The old story is no longer true. Your next phase is not yet clear.

You are perched upon a threshold, confronted with a fateful step.

Standing on the edge of this cliff, the vast canyon of your future stretches further than the eye can see.

You know you must descend.

• Yet another relationship is crumbling. Different person, same pattern. This cannot happen again.
• Your job is just a job. You feel stagnant, uninspired. The breaking point is fast-approaching (or already passed).
• You know you're meant for something more, but modern life is crushing your soul. The pressure is becoming unbearable.

There is no way forward but to find the other side — however there are many twists & turns, wild creatures and life-changing choices to navigate on the way.

Are you ready for the journey?

Do you have a map & compass? Do you have a flashlight? Good shoes?

Do you have a trustworthy companion to help you make sense of all the peril, power & profundity?

"Now you must go out into your heart as if onto a vast plain..."

— Rainer Maria Rilke

Things are changing.

Your external world is offering provocations — stronger & stronger hints it is time for a realignment as your inner world evolves.

You are ready, but...

• You are already doing the work, have been in therapy, gone to workshops and intensives, but still feel stuck in the same old spot, trapped by repeating patterns, and are longing for a significant and lasting shift in your personal center of gravity;
• You are haunted by past regrets, active resentments and a general discontent with the way things are (personally, collectively or both), and are skeptical that you can ever transcend the weight of these burdens;
• You are navigating a major (or minor) shift in who you know yourself to be, and surviving daily life is just too chaotic to even contemplate abstract concepts like soul and purpose.

The call to adventure comes in many forms. 

Do you hear it?

"The mountains are calling, and I must go..."

— John Muir

“Our wild minds possess astonishing resources, untapped potentials and depths that we might not even know exist until we discover how to access them, cultivate their powers, and eventually integrate them into our everyday lives.”

— Brian Stafford

"The cave you fear to enter contains the treasure you seek." 

— Joseph Campbell

Wild Mind Guidance is not for everyone.

I promise it will be powerful, but also provocative and often uncomfortable. Certain prominent parts of your current identity will not necessarily survive the journey.

If that sounds terrible, terrifying, the last thing you would ever want, that is absolutely okay.

However, if you find something alluring about the psycho-spiritual dangers inherent in such an adventure, I encourage you to trust that attraction.

Nervousness is a common symptom when standing on the precipice of something profoundly important.

It would be weird were there not some trepidation upon pursuing this path.

What do you think? How do you feel?

Details & Rhythm

Wild Mind Guidance is a 13-month program consisting of 27 one-on-one sessions, combined with group courses and optional/recommended in-person immersions.

How It Works

• You and I meet for 72 minutes every other week, including special intake and outtake sessions at the start and end of our adventure together.
• You are enrolled in four group programs throughout the year, with instant and ongoing access to all course material:
  • Time Craft (January-February-March)
  • Space Craft (April)
  • Mind Craft (June-July-August)
  • Dream Craft (October-November)
• You also have access to several prerecorded programs:
  • The Essence of Ayurveda
  • Holistic Mental Health Starter Kit
  • Internal Family Solar Systems
• You are invited to up-to-three In-Person Adventures, responsible only for the cost of room & board: 
  • Circadian Rhythm Reset (Spring)
  • The Wild One (Summer)
  • The Dream Maker (Winter)
• In addition to our regularly scheduled meetings, you have access to:
  • The Ecotone Academy Commons, populated with fellow seekers traveling their own evolutionary path;
  • My personal cell phone number and dedicated email address for reflections, questions and ongoing guidance in between live sessions

The Tools We Use

This journey is fully customized to your unique circumstances. We employ a comprehensive set of accurate maps to guide the journey and move your compass needle as needed.

• The Nature-Based Map of the Human Psyche — based on the work of Bill Plotkin and the Animas Valley Institute, this is the primary map guiding our Wild Mind work. According to Bill, "the Nature-Based Map of the Human Psyche is, among other things, a comprehensive inventory of what can be right about a person, a ‘shadow’ version of mainstream psychology’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), a list of what can go wrong with people.”
• The Ecocentric Human Development Wheel — another map made by Plotkin that we use to illuminate the larger cycles of evolution that define a human life -- from childhood through adolescence to adult- and elder-hood.
• Internal Family Systems — a systemic approach to internal parts work, IFS recognizes the mind as a diverse ecosystem inhabited by a variety of beings in dynamic relationship with one another. Befriending your inner critic, reassuring your inner child and empowering your authentic Self are vital tasks.
• Ayurveda — a timeless system of nature-based medicine focused on your capacity to properly digest, receive nutrients and metabolize the waste of all that you take in, including food, information, emotions, social media, societal influences, etc, etc.
• Astronomy & Astrology — in the process of soul-level evolution, it is helpful to have an accurate understanding of your place in the cosmos. From tracking the impact of solar & lunar cycles to recognizing the universal archetypes that animate your individual incarnation, we connect the micro to the macro as a means to develop a deep sense of belonging within the web of all beings.

What It Looks Like

• Inquiry
  • We are on a quest for better questions. We are not looking for answers, but responses — to be in conversation with our inner and outer worlds in an ongoing and dynamic manner. We use a variety of tools & techniques for accurate self-inquiry and pattern recognition skills in order to illuminate the defining themes of your life and discern what the world is asking of you right now.
• Illuminations
  • We have a variety of psycho-spiritual treasure maps at our disposal. Over the years, these have proved to reliably lead to the gold buried in the recesses of your soul. You are all-but-guaranteed to encounter new perspectives, new insights and new understandings that will usher in a whole new paradigm of how you understand yourself in relationship with the more-than-human world. Some of these revelations will be shocking, uncomfortable, ugly, repulsive. Some of them will be divine, inspiring, revelatory, empowering. We don't much differentiate between good or bad — it's all equally useful for our evolutionary adventure.
• Invitations
  • The practical applications of our work together consists of a variety of nature-based invitations and "experimental threshold crossings." Based on what we discover along the way, I will offer things like journal prompts, meditative activities, guided wanders in wild places, dream craft practices and an assortment of actions on the edge of your comfort zone (singing karaoke, approaching an attractive person, communicating courageously with a loved one, or skinny dipping in the ocean at night, for example). These experiments provide valuable information about who you're becoming (or not) and serve as cairns to mark our path.

The Process

• Interest
  • You have carefully read through this whole page. It has sparked something in you. You recognize yourself as standing on a precipice of something important but mysterious. You feel like Wild Mind Guidance might be just the thing you need right now, just the thing you've been searching for (consciously or not).
• Intake
  • You fill out the Self-Assessment form found below. This will take some time and careful reflection. This is the first phase of the adventure. The mere act of responding to these questions may be sufficient to support your next steps. Submission of the form informs me that you have the minimum amount of commitment to the process necessary to explore further.
• Initial Session
  
  • Upon submission of the Self-Assessment form, you will be invited to schedule an initial session. This is not a sales call, nor does it count as one of the 27 sessions included in the program. This is a time for us to explore your journey, learn more about one another, feel each other out and determine if we're a good fit and mutually agree whether or not we want to embark on this big adventure together.
• Initiation
  • If it all aligns and we agree to move forward, we'll sign the contracts of mutual commitment, sort out the financial arrangements and schedule our first official session.
    
    
  • NOTE: this mutual enthusiasm and commitment is of vital importance. If we are to work together, it represents a significant investment of both our time & energy. Due to the intensive nature of this work, I never invite more than six individuals at a time into the process. This ensures I can offer each person the depth of personal attention necessary without overexerting or exhausting myself.

Sound good? Let's go.