“A rite of passage is primarily geared towards our need for creating consciousness; consciousness about oneself, one’s place in the world, and about the world itself.”
— Betsy Perluss
The Big Listen
We call this retreat, The Big Listen because we believe that to really listen has magic; listening for the call of the forest and for the myths of our lives, giving our full attention to ourselves and then not forgetting each other.
Dates: September 14th - 19th
Location: Eschwege Institute, Germany
Investment:
Small Budget Place £650 (apply by email),
Balanced Budget Cost £850
and for those who can afford to support small budget participants - £950
PROGRAMME
Through ritual, mediation and immersive practices in nature we will open to a sense of ‘self’ that’s also integrated within the richness of the organic world. Here we can meet the deeper aspects which enable us to step into the myth of our lives and of these times.
This programme weaves together Wilderness Practices including The Fours Shields nature-based four directions map, Way of Council and solo time in nature, with meditative, ritual and heart-based practices from the Buddhist tradition.
At the heart of this programme lies an invitation to spend time alone with Nature, and listen. This ‘solo’ will take the form of a sunrise to sunset Threshold Walk. Inspired by our place within the Cycles of Nature, traditional Vision Quests and ‘nature solos’ have been practiced by many people and cultures across time. Whilst immersed in nature, 'listening' you may receive The Gift. The beauty of an insight or the “rapture” of reconnecting with the most authentic and unique currents in your life.
A Collective ‘New Story’ needs individuals awakening to their new stories.
“People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances with our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.”
THIS RETREAT AIMS TO HELP YOU:
Develop the ability to make deep, authentic contact with yourself and others
Track the obstacles that keep you ‘refusing your own flowering’
Be present to the sensing and feeling body, open beyond the limitations of the rational mind
Find a deeper sense of your own belonging.
A WINDOW ON OUR TIME TOGETHER
We'll begin each morning with mindful practices. Mid-mornings will be set aside for soulful storytelling, making time to listen to what has purchase on our hearts, using the Way of Council model.
The afternoons will involve nature-based practices that support contemplative self-reflection, inviting a deeper conversation between our most authentic selves and the wisdom found in nature.
The evenings will be set aside for integrating the threads of our days through creative exercises that might include dancing, walking with the full moon and sitting around a fire under the stars..
“The life we refuse
Will breach our defences anyway
Even at the moment of death.
Don’t wait that long
In every moment there is a door
With a sign saying ‘Now’
Waiting to be opened.
Don’t hesitate, don’t even knock
Even when we turn away
we will arrive again at the same place.
Every step we take is toward this door
The life we refuse is singing to us
From the other side
Step through,
The old life with its comforting certainties
Is not a home for the soul
Break the furniture, run at the door
And leap into the place they call ‘Here’”
TESTIMONIALS
BOOKING
If you'd like to know more do feel free to get in touch. Werner and I are both happy to have a conversation about the details of this programme and our approach.
GUIDES
I’m Natasha, also known by my Buddhist name Nagadipa. I guide individuals and groups through transformative nature-based experiences. With over fifteen years of experience leading programmes I have been moved and honoured to witness countless stories. Listening and attending to what has purchase on your heart and the stories that live underneath whatever work you do in the world. The way I work weaves together the main threads of my life; creativity, dharma (truth), mythic journeys, the intelligence of the body and nature.
Werner Pilz is an experienced Vision Quest guide and Wilderness Facilitator with over twelve years experience as a lead guide. He trained with the School of Lost Borders and has been guiding Vision Quests and facilitating Way of Council for twelve years. He is a very active member of the German-Speaking Wilderness Guides Network and has been working within this organisation for approximately twelve years. He is also a proud father of two blossoming 22 year-old women.
We call this retreat, The Big Listen because we believe that to really listen has magic; listening for the call of the forest and for the myths of our lives, giving our full attention to ourselves and then not forgetting each other.