EMERGENCE

We listen and observe

We express our gratitude for all that is supporting us to be in our bodies, on the earth and part of the cosmos. We honor with our words and actions the natural world and those who have come before us and those who help us learn how to live in harmony.

WE ARE NATURE

We Are Woven Into the Web of Life

Humans have been earth-connected for far longer than we’ve been earth-disconnected. Our place in the ecosystem is to be caretakers and we have the capacity to tend and enhance the quality of life on the planet. We need practices to remember how to use this capacity well.

INTERDEPENDENCE

Power with rather than Power over

We seek to dismantle the patterned breaks in female relationships that create competition and putting each other down rather than cooperation and lifting each other up. When we bring forth our gifts and encourage others to do the same, it creates a life-giving system that is greater than its individual parts.

PRACTICING PEACE

We know that we each have personal challenges and ignorances that may cause pain to ourselves, others or the earth. We offer compassion to ourselves when we act in ways that we are not proud of and seek to take responsibility so that we can grow and do better next time. We practice restorative justice and reconciliation together.

DIVERSITY

We are Stronger Together

We recognize that people have different relationships to nature based on economic, racial, ethnic, body-ability, neuro/cognitive/emotional differences and personal biographies. We strive to build the beloved community within and through our anti-oppression oriented work. We center justice. We work to make our programs welcoming for all people across these spectrums and identities through ongoing anti-oppression actions: including on going training for board, staff and participants, cultivating diverse and equitable leadership and advancement in the organization, continuously evolving our culturally relevant and respectful curriculum, and being as physically and financially accessible as possible.

BODY POSITIVITY

Our bodies are perfect just as they are!

Our bodies are sacred ecosystems, miracles to live within: a unique combination of earth elements and gifts passed down by our ancestors. We enjoy our bodies for their abilities and power and recognize that appearance is only skin deep.

CREATIVITY

We are the hands and hearts of Gaia

Inspired by the earth’s immense creativity and beauty, we practice love, intention, and artistry in our words, songs, through of our hands, and actions.

WISDOM

We learn through embodied experience

We learn through engaging with multiple forms of intelligence, found in humans, animals, plants, waters, fires, and our own unique inner spark and intuition. Mentorship engages the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual self and offers learning opportunities that contain a blend of visual, aural, verbal, kinesthetic, solitary, and social learning.

COURAGE

Life’s challenges are opportunities for growth

We expand our comfort zone when we are willing to do things a different way, or try something that we have never done before. We honor each person’s inner wisdom to know when to push their edges and when to stay closer to their comfort zones.

AUTHENTICITY

Given fertile soil, every seed will grow to its full potential

Like herbal medicines, each of us has a unique medicine that can bring vibrancy and healing to our community. We support our youth to surface their authentic expression so that the world may benefit from their pure medicine.

SELF-RESPONSIBILITY

We track and tend our inner landscape

Learning about who we are is a life-long journey and it is directly related to finding one’s personal gifts and being in a good relationship with life. Through creative activities we help our participants discover their ‘original instructions’, their ‘North Star’, and unique power.