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Conversations With Nature:
Pilot Fall 2022

The first step and fundamentals of how to communicate with Nature for the purpose of Direct Experiences of Yoga.

Meditate at the beach

Welcome, 
Since you've found this page, it means that you and I have already had a bit of chat about what this is pilot/test run is about and were most likely part of the many interviews I did before deciding on what to include in the pilot. BUT if you are not, or you want to learn more about what I learned in that process, you can skip down a bit further for the course outline (this is not a sales page...all that comes after the pilot - it's simply a description of what the course (and a pretty diagram) is about based on over the dozen interviews I did recently) .

Here are the details:

What it is: 4 hour workshop on Zoom plus 4 email activities in the 4 days preceding the workshop (ex:1 email each day Mon thru Thursday, Workshop on Friday).
Time investment: 4 hour workshop plus 10 minutes (or more if you want to really dig in) for each email. 

Zoom will be set up as workshop style format: we meet on Zoom and have a discussion, an activity is given and then we take a break from Zoom to do the activity in Nature (with a plant, looking out a window, in our garden, park...or somewhere more remote but close by) then we meet back on Zoom to talk, answer questions, and set up the next activity. 

The four emails preceding the day of the workshop will help us set up some foundations so we can really get into the good stuff quickly. The emails will take about 10 minutes a day.

Date: Friday Nov 4 10 am - 2 pm MST  (You will get a link in an email a week before the workshop start).  

If possible I suggest giving yourself some buffer time after in case you want to stay on and ask questions after. 

 

Tuition: When I move forward with my full sized course and open it up to the public the price will be $497 but the cost right now in my small sized group is just US$97.

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Only 12 spots, so that I can really spend time with everyone for the 1-1, something that I won't likely offer in the full course.

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Bonuses:

           * A digital ebooklet outlining even more ways to build a deeper relationship with Nature and to                              help you continue on after the workshop

            * A one-on-one 30 minute call with me after the intensive to get all your questions answered

            * Email access for  2 weeks after the course, because, let's be real, us contemplators always have                      more questions

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Application Deadline:  Limited to 12 students, Nov 1st deadline

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I do not intend on doing another pilot, so this will most likely be the last one.

If you are in Canada please etransfer me.
If you are outside of Canada you can use the button below:

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COURSE DESCRIPTION:

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A 4 hour immersive workshop for Yoga practitioners that know that there’s more to the practice than the physical practice and want to directly experience Yoga, and begin to articulate that. Using Nature as a teacher we work towards directly experiencing Yoga, ourselves, life, and others. 

 

We dive into the basics of how to communicate with Nature and how that makes our connection to ourselves, Earth, others, life, and our Yoga practice even more organic, enrichening, peaceful and fulfilling.

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ALTHOUGH WE WILL NOT BE  DOING ANY ASANA (physical postures)  in this workshop (we are here to explore “the more than the physical postures” aspects of Yoga), what we will learn will undoubtedly help your physical practice become even more delicious.

 

 

What problem(s) is the course solving/ What I learned in my interviews:

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Here's one of the patterns I saw...

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Recently I’ve been doing some interviews with dear friends, and new friends. I’ve been learning how to turn my book Yoga With Nature into an online course (so much to learn!), and part of that is learning about what others think of Yoga…and Nature - can the two be combined, or even was Nature originally part of Yoga (spoiler: that’s what I think).

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The conversations have been amazing and I have to admit I have been surprised by some of the answers - well paradoxically surprised and really not so surprised at the same time.

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It seems answering the question “How do you define Yoga?” was actually not straightforward - in fact the only thing that seemed the same in everyone’s answer was a big sigh, followed by a deep breath in, then “Great question”....a moment later, almost a vomit like answer of “well, union” the ‘of course’ was implied…then another deep breath in as one eye went inward searching for the words to describe this vast practice. The words as varied as the speaker but a general consensus that they just couldn’t “quite put their finger on it” - which considering that many of us have been practicing for years, decades even…is an odd thing to me.

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Albert Einstein's quote comes to mind: "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."

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Over the years of teaching Yoga With Nature I’ve learned that one of the biggest hurdles to understanding the natural parts of practice, ourselves…is to understand what Yoga is…and isn’t.

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AND in doing so arrive at a place where there is clarity in that understanding.

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Paradoxically…ironically…I find it most helpful to create a little division first - to separate the practice from the experience. It seems to take the vastness, the bigness, the broadness out of the discussion so that we may be able to get a little clearer. For in fact the practice and the experience are not the same thing…and yet there is something that unites them

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That was one of the first patterns  I noticed. I don't want to get too deep into here, but we’ll get to that in the first email.  

 

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There was another interesting pattern that I saw and that was this deep love of Nature but not knowing how to bring into a Yoga. Here's a pretty pictured encapsulation of this pattern. We will dive into this in the second email, there's a lot more to share but this course outline is pretty long as it is right now. And congratulations if you go this far, I think you're probably a bit of contemplation geek as well. :)

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Promise:

 

You will:

  • have a better sense of how to connect with Nature - it's easier in Nature to have direct experiences of Yoga, Yoga was (imo) practiced with Nature

  • feel more confident in understanding and seeing the smaller moments of direct experiences

  • feel more confident in ability to directly experience Yoga

  • start articulating a better understanding of Yoga.  
     

 

What is the transformation:

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  1. Get the foundational skills to connect with Nature and build relationship

  2. Use this relationship to dive into direct experience

  3. Acknowledge, articulate, and express that experience 

  4. Through these skills a deeper connection with the “something larger than ourselves/divine/Yoga” arises

  5. Grow a practice that is connected with Nature

  6. Add more tools and abilities to your personal practice 

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Sharing during the course:

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I am a deep introvert. I LOVE time to myself - love isn't the right word - NEED is a better fit. My Yoga practice is delicious and deeply fulfilling partly because it's my time with me, Nature, Life. This kind of deep practice is sacred, truly.

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So to me, sharing is a gift. 

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Sometimes it's nice to be able to discuss and feel into what others have to share about their sacred practices. Sometimes others have words for something we have experienced but not yet articulated. Sometimes in attempting to share we gain a clarity that may never have come.

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You don't have to share if you don't want to, but it's an option if you do.  

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Why Me: 

 

I have a Ph.D in Applied EcoPsychology (aka Nature Connection) and have been teaching Yoga for 25+ years.  I have been combining Yoga with Nature for most of my life; it just makes sense to me that Nature was originally part of the practice.  I have taught my work at retreats, written a text book on how to do this work, and run in person versions of this course with very lovely results. This is my passion and I believe that if we are to be more in harmony with ourselves, Earth, and each other we must include Nature in our practices.

 

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Testimonial: 

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"I'm getting deeper into what it is to be moved by connectedness, to be able to abide in that space before and after thought until what is called forth is not fabricated by a mental effort but by something much deeper, larger, more full..."

- Chris Alford, Australia

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*I've ran this course in person, and with Applied EcoPsychology Students - if you are wondering where I got a testimonial for a pilot. :)

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If you are in Canada please etransfer me.

If you are outside of Canada you can use the button below:

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