Tracking Connections (512 Natural Pathways, LLC)

"We feel pulled to reuniting the wild family again. We want to reconnect with all our wild kin, but we want to connect with our wild human relations as well and be able to speak that old language."

In this episode, we are joined by award winning documentary filmmaker and author Craig Foster. We discuss Craig's connection to Jon through tracking, including the impact that watching the Great Dance had on Jon and the impact that hearing Jon's Tracking CDs had on Craig. We explore how tracking and deep connection to the wild seem to lead to mysterious capabilities, and some of the ways in which the natural world seems to reach out to connect to us in turn. We also explore some of the benefits of connecting to the wild world, from our nervous system and health, to it's impact on learning, and even on our relationships.

“There’s a lot of good stuff in the tame world but it’s unbalanced. The wild person is being smothered by the tame, and what I’m saying is let’s find a balance and let that incredible, wild, intelligent person come back and nourish us.”

About Craig Foster

Craig Foster is an Oscar and BAFTA winning filmmaker, naturalist, author and ocean explorer. His films have won over 150 international awards. He co-founded the Sea Change Project in 2012.

Craig’s work has contributed to the marine sciences through the discovery of new species and new animal behaviours. He is the first person to create a method of underwater tracking in the kelp forest. His film “My Octopus Teacher” has led to making the Great African Seaforest a global icon.

Craig also has consulted for 8 years to the centre for early sapiens behaviour, SapienCE, and created an award winning exhibition about middle Stone Age human origins. Drawing on 30 years of his work with the San and other indigenous African people, the exhibit promotes Africa as the origin of science and art.

Craig believes that the greatest threat we face is the cooling of the human heart towards nature. All his work is about inspiring a change of heart, inspiring people to care for and regenerate nature around them. He has founded the Sea Change Project to share his love of nature with others, and has kept his pact to dive 365 times a year for over a decade.

Check out Craig Foster's book - Amphibious Soul

Watch the trailer for My Octopus Teacher

Learn more about the Sea Change Project and support Craig's work here

Watch: Jon Young & Craig Foster discuss Amphibious Soul

At the Commonwealth Club - May 2024

Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ for more information about our work

In this conversation, Brian Knittel shares stories and design principles learned from his ten years at the Bay Area Tracking Club. Brian shares what it was like to experience the 8 Shields principles at work from the student perspective in the beginning, and then his observations as he grew to be a station guide and then leader of the club. We hear from Brian and Jon about the finer points of using the Art of Questioning to facilitate the tracking journey, including how it relates to how the San people still train trackers to this day. If you are interested in tracking, or interested in starting any sort of group based around learning nature together, you won't want to miss this episode.

"That was really the biggest draw for me; turning that curiosity on and getting people excited to learn more.”

About Brian Knittel

Brian Knittel’s professional career was as a software engineer in Silicon Valley. He has been on a lifelong journey of spiritual exploration and nature connection.

His journey deepened when he started searching for ways to explain spirituality to his young kids and found Tom Brown Jr.'s books, which sparked a series of "Aha!" moments. He resonated deeply with Tom's teachings and has been training at the Tracker School since 2000. Once he found Jon Young’s work he trained intensively in the Kamana Naturalist journey and the 8 Shields model. He is a long time wildlife tracker and helped lead a vibrant Tracking Club on the California coast for close to a decade.

He is deeply involved in these lineages, taking classes, mentoring others, and has been on a path towards Elderhood. Helping people learn about the essential nature of core routines, community building, and living in harmony with nature brings him immense joy. He has been a leader of groups within the Mankind Project, mentoring heart-centered men on a personal growth path, which has further shaped his beliefs about the importance of cultivating a state of personal peace.

Today, he uses many healing methods – Shamanic, elements of power, nature connection, and more – to help others find their own paths to peace and well-being. His vision is to create a world filled with love, healing, deep connection, and a deep respect for Mother Earth.

He lives in Mendocino, California with his amazing partner Amanda, who shares his passions for healing and nature. They have a blended family of four wonderful children, and when he's not exploring the natural world or helping others, you might find him practicing martial arts – something he's been passionate about for over 30 years.

He's excited to share his experiences with others, exploring the world of spirituality, nature connection, and living a life of purpose and joy together.

About Bay Area Tracking Club

Bay Area Tracking Club meets on the second Sunday of each month from 8am-11am. Locations change based on where the great tracks can be found, although our home base and most consistent venue is at Gazos Creek State Beach on the San Mateo County coast.

Connect with Bay Area Tracking Club on Facebook to learn more

Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

Learn more about what Joël is up to:

Connect with Joël by email: jdubois@csus.edu

"Acorn Assembly" Backyard Naturalists https://acornassembly.wordpress.com/

This is the very simple wordpress site we use to inform people about our local “Backyard Naturalists” meetings, mentioned in the podcast, which also has a way for people to contact me. (FYI, the name “Acorn Assembly” was proposed by a group member who had no knowledge of the Acorn terminology used for team-building/facilitation at 8 Shields events—an interesting synchronicity!)

Online portfolio of classroom activities https://portfolium.com/jdubois/portfolio

This is the site I use to model for students how to showcase their work with the kind of hands-on activities I mentioned in the podcast; the “Connections” tab links to students' own representations of their work.

Internal Family Systems Trainings https://ifs-institute.com/practitioners/all/96565

This is my practitioner listing for Internal Family Systems (IFS) on the IFS Institute site, which also links to resources about this method of working with parts and self. I didn’t go into much detail about this way of working during the podcast but thought I’d provide it as a reference—unless you think this might be best left for a follow-up podcast at some point.

Book - Hidden Lives of Brahman https://sunypress.edu/Books/T/The-Hidden-Lives-of-Brahman

My academic book, “Hidden Lives of Brahman,” showcases my research in traditional Brahmin schools in India, mentioned briefly at the outside of the podcast. My ethnographic approach to the topic actually has a lot in common with the way I approach village building!

Laurence Cole

When speaking of the power of music to draw people together, I reference Laurence Cole’s website (http://www.laurencecole.com/album/) and thought others might want to draw on it.

Braver Angels (braverangels.org)

​Braver Angels provides community facilitation tools to host gatherings that provide a welcoming space and prompts for conversation between people on opposing sides of the political spectrum. At first glance this probably seems like the opposite of what’s needed to build connection, yet the emphasis on focused listening to each other's' life experiences, with pauses for reflecting back what one hears, is one of the most powerful forms of "culture of allowance" that I've experienced, which also benefits from work drawing on 8 Shield archetypes for facilitation.

https://sites.google.com/braverangels.org/fieldops/field-leadership/alliances

Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

"Gravity is not just a force of physics. It is a living force, a force in the world that shapes us. And in that way, we can think of it as an old god, or a fierce god, or a wild god. It’s something very deep that literally shapes the alignment of everything in the universe. That’s a powerful thing. And yet is an everyday and mundane thing."

In this episode, Jon is joined by Dr. Bill Sutherland as they explore the effects of gravity on motion. Together they reflect on the subtle and not-so-subtle forces that act on our movements everyday, what happens when we shift our relationship to gravity, and how our movements can effect our awareness of the world around us. This conversation is sure to effect the way you think about your own movement and relationship to gravity. Enjoy!

You can check out Bill's website here https://www.complexitymedicine.org/ or you can reach out to us directly if you're interested in connecting with Bill.

Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

Ancient cultures prioritized connecting children to nature for survival and well-being.

In this wide-ranging and personal Episode, Jon Young has a conversation with Arnaud Gagné about deep nature connection and cultural norms. Arnaud is a graduate of the Kamana Naturalist Training Program, an experienced mentor and leader in the Art of Mentoring and a passionate holistic tracker and mentor who has been involved in the Shikari Tracker Training Program for many years. Jon shares his thoughts on the lack of connective cultural norms in modern times, citing personal experiences from his Irish ancestry. Arnaud discovers his passion for wilderness survival skills through backcountry skiing and mentorship. He discovered Tom Brown's books on wilderness survival and tracking, which sparked a solo journey of practicing and learning the skills mentioned in the books. Arnaud shares a personal story of how to bring healthy culture back for himself, his wife Kristyna and son, Nolan. He discusses the importance of and his commitment to cultural momentum in connecting people to nature and to each other. Arnaud hopes to be an elder in his community, passing on knowledge and healing to future generations.

A good culture connects people to themselves, others, and the natural world, while fostering awareness of ancestors, the unborn, and mystery.

About Arnaud

Arnaud has been a deep nature connection mentor and facilitator for 20 years. With deep gratitude, he continues to be mentored by master holistic tracker Jon Young, one of the global leaders in the nature connection movement.

Alongside his wife Kristyna, he is raising his son at home with the physical, emotional and spiritual nourishment of nature, family and community. He is deeply passionate about helping other parents create a deeply connected natural way of life for their families.

​Arnaud has a life-long commitment to helping restore a culture that prioritizes connection to nature, spirit, self and community for all ages and stages of life locally and globally. He lives and breathes what he teaches, not only as a livelihood but as a way of life.

Learn more about Arnaud at https://www.connectionpathways.com/

Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

“We’re in this time when the earth is activating this awakening, we’re part of the immune system of the earth. So then, what do the kids need to hear? Do they need to hear the battles of the Civil War, the names of the Egyptian pharaohs, the capitals of the States? Or do they need to hear that they’re magical beings, threaded to a living earth? That’s what they need to hear everyday from us adults, and we need to give them the evidence for that.”

This week, we are joined by Paul Astin and Jenny Griffiths, the co-founders of Manzanita School & Institute, a nature-based school in Southern California. Founded in 2014, Manzanita challenges educational paradigms and nurtures the whole child through its unique indoor-outdoor curriculum blending rigorous academics, land stewardship (including a working organic farm), and the study of local ecology on its 21-acre campus and the protected lands that surround it.

This is an incredibly inspiring conversation that you won't want to miss. Jon, Aidan, and Sarah were all moved to tears on multiple occasions. We discuss the genesis of the school, what they believe the role of teachers is in helping students at different stages, what the latest research says about the role nature connection plays in education, and how we help students create and reinforce an empowering narrative about themselves and the role they have to play as members of our society and stewards of the earth.

About Paul & Jenny

Dr. Paul Astin, Ed.D. and Jenny Griffiths, M.A., are longtime educators and Topangans who founded Manzanita in 2014 with the intention to create a new and meaningful alternative to the existing education system—one that honors the unique community and landscape of the Santa Monica Mountains, while preparing students to become independent thinkers and confident, embodied leaders in a rapidly changing world.

Dr. Paul has worked in education for over 30 years. He has been a teacher and administrator in both public and private schools, as well as the founder of a health-education nonprofit and a jazz pianist. He has a BA degree in Prehistoric Studies, a bilingual and bicultural teaching credential, an MA in Latin American Studies, and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from UCLA, where his dissertation focusing on adolescent development and middle school reform won the Dissertation of the Year Award in the Educational Leadership Program.

Jenny has a master’s degree in Art Education and has taught art and organized community art events for more than two decades. She has also designed and delivered courses for mothers in building mother-daughter groups, a project supporting networks of mentors for adolescent girls. She now oversees the Seeds (K-2) early childhood program at Manzanita. Jenny has also received training in leading council and has been leading our parent council group at Manzanita since 2014.

They continue to be inspired and humbled by the Manzanita community, and their dedication to educating the next generation of thoughtful and effective leaders and creators.

Learn more about Manzanita School & Institute here

https://manzanitaschool.org/

Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

“There’s an intelligence that emerges out of being together in a connective way, that we can call The Keeper, or we can call it The Emergent Mind in interpersonal neurobiology.”

"It was an example for me of what I want to build as a community and how I want to build it and participate with people."

Susu, Martha, and Patrick joined us to share about their transformational experience designing a weekend program together for the first time, using principles like Designing with Natural Cycles and the Ten Stones. Everyone that participated was moved by the way the experience unfolded, and what is possible when we slow down and listen deeply to The Keeper, remaining present to what most wants to emerge in that moment within the group. If you have been considering starting a program or offering something, this conversation will inspire you and give you insight into what's possible. Enjoy!

Janet (Susu) Marley is earning an MA in Ecopsychology from Naropa University. She is currently researching styles of governance in traditional indigenous societies of Turtle Island and how such wisdom ways can positively influence contemporary ecocentric and regenerative residential communities and bioregional initiatives. She is a dedicated student of the Tracker School, and committed to carrying the wisdom of the lineage into the future. Janet is a community organizer with an abiding interest in co-creating intentional living and learning centers that model and teach connection and reciprocity with the natural world. She is integrating the 8 shields design model into this work. Her gifts and roles include mentor, healer, event producer, and guide to ceremony, council, rites of passage, ecotherapy, and trauma integration work. She is a Montessori-trained educator and mom of two young children.

Martha Meacham is a professional educator with a Ph.D. in Education living in the Austin, Texas area. After decades in higher education, she is focusing on bringing people together who want to explore deep relationships within nature, themselves and others. She brings natural design principles (8 Shields) to her classroom for first time-in-college students to reflect on what they need from their college experience to successfully accomplish what they want. As a Niasziih practitioner, she promotes mind~body~spirit~soul wellness, rooted in the Earth. Aligned with this, she is an Apprentice Tracker, and a Quest protector. She has also learned Tellington TTouch Method for humans and companion animals from Linda Tellington-Jones. Learn more about Martha’s healing work at heartfelttouch.us

Patrick Monroney lucked into some great mentors and teachers in the outdoors when he moved to Alaska in 1987. He learned fishing, plants, and survival, and started an outdoor school for kids and adults. Patrick has taught flora, plantlore, fishing, survival skills, leadership and community building to children and adults for thirty years. He is a cancer survivor, and his current communities are the Tracker School Keepers group and the Helpers Mentoring Society.

Show Notes & References

• If you want to learn more about the Ten Stones, join us for Embodying Unity With Nature, which starts on Oct 17, 2024. We are also holding a free event, Harmonizing with Nature, on Oct 3rd, 2024

Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work.

“Mimicry has been my life. It was the easiest channel to my best teacher. For me, it wasn’t people; it was the animals themselves, and the most accessible route to that was through their language.”

What effect does imitation have on our body, our memory, our sense of connection? What if we could understand just what the Raven is saying? How do the coyotes behave differently around wolves than they do around mountain lions?

In this episode, George Bumann joins us to explore these questions, and shares stories from his lifelong journey of learning just what the animals are saying to each other. Enjoy!

About George Bumann

George Bumann (rhymes with ‘human’) is the author of Eavesdropping on Animals, and a professional sculptor living with his wife, young son, and black Labrador Hobbes, at Yellowstone Park’s northern entrance in Gardiner, Montana. George has been a life-long observer of nature and was raised in his mother’s New York sculpture studio. He holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in wildlife ecology and has worked in the fields of wildlife research, taxidermy, back-country guiding, environmental consulting and has taught art and natural history programs for youth, adult, and university audiences since 1990.

Learn more about George here

Order Eavesdropping on Animals

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Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

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Our next episode will release on November 20, 2024.

The transcript for this episode is available here.

“You can’t rehabilitate someone that hasn’t been habilitated in the first place.”

In this conversation with Jon and Aidan, Kathleen shares her journey to becoming an occupational therapist, the role nature played in raising her own children, and how nature connection principles facilitate healthy sensory development. We also discuss the science behind story catching and the role it plays in helping children develop, and the role we play, alongside nature, in regulating each other’s nervous system. Kathleen brings a wonderful perspective as a mother, occupational therapist, researcher, and mentor, and her stories are funny, insightful, and full of hope for the future.

“There’s no such thing as self regulation; we regulate in relationship to everything else.”

About Kathleen Lockyer

I am the daughter of a fisherman from Newfoundland, Canada, and a debutant from New York City. Raised a little wild, and a little cultured, I’ve learned enough to know that preserving a healthy amount of wild is good for a growing heart, body, and mind. Guiding others to reclaim wholeness and love the messiness of raising children while healing themselves is my joy.

Learn more about Kathleen at https://www.kathleenlockyer.com/

Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

"The stories we were hearing were of animals coming out onto the trail in front of people and knowing they were there, but not minding that they were there."

What if you could calm your nerves, notice more of the world around you, and improve your joint health at the same time? In this episode, we're exploring Foxwalking and Owl Eyes, two techniques that help you to do exactly that. Jon, Sarah, and Aidan share stories of how these techniques effect their daily lives, how to learn and teach them, and how much fun we can have when we practice them. Enjoy!

"Expanding our awareness out into our senses quiets our cognitive mind, and we have this experience of almost invisibility that can emerge where there’s a deep silence in our being."

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Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

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Our next episode will release on December 4, 2024.

The transcript for this episode is available here.

"The vision is the journey, and the journey is now.” -Tom Brown Jr.

In today's episode, we take a look at the power of renewal routines as a tool for deepening connection with ourselves. Jon shares a process he learned from Tom Brown Jr, which he has named Renewal of Creative Path, and the benefits that process has had on his life since he was a teenager. Sarah and Aidan share their own experiences and reflections on renewal routines, and what they have gained from integrating these routines into their lives on yearly, monthly, or even daily basis.

Renewal of Creative Path can be a very in-depth process that takes multiple weeks and many hours of reflection and conversation to complete. However, it can also be a shorter process. The following is a very quick look at the steps in the process, which Jon shares in greater detail during the podcast.

1. What connects us in our lives to nature, ourselves, and other people?

2. What are the obstacles to connection in our lives?

3. Tracking patterns of synchronicity and help from nature

4. Inventory of gifts, passions, and talents

5. Backtracking the stepping stones of visions and gifts

6. Release expectations and offering forgiveness

Pause, gather from steps 1-6, and reflect. Repeat as needed until you feel complete.

7. Create the ideal scene

8. Reflections with ancestors and future generations

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Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

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Our next episode will release on January 15, 2025.

The transcript for this episode is available here.

“The coyote’s on the edge of your awareness. Where’s your edge? Where is your student's edge? That’s what you’re trying to find and push gently out.”

In this episode Jon, Sarah, and Aidan are joined by Rick Berry from 4 Elements Earth Education. Rick shares his story of nature connection and how that has led to mentoring others over the past 30 years. He shares about how land and place influence our lessons, how he guides teens in transformational ways, and the importance of modeling the values we want to pass on to the next generation. Rick shares stories of his own lineage of mentoring, including how coyote teaching was passed on to him through Tom Brown Jr and Jon, and how that has contributed to his own teaching style. Rick shares a beautiful vision for unity and the role we can play in welcoming and allowing each other’s unique ways of being, before closing with an invitation for each of us that might offer a little healing today.

“We do have a common vision and we each do this in our own unique way. We have to come together to Heal”

About Rick Berry

Rick Berry began with the Tracker School in 1986 at the age of 15, and has been teaching these skills for the past 30 years. After graduating with a B.S. from Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA, Rick honed his skills in the remote Klamath Mountain range where he immersed himself for 12 years in indigenous life-ways--passed on to him by Gary Morris who himself had lived with Yurok Elder Calvin Rube for 20 years.

Later, Rick spent two years in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey as a care-taker for the Tracker School, refining his tracking and survival skills. Rick taught with both Jon Young and Tom Brown, Jr. through the Tracker School’s Coyote Camps, and moved on to serve seven years as Director of The Children of the Earth Foundation.

Rick, Cherokee Descent, (Grandmother was part of the Red Bird Stokes Stomp Ground in Vian, Oklahoma), has been working in collaboration with the Siakumne Maidu Tribe for the past 14 years creating the Fox Walkers youth programs at Pata Panaka / Burton Educational Preserve in Nevada City, CA. In 2019 Rick was asked to be the Executive Director of The Children of the Earth Foundation; Rick will oversee Coyote Tracks Programs under the 4EEE west coast non-profit umbrella.

Learn more about Rick at https://www.4eee.org

Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

Sarah and Aidan offer Jon an audience as he shares the origins and mission of the Tracking Connections Podcast to lift up and honor the amazing projects of so many people around the world.

Jon shares the story of how his research began from reflecting on his teen years and the values and ethics that he shared with his friends who were also mentored by Tom Brown, Jr. in the 1970's. Though Tom never told any of them directly to care for nature and the future of our planet, all the teens reflected to one another that this was how they felt. They could not understand why all their friends in high school did not share their concern for the way construction was changing the land.

Jon took this question further, "What had Tom done for them? Could we find a way do this for many others?" This began the research and development that led to the founding of the first project to mentor children in the way that Jon was mentored.

Soon after founding this first program, Jon met Ingwe, an elder raised by the San Bushman and Akamba Tribe in Kenya. The two faced many challenges in the early years. From their collective effort emerged the Kamana Naturalist Training Program, and the Shikari holistic tracking training, bird language training and the 8 Shields and The Art of Mentoring. These models and principles have been taught all around the world and have collectively reached hundreds of thousands of children who Jon has never met. Surely, Jon's co-founder, the late Ingwe (1914 to 2005), is smiling down on us.

Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

“These are the core routines of people connection.”

What happens when we slow down, get present, and put connection first?

In this episode, Jon and Sarah give an overview of the 10 Foundation Stones of Connective Culture: what they are, how they help facilitate connection between people, and the kind of outcomes that can result from practicing them together with a group.

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Free Download - 10 Foundation Stones

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Embodying Unity With Nature

If you're interested in doing a deep on people connection practices, like the 10 Foundation Stones, our upcoming fall program explores how to develop them in your own life...

Starting October 17th — 7 week Journey: Embodying Unity with Nature

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Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

“I define tracking as paying attention to the movement of energy.”

What are the birds telling us and how can we learn to notice more of what they have to say?

In this episode, Dan Gardoqui joins us to share stories from his 35+ years of teaching bird language, tracking, and nature connection. We explore mentoring someone in bird language, what gets people to pay attention, and how the process of learning bird language has evolved over the years. Plus, Dan shares some of his incredible animal imitation skills with us. Enjoy!

About Dan Gardoqui

Dan is a nature-based consultant & coach, award-winning educator, seasoned guide, naturalist & bird language expert, and the founder of Lead With Nature.

As a suburban New Jersey teen, Dan met his first mentor, Jon Young, who set him on a journey as a naturalist, a mentor and a leader. That journey led him to many other mentors, students and landscapes that have taught him priceless lessons. For the past 25 years, he has lived and worked in both human and wild communities in New England. He has served as a resource for many leaders in the field of Nature-Connection, consulting and training many teams and executives in finding excellence through role modeling, mentoring and training programs.

Learn more about Dan here

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Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

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Our next episode will release on November 6, 2024.

The transcript for this episode is available here.

“We need to build a bridge between where we are and where our future generations need us to be.”

In this episode, Shore Charnoe shares how growing up in connection with nature led to her developing the attributes of connection, and how she supports others to develop them as well. She tells us the four core practices that she believes lead to the most connection over time, practices that each of us can start today. Shore also gives us a behind the scenes look into the design of her summer gathering, Rekindling Connection, which is based on 8 Shields principles and has evolved to maximize the opportunity for participants to experience a culture of connection firsthand.

“Shift your attention to a place of curiosity and receptivity. Go in there adventuring the same way that those children could experience it, and let’s just see what happens.”

About Shore Charnoe

Shore has had a private counseling practice since 1994. As a traditional counselor, helper, and social worker, she has directed several community clinics and many highly-effective community helping programs. These programs have focused on at-risk youth and have included suicide prevention, apprehension prevention, parenting skills, lifeskills, adoption facilitation and short- and long-term foster care. She has helped foster, raise and mentor over 100 children. She is a mother of eleven adopted and biological children and a grandmother of six. A number of her adoptive children were born with fetal alcohol syndrome and came from abusive homes where they were victims of severe abuse, neglect, and trauma. She has been a consultant for child welfare organizations.

She credits much of her effectiveness to the lessons she has learned from over 20 Indigenous Elders. To name just a few specifically:

She studied for 10 years under the Odawa Medewin Elder Eddie King.

Shore’s husband and partner, Richard Szponarski, was a student of Eddie King for over 30 years.

She took her degree in Indigenous Social Work through First Nations Technical Institute under the direction of Banakonda Kennedy-Kish (Bell) , an Anishinaabe (Ojibway) Elder; Katsitsiase, also known as Betty Maracle, a Bear Clan Grandmother of the Mohawk Nation, Elder and Wisdom Keeper, and Ben Carniol, who was a Holocaust Survivor, social activist and author.

Shore also studied language and traditional stories with Basil Johnson, an Anishinaabe (Ojibwa) Elder.

Shore’s unique gift and skill is her ability to make the lessons she learned from these and many other Elders accessible to others. She has a deep gratitude and love for all the Elders and their teachings.

Learn more about the Rekindling Connection gathering

Show Notes

You can view the full show notes on our Living Connection 1st site

Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

“The message that I’m trying to get across is that we’re all caregivers, whether we recognize it or not, and the more we can take care of ourselves the more we can spread that into the community.”

This episode feels like a hug.

We are joined by Kris August, veterinarian, herbalist, and educator, to discuss the power of self-care and how she has used natural cycles to create a holistic self-care program for caregivers. Kris' program, Self-Care Through the Cycles of Nature: Creating Your Own Personal Habitat, is a 9 month course that helps people develop self-care habits and practices that reconnect them to nature and their own nature. We explore Kris' journey to discovering the various connective practices that influence her work, the impact compassion fatigue can have on people that work in the world of caregiving, and how starting with self-care can lead to a renewed connection to work and community. We hope you enjoy it!

Read the Podcast Transcript Here

Self-Care Through the Cycles of Nature - Enrollment open through September 2024

Kris' program begins September 1st and there are still openings if you are interested in participating. Learn more about the program and enroll here.

About Kris August, DVM, GDVWHM (Western Herbal Medicine), CHPV (Hospice and Palliative Veterinarian)

Dr Kris August is a veterinarian, herbalist, and educator. She received her graduate diploma in Western Veterinary Herbal Medicine online through the College of Integrative Veterinary Therapies (CIVT) and co-created the first hands-on veterinary herbal course with Dr. Laurie Dohmen. Kris values compassionate care for animals, people, plants, and our world, with a special focus on caring for the caregiver. We cannot help others unless we continue to care for ourselves. A lifelong learner, Kris also practices qigong and nature meditation. Kris enjoys bringing a holistic approach to learning through sharing her passions with others and has taught in a variety of capacities from Waldorf-inspired playgroups to Tae Kwon Do, to teaching veterinarians and veterinary students in herbal medicine, animal hospice, and self-care topics.

Show Notes & References

• We mention Coyote's Guide to Connecting with Nature by Jon Young
• We mention the 8 Shields Master Class: Designing with Natural Cycles, Village Building, and the Kamana Naturalist Program. All of these programs will be available soon through Living Connection 1st. Join the mailing list if you're interested.

Scheduling Note: due to travel and more obligations than usual, we have decided to move to an every-other-Wednesday release schedule for a few months. Our next episode will release on Sep 11, 2024.

Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

“This idea of the natural mind IS human nature, or maybe it’s nature in human, nature as human.” 



“Our nervous system is born expecting that kind of welcome, that kind of attending, that kind of intending. I think our nervous system is shaped for that.”

What is the connecting legacy of mentoring the natural mind? Today, Jon takes on a journey to answer that very question, explore how to mentor in this fashion, the benefits we get from being mentored (and mentoring others) this way, and the future of mentoring the natural mind. Jon shares how he was primed for mentoring by his elders as a young child, how Tom Brown Jr. mentored him, and how he observed this same mentoring in the San people in Africa. He shares what makes mentoring different from teaching and what, specifically, makes nature a mentor like no other. Enjoy!

“I would call them nutrients of our consciousness. Each of these different species, and individuals among the species, that we build relationships with- the more of that we get from nature, the more our mind becomes nature, and our heart becomes nature, and there’s a longing to inhabit this planet in a deeper and different way, where we feel like we belong. And when we feel that, then we really care, and then we really want to help make it better.”

Looking for More?

If you're interested in learning more about mentoring the natural mind or the 512 map, check out these resources below.

The 512 Project

Coyote's Guide

Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

“When we talk about tracking, it's a very holistic definition. It means paying attention, not just with your eyes, but with all your senses.”

In this episode we explore the question, "does tracking help us connect deeply with a place more quickly?" Jon and Sarah, having recently returned from two weeks in South Africa and the Kalahari, reflect on the impact that tracking had on their experience, not only connecting with the land but also with people through tracking. We also look at the broader definition of tracking, moving beyond footprints and into awareness of the world around us, our communication with that world, and how our intentions shape our environment. We explore how connection develops, in the deepening of our awareness that occurs through the process of tracking, in our collective engagement with the present moment, and shared curiosity about the world around us.

Upcoming Programs:

If you're interested in the themes of this podcast episode, our upcoming fall programs explore how to develop them in your own life...

October 3rd, 2024 — Free Event: Harmonizing with Nature

Starting October 17th — 7 week Journey: Embodying Unity with Nature

Scheduling Note: due to travel and more obligations than usual, we have decided to move to an every-other-Wednesday release schedule for a few months.

Our next episode will release on October 9, 2024.

"When there’s a pull, or a need, or a deep question, or a sincere curiosity coming from an innocent core part of ourselves, the answers often come in ways that you just can’t explain."

In this episode, Nate, Sarah, and Jon share their experiences of following intuition to answer questions that were previously unanswered or find something in a time of need. They reflect on the routines and practices that allow us to develop this sort of advanced awareness, and also on how these abilities are recognized in cultures that are still connected to nature.

"As I return to it and I look at how did that all unfold, there’s something in there that I can learn from forever."

Show Notes

Visit https://www.primalnate.com/ to learn more about Nate Summers. Get Nate's book on Amazon.

Check out Craig Foster's book - Amphibious Soul

Hear Craig Foster's interview with Tim Ferriss here

Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

We have a special episode today, sharing two excerpts from Tracking Our Roots In Nature, the 40th anniversary edition of Jon's seminal audio series on connecting to nature, each other, and ourselves.

Free Event Dec 10th

We are hosting a free event next on December 10th, 2024 at 11am Pacific Time

The event is called The Ultimate Wilderness Skill: Awareness as the Key To Empowering your Ancestral Skills, Deepening Your Personal Relationship with the Outdoors, and to Passing Forward This Legacy to Future Generations.

Register Here

Even if you can't attend live, we will send you a copy of the recording afterwards so you can listen at your convenience.

In the meantime, stay tuned for more information about the release of Tracking Our Roots in Nature in the next week or so.

Our next episode will release on December 18, 2024.

Today’s episode is all about relationships, and how putting people first and valuing connection helps us build a conscious legacy in our families and in our work. Our guest, Peter Johnson, is a long time financial and estate planner, the co-founder of Family Nature Retreats, and the author of The Little Book of Family Treasure. He joins us to share how the principles of Connection 1st have influenced his work, helping him to heal families and build loving legacies that last.

“We’re all ancestors in training, meaning, we’re all either leaving a conscious legacy or we’re leaving a shadow legacy.”

We discuss how our legacy is our culture, the wake that we leave behind our boat, and how the wellbeing of our family culture is so influential on the wellbeing of the individual that it’s indistinguishable. Peter shares about the power of nature connection to put us into a peaceful state of being, which enables us to successfully navigate the difficult conversations that come up in families around legacy. Most of all, you will feel the loving kindness that emanates from Peter and informs all of his work with people, and be moved and inspired by what it is possible to heal when we come together from that place of love.

“Money comes and goes, but the relationships and the skills and the knowledge, and the wisdom, and the desire to be of service to others, these are the things that really drive human behavior and determine outcomes.”

The Little Book of Family Treasure

What if the greatest threat to your family's legacy isn't poor investments or estate taxes, but the invisible walls that keep family members from truly connecting? Learn more about Peter's book here.

Family Nature Retreats

Family Nature Retreats rekindles the magic of life and connection for families seeking to create sustainable legacies and design purposeful estate plans. We assist client families in discovering and realizing their highest aspirations and potential — together — by combining facilitated conversations led by world-class, inter-disciplinary teams with proven healing nature connection practices.

Estate Planning

If you are interested in working with Peter and his team for your own family, visit https://pwjohnson.com/ to learn more.

About Peter W. Johnson

For over 25 years, Peter has served individuals and families with their wealth and financial planning needs. His own experiences with his family of origin fuel his commitment to family peacemaking, mentoring and connection. Peter’s deep respect and passion for nature connection and awareness, as well as other transformative practices, has led to the creation of Family Nature Retreats℠, which creatively combine proven, multi-disciplinary practices in a uniquely rich, integrated program. Peter has been an active leader in the development of Collaborative Practice Trusts & Estates since it began in 2012, and his writing has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Journal of Practical Estate Planning, The Journal of Financial Planning, and Black Enterprise.

Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ to learn more about our work.

We're taking a little break this week to enjoy the summer, and we invite you to do the same. Take the time you might have spent listening to this podcast and find a quiet place to sit and listen.

Move slowly on your way to and from that place.

Open your senses and tune into to what you notice around you.

Take a few minutes afterwards with a journal and reflect: what role does pausing play in your life right now? What are the benefits you get from it? What would it be like to add little more pause into each day?

Thanks for listening and we'll catch you next time.

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Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

"It doesn’t matter how long it's been since I've had an experience with nature. As soon as I show up, nature is there for me."

Maria Buitenhuis is a host and facilitator of the upcoming online course Ecological Homecoming, based on the 8 Shields. She has extensive experience supporting people to deepen their connection to nature, including our own inner nature as part of the larger natural landscape. She is the co-founder of GIFT (Global Institute of Forest Therapy) and the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy.

In this episode, we explore how the natural world welcomes us into connection, the power of names, ways in which the trees can transform our perspective, nature's capacity to receive our emotions, and the message that the starling brings. It is a wide-ranging, magical conversation that will inspire you to go outside and find a few quiet moments to connect with the natural world. Enjoy!

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Maria's upcoming program, Ecological Homecoming, begins March 19th. Learn More

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Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

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Our next episode will release on Feb 26, 2025.

The transcript for this episode is available here.

Aidan is Jon's oldest son and was born into a community based on Designing with Natural Cycles and spent the first decades of his life immersed in deep nature connection, mentoring and music. Aidan expresses a vision to help people fall in love with music. He found many music students stuck in a place where "music felt like more homework". Aidan used the Natural Learning Cycle to revitalize inspiration and motivation, and then a healthy relationship with focus, leading students to a place of embodying musicianship in a more rewarding and meaningful way.

About Aidan Young

Aidan is a musician, naturalist, and mentor. Over the past 20+ years, he has mentored hundreds of musicians, including over a dozen that went on to top music schools, performed on stage over a thousand times, mentored youth and adults in nature connection, including Kamana services, and guided people on their creative paths as a personal mentor. He is a graduate of the Kamana Program and experienced in the Shikari Tracker Training Program, has served on several Art of Mentoring acorns, helped produce The 512 Project, plays guitar, bass, piano, and mandolin, sings, and writes songs. He currently offers music lessons and personal mentoring and lives in Los Altos, CA with his wife Mystical and their three children.

You can learn more about Aidan at aidanyoung.com

Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

In this episode, Sarah and Jon host their friend and colleague at Living Connection 1st, Nate Summers. Jon begins by sharing stories of when Nate and Jon first met in Washington State in 1996 right when the Designing with Natural Cycles model shift from 6 Shields to 8 Shields.

The conversation explores the Profile Journey and Natural Learning Cycle through a variety of examples including an individual's journey from inspiration to embodiment of a complex skill, in this case that of a practitioner of deep nature connection, tracking and awareness and how these skills eventually lead to a form of invisibility and sense of awe and wonder. Other ways Nate discusses Designing with Nature Cycles include writing books, designing classes and even an impromptu scout mission at Sarah's request. ...

Designing with Natural Cycles and the 8 Shields model can be applied in a wide variety of ways with powerful and predictable outcomes.

About Nate Summers

Nate Summers, author of Shadow Survival: A Guide to Tactical Awareness, Evasion, Advanced Survival and More has been a survival skills instructor for over 20 years with a background in anthropology, Asian studies, and natural medicine. He taught and directed at the Wilderness Awareness School for over 15 years, and has served as faculty for the Desert Institute of Healing Arts, the Asian Institute of Medical Studies, and as adjunct faculty for Prescott College. He has taught Scout Skills, Natural Movement, and Survival Skills to people of all ages all over the world. Nate's passions include martial arts, natural movement, foraging, survival, ethnobotany, and going on adventures with his family.

You can find Nate at his website primalnate.com and at Living Connection 1st.

Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

Sarah shares how the 8 Shields Design Principles can be seen as a map to our our original design of interconnectedness, and as Jon Young often says, to our ‘ancient nervous system’.

First through the lens of the senses, Sarah explains how we process information from our environment, and presences the drastic shift in what our senses experience in modern times versus the purity of Nature that we evolved with over millions of years. The effects on our well being become apparent when we consider our neurobiological responses to external stimuli, and our need for physiological homeostasis to live with health and happiness.

Secondly, Sarah shares about humans as innately social beings, and how our evolutionary success is in large part to cooperation and coordination with other humans for safety, food security, and division of labor. Our nervous systems are wired for safe social engagement for survival, and what we experience in modern family and social systems is in dire contrast to what our nervous system is reaching for.

Using the 8 Shields as a map, we can take inventory of our sensory and relational experience to see where we are on the journey back to our original design.

About Sarah Fontaine

Sarah is a Energy work Practitioner, Wildlife Tracker, and Interspecies Communicator.

For over 25 years, Sarah has been practicing various healing modalities including Chakra-work, Craniosacral Therapy, Traditional Chinese Medicine Meridians and Five Elements, Emotional Clearing, Interpersonal Neurobiology, Somatic Trauma Therapy, and Polyvagal Theory.

She has studied wildlife tracking through Shikari Tracker Mentoring with Jon Young and Josh Lane, Tom Brown Jr’s Tracker School, and Cybertracker Conservation. She is a graduate of the Kamana Naturalist Training Program, and studied Interspecies Communication with Anna Breytenbach and Wynter Worsthorne.

She currently offers Earth-based energywork sessions, and lives near the Pacific Ocean in the sandhill mountains North of Santa Cruz, CA with her partner Jon.

You can connect with Sarah at www.earthnectar.net

Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

"I love that survival mentality; the will to solve problems…It gives you the confidence to tackle so many things…You believe in your resourcefulness and those around you."

Jason Knight is the founder of Alderleaf Wilderness College, best-selling author of The Essential Skills of Wilderness Survival, a Kamana graduate, and has been teaching nature connection, tracking, and survival for more than 25 years.

In today's episode, we explore Jason's lifelong interest in survival, his unlikely path to meeting Jon, and how that led to being mentored by him and ultimately to Jason starting the first year-long nature connection immersion program for adults. We reflect on how much the influence of Jon and Jason's work has spread across the world over the past 25+ years and the hope that brings, while remembering how much there is still left to be done. We also reflect on the inspiring power of learning survival skills and the confidence we gain from them, and how our deepening connection to nature tends to lead us to be called to mentor others in these same teachings. We hope you enjoy!

Essential Wilderness Survival Skills - Online Course

What You Need to Know to Stay Alive in the Outdoors

Learn the core skills of survival - shelter, water, fire, and food - in a format that allows you to participate at home and at your own pace. Come away with practical life-saving skills, a deeper relationship with nature, greater confidence, and resources to share with your family & friends for fun and in emergencies.

In this course you will:

• Understand the survival mindset
• Learn how to build natural shelter
• Experience how to make fire from friction
• Learn how to find and purify water
• Understand how to safely forage for wild foods
• Know how to better prevent and prepare for emergencies

Jason is offering Tracking Connections Podcast listeners a special price, with Connection 1st as an affiliate partner.

The course normally sells for $397 but it's available for $97 if you sign up by March 4th. Your purchase will help support Jason's work and ours.

Learn More or Sign Up Here

About Jason Knight

Jason is passionate about helping people learn wilderness survival skills. Since 1997, he's taught thousands of people, including training hundreds of adults to become survival instructors. He has consulted as a local wilderness skills expert for the Discovery Channel and has been featured on NPR. He is a cofounder and instructor at Alderleaf Wilderness College, one of the leading outdoor schools in the United States offering courses on wilderness survival to the general public and a broad range of clients including the US Forest Service, the Seattle Mountaineers, and the cast of the award-winning film Captain Fantastic. Jason is also the author of the best-selling book, The Essential Skills of Wilderness Survival.

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Our next episode will release on Mar 12, 2025.

The transcript for this episode is available here.

“How am I connecting? And not just about projects but really about how is my connection journey with nature, with other people, with myself?”

Julia Talk is a pioneer, facilitator and mentor for a life and business in harmony with our inner nature, oriented towards love, vitality and joy. In this episode, Julia joins us to discuss how 8 Shields principles can be impactful in the world of business by helping to improve the culture and connection of an organization. We also discuss the elements of the Profile Journey, a way of looking at how individuals grow and evolve through different archetypes of the natural cycles over time. We also get into Julia's personal Profile Journey with her podcast, and how she has used her understanding of the journey to work effectively. Enjoy!

“I didn’t even realize that it was happening to me until I looked back and then I realized it had naturally unfolded.”

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~Learn more about the Profile Journey in Coyote's Guide

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About Julia

Julia Talk is a pioneer, facilitator and mentor for a life and business in harmony with our inner nature, oriented towards love, vitality and joy. A deep longing for healthy and vibrant ecosystems and a healthy and fulfilled human existence, has shaped her life path. Being mentored in deep nature connection, nature-based ritual work and connective leadership, Julia started to connect fields that are usually not in harmony: life and business. As a mentor, she brings together nature connection and nature-connected ritual work with appreciative business and creates spaces for connection. With her Sacred Business she provides inspiration, direction and opportunities for creating projects and new ventures with natural patterns and principles that build living systems and healthy relationships among people and with the natural world.

Podcast fürs Leben (engl. Podcast for Life)

Website

Master thesis translating the 8-Shields Model in the field of economy and business:

“Analyzing the potentials of an Appreciative Economy for creating regenerative socio-economic systems exemplified by the companies Circlewise and Sonett“

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Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

"The message of healing you bring to attend to individual and cultural wounding is paradoxically undermined or attacked by the very same wounding you would seek to heal.”

What about deep nature connection work, and mentoring for connection, brings about this paradox? Why do we rebel against our mentors? How do our own wounds prevent us from fully sharing our gifts? In this episode, we dig deeply into these questions, inspired by the quote above, and explore it from many angles with Dr. Bill Sutherland.

Note: This topic came about as a result of a conversation Jon and Bill had, back in Dec 2024, as part of their Renewal of Creative Path process. If you want to learn more about the Renewal of Creative Path process, listen to Episode 36 - Renewal Routines for Connection.

Learn more about some of Dr. Bill's work at https://www.complexitymedicine.org/

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Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

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Our next episode will release on January 29, 2025.

The transcript for this episode is available here.

"Tracking is like dancing because your body is happy. You can feel it in the dance. It tells you the hunt will be good."

_

“You want that part of you that can feel the dance to be in the driver’s seat, and the thinking mind in the passenger seat.”

This is the first episode in our series dedicated to discussing the Attributes of Connection. We look at the Quiet Mind. What do we mean by having a quiet mind? How can we tell when we're in the quiet mind? What are the benefits of a quiet mind? How do we practice and deepen our ability to have a quiet mind?Jon, Sarah, and Aidan share stories of their own experiences and get curious about these questions. You won't want to miss this one.

"Tracking is really just us having questions that are coming from that core childlike place inside of us."

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Bird Language is one of the best ways to develop a quiet mind. Jon shares about bird language in the 512 Project videos (link below), and gets really in-depth in his book What The Robin Knows.

Check out the 512 Project Ring 1

This 8 part video series features Jon Young teaching and sharing stories about Sit Spot and seven other Cultural Elements - ways in which healthy cultures foster and promote connection to nature and other people.

1. Greeting Customs

2. Errands

3. Peer Bonding

4. Sit Spot

5. Culture of Allowance

6. Wiping Off the Road Dust

7. Sensitive Conduct

8. Bird Language

Connecting to nature and following natural cycles has a profound positive impact...

In this episode, we’re joined by Sky Maria Buitenhuis from the west of Ireland and Peter Cow from Dartmoor, UK. They share about the programs they have designed around the 8 Shields and their impact on individuals and communities. We learn about the effects of designing in alignment with the lunar cycles, and what happens when we send participants to their sit spots at all different times of day. Peter and Sky also share the positive outcomes they see from carefully designing a container that welcomes peoples’ full selves, allowing them to be their authentic selves and bring their offerings to the world.

Connecting with nature and each other helps heal human relationships and the planet.

About Peter Cow

A heartfelt facilitator and culture designer, Peter has been involved with 8 Shields programs and events since 2011. He’s on the team setting up the UK 8 Shields ‘Nature Culture Network’ and runs 8 Shields introductory weekends and events around the UK and Europe. He has been on the staff for the 8 Shields Institute’s ‘Regenerating Nature Connected Communities’ online course, and since 2017 he has been one of the lead organisers for the UK Art of Mentoring camps.

About Sky Maria Buitenhuis

Sky has extensive experience supporting people to deepen their connection to nature, including our own inner nature as part of the larger natural landscape. She is the co-founder of GIFT (Global Institute of Forest Therapy) and the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy. As well as designing and directing the organizations training programs, she has personally trained and mentored 100s of people to follow their passions of becoming forest therapy guides.

Learn more about Sky and Peter at https://bringingithome.life/ and https://natureculturenetwork.org/connection-camp/

Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

Since he was a child, Richie Rivera Booth has dreamed of being a protector of the natural world. In 2007, he embarked on a journey that would lead him to becoming just that, when he discovered a nine-month intensive program at Wilderness Awareness school, called The Immersion.

In this episode, we discuss the transformation that is possible through immersing ourselves in deep nature and people connection with a small group of people that depend on each other. Participants often sign up for the program because of their interest in nature and the outdoors, but wind up getting so much more than they expected, including a lifelong community, and a sense of purpose and service to the future generations and the natural world.

We explore how pushing the boundaries of our knowledge and comfort zones together in nature, combined with witness each other's stories, leads to a deep self assuredness and healing connection to each other. We discuss how participants emerge as natural leaders and mentors, and share stories of what graduates have gone to create in their communities. Finally, we discuss the legacy of Wilderness Awareness School over 40+ years, Ingwe's vision for the sacred fire on their land, and how that connection has rippled out to thousands and thousands of people over the years.

About Richie

Richie Rivera-Booth has been a core instructor for The Immersion program for 11 years, and he finds this work to be the most meaningful way he can give back, by empowering others on their own path. Read his full bio here.

The Immersion at Wilderness Awareness School - accepting applications for Fall 2025

Imagine waking up in the morning, excited to go to class where you'll deeply connect with the natural world and see yourself evolving into a new kind of human.

Imagine being an important part of a nature-connected community committed to supporting your growth.

Imagine yourself after nine months of connecting with the natural world on physical, intellectual, and emotional levels, after expanding your comfort zone—leaving you capable of so much more than you've ever imagined.

The Immersion is a transformative, holistic learning experience focusing on eight core areas of study. The power of The Immersion lies in the integration of these subjects as an immersive experience.

Students finish this training with an end-of-year rite of passage, resulting in a greater understanding of their purpose and a lucid awareness of their passions and vision for their lives.

Based in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, The Immersion is a nine-month transformative journey of deep nature connection, wilderness skills, and self-discovery within a supportive community.

Learn More

Empowering the Connection Journey

Free Online Event - Mon, Mar 24, 6-8pm PDT

Join Jon Young for an evening to learn what nature can teach us when we hone our awareness, and how to empower this connection while finding a deep sense of purpose in relationship with the natural world. Sign Up Now

“For me, the whole motivation is to facilitate people to come to a place of vision, is to be really activated in their gift, and really starting to deliver their gift to the world, because the world needs it to function better.”

In this episode, Ingrid and Jean-Claude take us into their work in nature and people connection, through the Wisdom of the Earth School in British Columbia, Canada, and their work in France with Troiseme Option. In particular we explore their adult immersion program, a 1-3 year full-time program that uses nature connection to take participants on a transformative journey, one that helps them connect with their vision and gifts and prepares them to bring those gifts out into the world. We discuss the purpose of immersion, how the journey is healing, and where some of the participants have taken the work after finishing the program. We also learn about what the adults learn from their interaction with the children's' programs, how nature connection differs in different cultures, and the power of deep listening. We hope you enjoy!

Read the Podcast Transcript Here

Adult Immersion Program

There are still openings in the Adult Immersion Program at Wisdom of the Earth this September, if you are interested in participating.

You learn more about the documentary, L’autre Connexion (Another Connection), produced by Cécile Faulhaber, at Troiseme Option. Note: this website is in French, but Google Translate is still quite effective.

About Jean-Claude

Jean-Claude Catry is the co-founder of Wisdom of the Earth Wilderness School and has been studying, practicing and teaching wilderness connection skills for over 35 years. Originally trained as a physical education school teacher in his native France, Jean-Claude left the beginnings of a career as a professional soccer player when he almost died from a serious illness. This awakened him to a path of meaning and nature connection, and he spent over a decade as a mountain wilderness guide, leading groups of children, at-risk youth, and adults on horse, ski, and foot through the French Pyrenees, to support them in connecting to their inner Wild Nature. He established a remote mountain equestrian centre with over 150 horses, now run by a woman he mentored when she was a teen.

About Ingrid

Ingrid Bauer is the co-founder of Wisdom of the Earth, and has been working with and sharing deep connective practices for over 30 years. The mother of 4 children aged 14 to 35, Ingrid is committed to growing peace from the roots by addressing how we practice compassion with ourselves and each other, how we nurture and educate children, and how we embody interdependence in creating communities that nourish and care for each living being within the whole web of life.

Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

“I'd been working for an organization trying to connect people to nature, who were walking past everything. And it made me kind of slow down and notice the tiny things.”

In this wide ranging conversation, Ciara shares about the challenges of working in an organization that lacks a connected culture and leadership, and finding that culture through nature connection. Jon, Aidan, and Ciara reflect on Greg Sommer, his learning journey and mentoring style, and the impact he has had on each of their lives, and the story of how he introduced Ciara to sit spot for the first time and it transformed her journey. She continues by sharing her story of connecting into the forest school movement, the work she does with children through Forest School Ireland, and the impact nature connection can have on both the students and the teachers.

“Everybody walks into this going, 'Oh, I'm just going to learn a lot of activities, I'm going to write some essays, and I'm going to be a forest school leader.' And afterwards, there's tears at the end of the training, going, ‘Oh, my God, it's epic, my whole life has changed.’”

About Ciara Hincksman

Ciara Hinksman owns and runs Forest School Ireland – formerly Earth Force Education, founded in 2009. In 2008 she lived off-grid in Co. Kerry for three months immersed in bushcraft, nature awareness and sustainable living practices. She went to the first Art of Mentoring camp in the UK, based on the work of Jon Young and the 8 Shields Institute. Subsequently, she traveled extensively in the UK and USA meeting and learning from nature connection mentors, powerful youths, and Elders. Truly inspired by these people Ciara wanted to be part of bringing connection to nature, to self, and to others, back home. Her passion is facilitating place-based, learner-centered development through story, wildlife, plants, crafts and play whilst also following the natural cycles of our seasons and lives.

Learn more about Ciara at https://forestschoolireland.ie/

Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

"Get down to the height of the fox and see through the fox’s eyes and I bet you’ll be able to find the next track."

This is the second episode in our series on the Core Routines, which Jon first wrote about in Coyote's Guide, all about Animal Forms and imitation. We share stories about how animal forms show up in the San culture and other indigenous cultures, how imitation is a natural part of human development, and about the role imitation plays in tracking, communication, movement, storytelling, sports, and even music. Enjoy!

Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

"There's a moment, as a mentor, where you have to recognize, 'I'm more interested in this than they are. And in that moment, if you push, you can actually push them in the opposite direction.'"

In this conversation, Jon, Sarah, and Aidan reflect on what it means to be "tracking connections." They share about what connection feels like in different situations, how to notice it in others, and the benefits of prioritizing connection in our work, family, and personal lives. They also share some stories about what can happen when we don't prioritize connection and the impacts that disconnection can have.

"He said to us, 'I have never seen a team come together with such unity, such creativity, so much ingenuity, and such productivity; you put these other company cultures to shame. Now I see the value in connecting first.'"

Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

Connection 1st principles can be applied to wedding planning, and other community events, with each archetype contributing in a valued way.

In this episode, Deborah and Root share their origin stories, Village Building experiences, and how they used 8 shields principles with help from their community, to design an unforgettable wedding. Jon reflects on where Village Building comes from and how it has led to vibrant communities all over the world. Root reflects on his marriage to Deborah, and the sense of connection they feel with one another and their wider communities, emphasizing the importance of reciprocity and mutual support. They share stories about the growth of The Art of Mentoring and how the village at the last event in Scotland was supported by musicians, storytellers, bards, traditional elders, families and a full complement of guilds and layers based on age and experience. Now Deborah and Root are building community with their new intergenerational neighbors, and feeling grateful for simple acts of support and connection, building community and finding common ground.

Using 8 Shields practices creates a sense of community, relieves stress and generates a wonderful loving spirit.

About Deborah

Deborah's PhD, MSc, and 15 years of experience are in marine mammal conservation, ecotourism, and interpretive wildlife guiding. Her work on non-disturbing interactions with sea otters is still being applied by tour guides in Monterey Bay, California. For 6 years she coordinated an accreditation program for dolphin-watching tours in Scotland, while consulting on international multi-stakeholder sustainable wildlife tourism projects. For 12 years she co-managed a sustainable living center associated with the Findhorn ecovillage in Scotland. She became an 8 Shields practitioner in 2011, and began co-leading the Village Builders program with Jon Young in 2015. Deborah is co-leader of the online courses Pathways to Village Building, Designing for Peace, and Introduction to Regenerative Community Building.

Connect with Deborah on Linkedin

About Root

Root designs experiential opportunities for learning by creating strong containers for the graceful facilitation of group energy. He holds a Master’s Degree in Environmental Education, and certificates in Sustainable Curriculum Design, Participatory Facilitation, and Ecopsychology. He has co-led short courses on regenerative cultures and cultural mentoring for Schumacher College, Findhorn College the ALT program in Thailand, and is a certified trainer in Gaia Education eco-social design. With his wife Deborah Benham, he has delivered trainings on Sociocracy, Designing for Peace, Positive Leadership, Social Entrepreneurship, and Culture Repair.

You can find all of Deborah and Root's links here.

Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

"Someone said to me, ‘We have all the tools and techniques we need for widespread earth repair at the moment.’ Ok, so why is that not happening then? And the answer is always about people."

Looby Macnamara leads a productive career as a pioneer of permaculture and co-founder of Cultural Emergence. She is an author, facilitator, designer, gardener, mother, and has written 4 books; Cultural Emergence, People & Permaculture, 7 Ways to Think Differently and Strands of Infinity. ​

In this episode, Looby joins us on a Design Adventure. We discuss the nature of vision, how we are all visionary, and how Looby's Design Web helps us to discover our vision in different areas of our lives and move into action in a flowing, easy way.

View the Design Web and learn all about Design Adventures here

If you're looking for a simple way to get started with Design Web, check out Looby's Design Your Week course

View Looby's bio here

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Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

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Our next episode will release on Feb 12, 2025.

The transcript for this episode is available here.

"Start to become aware of the need to be aware"

This is the first of several episodes where we will explore the Core Routines for Connection. Today, we look at the sit spot routine, which may be the most important routine of all. Jon, Sarah, and Aidan reflect on their own experiences of going to their sit spot, the challenges they faced, the lessons they learned, and what they have taken with them from those experiences.

"When I first went to my sit spot, I didn't even know there was a chipmunk. Then when I slowed myself down, and learned to move from the animals, I would see that chipmunk in the distance run down its hole and make a noise. Then over time he wouldn't run away, and sometimes I would arrive at my sit spot and he would be sitting there eating."

We also provide some ideas for how to establish the routine for yourself, whether you live in an urban setting, have limited time, or are trying to include your children in the routine. Sit spot can take many forms, and the long term benefits you get from committing to making space and time for the routine are worth it.

“The way that I started back into the rhythm of [sit spot] as an adult was I said 'I'll just go there for 2 minutes, 5 minutes, however long it is,' and over time it became a very organic unfolding of the true desire to be there.”

Interested in Learning More About Sit Spot?

Check out the 512 Project Ring 1

This 8 part video series features Jon Young teaching and sharing stories about Sit Spot and seven other Cultural Elements - ways in which healthy cultures foster and promote connection to nature and other people.

1. Greeting Customs

2. Errands

3. Peer Bonding

4. Sit Spot

5. Culture of Allowance

6. Wiping Off the Road Dust

7. Sensitive Conduct

8. Bird Language

Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

“Sometimes you hit the bramble patches of life and, if you’re listening for where your drum beat is -your North Star- you can just keep moving towards it one little step at a time.”

This week, Jon and Sarah are joined by mentor and author Victoria Mew, the founder of Red Squirrel Resources, and a longtime student and mentor in nature connection. Victoria shares about her nature connection journey as a student, how that evolved into becoming an instructor, and later led to writing books and founding organizations to expand access to nature in the UK. She shares about her inspiration for Red Squirrel Resources where she has created over 200 video resources for parents and teachers that are teaching nature connection. She also shares about the positive impact the Art of Mentoring and the Nature Culture Network has had on her over the years and her excitement for the reimagined Nature Culture Connection Camp coming up in August in the UK. We hope you enjoy this inspiring conversation!

About Victoria

Founder of Red Squirrel Resources, Victoria Mew found her passion for nature connection and earth living skills at 12 years old and deepened this journey throughout her teens thanks to organizations including Trackways, Coyote Tracks and the Wilderness Awareness School. After extensive vocational training, she founded Cultivating Curiosity which has been running regular groups in Sussex both weekly and monthly since 2012, the year she also completed her Forest School L3. She co-authored Learning With Nature in 2015. Victoria is passionate about helping spread the breadth and depth of nature connection for our health and happiness as individuals, communities and as a whole.

https://redsquirrelresources.co.uk/

http://www.cultivating-curiosity.co.uk/

Learning with Nature book

Connection Camp - August 4th, 2024

There are still a few spots left in Connection Camp if you're interested in experiencing the incredible program that Victoria describes in the podcast.

Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

"Inner tracking, to me, is that interface of how we meet the world -how we meet ourselves- and how we say yes to choosing a path of the most peace, the most passion and purpose in bringing that forward."

In this episode, we are joined by Josh Lane, a long-time mentor and expert in nature connection and inner tracking. We discuss Josh's work in bridging the gap between mindfulness/meditation and deep engagement with the natural world. Josh explains the importance of cultivating presence and using the senses to deeply observe one's surroundings, as a gateway to developing a more profound connection with nature.

We discuss how facing our fears and preconceptions about the natural world can lead to deeper understanding and appreciation, as well as the scientific research behind the benefits of nature connection, including the relaxation response, epigenetic changes, and the way it can enhance our attention, intuition, and overall well-being.

We also highlight how these insights can be applied in daily life. Jon reflects on the responsibility of passing on the nature connection teachings to the next generation, and expresses gratitude for Josh, Aidan, and Sarah's roles in continuing and expanding this work.

“You go to your sit spot and you meet these rites of passage of fear and cold and dark and wet, and you then you start to go deeper into the power of meeting that place with stillness, and what I found was there are these thresholds that happen where you start to tap into parts of yourself that you weren’t aware of when you started the journey. ”

About Josh Lane

The author of the book, Conscious Nature: The Art and Neuroscience of Meditating In Nature, Josh coaches heart-centered change makers and leaders in saying YES to taking the next courageous steps in their deep-purpose work and calling.

Josh's unique visionary work teaches clients how to release limiting subconscious/energetic patterns and embrace their genius, so that they can move forward with greater confidence and inner clarity on their paths.

His background includes serving for over 25 years as a mentor in the arts of deep nature connection, with a focus on the ancient perceptual skills of wildlife tracking and reading Nature’s pattern language.

Josh’s teaching fuses primal understandings from the wild with insights from brain-based coaching, to help bridge the healing energy of Nature into the modern experience.

Learn more about Josh's work at https://www.ConsciousNature.net

Josh's Free Guidebook with Inner Tracking Tools:

How can we move beyond fear, worry, and self-doubt to bring our visions fully to life? Learn how to track the hidden inner patterns that shape your choices and future.

https://www.consciousnature.net/impact

This episode is all about motivation. How do we motivate our students, and ourselves, to practice our skills, be more consistent in our routines, and deepen our connection to the natural world? Jon and Sarah are joined by Jack Durtnall, based in the UK, and an experienced naturalist, musician, and mentor, to explore these questions and share stories about what Tom Brown Jr did when mentoring Jon and his peers, and what Jon, Jack, and Sarah have applied in their own work, and in their own routines. Enjoy!

About Jack Durtnall

Jack Durtnall is a musician and nature connection facilitator living in the south east of England. His music can be found under his solo name and also as part of the band Shoal and the Seabird. Jack enjoys the rich musical and nature connection culture locally, and founded Hopjam, a long running groove-based jam night in 2022. Jack also gets to play at folk night with dear friend and colleague Anna Richardson frequently! Jack has been inspired by 8 Shields, Connection 1st, and the Art of Mentoring camps (2017 at Burnicombe Farm, Devon, and 2019 in Scotland) and loves the world that has opened up by being part of this wider collective culture.

Jack works with the following organizations:

Cultivating Curiosity - Children's Nature Connection Programs Learn more

Kinship in Nature - Forest School in East London Learn more

Children's Forest - A movement to inspired and enable children to plant healthy forests Learn more

The Earth Stewardship Apprentice youth program at Sacred Earth Learn more

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Tracking Connections Podcast is a production of Connection 1st, an organization that helps you deepen your connection with nature, other people and yourself. Learn more

The transcript for this episode is available here.

"My life’s work is connecting people deeply to nature, each other and themselves. Through over 50 years of mentoring, I’ve seen that deep nature connection changes us on a profound level. Deep connection rewires our nervous system and boosts our wellbeing and potential. "

In today's episode, Jon shares about the 512 Project, which is a culmination of more than four decades of research into the cultural practices that foster connection, resulting in a video series that looks closely at each of these 64 Cultural Elements and shares stories of their benefits and how we can integrate them into our own lives.

Bonus Audio - At the end of the episode, we have included the complete audio of Greeting Customs, which is the first part of the series. You can also watch it on Youtube and share with friends and family.

Click here to learn more about the 512 Project and view the 512 Project map of all 64 videos.

Our next episode will release on January 1, 2025.

The transcript for this episode is available here.