Winter Mojo
“To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake,
it is necessary to stand out in the cold.”
— Aristotle
Winter Mojo
Wednesdays November 26- December 17
Inspired by the living landscapes, animals and seasons of southern Saskatchewan, and based in integral education, eco-psychology, wisdom traditions 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 to deepen into the magic and medicine of our longest season— to slow down, go within, and experience a sense of resilient aliveness, wonder and quiet joy.
Through readings, discussions, mindfulness and expressive arts exercises out in nature, we’ll explore our innate capacity for presence and connection. We’ll cultivate a felt sense of inter-relationships of inner and outer landscapes, moving away from the idea of a self that is somehow separate from it all.
Using the expressive arts—movement, sound, word and image-making, we’ll participate in playful 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.
No artistic or meditative experience is necessary—only a willingness to slow down, be present, and to engage your winter experience with curiousity.
This course — its exercises, resources, and shared time — is designed to invite spaciousness, sacred presence, and nourishing connection into your days. It’s not meant as one more thing to add to your to-do list.
Forget the pressure to perform or achieve; this is an invitation to step away from “machine mind” and the overwhelm of our times. This is a gentle invitation into a experiencing of the magic and medicine available all around us, all the time, right where we are.
What participants of other courses 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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This course was rich and illuminating in so many different ways! The combination of mindfulness practices, creative exercises, readings, and experiential learnings were stimulating and always surprising. This course is for anyone who wants to enhance their connection to the natural world.
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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.
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I thoroughly appreciated this course time. It was supportive and grounding, with homework options that really inspired me and encouraged me along the way. I feel re-reminded of the importance of being more connected to nature and the wisdom it offers us if we slow down and listen.
What you can expect
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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.
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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 or performance—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.
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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.
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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.
Facilitation & inspiration
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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 invite greater connection with the more-than-human world. It is Sophia’s basic 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.
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To this course 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.
Staci Schaitel (link to my bio page)
Early bird registration until November 5 | $295
Final registration November 19 | $325
“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