Tracking Connections

“Mimicry has been my life. It was the easiest channel to my best teacher. For me, it wasn’t people; it was the animals themselves, and the most accessible route to that was through their language.”

What effect does imitation have on our body, our memory, our sense of connection? What if we could understand just what the Raven is saying? How do the coyotes behave differently around wolves than they do around mountain lions?

In this episode, George Bumann joins us to explore these questions, and shares stories from his lifelong journey of learning just what the animals are saying to each other. Enjoy!

About George Bumann

George Bumann (rhymes with ‘human’) is the author of Eavesdropping on Animals, and a professional sculptor living with his wife, young son, and black Labrador Hobbes, at Yellowstone Park’s northern entrance in Gardiner, Montana. George has been a life-long observer of nature and was raised in his mother’s New York sculpture studio. He holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in wildlife ecology and has worked in the fields of wildlife research, taxidermy, back-country guiding, environmental consulting and has taught art and natural history programs for youth, adult, and university audiences since 1990.

Learn more about George here

Order Eavesdropping on Animals

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Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

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Our next episode will release on November 20, 2024.

The transcript for this episode is available here.

“I define tracking as paying attention to the movement of energy.”

What are the birds telling us and how can we learn to notice more of what they have to say?

In this episode, Dan Gardoqui joins us to share stories from his 35+ years of teaching bird language, tracking, and nature connection. We explore mentoring someone in bird language, what gets people to pay attention, and how the process of learning bird language has evolved over the years. Plus, Dan shares some of his incredible animal imitation skills with us. Enjoy!

About Dan Gardoqui

Dan is a nature-based consultant & coach, award-winning educator, seasoned guide, naturalist & bird language expert, and the founder of Lead With Nature.

As a suburban New Jersey teen, Dan met his first mentor, Jon Young, who set him on a journey as a naturalist, a mentor and a leader. That journey led him to many other mentors, students and landscapes that have taught him priceless lessons. For the past 25 years, he has lived and worked in both human and wild communities in New England. He has served as a resource for many leaders in the field of Nature-Connection, consulting and training many teams and executives in finding excellence through role modeling, mentoring and training programs.

Learn more about Dan here

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Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

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Our next episode will release on November 6, 2024.

The transcript for this episode is available here.

“These are the core routines of people connection.”

What happens when we slow down, get present, and put connection first?

In this episode, Jon and Sarah give an overview of the 10 Foundation Stones of Connective Culture: what they are, how they help facilitate connection between people, and the kind of outcomes that can result from practicing them together with a group.

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Free Download - 10 Foundation Stones

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Embodying Unity With Nature

If you're interested in doing a deep on people connection practices, like the 10 Foundation Stones, our upcoming fall program explores how to develop them in your own life...

Starting October 17th — 7 week Journey: Embodying Unity with Nature

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Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

“When we talk about tracking, it's a very holistic definition. It means paying attention, not just with your eyes, but with all your senses.”

In this episode we explore the question, "does tracking help us connect deeply with a place more quickly?" Jon and Sarah, having recently returned from two weeks in South Africa and the Kalahari, reflect on the impact that tracking had on their experience, not only connecting with the land but also with people through tracking. We also look at the broader definition of tracking, moving beyond footprints and into awareness of the world around us, our communication with that world, and how our intentions shape our environment. We explore how connection develops, in the deepening of our awareness that occurs through the process of tracking, in our collective engagement with the present moment, and shared curiosity about the world around us.

Upcoming Programs:

If you're interested in the themes of this podcast episode, our upcoming fall programs explore how to develop them in your own life...

October 3rd, 2024 — Free Event: Harmonizing with Nature

Starting October 17th — 7 week Journey: Embodying Unity with Nature

Scheduling Note: due to travel and more obligations than usual, we have decided to move to an every-other-Wednesday release schedule for a few months.

Our next episode will release on October 9, 2024.

“There’s an intelligence that emerges out of being together in a connective way, that we can call The Keeper, or we can call it The Emergent Mind in interpersonal neurobiology.”

"It was an example for me of what I want to build as a community and how I want to build it and participate with people."

Susu, Martha, and Patrick joined us to share about their transformational experience designing a weekend program together for the first time, using principles like Designing with Natural Cycles and the Ten Stones. Everyone that participated was moved by the way the experience unfolded, and what is possible when we slow down and listen deeply to The Keeper, remaining present to what most wants to emerge in that moment within the group. If you have been considering starting a program or offering something, this conversation will inspire you and give you insight into what's possible. Enjoy!

Janet (Susu) Marley is earning an MA in Ecopsychology from Naropa University. She is currently researching styles of governance in traditional indigenous societies of Turtle Island and how such wisdom ways can positively influence contemporary ecocentric and regenerative residential communities and bioregional initiatives. She is a dedicated student of the Tracker School, and committed to carrying the wisdom of the lineage into the future. Janet is a community organizer with an abiding interest in co-creating intentional living and learning centers that model and teach connection and reciprocity with the natural world. She is integrating the 8 shields design model into this work. Her gifts and roles include mentor, healer, event producer, and guide to ceremony, council, rites of passage, ecotherapy, and trauma integration work. She is a Montessori-trained educator and mom of two young children.

Martha Meacham is a professional educator with a Ph.D. in Education living in the Austin, Texas area. After decades in higher education, she is focusing on bringing people together who want to explore deep relationships within nature, themselves and others. She brings natural design principles (8 Shields) to her classroom for first time-in-college students to reflect on what they need from their college experience to successfully accomplish what they want. As a Niasziih practitioner, she promotes mind~body~spirit~soul wellness, rooted in the Earth. Aligned with this, she is an Apprentice Tracker, and a Quest protector. She has also learned Tellington TTouch Method for humans and companion animals from Linda Tellington-Jones. Learn more about Martha’s healing work at heartfelttouch.us

Patrick Monroney lucked into some great mentors and teachers in the outdoors when he moved to Alaska in 1987. He learned fishing, plants, and survival, and started an outdoor school for kids and adults. Patrick has taught flora, plantlore, fishing, survival skills, leadership and community building to children and adults for thirty years. He is a cancer survivor, and his current communities are the Tracker School Keepers group and the Helpers Mentoring Society.

Show Notes & References

• If you want to learn more about the Ten Stones, join us for Embodying Unity With Nature, which starts on Oct 17, 2024. We are also holding a free event, Harmonizing with Nature, on Oct 3rd, 2024

Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work.

“The message that I’m trying to get across is that we’re all caregivers, whether we recognize it or not, and the more we can take care of ourselves the more we can spread that into the community.”

This episode feels like a hug.

We are joined by Kris August, veterinarian, herbalist, and educator, to discuss the power of self-care and how she has used natural cycles to create a holistic self-care program for caregivers. Kris' program, Self-Care Through the Cycles of Nature: Creating Your Own Personal Habitat, is a 9 month course that helps people develop self-care habits and practices that reconnect them to nature and their own nature. We explore Kris' journey to discovering the various connective practices that influence her work, the impact compassion fatigue can have on people that work in the world of caregiving, and how starting with self-care can lead to a renewed connection to work and community. We hope you enjoy it!

Read the Podcast Transcript Here

Self-Care Through the Cycles of Nature - Enrollment open through September 2024

Kris' program begins September 1st and there are still openings if you are interested in participating. Learn more about the program and enroll here.

About Kris August, DVM, GDVWHM (Western Herbal Medicine), CHPV (Hospice and Palliative Veterinarian)

Dr Kris August is a veterinarian, herbalist, and educator. She received her graduate diploma in Western Veterinary Herbal Medicine online through the College of Integrative Veterinary Therapies (CIVT) and co-created the first hands-on veterinary herbal course with Dr. Laurie Dohmen. Kris values compassionate care for animals, people, plants, and our world, with a special focus on caring for the caregiver. We cannot help others unless we continue to care for ourselves. A lifelong learner, Kris also practices qigong and nature meditation. Kris enjoys bringing a holistic approach to learning through sharing her passions with others and has taught in a variety of capacities from Waldorf-inspired playgroups to Tae Kwon Do, to teaching veterinarians and veterinary students in herbal medicine, animal hospice, and self-care topics.

Show Notes & References

• We mention Coyote's Guide to Connecting with Nature by Jon Young
• We mention the 8 Shields Master Class: Designing with Natural Cycles, Village Building, and the Kamana Naturalist Program. All of these programs will be available soon through Living Connection 1st. Join the mailing list if you're interested.

Scheduling Note: due to travel and more obligations than usual, we have decided to move to an every-other-Wednesday release schedule for a few months. Our next episode will release on Sep 11, 2024.

Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

“For me, the whole motivation is to facilitate people to come to a place of vision, is to be really activated in their gift, and really starting to deliver their gift to the world, because the world needs it to function better.”

In this episode, Ingrid and Jean-Claude take us into their work in nature and people connection, through the Wisdom of the Earth School in British Columbia, Canada, and their work in France with Troiseme Option. In particular we explore their adult immersion program, a 1-3 year full-time program that uses nature connection to take participants on a transformative journey, one that helps them connect with their vision and gifts and prepares them to bring those gifts out into the world. We discuss the purpose of immersion, how the journey is healing, and where some of the participants have taken the work after finishing the program. We also learn about what the adults learn from their interaction with the children's' programs, how nature connection differs in different cultures, and the power of deep listening. We hope you enjoy!

Read the Podcast Transcript Here

Adult Immersion Program

There are still openings in the Adult Immersion Program at Wisdom of the Earth this September, if you are interested in participating.

You learn more about the documentary, L’autre Connexion (Another Connection), produced by Cécile Faulhaber, at Troiseme Option. Note: this website is in French, but Google Translate is still quite effective.

About Jean-Claude

Jean-Claude Catry is the co-founder of Wisdom of the Earth Wilderness School and has been studying, practicing and teaching wilderness connection skills for over 35 years. Originally trained as a physical education school teacher in his native France, Jean-Claude left the beginnings of a career as a professional soccer player when he almost died from a serious illness. This awakened him to a path of meaning and nature connection, and he spent over a decade as a mountain wilderness guide, leading groups of children, at-risk youth, and adults on horse, ski, and foot through the French Pyrenees, to support them in connecting to their inner Wild Nature. He established a remote mountain equestrian centre with over 150 horses, now run by a woman he mentored when she was a teen.

About Ingrid

Ingrid Bauer is the co-founder of Wisdom of the Earth, and has been working with and sharing deep connective practices for over 30 years. The mother of 4 children aged 14 to 35, Ingrid is committed to growing peace from the roots by addressing how we practice compassion with ourselves and each other, how we nurture and educate children, and how we embody interdependence in creating communities that nourish and care for each living being within the whole web of life.

Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

“This idea of the natural mind IS human nature, or maybe it’s nature in human, nature as human.” 



“Our nervous system is born expecting that kind of welcome, that kind of attending, that kind of intending. I think our nervous system is shaped for that.”

What is the connecting legacy of mentoring the natural mind? Today, Jon takes on a journey to answer that very question, explore how to mentor in this fashion, the benefits we get from being mentored (and mentoring others) this way, and the future of mentoring the natural mind. Jon shares how he was primed for mentoring by his elders as a young child, how Tom Brown Jr. mentored him, and how he observed this same mentoring in the San people in Africa. He shares what makes mentoring different from teaching and what, specifically, makes nature a mentor like no other. Enjoy!

“I would call them nutrients of our consciousness. Each of these different species, and individuals among the species, that we build relationships with- the more of that we get from nature, the more our mind becomes nature, and our heart becomes nature, and there’s a longing to inhabit this planet in a deeper and different way, where we feel like we belong. And when we feel that, then we really care, and then we really want to help make it better.”

Looking for More?

If you're interested in learning more about mentoring the natural mind or the 512 map, check out these resources below.

The 512 Project

Coyote's Guide

Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

“We’re in this time when the earth is activating this awakening, we’re part of the immune system of the earth. So then, what do the kids need to hear? Do they need to hear the battles of the Civil War, the names of the Egyptian pharaohs, the capitals of the States? Or do they need to hear that they’re magical beings, threaded to a living earth? That’s what they need to hear everyday from us adults, and we need to give them the evidence for that.”

This week, we are joined by Paul Astin and Jenny Griffiths, the co-founders of Manzanita School & Institute, a nature-based school in Southern California. Founded in 2014, Manzanita challenges educational paradigms and nurtures the whole child through its unique indoor-outdoor curriculum blending rigorous academics, land stewardship (including a working organic farm), and the study of local ecology on its 21-acre campus and the protected lands that surround it.

This is an incredibly inspiring conversation that you won't want to miss. Jon, Aidan, and Sarah were all moved to tears on multiple occasions. We discuss the genesis of the school, what they believe the role of teachers is in helping students at different stages, what the latest research says about the role nature connection plays in education, and how we help students create and reinforce an empowering narrative about themselves and the role they have to play as members of our society and stewards of the earth.

About Paul & Jenny

Dr. Paul Astin, Ed.D. and Jenny Griffiths, M.A., are longtime educators and Topangans who founded Manzanita in 2014 with the intention to create a new and meaningful alternative to the existing education system—one that honors the unique community and landscape of the Santa Monica Mountains, while preparing students to become independent thinkers and confident, embodied leaders in a rapidly changing world.

Dr. Paul has worked in education for over 30 years. He has been a teacher and administrator in both public and private schools, as well as the founder of a health-education nonprofit and a jazz pianist. He has a BA degree in Prehistoric Studies, a bilingual and bicultural teaching credential, an MA in Latin American Studies, and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from UCLA, where his dissertation focusing on adolescent development and middle school reform won the Dissertation of the Year Award in the Educational Leadership Program.

Jenny has a master’s degree in Art Education and has taught art and organized community art events for more than two decades. She has also designed and delivered courses for mothers in building mother-daughter groups, a project supporting networks of mentors for adolescent girls. She now oversees the Seeds (K-2) early childhood program at Manzanita. Jenny has also received training in leading council and has been leading our parent council group at Manzanita since 2014.

They continue to be inspired and humbled by the Manzanita community, and their dedication to educating the next generation of thoughtful and effective leaders and creators.

Learn more about Manzanita School & Institute here

https://manzanitaschool.org/

Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

“Sometimes you hit the bramble patches of life and, if you’re listening for where your drum beat is -your North Star- you can just keep moving towards it one little step at a time.”

This week, Jon and Sarah are joined by mentor and author Victoria Mew, the founder of Red Squirrel Resources, and a longtime student and mentor in nature connection. Victoria shares about her nature connection journey as a student, how that evolved into becoming an instructor, and later led to writing books and founding organizations to expand access to nature in the UK. She shares about her inspiration for Red Squirrel Resources where she has created over 200 video resources for parents and teachers that are teaching nature connection. She also shares about the positive impact the Art of Mentoring and the Nature Culture Network has had on her over the years and her excitement for the reimagined Nature Culture Connection Camp coming up in August in the UK. We hope you enjoy this inspiring conversation!

About Victoria

Founder of Red Squirrel Resources, Victoria Mew found her passion for nature connection and earth living skills at 12 years old and deepened this journey throughout her teens thanks to organizations including Trackways, Coyote Tracks and the Wilderness Awareness School. After extensive vocational training, she founded Cultivating Curiosity which has been running regular groups in Sussex both weekly and monthly since 2012, the year she also completed her Forest School L3. She co-authored Learning With Nature in 2015. Victoria is passionate about helping spread the breadth and depth of nature connection for our health and happiness as individuals, communities and as a whole.

https://redsquirrelresources.co.uk/

http://www.cultivating-curiosity.co.uk/

Learning with Nature book

Connection Camp - August 4th, 2024

There are still a few spots left in Connection Camp if you're interested in experiencing the incredible program that Victoria describes in the podcast.

Visit Living Connection 1st for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.