A 2-day nature connection retreat to engage in the practice of assessing our past and present and looking to our future for a sense of renewed purpose, direction, and relationships.

Enrollment: Open. Please use form below to register.

When: February 1 – 2, 2025

9:00 am – 5:00 pm Saturday & 9:00 am – 4:00 pm Sunday

Where: IN PERSON • Brattleboro, VT

Who: Adults (Age 16+). Open to all levels of experience.

Cost: $185 – 275. Actual per-person cost is $225.  Scholarship and reparations funds are available.

To Enroll: 

• Complete the registration form below.
• Make your payment.
  • Make a secure online payment via the PayPal box at the bottom of this page
  • Send a check payable to “Vermont Wilderness School” to: Vermont Wilderness School, P.O. Box 2585, Brattleboro, VT 05303.

• Complete a Medical Form / Waiver by clicking the tab at the bottom of this page.

Read our scholarship and cancellation policies for more information.

Program Overview:

The hibernation of winter is an ideal time for reflecting on the past and present and dreaming the future.   Renewal of Creative Path is a powerful practice of assessing our past and present and looking to our future – setting intentions for what we want to cultivate in our lives and what the world is calling us to do and be.

As times are changing rapidly, this is a good time to pause, sink into our roots, and listen deeply to the quieter voices of our essential selves.  A particularly fruitful time to pause, listen, and reflect is during our emergence from the deep dark of winter into the growing light. The beginning of February is the half way station between the winter solstice (Dec 21) and spring equinox (Mar 21).

We invite you to join us for two days of retreat to renew our creative purpose (a process known by many as the “Renewal of Creative Path”).  This will be a two-day guided retreat inviting participants to take stock of our lives, remember our relations (human and non-human), tune into our purpose and what’s happening around us, and ask how our purpose is called into service in this emerging year.

This weekend will guide participants through a Renewal of Creative Path process for our personal lives, and also look at using this critical practice for renewal and regeneration of projects, programs, and workplaces.

In this program we will be engaging some of the core routines that shape VWS programs, such as practices of nature and human connection and living with natural cycles. These practices are ways to strengthen and deepen our relationships, and help us to be responsive and adaptive to changing relationships and changing times.

You are responsible for your meals and housing for the weekend. VWS can provide registrants with a list of lodging recommendations, including nearby motels, hotels, and camping options.

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. At age 19, she began encountering indigenous people who engaged her with everyday issues of colonization, cultural appropriation and decolonization.

She has humbly continued to ask the questions and seek to make changes creating more equity, 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 future generations on this Earth.  

Curious if this workshop is a fit for you?

Contact us at office@vermontwildernessschool.org.

To receive email notifications about this program (save the dates, opening of registration, etc.), complete this interest form.