with a belief that I am connected to and of an eternal power that connects us all. I would highly recommend this experience to most people looking for spiritual enrichment in their life, although it certainly wasn't "easy" for me.

-Charlie Gillig 9/8/2026