Nature Connection Mentoring Trainings
Enrollment: Please see individual courses for registration status. Please use the Registration Form at the bottom of the page to register.
Introduction to Nature Connection Mentoring Closed.
Designing with Natural Cycles • TBD Closed.
Peacemaking & Restorative Relationships • TBD Closed.
Mentoring & Core Routines of Nature Connection • TBD Closed.
When: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Saturday & 9:00 am – 4:00 pm Sunday
Where: Brattleboro, VT
Who: Adults (Age 18+). Open to all levels of experience.
These trainings are designed for:
- Educators and professionals looking to build their skills and/or develop nature connection programs;
- Individuals looking to deepen nature connection in their own lives;
- Parents looking to foster nature connection within their families and communities;
- Anyone who is curious to learn more about the history and future of this field.
Cost: $185 – 275 sliding scale per training. (True cost is $225 per participant per training.) Scholarship and Reparations Funds available.
Trainings Overview:
Each year Amy Hyatt teaches 4 – 6 weekend trainings in Nature Connection Mentoring. These can be taken as a series or individually.
Introduction to Nature Connection Mentoring
The past twenty years have seen a proliferation of outdoor programs using “nature connection mentoring”— an approach grounded in natural cycles and the strengthening of community through long-term intergenerational mentoring.
This training will introduce nature connection mentoring practices and approaches while also surveying the history and current state of the field. Learn more here.
Designing with Natural Cycles
We can deliberately design how we work, play, and learn together based on cycles in the natural world. Attuning to cycles such as the seasons or the life cycles of our plant and animal neighbors builds vitality and resiliency in ourselves and our communities.
We will explore how you can use natural cycles as a guide for designing aspects of your community and work life.
Peacemaking & Restorative Relationships
Conflict and dissonance are a natural part of ecosystems and human life. We are all familiar with the results of unhealthy conflict— hurt, disconnection, and violence. However, when the system around these conflicts is healthy, creativity and new solutions can emerge. Conflict can birth resilience and unimagined beautiful solutions.
In this training we will learn about different practices for peacemaking and restoring relationships. Central to this exploration is the acknowledgement of the cultural context from which these practices have emerged.
Mentoring & Core Routines of Nature Connection
Consistent direct engagement with the natural world fosters our health and aliveness. Numerous studies have documented how daily time in nature enhances our learning and healing capacities, reduces stress, and can provide insight and creativity in whatever we are doing in our lives. In addition, this daily practice is the sustenance that feeds our mentorship of other people in natural settings.
In this weekend we will delve into many core routine practices, how we can foster them in our daily lives, and how we can mentor and inspire others in these practices.
Instructor Bio
Amy Hyatt has been involved in nature connection mentoring since 2001, when she began as a participant and apprentice. Amy was one of the first women facilitators and leaders of the Art of Mentoring, an intergenerational weeklong workshop in nature connection mentoring. For over 15 years she has been designing and directing youth and adult programs at the Vermont Wilderness School.
In recent years Amy joined the board of the national Nature Connection Network, playing an active role in current movement dialogues around decolonization and anti-racism. Amy is of mixed European ancestry. She grew up with attention on challenging inequalities in race, class, and gender in our everyday lives as well as spending time outside exploring and helping in the family vegetable garden. At age 19, she began overtly encountering Indigenous people who engaged her with everyday issues of colonization, cultural appropriation, and decolonization…and the living practice of listening to different species and asking permission before harvesting or developing areas.
She has humbly continued to ask the questions and seek to make changes creating more equity for humans and other species, a sense of welcome and safety for people of different backgrounds, and a sense of trust and allyship in working together for the children and multi-species future generations on this Earth.
To Enroll:
- Complete the Registration form below (or Interest form if registration is not yet open).
- Make a secure online payment via:
- the PayPal box in the righthand sidebar of this page OR;
- a check payable to “Vermont Wilderness School” sent to: Vermont Wilderness School, P.O. Box 2585, Brattleboro, VT 05303.
Full payment or 1st installment of payment plan due on February 1 (winter trainings) and/or March 1 (spring trainings).
- Complete a Medical Form / Waiver by clicking the tab at the bottom of this page.
Read our scholarship and cancellation policies for more information.
Questions? Email office@vermontwildernessschool.org.
