Woodland Wanderings
a new online retreat from The Way of The Buzzard
Saturday 24th September 2022
9:30am - 5:00pm (UK time)
Woodland Wanderings
a new online retreat from The Way of The Buzzard
Saturday 24th September 2022
9:30am - 5:00pm (UK time)
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everthing better.” Albert Einstein
Find your focus and rebalance your life at the Autumn Equinox
At the Autumn Equinox we are poised,
balanced between two polarities.
The Summer is slipping away and we begin to say goodbye to the long days warm sun on our skin. Ahead of us is the promise of the longer nights, restful times by the fireside and the return of the light once again at the Winter Solstice.
When we pause and look around us, we will notice that nature is doing much to prepare for the months ahead. The woodlands and hedgerows are bustling with activity. Animals and birds are gathering of caches of food and layering up their winter fat reserves.
The trees are drawing their lifeforce from their leaves back into their roots. The leaves are starting to colour up with golds, yellows and browns, the berries are ripening and the nuts are falling to the ground. The harvest is in full swing too. Much of the wheat, barley and oats have been gathered and the attention is turned to picking fruits and harvesting the vegetables. gather in the fruits and vegetables.
Just as in nature, life can be very busy at this time.
The pace quickens after the return from summer holidays. A new school year has begun, and the workplace demands often ramp up in the run up to Christmas. There can be so much to do and it is easy to get pulled away and distracted from what is important. It can be hard to complete tasks and achieve those goals we set ourselves earlier in the year.
The Autumn Equinox is a great to regain our focus. It is the time when the sun rises and sets exactly 12-hours apart and so this moment is a point of balance. The Equinox reminds us that amongst the busyness of life, we too can pause for just a moment.
We can reflect back on the past year and evaluate where we are up to with those goals we set back in the winter. This is good time to celebrate what we have achieved. We can find our drive to finish those things we started earlier in the year. We can address any old patterns that are holding us back from getting things done and find our motivation if we’re feeling any inertia.
Our day-long Autumn Equinox
online retreat
We are holding this retreat at this next turn in the wheel of the year, just one day after the Autumn Equinox. It will be an opportunity to help you immerse in the Equinox energies to reflect on your year so far and focus on what you need to complete ahead of the winter months.
We are going to run away to the forest together. There will be an immersive, meditative video of the autumnal woodlands and all the richness found there. We will lead guided activities to help you evaluate your year so far and focus on what you need to do over the coming few months leading to winter.
You will tune in to the hidden language of the forest and draw strength and wisdom from the trees. Specifically, you will work with Birch, as the tree of beginnings, nourishment and cleansing to help restore you at this time of Equinox balance and enable you to step into the coming weeks with a fresh outlook and renewed vigour.
There will be shamanic journeying, creativity time, reflective time and nature time, and a ceremony to set your intentions going forward.
We will run this event through Zoom. It will be recorded, so if you cannot make it on the day, you will have the replay within the following days. You will also have ongoing access to the recording and all the resources that go alongside this event, including the nature connection video and the printable workbook, so you can revisit the content whenever you like.
Many of you might have attended our online in-person events before. When we gather, even for just a few hours, remarkable things can happen. We create space for the messages to come through and an opportunity to draw on the range of spiritual tools available through the shamanic and nature connection toolkit.
This daylong experience will allow you to deepen into exploring the tools we use on our spiritual path. During the day, we will work with three of the four foundation topics we teach in our Mystery School: tree spirit medicine, shamanic journeying and aligning with the natural cycles, and some of the mini-course topics: ceremony and deep nature connection.
come and join us to:
Why learn from us?
Between us, Jason and Nicola, we have trodden this path for many decades, finding our way forward to a new way of being in the world.
We have learned how to hear the quiet voices within us and from the Otherworlds, guiding us along the way, and from this we have moved from being in stagnant and unfulfilling work to fully embracing our creativity and discovering the true depths of ourselves and the joy that this can bring us.
Because of this we are excited and passionate about working with others who desire to come back to the earth and carve a new path for both themselves and the wider community.
We are delighted to be able to bring you this special experience as we drop into winter together, drawing on the age-old practices of Shamanism and nature connection to seek our spiritual guidance.
What others say
Here are some reflections from participants who have attended our online retreats in the past:
Before the online retreat I felt stuck and unable to move
“Before the online retreat I felt stuck and unable to move. The weekend sounded really interesting and something that I wanted to do.
I had an amazing time and thoroughly enjoyed every single minute, having re-discovered me, thank you!
I have loved learning all about animal and plant medicine, journeying to faraway lands, and exploring my inner creativity which has now burst forth and wants to he acknowledged at last.”
Hilary
I feel so glad to have a place where I can go to plug in and recharge
“I have been feeling very up and down emotionally and I wanted some time for me to receive.
After the weekend I felt peaceful, restored, stronger, grateful, creative and ready to face the week of work again. Thank you so much.
I have been feeling gratitude throughout this week for the special space that you held/hold for so many of us. I feel so glad to have a place where I can go to plug in and recharge”.
Emma
The weekend was magical, and the space was held well with kindness and care
“Your online event looked interesting, and I liked the idea of a shamanic approach based on our own traditions, myth and landscape and not one that has been imported from another culture.
I was excited to come along and, at the same time, a little nervous as generally I am used to "going" to events rather than online, and so I was unsure what it would be like.
The weekend was magical, and the space was held well with kindness and care. Despite it being online, it worked and had depth. I am very moved and grateful to have been a part of it.”
Rijusiddha
What will the day involve?
This day-long event is rich with content from the shamanic and nature connection toolkit, and it is an opportunity to work with the transition into the autumn of our year.
Activities will include shamanic journeying, nature connection time, ceremony, animal spirit medicine, and tree spirit medicine.
This isn’t a workshop tied to the screen. There will be guided activities to carry out throughout the day, including an extended time out in nature, even if that is your balcony or back yard or garden. And there will be two nature connection videos to transport you into a very different space, bringing the wild into your home.
Here's an outline of our day together
We will start at 9.30am and finish around 5.00pm (UK time).
To settle into the day, we will begin with a grounding meditation and create sacred space by welcoming in the elements
Then, we will flex our creativity through a simple morning practice of reading poetry and allowing our collective words to flow through some creative writing and sharing.
During the morning part of our gathering, we will take stock of the year and what we have achieved and celebrate these. We will then move into woodland time through a specially prepared Earthlight nature connection video created by Jason. We will wrap up the morning session with an activity to focus on what we can clear that might stand in our way of us achieving our goals over these coming few months.
After a break for lunch, there will be a nature-based activity for the first part of the afternoon, tuning in to the messages of the trees. There will be an indoor option for anyone who cannot go outside. Then we will work with the Birch tree and be guided on a shamanic journey to Birch to ask what we might focus on completing as we move towards Samhain and the long nights.
To round off the day, we will hold an intention setting ceremony, drawing on tree spirit medicine, specifically the energy of the Birch.
Throughout the day, you will have the opportunity to interact with the other participants through our private Facebook group and the chat facility in Zoom.
What will the day involve?
This day-long event is rich with content from the shamanic and nature connection toolkit, and it is an opportunity to work with the transition of dropping into winter.
Activities will include shamanic journeying, nature connection time, ceremony, animal spirit medicine, and tree spirit medicine.
This isn’t a workshop tied to the screen. There will be guided activities to carry out throughout the day, including an extended time out in nature, even if that is your balcony or back yard or garden. And there will be two nature connection videos to transport you into a very different space, bringing the wild into your home.
Here's an outline of our day together
We will start at 9.30am and finish around 5.30pm (UK time).
To settle into the day, we will begin with a grounding meditation and create sacred space by welcoming in the elements
Then, we will flex our creativity through a simple morning practice of reading poetry and allowing our collective words to flow through some creative writing and sharing.
During the morning part of our gathering, we will focus on reflecting on the past year. There will be a nature connection video created especially for this workshop and an activity to take part in. We will then move our focus on the season ahead and consider what we are going to take into winter to incubate as we go to ground.
After a break for lunch, there will be a nature-based activity for the first part of the afternoon. Then we will work with animal spirit medicine to seek guidance to help us prepare for the winter ahead. There will be a guided shamanic journey shapeshifting into Bear during this session and a second nature connection video on the theme of ‘going to ground’.
To round off the day, we will hold an intention setting ceremony, drawing on tree spirit medicine, specifically the energy of the Yew.
Throughout the day, you will have the opportunity to interact with the other participants through our private Facebook group and the chat facility in Zoom.
Join us to immerse in the Autumn Equinox energies, drawing on the shamanic and nature connection toolkit.
Reflect on the year so far and focus your attention on what needs to be done ahead of winter.
Spend time with like-minded people in community, getting that retreat experience away but without needing to leave home.
Yes, it will mean investing a little of your time and money and take yourself away from your everyday responsibilities. It may even feel overindulgent and raise a conflict inside you about whether you can justify giving yourself this space and investment.
If you find yourself debating in your mind whether it is right, then try dropping into your body and seeing how it feels. If the idea of coming along feels good, follow that impulse. Our gut feeling rarely lets us down.
Here are some of the words people shared about how they were affected by our previous online retreat:
Lighter, joyful, blown away, happy, uplifted, positive, energised, thankful, blessed, fulfilled, enlightened, elated, creative, relaxed, inspired, revitalised, hopeful, rejuvenated, connected, relaxed, confident, reconnected, focused, whole, balanced, compassionate, peaceful, restored, stronger, grateful, nurtured, belonging, amazing, exhilarated
There are so many benefits to joining us.
Here are our top 5.
A Homecoming
Something happens deep within us when we are in nature. When we still ourselves amongst beauty we can hear ourselves more clearly. We come home. During this day we will drop into nature time together and demonstrate that it is possible to do this without even leaving home.
Seeking answers from the Otherworlds
The ancient techniques of shamanic journeying and deep nature connection have been used by humanity for tens of thousands of years. They are incredible, easy ways to access deep universal wisdom. Why leave it to your limited conscious mind to come up with all the answers!
Embracing Shamanic Tools
Working with shamanic journeying and deep nature connection we will access life-changing tools that our ancestors used for guidance and healing.
Being in Community
Share soulful time with like-minded travellers who, like you, are seeking ways to become more expansive in a different world.
Setting Intentions
Without a clear intention we don’t know where we will be heading, so by deciding this and putting it out there in ceremony, we give ourselves the best chance of realising our dreams.
Now you might be asking 'Is this Woodland Wandering retreat right for me?'
If any of these intentions fit with you we believe you are ready for this experience:
Frequently Asked Questions
Click on the question to see our answer
Do I need any shamanic experience?
What if I can't make all the sessions?
What are the timings for the day?
Do you offer a refund if I change my mind?
Will the retreat be recorded?
What if I can't get outdoors?
Is it even possible to have an online retreat at home?
If you would like any point clarifying, or have any questions you'd like answered please don't hesitate to get in touch. Email us at tina@thewayofthebuzzard.co.uk