The Ecological Self
“To be alive in this beautiful, self-organizing universe –
to participate in the dance of life with senses to perceive it,
lungs that breathe it, organs that draw nourishment from it-
is a wonder beyond words.”
— Joanna Macy
The Ecological Self
Wednesdays October 29- November 19
Inspired by the living landscapes and animals of southern Saskatchewan, integral education, eco-psychology, and the contemplative & expressive arts, this four-week course is intended as a portal to greater intimacy with self, other & the ‘more-than-human’ world. The invitation of the course is a deepening into the felt-experience of belonging and re-membering our place in the family of things. Through readings, discussions, mindfulness and expressive arts exercises in nature, we’ll explore our innate capacity for presence and connection. Moving away from the idea of a separate self, we’ll cultivate the inter-relationships of our inner and outer landscapes.
Cultivating mindful presence we’ll attune to our environment and to embodied experience. Using the expressive arts—movement, sound, and image-making, we’ll participate in creative engagement with the more-than-human world. Eco-psychological reflections, supported by poetry, art, readings, podcasts & video, further support a bridging of the divide from separation to kinship.
Over the course of four weeks we’ll cultivate a felt-sense of belonging to a greater whole & inter-being—engaging plural ways of knowing and being in the world. No artistic or meditative experience is necessary—only a willingness to slow down, be present, and to engage your experience with curiousity.
What course participants are saying
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The experiential activities were my favourite part--getting me outdoors, seeing nature with new eyes and then creating with no expectations, just inspiration. Sharing the experience with others was a highlight.
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Throughout the four weeks, I found myself spending more time outside. Taking time to slow down and create was therapeutic. I appreciate how the poetry and readings helped give language to my own thoughts and feelings.
What you can expect
Weekly gatherings
Each Wednesday for four weeks, we’ll meet for two hours—from 7:00 to 9:00 pm (CST)—gathering virtually via Zoom. In our Wednesday sessions, we’ll engage in guided meditations and expressive arts practices, explore the course materials, and share reflections on the between-session experiential exercises. We’ll be a small, intimate group, exploring individually, in pairs, and collaboratively, creating space for both personal exploration and shared dialogue. This course is intended as less of a ‘training’ and more of a creative dynamic exploration in real time.
Experiential exercises
Between sessions, you’ll be invited to engage in simple, nature-based, creative and meditative exercises. Using the expressive arts and meditative awareness, we’ll explore embodied, intuitive ways of being in relationship with the more-than-human world. The arts practices are not about artistic skill—but rather about giving form to the inner experience. For image-making, whatever materials you have on hand will do. No art or meditation experience is required, only curiosity and openness to being surprised.
Readings, images, poetry, podcasts, videos
Keeping our own lived and deeply felt experiences at the center of our knowing, we’ll draw from a rich variety of resources from Daoism, Buddhism, western mystical and various Indigenous perspectives, as well as from eco-, integral- and depth-psychological perspectives. New terms and concepts are meant to open to different ways of perceiving and to expand ideas of creative possibility. The experiential exercises and resource materials will take about 1-1.5 hours per week to complete.
Plural ways of knowing & being
We’ll engage integral ways of being, knowing, and relating—not limited to the verbal or intellectual, but inclusive of embodied, intuitive, imaginal, and emotional ways of interacting. Our time together will be co-created, opening to a multiplicity of experiences and perspectives.
About the course
Course facilitation
To these offerings I bring over twenty years of Buddhist study & practice, a two year mindfulness teacher training (Greater Good Science Center at the University of California at Berkeley) and over a decade of mindfulness facilitation. In addition to academic and experiential education at the East West Psychology graduate degree program at the California Institute of Integral Arts (CIIS), I have Shiatsu therapy certification as well as training from Emily Carr University of Art + Design.
This course is informed by my practice and the meditation retreats I’ve attended over the years with Sharda Rogell, Mark Coleman (Awake in the Wild), Jack Kornfield, Tara Brach, Joanna Macy (The Work that Reconnects). Further inspiration comes from Thich Nhat Hanh, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, and the many more-than-human teachers that save me daily.
Course inspiration
In my recently completed degree at the California Institute of Integral Studies, I engaged with three courses that directly inform this offering. Dr. Sophia Reinders’ course on Eco-Psychology and the Expressive Arts impressed on me the importance of creative soul expression and its capacity to enter us into direct communion with the more-than-human world. It is Sophia’s course framework that I have adapted here for this offering. Ensouled Animals with Dr. Sara Granovetter, which explored human–animal relations, inspired my final paper on the “Ecological Self” and the concept of inter-being, both of which shape this work. Daoist Life Cultivation with Dr. Jun Wang deepened my sense of the creative potential inherent in animate, non-dual perception, in becoming aware of our inter-relationship with all things. This Ecological Self course draws inspiration from these three courses in particular, and from the program as a whole.
Early bird registration until October 18 | $295
Final registration October 22 | $325
Wednesdays, October 29- November 19, 2025
“You carry Mother Earth within you. She is not outside of you. Mother Earth is not just your environment. In that insight of inter-being, it is possible to have real communication with the Earth, which is the highest form of prayer.”
— Thich Nhat Hanh