Rewilding

Erica Berry - Wovles and the stories we tell about fear. Episode 24

Art by Cille Vengberg <3 - Check her work out here

In this episode I have been so blessed to have a conversation with Erica Berry, author of the book Wolfish- Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear’.

This is a brilliant book that I highly recommend. Ever since putting it down, I knew I had to talk with her some how. And here we are.

We dive into the impact of consuming a constant stream of fear-based stories. From the overwhelming amount of news and information focused on fear and trauma that bombards us in today's world. But also the stories that are ancient. The ancient fear stories that we told, and heard, for many reasons.

We talk about wolves and the history of out of proportion fear that has existed around this beautiful animal.

All of this conversation centered around Erica’s study with wolves, collective and personal fear and what emerges with that - love.

I think there’s something beautiful in actually thinking about the idea of a lone wolf as someone looking still for connection and actually being vulnerable.
— Erica Berry

About Erica Berry

Erica  is a writer and teacher based in her hometown of Portland, Oregon. Her essays appear in publications such as the GuardianThe New York TimesYale ReviewThe Atlantic, and Orion, and her first book, Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell about Fear, was published by Flatiron/Macmillan in 2023.  She is currently an Associate Fellow at the Attic Institute for Arts and Letters and a writing instructor with Literary Arts in Portland.


Find her online

Instagram @ericajberry  

www.ericaberry.com.



Woniya Thibeault - Never alone. Episode 23

Artist: Cille Vengberg - find her here

In this episode, I speak with Woniya Thibeault who appeared on the show "Alone" and was the first woman to win a season.

Woniya joined two seasons of the show. First lasting 73 days alone in the wild on the brink of starvation. And won the second season ‘Frozen’, as the first woman in ‘Alone’ show history. It felt even more special to speak to her, as she won the show on my birth land of Labrador.

We talk about shares her experience in Labrador and the similarities and differences between that location and the Northwest Territories. Woniya reflects on the importance of self-care and the societal pressures around winning and money.

She has such a special way of speaking about the land and how it held her through her time there.

I hope you enjoy what she has to offer as much as I did.

“Usually big, tough men with bulging muscles with a bunch of military training. I was that small woman coming at it with a really, really different perspective”
— Woniya Thibeault episode 23
 

Woniya Thibeault is a naturalist, craftsperson, and ancestral skills instructor, whose passion is inspiring and empowering people to live their wildest, freest, most abundant lives. She accomplished this through teaching land-based living skills such as those our ancestors used, and nature connection practices. While never describing herself as a survivalist, she is best known for being the first woman to win a solo survival wilderness challenge on the History Channel’s Alone.



{CONVERSATIONS WITH THE EARTH} RIVER SPIRIT

THE SERIES 'CONVERSATIONS WITH THE EARTH' IS A COLLECTION OF ENCOUNTERS BETWEEN HUMANS AND THE WILD. THEY EMERGE FROM THE MINI COURSE 'HOW TO BECOME INVISIBLE IN A WORLD THAT DEMANDS TO SEE EVERYTHING' IN THE COURSE THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE SPECIAL NATURE ENCOUNTERS THROUGH ESSAY, PICTURES, POETRY OR OTHER EXPRESSIONS. THEY ARE CONTINUOUSLY PUBLISHED HERE ON THE WEBSITE.


River spirit

Spirit of the river, clear and pure, flows with ease and beauty. No obstacles too difficult for her to overcome and she does so firmly but tender. Her gentle sounds are soft and soothing, whispering “let go”.

She welcomes me with joy and laughter, playfully caressing my naked body as I step into her cleansing, fresh waters.

Here I fell at home, a daughter of the river.

by Sigrid Fay


Kinship and Foraging Stories with Gavin Van Horn

Last year I bought the book series ‘Kinship, Beloning in a World of Relations’. Weaving words, poems, wisdom from some of my favorite artists and authors. Gavin’s introduction resonated deeply. Our longing for nature experience to be sensational. I believe that too. We may pass so much by due to this.

I was so excited that he agreed to speak with me, about his work, kinship and belonging. As I listened back, there was so much more I wanted to ask and uncover. It’s always that way it seems.

Gavin’s way of speaking about nature and his experience has a special tone and felt sense. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

About Gavin

Dr. Gavin Van Horn is Executive Editor at the Center for Humans and Nature and leads the Book Series for the Center for Humans and Nature Press. His writing is an entangled, ongoing conversation between humans, our nonhuman kin, and the animate landscape. He is the co-editor, with Robin Wall Kimmerer and John Hausdoerffer, of the five-volume series, Kinship: Belonging in a World of Relations; and the author of The Way of Coyote: Shared Journeys in the Urban Wilds.



He currently resides in the ancestral lands of the Northern Chumash people in San Luis Obispo, California. You might find him gazing out at ocean waves hoping to spot sea otters, digging his toes deep into beach sand, staring up through flickering manzanita or live oak leaves, inhaling bay laurel, or turning feathers, stones, or clam shells between his fingers.



Find Gavn Van Horn and the kinship series here:

www.storyforager.com.

https://www.humansandnature.org/


Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/humansandnature/

https://www.instagram.com/storyforager/

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Discovering the cracks in the mirror with Bayo Akomolafe

Most often we talk about the cracks being where the light comes in. In this conversation with Bayo Akomolafe, he says “Sometimes mirrors rupture and cracks start to emerge. And then our images start to get distorted. And in those would could despair and seek to polish the mirror back to it’s shininess again. Or we could use in a different ethical move, use the cracks to seek out the darknesses, the shadows the cracks occlude”

This conversation has invited me to look at those in my mirror. Where I try to polish and where I accept the invitation. In the broader scale where we in West are so busy polishing that our arms are falling off. It takes some breathing deeply and a commitment to not turn away.

I had so much emotion running through my veins as he spoke, words fell short and felt that as well. He is an important voice of our day. In his words, poetry and in the way those ask me as the receiver to reflect!

Please let us know what you take away from this conversation.

Listen here:

About Bayo:

Bayo Akomolafe (Ph.D.), rooted with the Yoruba people in a more-than-human world, is the father to Alethea and Kyah, the grateful life-partner to Ije, son and brother. A widely celebrated international speaker, posthumanist thinker, poet, teacher, public intellectual, essayist, and author of two books,

These Wilds Beyond our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity’s Search for Home (North Atlantic Books) and We Will Tell our Own Story: The Lions of Africa Speak, Bayo Akomolafe is the Chief Curator of The Emergence Network and host of the online postactivist course, ‘We Will dance with Mountains’.

Where to find him:

www.bayoakomolafe.net

www.emergencenetwork.org

Resources mentioned:

Feminist Scholar Karen Barad

Bayo on Facebook


Melting the ice in the heart of man with Angaangaq

This interview is special to me. I got to sit with elder and storyteller Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq from Icewisdom.com.

He is a shaman, traditional healer, storyteller and carrier of the Qilaut (winddrum), whose family belongs to the traditional healers of the Far North from Kalaallit Nunaat, Greenland. His name means ‘The Man Who Looks Like His Uncle’. Since he was a child he was trained by his family- especially by his Grandmother Aanakasaa – for becoming a shaman. The spiritual task given by his mother is: “Melting the Ice in the Heart of Man”.


The conversation started very personal, about his visit to the tiny town where I was born, North West River - Labrador. I haven’t met many who have been there. The conversation took off from there, with the question of ‘What is the spiritual significance of climate change’.

He is warm, full of heart and wisdom. I hope you enjoy his words. He closed our talk with a song. It still sits in my body.

LISTEN HERE:

Find his work here:

https://icewisdom.com/

Donate to the Healing Center - Healing Center - Aanakasaap Illua - Icewisdom - EN - Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq

The Body and Envisioning a New World with Stefana Serafina ☾ 14

Oh my has this episode been a long time coming. But it is landing here at just the right time.

My dear friend and mentor Stefana Serafina is our guest today. Her work has transformed my life. The way I live in my body and what I experience because of the intimate relationship with its language.

It became a very rich conversation about body, my body, your body, the body as the extension of Earth. .

A conversation and reflection about the risk of not including our bodies (again!) in the visioning for the new world that might be shaping with this crisis. 

About the body having to be the guide and the way in this hopeful emergence of a renewed human race. 

I’m so excited to share her work with you! We would love to hear what you take away from this episode.

ABOUT STEFANA:

Stefana Serafina, M.A., is an embodiment educator, writer, and embodied empowerment facilitator based in the San Francisco Bay. She is recognized for her unique and multi-faceted approach to body–based self–discovery and transformation.

She is the founder of Intuitive Body and Dance ©, which has grown into an international platform providing resources, experiences, and education for returning to our bodies’ inherent intelligence

For over a decade, Stefana has been teaching and facilitating transformative, movement-based embodiment in California, Europe, Central America, and online, and developing the Deep–Body model that is at the foundation of the work.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

My Grandmother's Hands : Racialized Trauma and the Pathways to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies - Resmaa Menakem

The Body Keeps the Score : Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma - Bessel van der Kolk

My bodies, My earth - Ruby Gibson

Waking the Tiger - Peter Levine

 

FIND STEFANAS WORK HERE:
https://www.intuitivedance.org

Plant Whispering with Rachel Corby ☾ 13

Well well well, back again with a new episode for you. This time with a woman I love dearly. Rachel Corby is a very special teacher, and I’ve had the privilege to have her teach courses 2 years in a row.

In this episode we will be talking about working with plants. About what plant whispering means and how this work is more important today than ever. She is a very experienced and respectful teacher - to the plants and students and her wisdom runs deep.

ABOUT RACHEL CORBY
Rachel Corby is a plant whisperer, medicine woman and organic permaculture gardener. Rachel has been working with plants and their healing properties since having her eyes opened to the incredible healing world of plants whilst working on a volunteer project in Guatemala back in 1998.

Rachel has been teaching remedy making and how to make more spiritual connections with plants since 2006. She runs workshops, online courses and retreats teaching these skills and encouraging the rewilding process. She is the author of the book, Rewilding Yourself; Becoming Nature. 

GO FOLLOW RACHEL HERE:

FACEBOOK

INSTAGRAM

WEBSITE

Sacred Storytelling with Leah Lamb ☾ 12

Welcome, welcome, welcome. If you are returning you know that this episode has been a long time coming. If you are here for the first time, thank you for being here. But to all welcome to the new home of ‘The Becoming Nature Podcast Show’. 

I can’t wait to bring you new interviews and converstations. I can’t wait to continue connecting with you all. I can’t wait to see what this new Podcast home can bring. ENJOY TODAY’S episode. <3

I’m excited about bringing a new episode to you and this interview was fun to do. This conversation is with Leah Lamb. She is a storyteller, a writer and thinker. An activist. Last year I joined her course and dived in to the world of storytelling and storytellers from around the world. This art is revolutionary and we are all storytellers. So what stories are we telling? Listening to? And trusting?

In this episode talk about: 

☾What a storyteller is today

☾What a storyteller’s role was years ago

☾What a scared story and a zombie story are

☾We talk about how story can change our  ways

☾We talk about how the current story about climate isn’t helpful

And so much more… 

Please enjoy her words of wisdom. 

About Leah

Leah Lamb is a writer and producer. She is the creator of Soul Stories and the Speak the Spark, storytelling for a new paradigm, program. 

Her work plays with a lexicon that weaves myths, archetypes, and the hero’s journey into our modern world. She’s been a voice for the environment as a producer and host of the green channel at Current TV, and have written for Fast Company, Vice, Spirituality & Health Magazine, National Geographic News Watch, GOOD, The Huffington Post, and the Discovery Channel’s Planet Green. 

Also Leah’s first novel, The Whale Dreamer, is almost ready for you to read. 

Where to find more about her work: 

www.leahlamb.com

www.speakthespark.com

ALSO MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE:

Stephen Jenkinson - listen to my interview with Stephen here…

Find his work here - Orphan Wisdom

Holistic Survival with Luke McLaughlin ☾ 9

I was so excited to interview Luke, and now get to share it with you. The way he shares his knowledge and skills is super inspiring. His love for this Earth poors through the screen.

His mission is close to mine and I feel honored to ham him on the show. The work speaks to our cells and hands more than the modern ways of comfort. But it is a language more and more are beginning to speak and learn.

Listen in on our down to Earth talk about earth based skills, survival in a modern World and what it means to live close to the nature of being human.

Also get is fire starting record… you may want to take the challenge. ;)

About Luke:

Luke McLaughln is a naturalist, teacher, rewilder, mentor, survivalist, and founder of Holistic Survival School. Luke has committed his life to mastering and teaching ancestral and indigenous living skills in order to help people find their balance and connection to the Natural World.  Luke learned his skills working at a primitive wilderness therapy program in the West Desert of Utah.  With over 500 days on the trail, Luke has mentored hundreds of people in the wilderness and learned how Earth skills teach us vital life lessons. Furthermore, Luke has witnessed first hand how nature connection helps bring about growth, health, and vitality to everyone’s life.

Luke combines humor, knowledge, and patience to create an easy-going, yet informative experience. He is dedicated to meeting people where they are at, with love and compassion in order to help foster a new (actually old) way of being human. 

Go follow Luke and his work here:

Instagram - it is a treat

His site <3

And youtube channel

Wild Power - exploring your cycle with Alexandra Pope ☾ 7

Today’s guest is Alexandra Pope.

Alexandra is the co founder of redschool.net along side Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer. She is also the author of several books including 'The Wild Genie: The Healing Power of Menstruation', 'The Women’s Quest Workbook' and co author of 'The Pill: are you sure it’s for you' and their book Wild Power 

Alexandra is a women’s leadership coach and educator at the forefront of the emerging new field of menstruality, exploring woman’s psycho-spiritual journey from menarche to menopause and beyond.


5 years ago I followed a calling and did a menstrual, women’s body training with a beautiful teacher Laila Torsheim here in Denmark. It became confirmation of so many truths in my body, that I simply did not have a fully developed language for. She introduced us to our lovely guest today. A woman and a mission worth knowing. 

I had the privilege of working a little closer with them during the launch of their book ‘Wild Power’ and it is a must read for women wanting to get intimate with their cycle. I will leave a link in the show notes. 


To learn more about their amazing work go here: www.redschool.net