In traditional cultures, individuals making transitions to new ways of being in the world rely on natural surroundings to reflect the organic process of birth, growth and the fostering of new life.  In this workshop we will rediscover our innate, deep relationship with the natural world, learn how nature mirrors our internal self, enter into dialogue with nature, and experience the healing that this relationship affords us.  

Drawing on years of leading wilderness vision quests and Gestalt therapeutic practice, the faculty will provide silent guided exercises into nature, the talking staff council process, and the intimate journaling process.  We will combine these practices with Gestalt exercises that heighten emotional and body awareness, authentic “mirroring” or reflecting with others and contactful dialogue.  We will then use this new self-awareness to create a new vision of our future.

We will use the Cape Cod National Seashore Park as our environment for this exploration. September is a particularly beautiful time to be on Cape Cod.

Participants will gain:

• A clearer realization that they are part of a natural, organic process of change and transition, and a new sense  of self-confidence, grounded in the natural world.

• An appreciation of what comes alive from within themselves organically, rather than only from thoughts and ideas.

• A sense of renewal and new ways to envision their lives in the future.

• A new way of using nature as an ongoing personal resource.

This program is for people in the second half of their lives who are in transition, and want to have a supportive community for reflection and renewal using nature as teacher.