Mission & Values

Mission and Values

Rivertide is a center for the practice of yoga and the martial arts aikido and iaido, as well as workshops and events that similarly incorporate somatic practices and mindfulness. In addition, Rivertide is home to practitioners of various therapeutic modalities that work with a holistic approach to wellness. Our mission is to cultivate practices that help to integrate mind and body and to support overall well-being in individuals and in community. 

Rivertide recognizes that wellness is not cultivated in isolation but is integrally connected with community care and responsibility. We are committed to our own continuous process of growth and learning so we may better support wellness in individuals, communities and our larger environment. 

Rivertide Center is located on the land of the displaced Mohican Nation Stockbridge–Munsee Band. As part of our stewardship of this land, Rivertide Center prioritizes ecological sustainability and protection of our other-than-human communities. Ways in which Rivertide works towards these values include using permaculture methods to cultivate native and keystone plants, utilizing solar power instead of fossil fuels as our electricity source. We also helped to fight off and permanently incapacitate the Pilgrim Pipeline, a company that proposed to build a massive fracked gas pipeline infrastructure though the NY/NJ corridor west of the Hudson River, including through Rivertide Center itself.

In the spirit of the Aikido IDEA Project, Rivertide Center is committed to Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility. As an entity that recognizes that our learning and growth is interdependent and strengthened by diversity, Rivertide seeks, in its day-to day functioning and in its governing structure, to provide a framework for mind/body (heart/spirit, liver/mind, vagus/body, etc) development that incorporates antiracist and social justice values in every element of our practice. This includes working toward removing barriers to practice for marginalized populations, facing and confronting our own biases, and taking concrete steps to create an actively welcoming environment for BIPOC and LGBTQIA members of our community, as well as folx of varying backgrounds, abilities, and resources.

Our vision includes seeking ways to amplify marginalized voices in our tiny organization as well as in the larger community. Moving forward we hope to develop community partnerships that enhance these efforts.