MURMURATIONS

Finding our way back to being dreamt by earth. Together.

Murmurations

Apprenticing Earth | Six Month Group Mentoring Programme

Grounded in 25 years of Buddhist practice and my work as a vision quest guide, this experiential programme integrates traditional teachings and practices of wilderness rites of passage.

Whilst this programme focuses on the essential elements of rites of passage and vision quests it is designed to equip nature-loving participants and aspiring guides alike with a practical understanding of the territory. This earth apprenticeship offers practices for a way of living that would have been second nature to many of our ancestors. As well as instructions for those who wish to learn the craft of questing.

This is a slow response to the fast pace our times; a living enquiry into how we might root ourselves once more in relationship, reciprocity and reverence.

Register Your Interest

We will do this through:

~ Threshold Walks, The Mirror of Nature and The Art of Mirroring Stories

~ Deep Listening practices and The Way of Council

~ Expanded Sensory Awareness | Gendlin’s Somatic practice of Focusing

~ The Four Directions Nature Based Map of Psyche and Soulcraft

~ Embodied Animicy and Mythopoetic realms

Whilst there is plenty of information available about the 'What to do' in nature-based practices, there’s very little on the vital 'How to' engage with them experientially - which is where, I believe, the true aliveness happens. This focus is the core of the Murmurations Mentoring program.

  • “ In a world that often feels fragmented and disconnected, Murmurations offered me a much-needed sanctuary of reconnection. Natasha has a rare capacity for deep, authentic and embodied presence, and an intuitive way of sensing what stirs beneath your surface. She speaks directly to your heart, offering truths that may challenge but always serve your deepest growth. Her way of holding space weaves gentle compassion and fierce courage. There is no way of hiding from yourself. “

    - Jez Green

  • “ I had the privilege of learning Focusing skills and other ecosomatic practices, during a nature based rites of passage mentorship with Natasha Lythgoe, and the experience was truly transformative. Natasha embodies a rare blend of deep presence, intuitive guidance, and a profound understanding of the inner landscape. Her teaching style is both gentle and precise—she creates a safe, attuned space where the body’s wisdom can emerge naturally. Through her guidance, I developed a more profound connection with my inner knowing, learning to trust and navigate the subtleties of felt experience with greater clarity. “

    - Marta Czajkowska

  • “ Murmurations is a journey into the wildness of the body (human and earth body) and the wildness of the soul. Into those parts of ourselves we have become estranged and disconnected from, due to the trappings of the modern world, at a time when we (humans) couldn't be more lost. This is a journey back to the earth: it's awe and aliveness, dreams and myth, heart and spirit, with all of the beauty and discomfort that brings. It is a way to hold and embrace rites of passage work in an embodied and steady way, so the transformation they bring - often of mythic proportions - can be met, and most importantly, integrated. “

    - Kate Avery

  • “ Natasha carries the depth and the vastness of the territory in such an incredible way: every session is an adventure and a deep dive into the unseen. Where you can start to feel as if you can see in the dark, and accompany all that wants to be known - bringing gifts for each of us and our own uniqueness, as well as a way forward to serve the wider communities (human and more-than-human) we are deeply connected to and so desperately need to come back into relationship with. “

    - Chloe Dyson

  • “ Natasha’s ability to hold space with warmth and deep listening made all the difference. She doesn’t just teach Focusing, she embodies it, making the learning experience not just intellectual but deeply experiential and integrated. If you have the chance to learn from her, I highly recommend it. Thank you, Natasha, for your wisdom and presence. “

  • “ I’m still not quite sure what to say, but I feel the need to say something about our spiral last night. Again I feel the session opened me up, and began to prise a new door ajar. To let a new light both in, and out. Where the words are hard to find and express, and are clumsy and tentative. And where the feelings are complicated… but where the feelings are everything. Inviting me to ‘say hello’ to all of those. To welcome them along with the contradictions and tensions. And the love. Most of all the love. Like most of the sessions and practices - I feel like it’s just the start - but I wanted to share how honoured I feel to have been experiencing this gift of learning and unlearning with you all. “

    - Ben Davies

  • “ What made this journey so exceptional was Natasha’s profound understanding of both inner and outer landscapes and how they mirror and inform each other, guiding us toward wholeness. I loved that we never felt stuck in a rigid program. Everything flowed and shifted based on what was happening for us as a group, yet always with a clear sense of purpose and intention.

    I would say that this is a space for anyone yearning to awaken the wild, wise parts of themselves that modern life has lulled to sleep. “

  • “ One of Natasha’s gifts is her ability to synthesise a great deal of information from different cultural settings and teachers into a clear overview, and then to break this down into an easily digestible “how-to” of practice. In my practice of making threshold walks, I am a beneficiary of Natasha’s teaching and clarity. ”

Hildegard of Bingen cleverly combined two Latin words: veritas and verde - truth and green - to make one word. It’s a word that means - allatthesametime - the living intelligence of the green world and the sacredness that can be found there. It’s a path filled with soul shaping as old as First Man and First Woman
— Stephen Harrod Buhner

Deep nature connection doesn’t end with increased mental and emotional wellbeing; it aims to transform your identity. It’s about shifting from an "Isolated Self" to an "Ecological Self" - a state of being profoundly rooted in relationship with everything. A Collaboration of Being if you will.

I am deeply drawn to systems-led leadership and group work as living fields of aliveness. As such, the specific content of this work emerges in relationship to each cohort rather than being fixed in advance.

In recent years, this field has increasingly been diluted through secularisation and excessive psychologising. My commitment as a guide is to protect the integrity of the work by centring its sacred, mytho-poetic, and embodied core.

While these teachings are rooted in initiatory wilderness rites, each element can also be practiced independently and adapted to a wide range of contexts and applications. In other words, one does not need to be engaged in traditional vision questing to benefit from these potent tools for connection and facilitation.

As an ordained lay Dharma practitioner of more than twenty-five years, this programme is naturally informed by my Buddhist orientation - particularly the truth of our inter-being. Through my work, I support individuals in deepening their relationship with themselves and the natural world, cultivating self-awareness, reverence for the Earth, and a felt sense of interconnectedness with all beings.  

These practices change us at depth. We are grown through Earth’s Dream of us. It is this kind of shift in our perception and relational capacity that I believe is necessary to build healthy communities and meaningfully address today's social and environmental challenges. 

You are who your Ancestors
sang about in their ceremonies.
You are their revolutionary prayer.
You are their sacred gift to the world.

Is this for you?

This mentorship aims to provide you with a deeper understanding and experience of profound initiations into Earth's Dreaming and a living enquiry into how we might root ourselves once more in relationship, reciprocity and reverence.

It’s for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of this field, it offers a deeply personal journey of connection and remembering our true nature.

I want to emphasise that each teaching element stands on it’s own - is a world unto itself - and can be explored independent of the overarching frame of rites of passage. Take myth, for example. I could spend my life happily immersed in myth alone.

For those seeking professional development:

This programme is designed for anyone looking to start or deepen their experience leading nature-based groups. You will learn experiential practices for bringing these deeper nature connection practices to your clients, colleagues, and communities, allowing you to integrate this work into your existing professional modalities.

It is of benefit to those wishing to offer any type of wilderness solo or initiatory experience, and looking for a deeper dive into the modalities needed for this kind of guiding.

APPLY FOR MURMURATIONS

Some images from programmes I’ve guided over the last decade. For more, alongside testimonials click here.

Each Month Includes:

  • 2 x 150 minute group mentoring sessions held by myself

  • Ongoing peer support via WhatsApp

  • Password protected page with access to recordings

In Addition there will be:

  • 4 x Peer-Led Conversation Cafes: these unfacilitated spaces are for you to use as you need, to digest our group process and support group connection

  • 1 x 120-minute Council: a session in council and have your process witnessed within community as well as build fellowship with other mentees

  • 1 x In-Person Fireside Gathering at the beginning of the programme in Epsom, Surrey. This is totally optional as geography may hinder some from attending.

  • 3 x (Optional) Half Price 1:1 Coaching sessions

  • 1 x Seawhite A5 Concertina Sketchbook for tracking your journey over the six months

A 24 hour Wilderness Vigil:

Some of my previous cohorts requested that I guide as 5/6 day programme with a 24 hour solo. I am happy to offer this opportunity to future cohorts - as an optional extra.

The Process:

This is not a pre-recorded course. We meet live on Zoom for each teaching & mentoring session, gathering together to learn & practice.

Even though all meetings are recorded, you will get more out of the course if you can prioritise meeting with us live.

We will gather as an intimate group. It’s required that videos are left on during the sessions. You can adjust distance and the position of the screen if needed.

 

When:

Zoom Gatherings will be:

Alternate Thurdays evenings
17:00 - 19:30 (UK)


Spring 2026 Dates

Group Mentoring Sessions

Thursday 9th April 17:00 - 19:30 UK

Thursday 23rd April 17:00 - 19:30 UK

Thursday 7th May 17:00 - 19:30 UK

Thursday 21st May 17:00 - 19:30 UK

Thursday 4th June 17:00 - 19:30 UK

Thursday 18th June 17:00 - 19:30 UK

Thursday 2nd July 17:00 - 19:30 UK

Thursday 16th July 17:00 - 19:30 UK

Thursday 30th July 17:00 - 19:30 UK

Thursday 13th August 17:00 - 19:30 UK

Thursday 20th August 17:00 - 19:30 UK

Thursday 10th September 17:00 - 19.30 UK

Conversation Cafe Dates (optional)

Thursday 30th April 17:00 - 18:00 UK

Thursday 11th June 17:00 - 18:00 UK

Thursday 23rd July 17:00 - 18:00 UK

Thursday 27th Aug 17:00 - 18:00 UK

Way of Council Meeting with a Guest Way of Council Trainer and Facilitator

Past Facilitators have included Zara Wald from The Scandinavian Shamanic Centre and Dave Bingham from True Circles

In Person Gathering

An opportunity to meet in the flesh and connect informally around a fire together.

This is totally optional as geography may hinder some from attending.

We will look for a date once the programme starts.

Please note that this is not a complete vision quest guide training programme. It goes without saying that in order to co-guide vision quests one needs to have been guided through at least one quest by an experienced guide and incorporated the change that flowed from it. Alongside this, the North Shield trainings, the in-the-field safety elements and assisting opportunities which are all essential elements in professional guide trainings are not offered here. 

I have facilitated two Womens cohorts and one Mens cohort. Right now I am facilitating a mixed cohort. The programme that is up for 2026 is likely going to be mixed but if anyone is longing for something else tell me - I’m sure I can create more than one cohort.

HOW TO APPLY

Places are limited to 8 - 10 people per cohort.
Please contact me to register your interest. Please include what monthly fee you would like to pay.

Upon application I’ll send you an email arranging a brief chat on the phone to ensure this programme is a good match for you.

PRICES

I’ve spent my entire life avoiding working for the 'big money' so that I could help ordinary people with few resources to access excellent programmes.

I need to make a modest living. Please do consider paying what is within your financial reach and a fair price for my commitment to small group sizes and my expertise.

I offer this programme at three prices - all prices include VAT

6 x Monthly Payments of

£150 or £200 or £250

Total Cost for the two tiers:

£900 - £1200 - £1500

If you’d love to join and can’t afford the lowest rate please get in touch.

You can choose to pay a one off payment upfront or monthly payments over the six month period payable 1st of each month

Once you have been offered a place a £200 non-refundable deposit will confirm your spot. This will be deducted from the total cost.

Cancellation Policy:

Your deposit is non-refundable.

There will be no refunds for cancellations
after the mentorship programme begins.

" If you have a chance to work with Natasha seize it. She is a rare gift of quiet determination, deep compassion and authentic wisdom."

- Doug Stewart

MUSINGS BEHIND THE SCENES OF MURMURATIONS:
WHAT I BRING TO THIS WORK

“You are a Jack of all trades and a master of what binds them”

Through facilitating my Murmurations Mentoring programme for the last three cohorts I’ve experienced a surprisingly natural synthesis of my backgrounds in somatics, wilderness guiding, a decade of tracking my own mytho-poetic threads and my Buddhist practice. The first three areas were already blending together well but the Buddhist part has been a bit late to the synthesising party and slower to integrate. Besides its natural fit with presence and interconnection I’ve been realising there’s more specific buddhist practices that are supportive for vision questing.

By bridging these territories, the purpose is to help people go deeper into their own experience. Hopefully, this brings greater depth and nuance to engaging with the traditional practices that have been central to ancestral human nature throughout history.

Clearly connecting with nature through myth and ritual, forest and fire, with the earth as our bed and the stars as our blanket is not of my own making. Our ancestors lived as kin amongst kin for vast swathes of time. But as modern beings bought up in a materialistic world view it takes ‘a something’ to experientially recover an attitude or way of being that perceives the natural world as deeply alive.

Tuning in… listening in for the conversation between 'life-ing as me' and 'life-ing as natural world' - a conversation imbued with embodied wisdom from goat-speak, rock-speak, horizon-speak, snake-speak and more. Entering into this great participation, a soulful practice of reciprocity, of following our soul-threads, listening to the wild tongues from within and all around…

With Murmurations I offer an unfolding process that is about the individuals in the group and their specific unfolding journeys - it is personal and participatory by nature.

Like many, I have a certain amount of zoom fatigue but I have realised that if my presence counts this isn’t an issue for me. This is why I keep my group numbers so small. It is deliberate - not for my bank balance - but for the intimacy and involvement factor.

THE AREAS I WILL DRAW ON AND MY PHILOSOPHY BEHIND THIS

My own training in this specialised area includes apprenticeships with Annie Bloom (former lead guide of Animas Valley Institute) since 2016 and also with Werner Pilz since 2019. This builds upon my training, experience and assisting for the School of Lost Borders prior to 2022.

As the popularity of vision quests, rites of passage, and wilderness vigils have grown in recent years, so have my concerns regarding the lack of regulation for these professions in the UK and US. This situation raises serious questions about standards and client safety.

At the same time, I've noticed a trend - echoed by some of my colleagues - of the work being diluted through secularisation and excessive psychologising. My own commitment as a guide is to preserve the integrity of the practice, focusing in on its sacred, mytho-poetic, and embodied core.

The way I guide aims to create a profound shift in our sense of identity, transforming it from one that is isolated to one that is deeply rooted in relationship; from Isolated Self to Ecological Self.  This is the deeper end of Nature Connection.

My modalities include Generative Coaching, 26 years of meditation, Buddhist practice and Dharma teaching, trauma-informed therapy, Gendlin’s profound somatic process called Focusing and wilderness guiding. I am also a core member of the UK Wilderness guides council. 

In addition to traditional ways of facilitating nature-based-rites of passage programmes I ensure the way I run my programmes are embodied, trauma-aware, do not overly psychologise the process at the expense of experiences of self transcendence, and emphasise integration.

Photos of our ‘24 Cohort

Don't turn your back on the everyday ingenious capacity of the Holy in Nature to pump her brilliant wind of miracles, beauty, and unexpected turns of fate into the vagrant promiscuous flapping mind-bellows of civilization which is always trying to forge some clever shackles of cynicism, dead purity, and depression in order to handcuff you to the bedpost of your assumed destiny.

- Martin Prechtel