Come Rewild Your Heart With Me!
Would you like to deepen your Kinship with Nature and rewild your own heart? Would you like to share this with your family as well? Join me as I teach a five-week Kinship with Nature course through LifeWays during July! This course is designed for all adults, yet includes an added focus on family. We’ll explore earth, water, fire, air, minerals, plants, animals and the invisible worlds. We will be engaged with song, movement, stories, breathwork, scientific understandings, Jungian explorations, inner inquiry, hands-on activities and more. I hope you will join me! For more info and to register: https://lifewaysnorthamerica.org/workshops_training/kinship-with-nature-is-a-family-affair/
Here are thoughts to inspire your participation. The following is from my blog a few years ago:
“Today the children and I returned to the garden playground! Last autumn, after the Harvest Festival, the children and their parents came to school for a Saturday picnic, to “put the garden to bed”. But now in the spring we return to the garden, the song of the stream and the graceful poplars that shade us.
It is such a gift to teach these young souls, here in the generous arms of Nature. The children develop intimate relations with the insect and animal world, from the army of worms they unearth ~ and re-earth ~ to the song of the wood-thrush they hear and the footprints of the raccoon in the mud beside the creek.
Original peoples pray by intoning “All My Relations.” The children, also, talk of the great family of Nature: our best friends the Rain Fairies, their mother The Grandmother Rain Cloud, Brother Wind, Father Sun, Mother Earth. These children have the foundation laid for a life lived experiencing humanity as part of a great seamless Unified Being. This is preparation for the only future we can sustain. This is our one hope, and they bring their up- springing joy to it!”
And here is a bit of science: You, the adult, are crucial to the child’s Nature Connection:
“Researchers analyzed data from children and their parent/guardian to investigate factors associated with children’s nature connectedness. Of all variables considered, including frequency of nature visits, an adult with high nature connectedness in the same household was the strongest predictor of children’s nature connectedness. The study highlights the vital role parents/guardians play in nurturing children’s nature connectedness and calls for policies and programs that support nature connectedness among adults who are influential in children’s lives.
A study investigating the role of early childhood educators in outdoor learning considered how teachers in Norway engaged young children in foraging and gardening activities. Researchers found that teachers’ roles centered upon leading with enthusiasm and curiosity, following children’s interests and encouraging exploration. Teachers’ own engagement and enthusiasm for adventurous outdoor experiences inspired children’s engagement and enthusiasm. The research affirms that teachers are important role models in engaging children in nature-based learning.[i]”
Come experience the difference between nature appreciation, which can involve distanced concepts, and a deep “skin to skin” relationship with our other than human siblings.
I hope to take this journey with you!
With Green Blessings,
Sharifa
[i] https://www.childrenandnature.org/resources/research-digest-nature-mentors-and-role-models/
