Land Acknowledgment and Stewardship

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, and using the most energy-efficient building materials and systems accessible to us for the Wellness Center recently added to our building. We were also part of the coalition that fought off and permanently incapacitated the Pilgrim Pipeline, a project that proposed to build a massive fracked gas pipeline infrastructure through the NY/NJ corridor west of the Hudson River, including through Rivertide Center itself.

Building Community

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.

Health and Wellness Policy

As part of our ethic of community care, we seek to foster wellness practices that nurture, support, and restore our well-being in body, mind, and spirit. At the core of Rivertide’s practices is the understanding that community care and self-care are intersecting and mutually transformative.

Rivertide has adapted our COVID safety policy to reflect the current state of our larger community’s safety recommendations, as well as our own commitment to equity and accessibility. We understand that for many people, COVID has become something akin to the common cold. We also understand that for some, the consequences can be much more severe. 

Experiencing the pandemic has enhanced our own awareness that there are members of the community who are more medically vulnerable, and whose lives may be vastly constrained because of this. In addition to our existing policies that support financial and other forms of accessibility, we maintain a safety policy that recognizes and respects the experience and needs of those who might be more intensely impacted by respiratory illnesses such as COVID or the flu. In the interest of community care, we ask that members of our community follow the guidelines below:

• Refrain from joining class if you have had a recent close contact exposure to COVID.
• If you are experiencing symptoms of illness — such as fever, sore throat, persistent cough, fatigue, or digestive discomfort, please stay at home and rest until you are fully recovered. Practicing while sick can prolong healing and put fellow students and teachers at risk.
• As per CDC respiratory infection prevention guidelines as of March 2024, after recovering from a respiratory illness, refrain from close contact practice (ie, aikido) for 24 hours after your symptoms and any fever have resolved. Use extra precautions (ie , wear a mask during training) for the next 5 days.
• Take a COVID test before attending class and/or wear a mask during class if you have recently been in high-exposure risk situations such as travel or attending indoor events with a high density of people.
• Students are encouraged to wear a mask during class any time they feel more comfortable doing so. We always have masks on hand.
• Wash hands before entering the practice space, and after coughing or sneezing. (And please note that the general recommendation to sneeze into the crook of the arm is NOT helpful during aikido practice! Please try to sneeze or cough into your hands and promptly hop off the mat to wash up.)
• We ask that you take other reasonable precautions to protect yourself and other members of our community from respiratory illness, including following current CDC guidelines regarding safety and respiratory illness. 
• While we no longer require them, we strongly recommend that members of the Rivertide Community stay current on COVID and flu vaccines and boosters.

Also in the interest of community care, we encourage you to come to us with questions or concerns about this or any other Rivertide policy.

If you are a new student, please fill in Rivertide’s Intake/Release Form before your first class.