WiseEarth Education

To subscribe to the WiseEarth Education E-news, please enter your details here.

Creating Deep Nature Connection and Culture Repair

PART 1: Deep Nature Connection Routines

Recently I was lucky enough to participate in a week-long ‘Art of Mentoring’ (AoM) course in California with the 8 Shields Institute. I was inspired to attend this course after doing two weekend courses with Jon Young when he visited Australia last year. At the first weekend I was blown away by the depth and breadth of Jon’s nature connection work, so having the opportunity to participate in AoM was a real privilege.

As a way of sharing a taste of Jon’s vast body of work I thought I would like to share a little about each of the four elements that Jon says are needed for deep nature connection and culture repair, and how I experienced these at AoM, the workshops last year and in my life in general. These elements are: deep nature connection routines; conscious competence in the art of mentoring; effective grieving routines; and being exposed to role models who have the eight attributes of connection.

In this post I will focus on the first of these – deep nature connection routines. There are many different (and interconnected) nature connection practices, including doing sit spots, sharing the ‘story of the day’, tracking, wandering, journalling, listening for bird language and doing sense meditations. As Jon simply and aptly put it, “We go into nature to remember we are nature”, and this is the core of why we do these practices…. and in doing so, we are living an antidote to ‘nature deficit’ as outlined by Richard Louve in his book ‘Last Child in the Woods’, becoming more connected and more able to live in a way that is in balance with the Earth and her cycles.

We did several sit spots at the Art of Mentoring, and Jon talks of this as an essential routine for connection. A sit spot is a special place in nature that you visit regularly and get to know intimately over time. My sit spot is a 10 minute walk from my house, right by an inner-city creek.  My experience of this practice is that each sit is different – perhaps there is a new plant that has popped up, a bird call I haven’t heard before, an insight to be had, or simply an experience of coming back to myself.  Invariably I also tune into my senses and become more open to perceiving in ways I don’t consciously do in everyday life.

Sharing stories of sit spots and other nature connection practices with others  is a way to build a collective knowledge and connection. When I participated in the Bird Language weekend with Jon last year, we would go out in groups and share our observations with our small group first and the larger group later, building a bigger picture of what was happening in the bird world by putting our stories together. At the AoM our ‘stories of the day’ drew out some very special experiences, with several participants sighting a family of river otters. Also the evidence of bear scat, claw marks and tracks all painted a picture of the movements of our bear neighbor.   

One day at the Art of Mentoring we went wandering in groups, bringing in several nature connection practices. We were each given a task, and as the ‘south’ representative in my group, I was tasked with paying attention to evidence of mammals, and in particular bears. As the only Australian in my group, I had to ask for my group members to help me with bear signs, and they found some scat for me (and a scat book also came in handy to identify coyote scat that we came across).  I did manage to spot bear claw marks on a tree so was impressed with myself for that! Other tasks included catching a lizard, following a deer trail and ambushing another group.  My group completed most of the tasks given to us, but it was certainly the case that the point was not to make sure we ticked all of these off a list, but to be open to the experience as it unfolded, keeping our senses open to the forest, and what we could discover in doing so. As well as having a lot of fun that day I think everyone in my group learnt something; connecting to each other as well to as the rest of nature.

If you are curious to know more about these deep nature connection routines, Jon is likely to be returning to Australia next year, so stay tuned for that. The Coyote’s Guide to Connecting in Nature’  by Jon Young, Ellen Haas and Evan McGowan is also a wonderful resource for anyone wanting to learn more.

And stay tuned for the next three monthly posts on the other elements that create deep nature connection and culture repair.

Saturday 20th February 2016, 9am to 5pm, Herston

This workshop will explore how the cycles of the moon, seasons, our lives and our menstrual cycles and their correspondences can teach us about living with the rhythms of nature. We will tune in to the wisdom of the maiden (young woman), mother, maga and crone, all of which can offer guidance in Earth healing. We will also share some experiential practices and rituals that can foster deep listening to and a deeper heart connection with Mother Earth, and hence participate in her healing. 

Contribution: $85 (Full) / $65 (Concession card holder)

Book here

Facebook event here

About the facilitator: Emma Brindal is passionate about social and environmental justice, living lightly, working with women, and fostering connection and care for the Earth in others.  She has been offering Earth Connection workshops since 2008 and holding women’s circles since 2010. She is excited to be bringing these parts of her life together in this workshop, which will also draw from her learnings and experiences as a recent graduate of the School of Shamanic Womancraft.

Saturday 12th September, Simpsons Falls Picnic Area, Mt Coot-tha

10.30am-12.30pm followed by lunch.

This gathering will be a celebration of spring and all that it brings for us in our inner and outer lives. We’ll share stories of what is blooming in our lives and all around us, and offer our gratitude for the gifts of spring. We’ll follow the ritual with a shared seasonal lunch.
You’re invited to bring a symbol of spring for the centre of our circle, any stories, poems or songs to share with the group, and something to share for lunch.
Facilitated by Emma Brindal and Arlanda Rayne.

We can coordinate car-pooling for those needing or offering lifts – please RSVP to wiseeartheducation[at]gmail.com by 9th September if you want to do this. Also feel free to simply turn up on the day.The trip to Simpson’s Falls makes a good bicycle ride as it is about a third of the way up the mountain & you don’t need to be super fit to get there.
We look forward to celebrating spring with you!

WiseEarth Education’s ‘Reinhabiting Place’ course draws on inspiration from Deep Ecology, Bioregionalism and Earth-based spirituality ideas and practices.

In the modern world many people – particularly in cities – do not know where their water and food come from; where their waste goes; about the animals, plants and other life that share their homes; or feel connected to the turning of the months and the seasons. The ‘Reinhabiting Place’ course is inspired by the idea that if we truly know the places in which we live, we will act to nurture and protect them, and that in order to establish a truly sustainable relationship with the rest of nature we need a deeper and more personal sense of connection. 

The course provides participants with experiential practices for developing a greater understanding of and relationship with the plants, animals, elements and processes of our bioregion and home.

The inspiring Bioregionalist thinker Peter Berg said that the bioregional concept has the three main goals of: restoring and maintaining local natural systems, finding sustainable ways to satisfy human needs – food, shelter, energy, water, culture; and “to support the work of reinhabitation, of people becoming native to the places where they live”[1].

The work of reinhabitation must include people who live in cities, who make up the majority of people in the world.

Deep Ecologist Delores La Chapelle also provides inspiration to bring ritual into the practice of reinhabiting place. She points out that most indigenous societies had (or have) had three common characteristics: “they had an intimate, conscious relationship with their place; they were stable “sustainable” cultures, often lasting for thousands of years; and they had a rich ceremonial and ritual life. They saw these three as intimately connected.” Ritual can therefore bring us back into connection with our places, and as la Chapelle says “during rituals we have the experience, unique in our culture, of neither opposing nature or trying to be in communion with nature; but of finding ourselves within nature, and that is the key to sustainable culture”[2].

—–

Here’s a taste of what some participants in our first ‘Reinhabiting Place’ course had to say about their experience:

 “Attending the Reinhabiting Place Course has been transformative and has given me a greater feeling of appreciation for and connection to this bioregion I am living in.” – Sally Robertson

“The essence of the Reinhabiting Place course has become for me a way of life, a connected-conscious-loving way of life!” – Jemma Darlington  

“Reinhabiting Place gave me personal answers to things that were going on for me.” – Jane Houghton

“The knowledge I learned, the connections I made, the experiences and realisations I had as a result of doing this course were truly life changing and will stay in my mind and heart forever.” – Skye Smith

For more on what participants said see: https://wiseeartheducation.com/testimonials/

The next ‘Reinhabiting Place’ course will be held on Saturdays from the 14th March to 25th April with a break for the Easter weekend.

[1] Interview in Jensen, D. (2004) ‘Conversations about Nature, Culture and Eros’.

[2] La Chapelle, D. (1997) ‘Ritual is Essential’ Available at http://www.context.org/iclib/ic05/lachapel/

Saturday September 6th: Reinhabiting Place Introduction.             Mt Coot-tha, 9am – 1pm, followed by a shared lunch.

Tuesday September 9th: A conversation with Claire Dunn, author of ‘My Year Without Matches’, Clarence Corner Bookshop, Woolloongabba. 6 for 6.30pm. Suggested contribution $5 – $8. See flyer here.

Saturday 11th October to Saturday 15th November: Reinhabiting Place 6 session course. 

When: Saturday May 31^st  9am-1pm                                               Where: Quaker House, Kelvin Grove

Join us for a morning of connection with Earth wisdom, ourselves and each other, inspired by the ideas and practices of Deep Ecology and Bioregionalism. Together we will explore some experiential activities for grounding ourselves in the rhythms of nature. You will also take home some practices for developing a greater understanding of and relationship with the plants, animals, and elements of our bioregion. After the session stay on for a shared lunch. 

Contribution: Sliding scale $40 / $55 / $70.                                             20% off if you book and pay by May 23rd 

Facilitated by Emma Brindal and Arlanda Rayne

Flyer for Autumn 2015 course

A 6 week experience for Earth Healers held in various locations around Brisbane.

Saturdays February 22^nd to March 29^th 2014, from 9am – 1pm for the first 5 weeks, and 10am-4.30pm in the final week.

Together we will:

–          Learn daily practices to ground ourselves in the rhythms of nature

–          Develop an understanding of and relationship with the plants, animals, and elements  of our bioregion

–          Cultivate deep connection with Earth wisdom, ourselves and each other

–          Engage head, heart, and hands to re-localize our lives

Your co-adventurers:  Arlanda Rayne, Emma Brindal and Rhyll Tonge are inspired by the ideas and practices of Deep Ecology and are passionate about connecting to and living lightly on Earth.

Contribution: Sliding scale: $225 Health Care Card Holders/$350 Middle income/$475 High Income. Scholarships also available.

Places are limted to 12 participants.

For inquiries or to book contact: wiseeartheducation[at]gmail.com or Emma on 0411 084 727