An Anima course for deeper connection to self and place, through deepening awareness of the natural world we are a part of – skills for connecting to wherever we are, as well as tools for finding that special home that may be calling to us.

Taught by Jesse Wolf Hardin

Suggested Length: 8 to 12 Weeks

Prerequisites: None (You may want to take the introductory “Journey Begins” in preparation for this and any other courses)

This demanding and fulfilling course helps to further develop our sense of place, expanding all so called levels of awareness through an intensified experiencing of the natural world... no matter where we live.

Increased sense of place and the package of skills provided, are as invaluable for folks in the city as they are for rural homesteaders, and can prove instrumental for teachers, activists, outdoor guides and wilderness educators. Healers and urban foragers among you will practice delving into, bonding with and preserving the places where you gather your herbs and wild foods.

You could call this course foundational, in that the natural world and the specific places where we live form the very foundation of our lives. Place serves as not only the location for our cities and the spot on the planet where we’re reading this, as the soil of our gardens and larger source of all sustenance, the wilderness we sojourn to and the wildness we seek to reclaim in ourselves, the milieu of our choices and the venue for our acts... but also as a lifelong influence on who we are, on the character and characteristics that we develop as we’re growing up, and which principles and purposes we are drawn to as seeking adults. It affords us an education not only about itself and where we are, but lessons revealing and empowering our own natures as well.

In the practice of Anima, we increase awareness and understanding of our selves, others and the larger context, in the process of deliberately deepening our awareness of the natural world and our place within it. Stimulating exploratory questions and real-life assignments are designed to:

• Awaken wonderfully affirming memories of our early connection to the natural world

• Awaken us to the still costly internal wounds caused by any loss of that connection, the destruction of childhood haunts, any later distancing between us and enchanted nature, and the know damaging of wild nature in general

• Define “bioregion” and assign an intimate, hands-on exploration and inventorying of the places and regions, wildlife and weather, medicinal herbs and edible plants, natural and human histories of the places where we live

• Providing tools for our reconnection with the natural world

• Helping us to feel at home wherever we are now, furthering meaningful relationship with our neighborhood yards and watershed, nearby parks and closest wild environs

• Helping us to develop criteria for finding the particular region that might serve us and our purposes best, assisting us in our search for home

• Instigating us to give back to place and nature, through substantial if seemingly personal ways – from husbandry, conservation and restoration to education and activism on its behalf

If you choose to complete this course, you will likely come away with the inspiration and initial skills for greater awareness of and appreciation for the places where we live and work, a sense of where they may belong or be most empowered and at home, and nature awareness perspective and habits that can foster greater awareness of every other kind.

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