Posts by Tess Howell
The Great Ballcourt Initiation – Fall Fast
Death is the ultimate agent of transformation—be it a physical death or “the little deaths” encountered throughout life. Indigenous cultures developed rituals to aid and guide people through these stages of change and renewal, utilizing the power of death to enhance and intensify these experiences. For the Mayan people this ceremony was played out on…
Read MoreBecoming Human: The Four Shields Model of Nature-Based Therapeutics
“If there were a measure of ‘mental health’, it would involve the ability of individuals to grow into the fullness of each season – that is, the ability to fully become, or enact, the contents of each shield.” – Steven Foster and Meredith Little All that we do and teach at the School of Lost…
Read MoreCori Wright
Cori Wright works as a primary therapist at a wilderness therapy company and is a Somatic Experiencing practitioner. Cori moved every couple of years growing up and became fascinated with how different humans were in every place that she lived. Cori began working with adolescents and facilitating Rites of Passage 15 years ago.
Read MoreCO June Queer Quest
The natural world reminds us that being Queer* is both beautiful and something to be celebrated! Showing up as who we are, and with our many gifts, is a celebration of nature’s diversity and honors our deep connection to the natural world. Many earth-based cultures recognize and honor queer community members as gatekeepers to the…
Read MoreCA Two Week Training
In these times of change and uncertainty, it is crucial that we show up for our community in ways that truly serve. The world is calling us to listen in new and old ways to connect with the land and each other for personal and collective healing. We are being called to show up in…
Read MoreYoung Adults Nature Based Rite of Passage
You are a young person in this world, with childhood behind you, no longer a teenager, you have aged into the phase of young adulthood. Are you an adult? How? When? Why? What does being an adult mean to you? Who are you at your core? What are your gifts, your callings, your contributions to…
Read MoreThe Elder’s Journey: The Four Shields of Elderhood for Women
Throughout the ages, elder women have enjoyed sitting in circle to weave the rich tapestries of their stories, stories that continued to warm and inspire people across time and culture.
What about us, now, in our time? As women in all stages of growing into our greater years, there is a growing passion and a commitment to tell our own stories
Read MoreCA Women’s Vision Fast
Perhaps you are one of the many women called to this ceremony. Maybe it is time to move deeper into the questions: What is asked of me? How do you source myself? How do I recognize the ancient myths guiding my life? What is drawing me toward the threshold? A descent, incubation, or an emergence? Is this a time of letting go or a time to reclaim? What do I offer in service to the greater?
Read MoreCA Mirroring the Four Shields of Human Nature: The Art of Storytelling and Listening
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.
Read MoreCO Mirroring the Four Shields of Human Nature: The Art of Story Telling and Listening
Who is this miracle speaking to me? And who is this miracle listening? What amazingness are we creating? Out of gray matter a star spark of thought leaps between synapses into the air, and pours through gray matter, into my heart: how can I not listen generously? ~Marilyn Nelson The shields of human nature turn…
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