Nature Connections
Our Mission
To nurture deep awareness and connection between people and Nature.
We foster our student’s skills of perception, presence, and comfort in Nature by cultivating the ancestral skills of wildlife tracking, bird language, fire making, and yoga.
Connections
Nature Meditation & Yoga
Why hike with mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the practice of being present in the moment. When we practice mindfulness in Nature we unlock our primordial sense of awareness and experience the deepest grounding.
What will you experience?
Each hike will cultivate your 5 senses and allow you to perceive nature with acuity and insight. We will provide birding, plant and animal identification, and wildlife tracking techniques to help you integrate into Nature. Our destination will include an hour of Hatha Yoga in a breathtaking area for a peaceful practice. Enjoy the return journey feeling grounded, present, and connected.
Your Options
Tier 1
Easy to moderate, low grade, close to home hikes with a 1-hour Hatha yoga practice - perfect for all levels of experience.
Average time: 2-3 hours
Average milage: 2-3 miles
Tier 2
Difficult to hard, local hikes to distant locations with challenging trails and a 1-hour hatha yoga practice. For experienced hikers.
Average time: 5-6 hours
Average milage: 5-6 miles
Ancestral Skills Classes
Why practice ancestral skills?
Ancestral skills are techniques which have been in practice since time immemorial and are shared by all human lineages. They are fundamental to our evolution and what it means to be human.
What will you experience?
Immersed in Nature, classes will focus on one or more of these core practices:
Wildlife Tracking
Learn how to read the land by observing patterns and signs made by animals and plants through simple and intuitive techniques. Watch your surroundings come to life as you begin to read the land like a brilliant book of Nature.
Bird Language
Similar to Wildlife Tracking, Bird Language follows the patterns and affects bird calls, songs, and alarms have on a landscape. Learn to identify birds through observation, listening, and ecological awareness.
Friction Fire
Learn the oldest mechanical technology known to humans - Friction fire is a laborious practice which cultivates a multitude of skills, Our 8-step method develops your ability to identify the appropriate plants, ethically harvest and process your own fire kit, bust an ember, and sustain and reclaim a fire.
The Path of the Hand Drill
Why mentor Nature connection?
Mentorship & Nature education facilitates the development of a person holistically by utilizing the grand scope of Nature to empower, refine, and drive a person toward caring for the Earth.
What will you experience?
Our complete curriculum and mentorship cultivating your story telling, wildlife tracking, bird language, and fire making abilities. Guided by the seasons and The Path of the Hand Drill, embark on a transformative experience that will forever change the way you walk through Nature and your day to day life.
The Path of the Hand Drill
The Path of the Hand Drill follows eight chapters over eight months designed to mentor students into their primordial awareness through ancestral traditions and contemporary resources. The 8 chapters follow the complete hand drill process, a friction fire method which mentors a students’ Nature education thematically.
Chapters of the Hand Dill
Awareness
Connection
Harvest
Process
Technique
Ember
Tending the Fire
Ashes to Earth