Information on locations, covid, cancellation policy, scholarships, billing, and definitions

The following definitions are alive and forever evolving. They can serve as loose guides in better understanding my web content and our work together. I acknowledge that there are many definitions for each word; the definitions that I have included here are ones that I utilize.

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Ecotherapy:

"Healing and growth nurtured by healthy interaction with the earth...representts a new form of psychotherapy that acknowledges the vital role of nature and addresses the human-nature relationship. It takes into account the latest scientific understandings of our universe and the deepest indigenous wisdom. This perspective addresses the critical fact that people are intimately connected with, embedded in, and inseparable from the rest of nature."

- Linda Buzzell and Craig Chalquist, Healing with Nature in Mind

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Life Coaching:

"Partnering with clients in a though-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential...Coaches honor the client as the expert in his or her life and work and believe every client is creative, resourceful and whole...Professional coaching focuses on setting goals, creating outcomes and managing personal change."

-ICF (International Coaching Federation)

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Nature-Connected Coaching (NCC):

"A Professional Coach who strives to guide their client to greater self-awareness, empowerment, and connection to purpose. A NCC also has strong personal connection, respect, and trust in the natural world, natural cycles, and natural processes. A NCC considers Nature to be an active collaborator (or co-guide) in the work with a client...A NCC inherently looks to nature for direction, inspiration, and solutions."

- Earth-Based Institute

 

Mentoring:

A form of guidance in which the mentor has experienced a similar journey to the student, and can offer guidance and wisdom based on their own personal experience. The mentor doesn't simply give the student answers, but rather helps them uncover their own answers.

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Rites of Passage:

"An experience of symbolically passing from one life stage to the next...from the state of 'letting go' to the state oof 'beginning.' The ancients often referred to this passage between the two worlds as a womb or a grave. The rites and ceremonies attendant on this passage were many and varied, depending on culture. Invariably, they provided for the furtherance and preservation of the social order among the people or nation."

 - Vision Fast Handbook, Steven Foster & Meredith Little

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Wilderness Vision Fast Ceremony:

A type of Rites of Passage in which the participant fasts in solitude in the wilderness (in our case, 1-4 days of fasting). This is an ancient ceremony integral to many cultures around the world; Deanna encourages each participant to "make it their own" and bring in their own ancestral wisdom. We understand that fasting from food is not supportive to every body, so Deanna only invites food fasting if it is beneficial to the participant. Other than food, fasting can be from technology, modern comforts, shelter, etc. We involve serious preparation and integration for this ceremony. Like most Rites of Passage journeys, this ceremony is intended to mark life change or transition.

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"A heroic journey, a symbolic ordeal, that occurs in a sacramental region of natural power wherein the hero/ine encounters reflections of his/her life or karma as mirrored by the natural cosmos. On the physical plane this ceremony is an exercise in survival, without the benefit of food. The individual lives in a sensitized state of bodily awareness and feels the connection he/she shares with the elements and living things of the natural world. Bodily states of emptiness and weakness often give rise to emotions and fears concerning personal survival on many levels. The body/psyche responds to the challenge and furnishes the individual with unexpected sources of strength and vitality. On the transpersonal level we quest to seek self-knowledge and meaningful connection with the wisdom of our collective unconscious, and our spiritual nature. This knowledge helps to heal the acculturated split between sacred and profane, and is the basis for the recognition of our physical/spiritual place on this land."

 - Vision Fast Handbook, Steven Foster & Meredith Little

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Ceremony or Ceremonial:

A contained experience (a defined beginning and end) of conscious interaction and presence with the unknown, spirit, or mystery of life. May include an intention, such as severance, letting go, calling in, offering gratitude, celebration, acknowledgment, etc. Earth-based ceremony may include interaction with physical elements (i.e. fire, water, plants, rocks, etc) to serve as symbols, metaphors, and allies for marking intention or prayer.

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Trauma:

"The body/mind/spirit's physiological response to a life-threatening or perceived life-threatening situation that does not fully sequence [release] out of the body."

- Katie Asmus, Somatic Wilderness Therapy Institute

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"Trauma is in the nervous system, not in the event."

- Peter Levine

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Somatic:

Relating to the body, not the mind.

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Soul:

I understand the meaning of "Soul" through my teachings from the Earth-Based Institute, which refers to soul as the core of who you are; your essence. Soul is not judgmental nor has preferences. Rather, Soul is your most conscious, aware, understanding, and neutral state of being.

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Spirit:

"The universal consciousness, intelligence, psyche, or vast imagination that animates the cosmos and everything in it, including us...common synonyms include [Mystery], God, and the non dual."

- Bill Plotkin, the Journey of Soul Initiation

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Community:

All beings (human and other-than-human) that make up our network of connections, friends, and family. We can refer to our larger, global community, or our more localized community.

 

Other-than-human-world:

The world of beings that are not human, such as plants, other animals, etc.