If you could learn or study anything, what would you choose? If you had ample time, space and a little support, could you learn and grow as a person? Can you develop your own style of creativity, or relationship to the discovery process?

These are the questions that the Walden Project explores, with a small group of teens who take a school year away from 'regular' school, get college credit, get out in nature and have a unique educational experience.

As a lead educator and program designer, Andy Webster is fully immersed in this wonderful process that is at times chaotic, at times very inspiring and always innovative. He shares his unique perspective on what happens to students when they are not forced to learn neatly boxed 'learning bits' throughout the day, and how this can help shape and inform their lives.

Connect with The Walden Project:

Instagram:    https://www.instagram.com/thewaldenprojectny/

Facebook:     https://www.facebook.com/waldenprojectny

Website:       https://rmsc.org/cumming-nature-center/the-walden-project/

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If you haven't been in a situation where something happens that is unexpected, then congratulations!  You probably have an amazing overworked program director who is really NAILING IT as far as logistics, details, staff training, student screening and daily monitoring of everything in your program!  Enjoy it while it lasts.  Live the dream!

If, on the other hand, you know what it's like when things go sideways, or headfirst into the ditch, metaphorically speaking, then this episode is for you!   

There are a lot of moving parts, details, logistics, planning, equipment, staffing and so much more in pretty much every nature program, and because we work in 'human development', it's very difficult to get it all right, all of the time.

In this episode, we will break down the four main categories of 'issues' that can happen, and how to keep them from derailing your program, camp or adventure even when things don't go as planned.

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To many (most?) people in our current culture, nature is a literal 'wall of green' that contains plants, trees, vines, bushes and shrubs, all interwoven in a way that is virtually indistinguishable from each other.    It can seem impenetrable, and overwhelming, even, to begin to make sense of it.  

If you are thinking of actually eating some of these wild foods, or using them medicinally, the stress factor can jump into the red zone almost instantly.

My guest this episode has spent years around wild plants, trees and shrubs, learning and sampling both the medicinal and edible varieties and also exploring their 'survival' uses as well.    Zak Baker has lived in the Midwest and in the Western states, and he's spent an amazing amount of time unraveling how these important resources were part of the very cultural identity and connection to the native peoples who used them daily.

We talk about his early years in Ohio, and his professional adventures and his wonderful Bushlore Press, too.   We dig into his pocket field guides and bush cards, how he created them to be a resource for anyone wanting to learn on the trail and into the wild.

Bushlore Press LLC Website:    BushlorePress.com

In the Old Way Website:     InTheOldWay.com

Instagram:    https://www.instagram.com/bushlorepress/

Facebook:      https://www.facebook.com/bushlorepress

LinkedIn:     https://www.linkedin.com/in/zak-baker-59a05745/

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I'm pretty sure we could all benefit from reducing the frenetic pace that seems to go hand in hand with our modern culture. It's a great topic, but it's not what I'm describing in this episode!  Instead, I've spent most of my time on two of the most important tools in my 'nature awareness' toolkit that I know.  They are based in mindfulness practices that have helped me immensely in multiple ways in my life, and in my nature education programs and trainings.

They focus on very subtle body awareness techniques that can be used to enhance our energy, focus, inner 'alignment' and decision making.  They slow down time, and give us choices when we are under pressure.  They also help us access some very powerful states of awareness that have saved me in more than a few situations both in the woods and in our modern cultural settings. 

These two practices are called 'breath to heart' and 'quarter-time', which I learned over years of study with Tom Brown, Jr in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey.  I don't know of the exact origins of each, but they were part of a concerted effort by Tom and his instructors to give us layers of exercises that have delivered powerful outcomes when I have needed them most.

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Life in the Great White North can be cold and hard at times, but that makes the warmer seasons all the sweeter, from Maple Syrup Season to Sumac Gathering and so much more.  The power of nature is reflected in daily life, and living close helps us see the metaphors and parallels that we echo in our own human cultural patterns.

Join Chris Gilmour and I as we explore forest educator training, youth adventure, stories of beaver ponds and much more in this episode.  Chris shares powerful lessons that draw from over twenty years as an outdoor professional, leading groups, apprenticeships and foraging programs, with his experience in wilderness survival, bushcraft, nature awareness and earth living skills too.   

It was really interesting to hear his perspective on the value of the 'Soft Skills' that are often misunderstood or underutilized in many traditional wilderness programs, and how they are shaping his training and students in powerful, beneficial ways.

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Connect with Chris:

Website:   https://www.chrisoutdoors.ca/

Wild Muskoka Botanicals Website:   https://wildmuskoka.com/

Instagram:    https://www.instagram.com/chrisoutdoorson/

Wild Muskoka Botanicals Instagram:   https://www.instagram.com/wildmuskoka/

YouTube:   https://www.youtube.com/c/ChangingWorldProjectChrisOutdoors

LinkedIn:    https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisoutdoors/?trk=public_profile_recommendations&originalSubdomain=ca

Email:    [email protected]

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/chrisoutdoorsmentoring

TikTok:   https://www.tiktok.com/@chrisoutdoorson?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0zB5lj6iB9vK8Eg5n4X2Yesa0zvz2pHJC4IhqVpe3Hd_MmBSrEiyRK2qQ_aem_R2l6Dd2Vh8liJszokrSGsA

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It was early August, in Harlemville New York.  It was a six week immersion into the natural world, in one of my first 'wilderness skills learning intensives', with just a few tools, a blanket and a desire to see the world from a different perspective.

This episode is a recounting of some of my adventures with wildlife, and why I still can't stand roasted apples.   

Thank you to the listeners who have been asking for more stories.  These are for you!

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In the olden days, before the internet, when you ran a workshop or a skills class or wild foods program, you could usually skip the student evaluation forms and questionnaires.  Participants just 'got the experience' and that was the deal.  There wasn't any trolling, or review bombing, because there were no online reviews.  You might get a letter, if people felt a certain way about your offering, but often times it was something positive rather than negative.

In 2024, however, outcomes and evaluations matter.  We have a lot more opportunities to connect with our students, and understand the class from their perspective, and it's a whole new world.   

Quite frankly, it's a much better world.   

The simple truth is this:  The more we ask, the more we know, and the faster we can get better at what we do.

This episode is a quick dive into understanding the importance of understanding our metrics, gathering data, self evaluations vs outside assessment, setting our own goals and best of all, how they can help make us better educators.

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It's one thing to have a 'vision' or idea that is inspiring and exciting and full of hope and promise.  It's also a WHOLE other thing to actually bring it into the real world, grounded and fully expressed and achieving outcomes.

When we take that leap into the unknown, it's scary, risky, stressful and even wonderful; a lot of intense emotions all rolled into a kaleidoscope blender that most of the time, we are not fully prepared to handle.

Sometimes, we even have unexpected 'inner barriers' that show up, with hesitation, procrastination, tangible fear in sharing something from the heart, rejection sensitivity and anxiety.  These inner challenges are no joke, and they can stop our visionary work in its tracks if we don't figure out how to navigate and work around them.

In this episode, we explore these issues and more, with an emphasis on solutions and strategies that can help us keep going.

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There are literally piles of research about the benefits of contact with nature for human beings, and most of the time, we think of 'forest experiences' primarily for children.  Monica Eastway shares her work with people who are in their 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's, and why nature is vital for this segment of our community.   She shares stories of how nature experiences improve the quality of life for those in managed or skilled care facilities, and her quest to facilitate change 

as a true paradigm shift for ALL of us.

We discuss some of the work that's being done in the Netherlands, Finland and Esalen, CA, and the impact that nature can have for families and people of all ages.  Her vision includes helping our American fear of 'growing old' and seeing the aging process with grace, self acceptance and even joy.

Monica's website:   https://www.monicaeastway.com/

Monica's LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-eastway/

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Ever since I was a kid I was always fascinated by the concept of 'time'.   

I know I am not alone, because it's a pretty popular theme over the last four decades or so.  Madeline L'Engle's Wrinkle In Time was one of my first steps into a different world.  The time differences in the world of Narnia was pretty interesting!  Then came the wildly unexpected Time Bandits and the fun of Back to the Future. The Time Lords and Dr. Who.  The resetting of time in Edge of Tomorrow high stakes battle for Earth.  Hot Tub Time Machine.  The compression of time in Interstellar and Inception.  HG Wells' The Time Machine.  Groundhog Day.  The Time Heists of Avengers: Endgame and the TVA of Marvel's Loki were some of the more recent forays, but there are literally tons of shows like Quantum Leap, or Travellers, or The Umbrella Academy and yes, Outlander....

I'd like to believe that time travel is possible but it's probably not, at least, not in the way that these shows seem to depict it.  However, there are some situations and experiences that I have had in my forays into nature and leading groups that have broadened my understanding of time and its paradoxes and oddities and gifts, so, I figured we better talk about it!

No hot tubs required!

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