working at the confluence of eco-therapy, eco-somatics, and eco-spiritualityworking at the confluence of eco-therapy, eco-somatics, and eco-spirituality
A HOME FOR RELATIONAL & ECOLOGICAL EMBODIMENT
OUR STORY
WHERE ECOLOGY + SPIRITUALITY+ SOMATICS MEET
Way Of Belonging is a home for repairing what has been severed and reconnecting to body / earth wisdom. We seek to nurture our ancestral roots, relational bonds and ecological entanglements by working towards an ecology of connection and care through body-centered & nature-based healing, ritual & education. Our offerings are designed with the intention to:
- nourish our belonging within an interwoven, complex, life-sustaining web of relationships.
- deepen intimacy with the wisdom of our body/lands.
- queer notions of love to include our more-than-human relatives.
- strengthen our connection to the places that nurture us.
- enliven the collective spirit toward rhythmic resonance.
- liberate life energy toward mutual thriving.
BELONGING TO OUR BODIES & THE GREATER BODY OF EARTH
Belonging is the journey of remembering your way HOME and for us that means coming back into rhythm with your own nature through bodyful presence in relationship to earth and the spirit of life.
We come from the perspective that belonging is your birthright and is nature’s intelligence awakened from within.
We facilitate and promote this "awakening" by supporting you to strengthen relational practices (somatic, animist, place-based) that re-integrate fragmented aspects of self back into the wholeness of your ecological landscape/body.
This involves the necessity of slowing down, listening, and re-connecting to the wild, erotic power of being fully awake and alive and supports you to creatively respond and adapt to life changes and challenges.
NURTURING A SENSE OF PURPOSE, PLACE AND BELONGING IN AN INTERCONNECTED WORLD.
We believe that what ails humanity at this time is a disconnection from our own bodies (mind/body split) and from the greater body of our living earth (spirit/matter split) - the source of our spiritual sustenance and aliveness.
Separation from and domination over nature/body is a core wound stored within the collective soma of humanity. It expresses trauma in myriad ways as it alienates and cuts us off from the intelligence of our ecological nervous system and relational resilience.
We believe that earth is calling to humanity through the collective discomfort & cultural crises of these times and is asking each of us to rise and reclaim our purpose in service to planetary healing.
This means interrogating the oppressive systems that bolster racial capitalism - systems established through genocide, indigenous land theft, colonialism, slavery, exploitation, extraction and war; reorienting our understanding of the world; and transforming ourselves by reclaiming our ecological purpose, place and belonging within the web of all relations.
ECO-SPIRITUALITY
Community wellness offerings that:
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hold the intention of birthing new cultural contexts in which all of us belong, whereby we draw strength and guidance from the living earth, ancestors and future generations.
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provide space for spiritual cultivation, authentic connection, deep listening, creative expression, spontaneity, emergence, and collaboration.
Ecological intelligence teaches us that lifeunfolds through regenerative processes of death and rebirth, that wisdom is found in ongoing change. Together we explore our relationship to the Great Mystery by practicing cyclical ways of being and leaning into the unknown with humility, reverence, care and curiosity.
Offerings include:
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Sacred Grove Community (online)
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Forest Temple seasonal gatherings (in-person)
Personal wellness offerings that:
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provide opportunities to nurture your relationship to Self/Source,
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center practices of body-based wisdom, self-love, personal empowerment, compassion and curiosity,
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support the creation of new embodied patterns and pathways toward expansion.
Ecological intelligence teaches us that our body is a living ecosystem which allows us to approach "healing" with more nuance and care. From a systems perspective it also implies that we each play an important role within the health of the larger communal ecosystem and this has a direct impact on our personal health and wellbeing.
Offerings include:
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Holistic Therapy with Michelle
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Transformational Life coaching with Jess
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Personalized, individual Eco-Somatic weekend retreats
Community wellness offerings that:
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provide opportunities to attune your nervous system to the co-regulating body of our living earth and to deepen intimacy with our more-than-human kin.
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support you to expand your felt sense of self to include the landscapes and ecosystems that you are enfolded within.
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awaken empathy, interbeing (Thich Nhat Hanh), whole systems thinking, imagination, sensual aliveness and embodied knowing.
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root self back into specific place-based, cultural, and relational contexts.
Ecological intelligence unsettles notions of individualism which serves to uphold systems of oppression that desensitize us from our bodies and from the greater body of earth. Eco-Therapy offerings help us to remember that life is relational and true thriving is informed by the spiritual understanding and embodiment of interbeing.
Offerings include:
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Seasonal Group Immersions
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Intuitive Birding
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Forest Bathing
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Plant and/or Tree Walks
ECO-THERAPY
Born in the Piedmont South, Way Of Belonging is home to the Cape Fear River Basin and is shaped by and responsive to the socio-cultural-ecological landscape in which it grows.
WHAT WE VALUE & PRACTICE
Cyclical Living
All of life is a sacred dance between the polarities of life & death, light & dark, expansion & contraction, giving & receiving, movement & stillness. We honor the wisdom of Earth's cycles.
Ancestral Reverence
We honor the realm of the unseen and remember our beloved dead. We root into where we come from and strive to live in a good way by learning from those who have come before us.
Beauty Making
Beauty is the Spirit of Life revealed to us through nature. Communing with nature awakens the soul, inspires us to live reverently, and compels us toward poetic embodiment.
Queer Entanglement
We practice interrelating by expanding our felt sense of self to include the wider ecological web of relationships and queer notions of love to include our more-than-human relatives.
Indigenous Solidarity
Loving earth means carrying the sacred responsibility of accountability, uplifting the voices of Indigenous people and being in shared struggle towards collective liberation.
Right Relationship
Right relationship arises when we see ourselves as belonging to a place to whom we are accountable. We become that place and thus responsive to the needs of our mutual thriving.
Creative Reciprocity
We ground our care in the context of interdependence. We offer our creative expressions generously in service to life. We acknowledge and receive gifts with humility and give back in return.
The Art of Listening
We create space in our lives to slow down, lean back, and touch into the heart of silence which allows us to listen for the voice of Earth speaking in and through us.
Play as Prayer
Play opens the heart toward connection and joy. It is a pathway toward communion and fosters innovative forms of exploration in relationship to the spirit of life.