The first step in teaching a student in wilderness or earth skills in a deep and transformative way, whether they are 5 years old, or 50, is to build a meaningful relationship. This means spending time with them, giving them your full attention. It means showing them who you are, the real you, the person behind the mission statement or the company line. It means showing them it isn't isn't just all about you and your thing, but that it's actually about them.
This can be done in a lot of ways, and it doesn't have to take a ton of time, either. But it is absolutely essential to creating transformation.
Without a real relationship, there is no trust.
Without trust, there is no safety.
Without safety, there is no breakthrough, because that breakthrough is hidden away, behind the walls of your student's carefully protected heart.
If you show they you care about them, that you appreciate them, that you aren't about judging them, or being better than them, that's the first step. You have to show that you care about them enough to keep them safe and really 'seeing' who they are, and where they are 'at'. When that happens, you will help unlock those gates of protection. Each thing you do with them will build connection, and it will help you create a space for them to transform and shine their own inner light into the world.
It is a privilege and an honor to do work like this. It's hard work. It takes a dedication to our own inner emotional connection, and our own passion and our love for nature and helping people.
We have to let go of our internal baggage, for the time we are with them, and just be in the moment, with them, in nature, or wherever we are.
Sometimes, working with kids in nature is wonderfully clearing for our minds. It just washes everything that doesn't matter away, and leaves a fresh, clean feeling inside. There are good things happening, and all the gunk that usually clogs our constant chatter can begin to drift away too. Creativity is enhanced. Problem solving, too. Even our decision making becomes almost intuitive, and our inner awareness gets a boost as well.
When it works, it's incredible....
And that is just the first step.
Today's youth are changing, and things that used to work ten or even five years ago aren't working as well as they once did. The stories are different. The attention span is different. The timing is different. Heck, even the jokes are different!
The good news is that there are lots and lots of ways to innovate, and reframe our programs to help kids or adults get the power of these skills and nature.
If you are working with kids or adults and you want help with tweaking your program to make it even more powerful or transformative, or you just want to get a fresh way to see your work and get support, please schedule a time to chat with me. I'd love to see if there is a way I can help!
Just go to my website and click the link at the bottom called 'Schedule a Call'. It's 100% free and I will do what I can to help you out!
Be ready, though! I will give you little assignments and tasks to do, too! So, make sure you really want this!
Hawk Circle Instructor Eli Martz spends time teaching Daniel about carving, and following the grain of the wood. 2003
The process of learning a new skill like tracking, or fire, or shelter, or wild edibles, takes time, patience, and a lot of attention to details. You have to develop an intimacy with wood, or stone, or plants or animals, etc. and build a relationship with those elements, and be willing to learn and grow.
It's a process, not an event. It's about building lots of little skills of dexterity, awarenesses, tiny habits and practices that lead to understanding and mastery.
For many students, this journey to learn will fail unless you find someone to help you through that maze, and give you the gifts, the tools and the understandings that will lead to success.
Think of the old, authentic fairy tales.
I know it might be a weird analogy, but it's actually very much spot on!
You don't get to have the princess or prince, and the kingdom, or reward, until you slay the dragon or the ogre. You can't slay the monster unless you have the Blade of Steel and Perfection. You can't get that Blade until you have passed the test by the Hag of the Ruined Castle, which are high above the Cliffs of Doom. So, you have to conquer your fear of heights, and unknown riddles, and weird mystical people, and pass all these tests, to achieve your goals and your objectives. You have to have friends in high places. You have to have the ability to see the deep inner gifts that those friends have, and create a relationship with them where they will offer those gifts freely. Or sometimes you have to steal them, in some tales! But in any event, having a mentor or source that you can gain wisdom or insight is key to knowing your next step.
That's the kind of mentor you have to be if you want to add this layer of transformation to your work. And your students shouldn't be a job or a means to an end (paycheck), but someone who will be a lifelong friend and someone you will be proud to know for your whole life.
So, to be this kind of mentor, you kind of have to go through this experience yourself, and figure out how to get around these challenges and mountains, valleys, everything. You have to do it alone, and you have to do it with a mentor sometimes too. If you're really lucky!
If this isn't what you are all about, or you are unsure, go work at Starbucks. Go mow lawns, or wait tables at the Olive Garden, or do whatever it is that makes you happy. Not saying it's bad to do those things, because they are important jobs too. But what I am saying is that if you are in the business of transformation, you have to be the real deal. There is no faking it...
I created this event to show people the power of connecting to the earth and nature through practicing earth skills just 15-20 minutes each day, for seven days. I call in The Seven Day Challenge, and it's coming up on June 1, 2014. Check out the video, too, that introduces what it's all about!
It's pretty simple. You pick a skill that you can practice or study, and you commit to doing it every day, for just seven days!!!!!!! And you will be amazed at how fast your learning takes off in just minutes a day......
Anyway, you can get more info about it on my web page,here.
If you know you want to do it, just click here to join our Facebook Group and get in on the fun! It's going to be inspiring and awesome!
Bird Language & Studies
As you know, Attitude and Mindset are two of the most essential ingredients for achieving our goals, and this challenge is no different. It's time to get prepared, so we not only learn new skills, but we add a layer of confidence and self esteem boost to the week as well. It's a powerful one-two combination that will spread from this activity to the other parts of your life as well.
Wouldn't that be nice? Are you into it?
Okay, so, here is a list of things that you will want to be prepared for:
You can do Plant Studies!
Commitment: What skills are you committing to practice for the Seven Days, and when will you practice them? Try to remember to keep it simple and that 15-20 minutes goes by quick, so this is a good time to also practice realistic planning skills! It's also a good time to think about why you want to learn these earth skills, and what your greater purpose is for practicing and learning them, and whether or not you are actually serious about growing closer to the earth or setting yourself up to learn.
If you look a head to your week and it's just too full for you, that's okay. You can modify your personal agreement and no one will know the difference. We don't judge! The bottom line is that, whatever your specific commitment is to yourself, make sure that you are really committed to doing it and plan for success! That being said, 15 minutes a day for seven days is pretty much doable for just about everyone, if you really want to learn new skills and grow. So, be bold! Let's do this!
Safety: Is the skill you are practicing something that uses knives, or sharp tools or stone edges? Do you have a safety plan for your practice that includes eye or ear protection, and is there a First Aid Kit present at all times? Do you have to protect against breathing in dust or smoke? If you are going out in the bush for your daily practice, does everyone in your group of skills enthusiasts know what poison ivy looks like at this time of year, or do you need to be aware of ticks or other local hazards, like snakes or black flies? If you plan ahead for these things, you will be setting you and your group up for good times!
Buckskin & Tanning Skills
Materials and Supplies: Does the skill you have chosen have a materials list, or tools or supplies needed in order to get it accomplished? Go over it in your planning so you know if you will need sandpaper, or string or a bunch of willow shoots or whatever it is you will need to make this happen! If you get those things ready prior to Sunday, June 1st, you will be all ready to go to let your skills grow right off the bat, rather than spend that time searching your gear or looking in your garage for your stuff. Make sure that if you are doing this with friends, that you let them know what they will need to bring if anything, and that they wear the right clothing for the weather, etc.
Daily Celebration and Final Celebration Incentives: Everyone loves to have some incentives, especially when we complete a difficult task or achieve a goal that we really are excited about, and this is no different. Typically, people will celebrate with food or a beverage that they enjoy, in a circle of friends, or maybe an outing or getting a tool that they have long wanted. We don't need to go crazy here, but all I am saying is, "Give yourself every reason to make this a positive, successful experience, rather than a let down where you only go half-way and don't make it through the whole week."
Celebrate Your Campfire Cooking Skills!
A reward will sometimes keep you going when your attention starts to wander, so, make sure that a person you trust will help keep you honest and then verify you did this challenge and award your prize!
On the flip side, some people tend to do things because they are motivated by the potential loss of something. I have a friend who is an athlete, and she has an agreement where she will give $100 to her training partners if she misses a training session for a non-injury related excuse. This keeps her honest and her team holds her accountable for her commitments, so it's all part of knowing yourself and how you want to set yourself up for success.
If you are doing this challenge with friends, or especially with kids, I would definitely plan on celebrating with something at the end, and even a great snack each session, too, just to keep it fun.
Contingency Plans: On Saturday, it rained here at Hawk Circle really, really hard, on and off, pretty much all day. It was really wet. I immediately thought of everyone getting ready for this challenge and said 'We need some contingency plans so we all can stay on track!"
So, what is your back up plan? Do you have a sheltered place to go if you start experiencing rain or intense heat or dust or whatever is happening in your local area? How will you adapt your activity if there is inclement weather to still get your practice in?
Carving Skills
You see, what I am training you and your group to do, is to not let yourselves off the hook when something comes up. You still have to honor your commitment and get your goal accomplished. If we let ourselves off the hook because of a little rain, or because the traffic made you late, or whatever the situation is, you will start to create a pattern of not accomplishing your goals. You will get the mindset that it's okay to let it all go, as long as you have an excuse. Which is not a good habit, in earth skills or in any other venture in our lives. Seriously, this type of thinking is outright poison to your dreams and vision. (Not to mention the damage it does to your personal relationships.)
So, that means, you have to have a mind that says 'I always finish what I start, no matter what."
This is a very, very powerful mindset that will help you and your kids or your friends throughout their life.
So, what could go wrong or have a potential to derail your plans?
Do you have a group doing this? What will you do if no one shows up? Will you still practice it anyway, for yourself?
Phone a Friend: Who is your go-to source for help if you get stuck in your practice? Are you prepared to reach out if you need help, either to one of your friends, or a mentor or teacher, or someone in our Facebook Group? Let us know if you need help, and I promise you, there is a ton of help all around you, all the time. (Just like in Nature!)
You just need to ask for what you need!
Accountability and Inspiration: One way that I have set up this challenge is to invite you to post a short update on what you did in our Facebook Group! You can share what you learned, what you did, and a photo or short video. This will allow you to know that you are staying on track, and if everyone is doing it, we will all see your progress, comment on your work and give you 'mad props' for making it happen! It will feel good. You will also be inspiring others to keep going, too. Feel free to share your trials and tribulations, and what you did to keep going. I promise you, whatever you are working on or working through, you aren't alone.
I can also guarantee that looking at what everyone else is doing and hearing their stories is going to be powerfully inspiring and also build a great connection and community among us all. And I would love to have you and your group be a part of all of that. So please, join us there, and share, and don't worry about whether your skill is big or small, or whatever. Trust me, we all love it all!
If you aren't on Facebook, well, seriously, it takes like ten seconds to join. You need a password and a valid email address. You can join, do the challenge and check it all out, and then you can delete your account afterwards, if you want.
Okay, if I haven't scared you off by all these ideas and suggestions, please go to my Earth Skills Seven Day Challenge page and check out the different downloadable journaling sheets, planning guidelines and more, as well as the video above, which is all about these same things I just wrote about.
My bottom line is your success. I know that if you practice a single skill every day for just 15-20 minutes, it will positively affect your life. I know this from my own experience, as well as countless other students and apprentices. This stuff is very, very powerful, and it doesn't matter which skill you pick. I want to see you succeed, and to be awesome. So I am pulling out every stop to help make that happen.
See you in the Facebook Group! We have a week to get ready, and then we will be doing this together!
This is the semi-official blog-journal of Ricardo Sierra, founder and executive director of Hawk Circle Wilderness Educationin Cherry Valley, New York. Enjoy, learn, read, explore and leave comments!
I have lived on both coasts, traveled extensively throughout the eastern and western states, practicing wilderness skills and learning about the natural world....
I started my own camp (Hawk Circle) in 1989 and I live in Cherry Valley with my family and our small community year round.
I am particularly inspired by our ancestral heritage, by people who lived for twenty thousand years in a sustainable, balanced way, close to the land and as a community, and to learn from their example.
The first step in teaching a student in wilderness or earth skills in a deep and transformative way, whether they are 5 years old, or 50, is to build a meaningful relationship. This means spending time with them, giving them your full attention. It means showing them who you are, the real you, the person behind the mission statement or the company line. It means showing them it isn't isn't just all about you and your thing, but that it's actually about them.
Without trust, there is no safety. 
Sometimes, working with kids in nature is wonderfully clearing for our minds. It just washes everything that doesn't matter away, and leaves a fresh, clean feeling inside. There are good things happening, and all the gunk that usually clogs our constant chatter can begin to drift away too. Creativity is enhanced. Problem solving, too. Even our decision making becomes almost intuitive, and our inner awareness gets a boost as well.
The good news is that there are lots and lots of ways to innovate, and reframe our programs to help kids or adults get the power of these skills and nature. 
Posts
