What must a caterpillar do that it may one day fly?

Doug Van Houten

IN THIS WORK, Doug draws on the wisdom of the natural world, depth-psychology, eco-psychology, dreams, somatic knowing, poetry, and many pan-cultural, soul furthering practices that includes: The Way of Council, vision fasting, trance dancing and conversations with the more than human world. Doug’s true calling in life is to support others as they uncover their own unique gifts and in so doing, transform their lives in service to what Thomas Berry called ”The Great Work” of our times. Doug is also a student of Refined Hakomi, an ardent beekeeper, a visual artist, a wily wanderer, a dream tracker, a deep ceremonialist, a heart-centered activist, a budding yoga instructor interested in new forms of yoga and somatic practice, and a guide for Animas Valley Institute (www.animas.org). 

TO LIVE A MORE SOUL ROOTED LIFE means to move beyond an out-dated psychological emphasis focused primarily on wounds and symptoms to seek out the more numinous gifts we all bear that lie trapped beneath the torment of old ideals, bounded by beliefs that no longer serve, relegated to shadows cast by fear, humiliation and shame. It is in nature-based settings that we do the retrieval work where encounters with astonishing beings and wild experiences mirror back to us more of our soul’s story, the one we carry with us our whole lives but may well have forgotten.

REACHING DOWN toward the depths of soul, we become consciously aware of the particular storied threads we must gather up in order to lovingly weave our gifts into being and make more visible our true natures. Learn vital nature- and arts-based practices designed to invite the kind of psycho-spiritual maturity that summons your deepest held wild-hearted passions found at the confluence of the sensuous body, the emotional heart, the reflective mind and the wild soul.