Start Date: June 6, 2022
Duration: 4 weeks
→ Course is Online with facilitator participation
→ Activity Cards are not required for the course.
Facilitator: Kate Trnka
Registration: Now Closed
Cost: Course Only $30 U.S.
Cost: Course including Activity Cards (shipped to US destination only): $75 US
If you are ordering the Activity Cards please make sure you enter your full postal address in the registration form! Information on the Activity Cards is included below. If you are shipping to an address outside the US, or for more information on the cards, please email me.
This four-week course will lead you through mindful nature connecting activities that bring awareness to the various themes found in the natural world as well as beginning to introduce you to your 54 natural senses. The goal of the course is to guide you to a more intimate relationship with the natural world. The course begins on June 6th and new lessons become available each Monday. Three Live Zoom meetings are scheduled to enhance the course material and give you the opportunity to ask questions, experience nature-connecting activities first-hand, and discuss your experiences in nature with one another.
Zoom Sessions
Zoom sessions will be each week on the following Tuesdays at 8 am Pacific Time:
June 14
June 21
June 28
Use this date/time converter to check for local times.
A Certificate will be available to all those who complete the course.
By spending moments mindfully connected to the natural world we can find everything we need to re-establish a sense of well-being. It is in nature that we find fresh air to clear our minds, negative electrons in the earth to balance out the toxins (that we take in through the foods we eat and the air we breathe, the clothes we wear, and the screens we put ourselves in front of) and so much more! Perhaps the most important aspect of well-being we can receive from nature is a sense of support and a sense of belonging, especially as we find ourselves more and more isolated during this pandemic. And best of all - these benefits are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and are free!
The easy activities that are included in this course are likely to change how you engage with the natural world and deepen your relationship with her. The course will include activities related to themes in nature, as well as focusing on groups of senses, exploring in depth.
You will be guided through the process of getting back in touch with the child-like wonder that’s available to each of us as you interact with the rest of nature. Through this connection, we can experience the wonder of the world in which we live (and are a part of). All we have to do is take the precious moments we have and connect with her. Participating in this way will remind you how simple it is to bring ourselves back into balance and experience our own well-being once again.
We will tap into a few themes we find in nature (e.g. Young Ones, Water, Activity) along with becoming reacquainted with some of our 54 Natural Senses/Sensitivities (e.g. temperature, visibility, season, etc.). Each of these activities are a part of the “Our Sense-Able Nature: Mindful Re-Connecting with Nature Activity Cards”.
This course has been re-designed so that those who participated in last year’s course will find new activities, yet it will provide all the essential building blocks for those who are experiencing the course for the first time.
There are fewer activities each week which will allow you more time to fully engage in each activity. Additional activities will be provided each week for those who wish to engage in more - beyond the featured activity.
Course Outline
Week 1- The Seeding – (this material will be reviewed for those who took the course last year - but is essential in laying the groundwork for the activities ahead)
Welcome and Introductions
Taking Inventory
Connection…Coming to Our Senses
Developing A New Respect for Nature
Building A Relationship with Nature
The Three C’s of Connecting
Gaining Consent
The G-Force of Connecting
Week 2 – Laying Down Our Roots
The Our Sense-Able Nature Cards
Support for Our Connection to the Natural World
Weekly Zoom Call – June 14th @ 8 am Pacific Time
Introduction to Natural Attractions
Exploring Themes in Nature
Activity - “Beginnings”
Additional Optional Activities for this week – Themes in Nature: Endings, Activity
Week 3 – The Heartwood
Our 54 Senses/Sensitivities
Weekly Zoom Call – June 21st @ 8 am Pacific Time
Introduction to the Feeling Senses
Exploring our Feeling Senses
Activity – Sense of Pressure
Additional Optional Activities for this week – Feeling Senses: Sense of Hearing, Sense of Motion
Week 4 – Branching Out and Blossoming
Weekly Zoom Call – June 28th @ 8 am Pacific Time
Introduction to our Mental Senses
Exploring our Mental Senses
Activity - Aesthetic Sense
Inventory Revisited
Additional Optional Activities for this week – Mental Senses: Sense of Relaxation/Sleep, Capacity to Hypnotize
BEYOND - If you need/want more activities
Sense of Mind/Consciousness, Sense of Humidity, Sense of Light and Sight
Testimonials
Read what a few of our course participants last year had to say
"This class has given me the new insight, wisdom and courage to be able to step away from that circle to return to a more nature connected, simpler life and seek out other humans who also see the majesty, awe-some beauty and healing benefits that being in nature lovingly provides us."
"Thank you Kate, for your work, wisdom, insight, pictures and stories that I looked forward to every day. I am excited to use your cards and have enjoyed learning about the 54 senses. You are a beautiful gift to this world and I am truly grateful to have been in this class with you and all of these other nature loving, beautiful souls."
"Thank you for your wise and thoughtful leadership I ❤️ Your class."
"I continue to be moved by the few hours I spent in your new course last night. I was initially moved by the eloquent design of your course. I have been involved in many of the Charter's online courses and yours ranks at the top for me. I was moved by the very fact that in my experience there was not one word too many nor one too little in your set ups for each activity. It is the grace of what seemed exquisite perfection that moved me. I was caught up in it. You spoke to me intimately and directly and not one second was wasted on me. "
"In addition to the design, I was separately moved and transformed by the work in the course. How great to observe, witness and express in just those few hours my emotional journey with nature. My pubescent process with nature was somehow crystalized then validated then cherished. I am left desiring more. I look forward to seeing you within the activities of your course over the next four weeks."
Your Guide
I'm honored to serve as the Co-Lead for Charter for Compassion's Environment Sector and am working to expand the Charter’s Compassion Tree Project (CTP). When I'm not working on things for the Charter, I enjoy facilitating workshops around my publication, Our Sense-Able Nature: Mindful Re-Connecting with Nature Activity Cards. I'm so pleased to be doing this work with others! My first book, If These Trees Could Talk, Park 1: Messages from the Trees of Sunset Park is in its second printing. I'm in the middle of putting the pieces of the second book in the series together, If These Trees Could Talk, Park 2: Messages from the Trees of High Cliff State Park.
I’m super excited that we expanded the number of Heal The Waters ceremonies held this year on May 1st. When I’m not at The Land of Yawe (a 5-acre retreat center in Wisconsin), I love spending time in the natural world kayaking, hiking, and camping - I even play a little golf and Pickleball here and there. I’m enjoying my new Goldendoodle puppy, Grace. When I'm not outdoors, I like to curl up on the couch and read a good book or watch a good movie :-)
Respectfully submitted,
Kate Trnka, Charter for Compassion
Co-Lead Environment Sector
Activity Cards
Purchasing the Our Sense-Able Nature (OSN) Activity Cards is not a requirement for the course. However, as a course participant, you will be able to purchase the full 78-card deck (which comes complete with The Guide in a burlap pouch) for the reduced price of $75 US which includes the cost of the course, shipping and handling.
Please inquire as to shipping costs to an address outside the US by contacting me via email.
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