Adult Trainings take participants through the content of Youth Programs as well as provide the background and context for why and how the content is utilized with youth. In this way, adults get to experience content as youth would, while also learning the behind the scenes steps needed for each experience, in order to be able to lead youth in the future. The 9-Month Guide Training delves deep into this content and context, while Rite of Passage Apprenticeships offer adults an immersive experience working with youth either in a yearlong program or weeklong rite of passage trip.
COMPONENTS OF RITE OF PASSAGE GUIDE TRAINING
NATURE AWARENESS: NATURALIST KNOWLEDGE AND NATURE CONNECTION
Elemental model in facilitation of rites of passage
Mindfulness and nature meditation
Awareness practices from wisdom traditions
Games and debrief to unify groups
Naturalist knowledge and ecosystem patterns
Sense of place, orienting with maps, sun, and stars
Astronomy and star stories
Tracking and storytelling
Field Botany and tree ID
EARTH SKILLS: SURVIVAL AND ANCESTRAL ARTS
Debris shelter
Friction fire making and tending
Foraging edibles & medicinals
Pottery and basketry
Cordage, knots, and tarp-craft
Herbal medicine-making (teas, glycerites, salves
Bow making & archery
Carving and knife skills
Flintknapping, hide tanning, and other animal processing skills
PERSONAL CULTIVATION: NEUROBIOLOGY, FLOW, MINDFULNESS, HEALTH
Brain functions and neurobiology
Flow state psychology, substances and ‘natural high’
Mindfulness and meditation
Somatic embodiment practices (qigong, yoga, animal forms)
Creative expression – art, poetry, Earth sculpture
Body-mind connection and trauma awareness
Gut-brain of influence of diet
Solitude, intention, reflection, storytelling
Medicine walks and fasting
SOCIAL CONNECTION: RELATIONAL MINDFULNESS AND PEACEMAKING
Non-violent communication
Wise speech
Peace-maker principles and practices
Way of council
Appreciation circles
Race, class, power, and privelege
Gender, sex, orientation, identity
Roots of our approach
Teachers and teachings that influence our work:
Nature Connection & Earth Ceremony
John Young, Art of Mentoring/8 Shields Institute
Joe Mueller, College of Marin
Mia Andler, Vilda Nature
Emerald North & Betsy Perleuss (SLB)
and various peers, mentors, and students who have nourished my curiosity and capacity to teach
Neurobiology & Eco-psycology
Dave Talamo & Amy Beiesmeier, Wilderness Reflections
Michael Meade, Mosaic Voices
Bill Blotkin, Animas Valley Institute
Also: Dan Seigel, Rick Hanson, Gabor Mate, Gordon Neufield, Peter Levine, and Mihaly Czentmihaly, and many more
Survival Skills & Ancestral Arts
Rick Berry, 4 Elements Earth Education
Dave Wilson, Coyote Road School
Redbird Willie, Buckeye Gathering
and various friends and teachers who passed along one skill here or there…
Relational Mindfulness and Group Process
Joanna Macy, Work that Reconnects
Jeffrey Szyilagyi, Stepping Stones Project
Shay Sloan, Way of Council
Amos Clifford, Way of Council
James Stark and Christopher Kunstch, Ecology of Leadership
Teja Bell, Qigong Dharma
Jack Kornfield, Spirit Rock
Mentors and peers with Inward Bound Mindfulness Experience
TRAINERS AND COLLABORATORS
Jeffrey Szilagyi
LAc., Acupuncture SF
How Humans Work
https://www.acusfmarin.com/about-jeffrey
https://howhumanswork.us/about
Emily Frost
MFT, Founder and guide, Love your Nature
Ursula Elsa
Program Manager, Gaia Passages
Mindfulness Educator, Fred Finch Youth Center
https://gaiapassages.org/member/ursula-stoller/
Sarai Shapiro
Founder, Gaia Passages
Guide and coach, Sarai Nicolina Coaching
Will Hubert
Director, Community Outdoors
Wilderness Guide, Back to Earth
https://communityoutdoors.com
https://www.backtoearth.org/about
Dave Talamo
MFT, Director & Guide, Wilderness Reflections
https://www.wildernessreflections.com/about-us/who-we-are/
Lawrence Schuessler
Wilderness Guide, Outward Bound, NOLS, Stanford,
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need prior experience?
Yes, this is a training designed to up-level facilitation skills for a naturalist or educator to that of a rite of passage guide. This assumes foundational awareness and skills as a naturalist and/or educator. Simultaneous training is offered by Spencer Nielsen and Mia Andler through Vilda Nature – see program HERE.
Where do you offer training?
We focus our training (daylong and camping trips) in Marin County, but include longer summer trips into the mountains of California.
When can I join a program?
We offer a 9-month guide training starting in the fall, aligning with the school year. There will be a fall camping trip on Tomales Bay and a spring backpacking trip in Point Reyes. The summer trip will be in the mountains of Northern California, training with elders in ceremonial ways.
“Spencer is knowledgeable and capable, and funny! His cooking was fabulous, as was his chanting and the harmonium. I appreciated his ability to really articulate and tell a story. I also now hold Spencer as on of my favorite yoga instructors. I attended the Yoga wilderness retreat as a way to help myself with a mid life transition. I didn’t know what I was expecting, but I received so much. I emerged nourished, grounded, vibrant, and with a self love and strength I’ve never before known. What a true gift! Even one month later I am basking in gratitude for this. I received a transformative experience I didn’t even know I was craving.”
-Participant, Yoga Wilderness Quest
“I really liked how [he] showed us so many different ways to ‘practice’- getting in touch with our bodies and hearts and souls in multiple ways. Yoga or pranayama or meditation or mudras or bandhas or cooking a meal that fits what we need in the moment or rubbing delicious oil up our noses. So many options to dive into yourself. Circling up and sharing as a group, letting each person speak their truth and have everyone else listening- now that is truly healing. Just getting to share what is deeply in our hearts and being supported felt amazing. Learning about ceremonies and rituals was new for me and very powerful.”
-Participant, Yoga Wilderness Quest
ELEMENTAL QUEST 