WITHIN THE CAVE SOMETHING PULSES

WITHIN THE CAVE SOMETHING PULSES is a 6-week seasonal experience to slow down, apprentice to the season of darkness, and dive deep into the caverns of our Whole Self to discover what emerges in the fruitful darkness.

What if the darkness wasn’t an obstacle but the doorway?

What if we allied ourselves to the energies of the season?

What emerges in the fruitful darkness?

We will be a small group of Spelunkers of Wandering/Wondering into the Cave, leaning into the Big Silence where we can hear ourselves—not the voice of society, not the voices of family and friends, but our own Inner Guide(s). 

The season is turning, both outside and within. Autumn’s march toward the deep dark womb of winter invites an Underworld transformation. A cave comes beckoning. We go to the cave to find renewal and our own sacred. We go to the cave for the descent into ourselves, to rest, to embrace the wounds and monsters, but also uncover the shimmering treasures to bring back as a gift to the world as medicine. We go to the cave, not ultimately to disappear, but return to the world and show up fully in our unique way during this Great Turning.

When: 6 Saturdays, December 20 – January 24
Time:  9am-11am PT | 5-7pm GMT
Where: ONLINE – Zoom
Note: Class limited to 8

This experience is for you if any of the following describes you:

• You want to ally yourself to the season’s energy to spelunk into your fruitful darkness.
• You are ready to deepen self-knowledge and cultivate a deep belonging to your power, place, and purpose.
• You are longing to befriend Darkness and Apprentice to Silence.
• You are walking the Labyrinth 
• You are ready to own your shit and get real with all aspects of your wholeness.
• You’re ready to bring your shadow and monsters into the Circle of your Whole Self.
• You are exploring, or want to explore, your inner wilderness and open to expanding your toybox of exploration.

Over 6 weeks we will explore through Online Gatherings, Council Circle, poetry, and integration activities the following themes:

• Deep Listening
• Honoring the Darkness & Living the Seasons
• Lessons From the Labyrinth
• Shadow Work/Embracing Monsters/Holy Shit
• Knowing Yourself Like Guardian Oak
• Rite-of-Passage and Self-Generated Ceremony (Including Death Lodge)
• Inner Fire and the Proliferation of Imaginal Cells

Sacred Apprenticeships:

• Slug Seminar (Slow Sensitivity, Decomposition, Slime Magic, Beyond the Binary)
• Inner Composting: Invoking Your Inner Worms
• Bear Wisdom: (Fierce Presence, Power, Protection, & Purpose; Hibernation; Omnivore; Hunting/Gathering Your Wholeness; Unleashing Your Growl)
• At the Feet of Our Brutal, Beloved Teachers: Death

Participants get an early glimpse of the new collection Within the Cave Something Pulses.

In addition, ALL participants in ANY Wild Nature Heart course series receives:

• One-on-one consultations about the course material and the solo experience
• Private Online group to connect, share, learn, and ask questions
• Discount on future Wild Nature Heart Courses and Wilderness Programs

Recommended Investment: $199
Other options: $179-$249

Register and pay course fee HERE.
Or Email: ryan@wildnatureheart.com with your interest & send registration fee to PayPal.Me/WildNatureHeart.

Scholarships available for BIPOC and LGBTQ2+
Email ryan@wildnatureheart.com introducing yourself and what you hope to get out of this experience.

About the Instructor:

My name is Ryan Van Lenning, Founder of Wild Nature Heart, and I am an earth-lover with a deep desire to be of service in the work of re-connection, re-wilding, & re-membering. I started Wild Nature Heart to support people to re-connect with the wisdom of both inner and outer wild nature, to live their soul callings into the world, and to assist in the work of repairing broken belonging in this Great Turning.

I am an inner/outer wilderness guide and barbarian poet of the Great Turning (author of Re-Membering: Poems of Earth & Soul) and High-Cooing Through the Seasons: Haiku From the Forest. I am trained as a rite-of-passage/wilderness vision fast guide through the School of Lost Borders, certified as an Ecotherapist through The Earthbody Institute, where I teach the Levels 1-3 ecotherapy courses, and am a Certified Wilderness First Responder through Foster Calm. Prior to moving to California 13 years ago, I taught Comparative Religion, Philosophy, and Environmental Ethics at Sinclair College in Ohio. I live among the forest and rivers in northern California, ancestral Wiyot and Yurok land.

Recent Appreciations

“I find myself repeatedly touched by the depth of your caring for Earth and all her beings and by your dedication to practice and evolving new pathways of relationship and culture. I am moved by the presence that you bring to deep listening and your willingness to explore different perspectives. Your ability to express through poetry and action what’s in your heart and your desire for healthy relationship among all beings is a source of inspiration for me.” —Marianne B. Rowe, MS, LMFT, Summer 2022 Level 3 Ecotherapy Training, Earthbody Institute

“Thank you for your dedication to this work and for modeling new/old ways of being in leadership and community! I gained a sense of companionship on the journey of exploring some of life and death’s biggest questions. The community formed in the group gave me a glimpse into how we can come together to unlearn, deconstruct, remember, and create more natural and balanced ways of being and relating. One of my biggest take-aways is understanding belonging as something inherent rather than “found” or “earned”. Being witnessed and witnessing others after our solo time on the land was very powerful and deeply meaningful to me on my/our journey. Special thanks to you, Ryan, for shining your light on us and welcoming us into deeper belonging.” —Leslie Hammer, Deep Belonging in the Great Turning (Fall 2022)

“Ryan created a welcoming environment that fostered a culture of connection, curiosity, and creativity. I so appreciated the passion that Ryan offered in his facilitation; he models to us the possibility of bravely taking steps to live our callings!” – Gemma A., Participant in Threshold: Earth Intimacies and the Great Turning, (Spring 2024)

“Ryan was FANTASTIC. He was knowledgeable and most importantly, a great listener and guide. I greatly admired his mirroring skills, which have clearly been learned from Mother Nature herself. I have learned so much from Ryan and look forward to incorporating his techniques into my practice as well.” — Participant in Spring 2021 Earthbody Institute Ecotherapy Certificate Course

“Ryan’s well-designed course on Deep Belonging was just what I needed at a stressful time in life. The facilitation, knowledge and materials shared were generous and truly a gift to enhance my nature connection and learn about myself. This course also provided support for a solo experience which was rich and rewarding. I appreciated being in a group and connecting with other like-minded people.” —Lezlie Scaliatine, Psy.D, Deep Belonging for the Great Turning Course Participant (Fall 2020)

“Ryan is a very thoughtful and sensitive instructor. His background in teaching and poetry, along with his ability to effectively “mirror” our stories about our journeys make him an excellent facilitator. Ryan helped us to organize our thoughts and feelings in this politically and environmentally challenging time, gave us hope, and guided us towards developing a personal plan for coping with the future of our planet.”
— Nan Siringer, California, Deep Belonging for the Great Turning Course Participant (Fall 2020)

“Thank you again Ryan for your mentorship prior to this quest of mine. You empowered me to trust in myself, in the wild, and in the ceremony and it seemed so fitting to receive these gifts of yours just prior to a decent. I love and am sincerely grateful for your poem. It certainly helped give me courage to unflinchingly make those leaps over trees and off every known cliff and will continue to do so. I feel super motivated to continue on this path of mine and stay open to all the wild mysteries that present themselves within myself and within this more-than human world of ours. And to taking the next steps in unfurling my own gifts and presenting them to the world.”

— Brady W., Mendocino, 1-on-1 Client and Course Participant (Fall 2019)

“Reclaim Your Wild Nature Heart is a deep-dive across 6 weeks. Ryan’s skill and generosity of spirit has guided me through a variety of themes and practices that have been both thought-provoking and empowering. I’ve valued this time immensely, and the abundant materials provided will keep me moving through this journey for a long time to come. I’ve developed a richer relationship with my Urban Wild environment in very unexpected ways, and for that I am so very grateful.”—Claire, United Kingdom, Course Participant (Fall 2019)

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