Mirroring the FOUR SHIELDS OF HUMAN NATURE: THE ART OF STORYTELLING AND LISTENING
Dartmoor, UK.
Telling one’s own story is an ancient art. Nowadays, we have forgotten how to listen and how to tell. Yet the very survival of our species depends on our ability to communicate with each other in such ways as to be mutually enriched by the telling and the listening. If we cannot tell with expression, our life is mute. If we cannot listen like a mirror, we cannot reflect back the wholeness of the four shields — the body, soul, mind and spirit of the teller. The best stories are about human nature — that is, the human of us which is, after all, nature in her basic manifestations as physical, psychical, rational, and spiritual. One of the best ways to create a four shields story, if not the best, is to put people in contact with nature in the raw.
What comes forth in the story is the stuff of self-transformation. Even as we “myth” ourselves into experience, so we express ourselves into existence. Our stories about our natural selves, and our means of expressing them, lead us to courage, determination, commitment, hope, wisdom, and the will to survive, to transcend the difficulty, to go beyond ourselves. Those of us who work with people must know how to listen and respond to the stories our people tell, so that we can help them create a life that is deeper, richer, and of greater benefit to our community and the earth.
Program Overview
This training is designed to evoke and create a style of listening and storytelling that is uniquely your own, to practice reflecting what you hear with the fullness of your being (body, psyche, mind and spirit). It is also a ceremony and, like all ceremonies requires a willingness to go beyond what is familiar and known. Our time together will be a weaving of teaching circles, solo time in nature and story council.
This is an experiential and interactive training that involves daily intentional walks on the land followed by community reflection. Learn how to deeply listen to and respond to peoples stories through the practice of mirroring. This practice is applicable in diverse settings.
This training is open and welcomes those from different and varied professions including therapists, teachers, outdoor leaders, rites of passage guides, coaches, and mentors. If you have any questions about that please do not hesitate to ask.
Programme
We invite participants to arrive on the 19th May from 4pm, in time to set up camp and share a simple dinner at 6pm to begin training in the morning of the following day. The programme finishes at 2pm on the 25th
A simple, warm vegetarian lunch will be provided every day plus a light dinner the evening of the 19th. Please let us know any dietary requirements on the bookings form and we will do our best to accommodate your needs.
You are responsible for your own meals outside of these times so please bring food and basic camping equipment as required.
Venue
The training will be held on Greenland Farm, a low impact nature retreat centre near Buckfastleigh which leads directly onto the wild of Dartmoor.
Participants will be invited to wild camp on the land; or there are a number of local pubs and B&B’s to stay in.
please note the facilities are very basic:
drinking water (treated spring water)
compost toilet
basic shared kitchen facilities
there are no showers on site
Fees
To honour the vast difference of financial resources among us, we are offering the programme on a sliding scale from £750 - £1,200.
We ask that you pay what is appropriate for your circumstances and access to financial resources. You can see recommendations on using the sliding scale here. If the low end of the sliding scale is still too much, we have a limited number of 50% bursary places available which we will allocate based on need and benefit.
To secure your place you will be required to pay a £200 deposit.
Cancellations: Cancellations for any reason are hard on the participant, the guides and organisers. We respect the unpredictability of life, and we are diligent about running an organisation sustainably.
If you cancel 30 or more days prior to the start date of your program, you will receive a full refund of any tuition paid, minus your deposit. If we can fill your spot from a waiting list (which is likely but not guaranteed), we will also return your deposit once a new deposit has been received.
If you cancel within 30 days of the start of your program, then your deposit is non-returnable. If in addition we cannot fill your spot, then we also will charge you programme fees at the lowest end of the sliding scale.
If we have to cancel you will be offered an alternative date or a refund.
Events will normally go ahead even in wet and cold weather, so please be prepared for the appropriate weather conditions and ask for advice about what to wear or bring. The venue is on the edge of Dartmoor so is subject to extreme weather including (but not limited to) very high winds, sideways rain, electrical storms and snow. We reserve the right to cancel, postpone or alter sessions at short notice, especially in the event of dangerous weather conditions.
Booking
To book your place please fill out the booking form and pay your deposit:
If you have any questions please email: Israhgoodall@gmail.com
Programme Guides
We are so honoured to be welcoming Betsy Perluss to the UK for this in depth mirroring training. This is an incredible opportunity to work with one of the most experienced guides from the School of Lost Borders.
Betsy Perluss, Ph.D. (she/they), lover of landscape, story, and myth, grew up as a semi-feral child on Pimu (Catalina Island), where she was ignited with a passion for wild and unbounded places. She stumbled upon the School of Lost Borders in 1998 and since has been involved as a participant, guide, trainer, board member, and member of the Elders and Guiding Councils. Betsy aspires to live a life informed by the wisdom of the land, the pan-cultural ceremony, and the mystery of initiatory rites. She is an accepting, down-to-earth guide who brings a mix of sacred and profane, imagination and humor to her work. She is also a psychotherapist with a background in eco and depth psychologies, currently studying at the Jung Institute in Denver, Colorado. Betsy teaches ecopsychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute and, from 2001-2012, was professor of counseling at California State University, Los Angeles. She currently lives on the unceded territory of the Nisenan, along the Bear River, in the oak and pine forested foothills of the Sierra Nevada.
Email: betsy@lostborders.org
For more about Betsy and her writing, please visit her website at betsyperluss.com or her blog at www.psycheandnature.com
Full moon rising over Buckfastleigh Common, Dartmoor.