What is it?

A 5 day camping retreat, where we gather as a small tribe in the Budawangs wilderness and dive deep into the magic, power and embodied wisdom of story, myth, symbol and dream.

We will delve into the world of stories both in imagination and in nature, empowering our relationship with imagination, creativity, deep listening and voice.

What's included?

Lunch and dinner will be provided each day as part of the retreat experience.

We’ll be sharing simple, nourishing food together around the rhythm of the camp - meals that support presence and connection.

Breakfast will have simple provisions available such as porridge, fruit and tea.

Please let us know of any major dietary requirements in advance, when booking your tickets.

What will I learn?

Along the way we will explore:

The Eye of the Storyteller: Seeing What is Real within the Dream

How can we look deeper into a story and see the bones of its structure, perceiving the deep archetypal dynamics at play across stories and myths of all cultures?

What are the deeper patterns, the elemental foundations of all stories?

How can we start to see them, understand them, and work with them artfully?

‘See the Bones, feel the Heart, find the Gold’

Tracking in Nature: Reading the Book of Nature.

Finding stories on the landscape, and bringing those stories back to the tribe, just as humans have done since the dawn of language.

Using animal tracks, bird language and eco-literacy to go beyond the wall of green, and allow the inhabitants and habitats to reveal their voices, their dramas and their wisdom.

The Art of Visioning: Seeing What is Waiting to be Born

How do we gather the seeds of story? The images, symbols, dreams and the pre-verbal felt-sense.

How can we grow these seeds into the stories they are seeking to become? The process of creative mythology, and the power and responsibility of the storyteller who brings new stories to the tribe.

Are there stories inside you, waiting to be born from the mysterious realms of imagination? And what is imagination, if not the ability to create and traverse realities?

The Healing Power of Story: Finding the Diamonds in the Ashes

Working with memories of experiences from your life. Those that are waiting to be re-enchanted, polished and gifted to the tribe. There is wisdom and creativity in you that the world needs. Much of it may come from the hardships, challenges and ordeals you have experienced.

How can we glean and harvest stories from our embodied experience, in such a way that even difficult or traumatic memories can begin to reveal the gifts, the beauty and the truth that they contain?

‘See the scar, find the story; heal the wound and share its gifts’

Embody the Story: Becoming a Weaver of Worlds

Performance has all kinds of connotations, but here we simply mean: to give form to the story.

How can we use body, voice, mind and heart to re-live a story, round the campfire, in order for our tribe to live it with us in realtime?

Using carefully chosen exercises to awaken voice, unlock memory and freedom of expression, we will hone the tools of body and mind as a powerful conduit of transmission. Humans naturally learn from other nervous systems - we sense enormous amounts of information intuitively from each other. Which is why embodied storytelling is one of the oldest and still most profound methods of sharing rich, multi-layered knowledge and conveying subtle meaning and insights.

When we are in good storytelling hands, the nervous-system can let go in a relaxed yet alive way that facilitates deep somatic learning and actually helps us to feel safer in the world, inspiring and empowering us for what lies ahead.

The crises and ordeals of the hero inoculate us against the stress of our daily lives, and the wider world:

‘The power of fairy tales is not that they tell us that dragons exist.

It is that they teach us that dragons can be overcome.’

- G.K. Chesterton

Contact the host of Way of Story

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