We Belong Out Here!

FEATURED PROGRAM

The Rewilding Summit

With Micah Mortali, Amos Clifford, Cat Bigney, Leah Penniman, Shawn Stephens and more!

November 21-24, 2024

Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health
Stockbridge, MA

What is the earth saying to us? How can we learn to listen deeply and respond with wisdom? 

Join author of Rewilding: Meditations, Practices, and Skills for Awakening in Nature, Micah Mortali; Native American culturalist, Shawn Stevens; spiritual intuitive, Zelda Hotaling; author of Your Guide to Forest Bathing: Experience the Healing Power of Nature, Amos Clifford; and seasoned survivalist, Taz Ramos, for a four-day summit on the Kripalu campus—the ancestral homelands of the Mohican people.

Filter through the noise in the media, sit together in council with earth elders and leaders, and nurture your personal connection with the earth as you deepen your knowledge of:

  • Land stewardship and caretaking

  • Forest bathing and nature meditation

  • Ancestral skills and Indigenous wisdom 

Gather with others who feel called to attune to the “more than human world" and return home a more mindful ambassador of the planet.

UPCOMING PROGRAMS

UPCOMING PROGRAMS

Mindful Outdoor Guide Certification, Level 2

Aligning with Nature

With Micah Mortali, Katie Hagel, and Shawn Stevens

October 18-27, 2024

Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health
Stockbridge, MA

Aligning with Nature is a nine-day intensive that offers a profound opportunity for mindful outdoor guides to deepen their relationship with the “more than human world” through the lens of the Great Elements, Ancestral Skills, and deep communion with place. 

As a KSMOL guide, you will learn to

  • Integrate fire into your mindful outdoor experiences, both as a focal point for meditation and as an ally for carving your own wooden tools and utensils.  

  • Carve your own bow-drill kit and be initiated into the ancient art of birthing fire through friction by Mohican Tribal Representative and KSMOL faculty member Shawn Stevens.

  • Fashion a safe, dry, and cozy shelter using only what they gather from the forest.

  • Harvest and treat water using fire, wood, and stones—a valuable skill for aligning with nature. 

Learning to guide in deep reciprocity with place means remembering to listen deeply and be guided. To this end, you will spend two days going offsite to “Places of Power and Refuge” near the Kripalu campus, where guides will have the opportunity to practice exploring unique, energetic qualities.

Note Upon successful completion of KSMOL Level 1, you are eligible to register for Level 2. No additional application is necessary.

Winter Solstice Retreat

Nature. Peace. Connection

December 20-22, 2024

Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health
Stockbridge, MA

The winter solstice is a natural time of retreat—a season of coziness, rest, reflection, and invigorating time outdoors. In winter, bears move into hibernation, trees pull their energy deep into their roots, and earth-based cultures tell stories, craft, and live off stored energy.  

Align with the beauty and tranquility of winter as you:

  • Enjoy guided Mindful Outdoor Experiences. 

  • Explore the Nordic philosophy of hygge, which is centered around comfort and nature.

  • Learn about the Celtic Wheel of the Year and Ayurvedic wisdom for finding balance.

  • Experience outdoor fire meditations and indoor meditations.

Come connect more deeply with yourself and the world around you as we mark the longest night of the year. ​Sink into quiet, peace, and rest—and heal your relationship with winter as you remember how to receive the many gifts of the season.

Winter Forest Bathing

January 10-12, 2025

Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health
Lenox, MA

AN INVITATION TO CONNECT WITH THE SEASON

The winter woods are alive with wonder. Frozen waterfalls, evergreen trees wrapped in snow, and the cold, refreshing air make all your senses stand at attention.

Join a journey into the enchanting realm of the winter woods at Kripalu this January. You will:

  • Explore a variety of nature meditations while enjoying the soothing warmth of a campfire.

  • Discover practices and skills to help you connect with the earth.

  • Connect with the stark beauty, silence, and stillness of winter.

  • Learn to read animal tracks in the snow.

Return home knowing how to embrace all that winter has to offer.

Befriending Winter — A Hygge Retreat

January 23-26, 2025

Sterling Forest Lodge
Stowe, VT

The danish word, Hygge is about simplicity, presence, and connection. It’s a way of life that celebrates nature, and the simple pleasures of life. Wintertime is a particularly good time to work with hygge, because it also involves coziness.

Hygge is the root of the word “hug” after all.

Imagine a long snowshoe through a winter forest, the trees heavy with snow.
Imagine the quiet of the earth and the crunch of the snow.
Imagine how good it will feel to come inside and warm up by the fireplace and enjoy big mugs of hot cocoa.
Imagine restorative yoga in the lodge with lots of blankets and cushions, and plenty of time for rest and reflection.
Peppermint tea and lots of time in the sauna and rolling in the snow if you feel adventurous.

Winter can be a season of deep rest, inwardness, community, crafting, and outdoor adventures. With no bugs and snow on the ground, the world is transformed and if we wear the right clothes, another beautiful world opens to us.

Together we will:

  • Explore the magical forests around the lodge on an Epic half-day snowshoe

  • Enjoy deep rest and relaxation through restorative yoga and yoga nidra

  • Learn fun winter survival skills like shelter building and fire craft so you will always feel prepared

  • Learn about animal tracking and other fun ways to connect nature in wintertime

  • Enjoy Hydro and sauna therapy in SFL’s legendary sauna

  • Enjoy storytelling and song around the fire with friends

Beyond Survival

Earth Skills, Connection, and the Healing Power of Outdoor Living

March 30-April 4, 2025

Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health
Stockbridge, MA

DEEPEN YOUR CONNECTION TO NATURE

Dive deep into the essential skills of shelter building, water gathering and treatment, fire birthing, and the awareness of a reverent hunter–gatherer.  

Join Alone Season 10 contestant, Taz Ramos, and author of Rewilding and KSMOL founder, Micah Mortali, and embark on a transformative, week-long journey surrounded by the pristine beauty of the Kripalu forests and fields. Step away from the chaos of modern life, rekindle your innate bond with the elements of existence, and explore your ancestral skills. 

You will learn:  

  • The sacred order of survival  

  • Safe bushcraft tool use—including knife, axe, and baton 

  • The art of birthing fire 

  • Instinctive and traditional archery 

  • Ways to gather and treat water

  • How to build a shelter  

The retreat offers a unique opportunity to rediscover the joy of human community, foster authentic communication, and experience heartfelt sharing through the Practice of Council. Return home renewed, with sensory awakening practices to deepen your connection and awareness to the outside world.  

COMING SOON!

School of Rewilding

Over the last 20 years I have guided thousands of people to awaken their connection with the earth and their wild, free, creative selves in the outdoors. Whether you want to learn to master the art of birthing fire, to shoot the bow and arrow, or to simply relax and connect deeply with the earth, The School of Rewilding has courses and one on one coaching that can help you get there.