_A six-week journey of transformation through rites of passage, and kinship with people, nature and place. With a solo experience at its core, held through the power of community, Becoming is the journey of initiation into who and what you truly are. _

_ **🌀 Are you ready to embody your true nature and your full aliveness? ** _

_ **🌀 Are you hungry for the call of something deeper, wilder, something real? ** _

_ 🌀 Do you want to be guided by nature as you travel through life’s transitions? _

We invite you to the medicine of time spent alone with the land - to the healing, the deep knowing and the soul reawakening that this offers.

We invite you to step over a threshold bringing you closer to your own essence.

We invite you to reclaim your full and vibrant selves in connection to all of life.

We invite you to claim your own place in the lifelong journey of Becoming.

This is the practice of meeting Self through Nature. This is the journey of Becoming.

We can always choose to remember and inhabit our wholeness and our power.

Becoming is a radical practice of reclamation and resistance - in a world full of business, burnout and disconnect, of peak extraction and pathology - we focus on slowing down to **reclaim the wholeness that is ours. **

“What is the truth at the centre of the image you were born with?”

The Becoming programme

**This is for you if you: **

** **

• Are experiencing a moment of transition or change in your life that you want to mark
• Need more clarity and directionality on your life path & want to let yourself be guided by your unique soul expression and contribution
• Feel called to deepen your connection to nature and learn how to work with nature as a mirror and guide
• Want to reclaim the ancient tradition of nature based rite of passage and ceremonial work
• Feel that humanity is currently challenged and needs to grow up and take **collective responsibility for our shared home **
• Are yearning for deeper connection, full presence, more aliveness and life purpose
• Want to go on a journey together with **a community of shared values **
• **Need support in navigating the tumultuous times we are collectively living through. **

The ground of wisdom:

Taking inspiration from the ancient traditions of Rites of Passage and Solo Nature time, we offer a deeply human yet wildly devotional programme.

We hold interpersonal practices as key to the process, and use somatic experiential support throughout.

We explore Deep Ecology, Eco-psychology, and Sacred Ecology as guiding principles.

We orient around the four shields model of human nature (School of Lost Borders) and eco-soul centric development (by Bill Plotkin).

We share in the power of Council - where we hone tools of collective process - deep listening, speaking truth from the heart, and harvesting collective intelligence.

We anchor in ritual - that which shifts the psyche by utilising movement, symbol and somatic intelligence.

We use modern perspectives through ancient wisdom - the stuff that resonates in your bones and your soul!

We acknowledge and honour the indigenous wisdom in which all of this work is rooted - a widely pancultural tradition of humans communing with land, the elements and the ancestors.

Our own lineages are rooted in Celtic and Germanic traditions, and we gratefully receive and pay forward the teachings we have had the privilege to access.

**What you Receive: **

• 5 live online Community gatherings on Zoom.
• 2 guides trained and skilled in the areas of Vision Quest, Rites of Passage, Eco-therapy, Somatic experiencing, Grief tending & Community building.
• Preparation, support & guidance towards your one day Nature Solo Experience in a living place close to your home
• Access to a rich online platform of stored resources and practices to use day to day, and after the process has completed.
• Input and references on the theoretical frameworks of deep ecology, ecopsychology, the tradition of rites of passage and the four shields model of human nature (School of Lost Borders), eco-soul centric development (Bill Plotkin)
• A self organised buddy meet up to digest the experience together
• An optional Signal group with all participants and facilitators to stay connected and support each other throughout the process
• Optional one-to-one support session to really go deep with one of your guides.

***

“Thanks to the well thought-out journey led by the two guides my heart was wide open when I entered into my solo time and what can I say: Now I have a deep felt sense for my true wild nature and my connection to the more-than-human world has grown sooo much more intimate, it brings me to tears of love, gratitude and so much relief.”

_- Stephanie _

***

The Journey :

**🌀 ** First Community Circle

_ Wednesday 15th April 6.30pm - 8.30pm GMT _

Getting to know the group and landing in the topics of Deep and Spiritual Ecology. Introduction to practices for self-knowledge and deep nature connection.

🌀 Second Community Circle

_ Wednesday 22nd April 6.30pm - 8.30pm GMT _

Introduction to Rites of Passage in modern times and playful exploration of the model of Wholeness - the Four Directions of Human Nature.

🌀 Self Organised Buddy Meet Up~ Digestion

**Wednesday 29th April **

We suggest a light structure for your buddy meet up for you to process and digest together.

🌀Third Community Circle

_ Wednesday 6th May 6.30pm - 8.30pm GMT _

Deepening of community, sharing and refining of personal intentions, ritual preparation to step over the threshold for our Solo experience.

🌀 Earth Solo experience

_ Friday 8th to Sunday 10th May _

Spending one day (or more) alone on the land in a place of your own choosing over a weekend.

**🌀 Welcome back Ritual **

_ Sunday 10th May 6.30 pm - 8.30 pm GMT _

Sharing of our experience and insights in Story Council. Mirroring of your soul experience by trained guides, with input on how to integrate the experience over the time that follows.

🌀 Self Organised Buddy Meet Up~ Digestion

**Wednesday 14th April **

We suggest a light structure for your buddy meet up for you to process and digest together.

🌀 Integration and Visioning

_ Wednesday 20th May 6.30pm - 8.30 pm GMT _

Community Check-in about our process of integration.Visioning for future movement,

        using the Four Shields Model to support us going forward.

***

“To dwell on the land alone in reverence is a beautiful remembering of our profound humanness.”

• Sophie Vandenkerchove

***

Further information

• The group size will be limited to 12 people so please book early to avoid disappointment
• There is an estimated time commitment of 4h/ week (2,5h call + practice/reading) plus your Solo tome
• The process starts before our first meeting with a threshold walk in which you set your intention and send it to us in written form
• You will receive a Welcome Kit once you've registered with access to our online space with some gifts and resources to tune in
• We recommend registering no later than March 27th to leave enough time for intention setting and preparation!

This work is crucial for these times. Personal, social and ecological regeneration are intimately intertwined, and we offer this medicine in deepest service to that which the world now needs.

**Will you join us ? **

“This was a precious, meaningful and transformative journey. I feel like I will be processing it for a long time to come. From the safety and warmth of the space created to the diverse, creative and supportive practices shared, it has been a truly nourishing experience. I now have more clarity about where I can find solace, and what I might contribute to the world so that others may find that sense of safety, love and connection.”

~Natalie

Taster Event for the Becoming programme:

_ **Wednesday 25th February, 19.00 GMT ** _

An evening introducing nature based rites of passage work and deep ecology. Learn how the mirror of nature can support you to live a resourced and enriched soulful life in times of ecological and social crises, geopolitical chaos and disorientation. A space to to answer any questions or curiosities that might arise!

Recording will be made available afterwards to those who register.

Register here:

Your Guides

Carolin Goethel

Carolin is a nature-based guide, facilitator, and community weaver, living between Berlin, Germany, and the East Coast of the United States.

Rooted in her academic studies (MA in Postcolonial Culture and Global Policy), her work in leadership education and systems change, Carolin blends her passions for deep ecology, outdoor exploration, and cultural transformation into a holistic, embodied practice. She has cultivated a versatile toolbox to accompany profound life transitions and inspire deep culture change.

Carolin’s own transformative vision quest led her to study eco-soul centric practices with the Animas Valley Institute and train as a rite-of-passage guide with the School of Lost Borders. For the past five years, she has guided nature solo experiences and seasonal rituals with the Wild Minds Collective and the Church of Interbeing, fostering a sense of interconnectedness between humans and the natural world while attuning to the Earth’s rhythms.

Through her political work for climate and deliberative democracy projects, Carolin weaves together the threads of inner and outer change, inviting us to step into our agency and co-create a more regenerative, just, and flourishing future.

Jenny O’Hare

Jenny is an Irish deep ecologist and facilitator. Her work focuses on the relationship between humanity and the rest of the living world, and is deeply inspired by her own sense of belonging to living systems.

With a background in Natural Sciences and Ecology, and inspired by the ways that life informs life, she draws on Eco-psychology, Spiritual Ecology and extensive training in Eco-therapy, WTR, Solo nature experiences, ritual and beyond.

A core member of community group Siolta, a founding member of Wild Minds Collective,and a contributor to Education for Sustainability, she works with a broad range of people, offering diverse work, such as Climate Literacy workshops, Nature based immersions, Grief retreats, Interbeing explorations and 1:1 mentorship.

Her faith is always in how we continue to be present to what both enlivens and troubles us.

Listening to the living world is her most powerful guide!

****
Enquiries to wildmindscollective@gmail.com

**Learn more about this work: **

Check out Jenny's and Carolin's conversation about the importance of rites of passage, their own experiences with solo time in nature and the power of reclaiming these practices for our modern Western societies.

You can also check out the following resources:

• How a solo experience in nature helped me come to terms with the prospect of death—and this moment of mass extinction. - previous Deep Dive participant
• “Wilderness Solo - how I stopped time by sitting in a forest for 24 hours.” - Guardian Article
• “Can Nature really heal us?”- Guardian Article

Price & Registration:

Early Bird till March 11th: - £215

Low income - £220

Standard - £280

Supporter - £340

Partner Ticket Standard: £440

If money is an issue for you right now, you can email us at wildmindscollective@gmail.com saying a few words about why you'd like to apply for a bursary place. We hope to offer at least 1 bursary place, and will assess all bursary applicants before making a decision.

Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

**Do I need to attend all the calls? **

Since this is an intentionally designed process, we ask you to ensure in advance that you are available to attend all 5 calls. If it happens that you miss a call due to unforeseen circumstances, we will do our best to help you integrate this.

How do I spend my solo time on the land?

Your solo time is a special time set aside for a specific purpose. It can be spent in stillness or in movement, but we offer the following general guidelines below. Please note we will prepare you fully for your solo time during the four week process.

Taking into consideration the season and expected temperature, we recommend you dress warmly, take tea and perhaps some blankets. Be prepared for rain as well. We invite you to spend an extended period of time outside, ideally from sunrise to sunset. You can look for a sitting spot that calls you to spend most of your day in, or decide to go on a Threshold Walk and stay in movement. The main practice during that time is to be fully present with the living world and be in communication with yourself and the land. You can also decide to spend the night outside or have various solo time periods over the course of the weekend.

In any case, we ask you to respect your own boundaries, so you can feel safe during the journey as we will be guiding you from afar.

How do I choose where to go?

There might be a certain area, a landscape or a place you want to deepen your relationship with. Maybe there is a place you have never visited but have always wanted to get to know. Depending on where you live, it could be a place that is quite remote and wild or a place that is easier to reach from your home and a little closer to civilisation. A secluded place with less distraction from frequent human visitors could support you in being fully present with yourself and the more than human world around you.

Do I need to be spending my time fully in Solo over the weekend, or can I meet up with some friends and go for a walk together?

We invite you to stay as Solo as possible, during your dedicated ceremonial time. This doesn’t need to be the whole weekend, but it could be so. This will be for you to decide on and feel into. Be aware that each person that you bring on your Solo, will be part of your ceremony, and therefore will also influence your experience. If you do bring a person on your Solo, then be sure to inform us and make clear rules so you are not speaking to each other the whole time. If being Solo is an edge for you, we would be happy to support you more on this throughout the process.

I’m going through a challenging time right now, and I wonder if this Solo could be good for me?

Spending time alone on the land can be challenging as well as nourishing and healing. The fact that there will be few distractions means that whatever is moving in you will express itself. Here is where the importance of going out with a clear intention or question comes in. It will help you to not let yourself be pulled into patterns or distractions. If you are doubting whether you can deal with the challenges you are currently facing on your own, please do get in touch with us and we are happy to support you with taking a decision.

Do I need specific equipment or gear for my Solo time?

You will need basic outdoor clothing for your solo time. This will include rain gear and warm layers, and sturdy footwear. It is also useful to have something to sit on, such as a blanket or waterproof layer. If you decide to stay overnight, more gear will be necessary, such as a tarp and sleeping bag. We will fully advise throughout the process on what you will need based on weather and geographical conditions where you are.

What is the refund policy?

• 50 £ of your ticket is non-refundable. This is to cover any admin costs if you choose to cancel and to support participants to be sure they can attend before purchasing a ticket.
• We can offer a refund (minus 50 £) up until 10 days before the start date. With such short notice we are usually unable to fill your spot. If we (or you) do manage to find someone to fill your spot we can transfer your ticket to the next Deep Dive.