Using Ancient and Contemporary Spiritual Practices to be Awake in the Wild and Reconnect with Our Inner Wildness
Omega Institute for Holistic Studies
Using Ancient and Contemporary Spiritual Practices to be Awake in the Wild and Reconnect with Our Inner Wildness
with co-teacher Dr. Ji Hyang Padma
August 16-21, 2026
Register Here – https://www.eomega.org/workshops/touching-earth-0
In our technology-saturated culture, we hunger for direct experience of the sacred—for true connectivity that goes beyond the quick fix of images and information. This transformative workshop invites you to step into the wild spaces both around and within you, using time-tested wisdom practices and cutting-edge somatic awareness to remember your place in the living web of Earth. Together, Ji Hyang Padma—Buddhist chaplain, ritual expert, and author of Field of Blessings—and Dr. Rochelle Calvert—psychologist, mindfulness teacher, and author of Healing with Nature—will guide you through an integrated approach that weaves ancient Buddhist healing rituals with contemporary mindfulness and somatic practices. You’ll discover how the natural world serves as both mirror and medicine for your inner landscape, offering pathways to healing, awakening presence, and reclaiming your authentic wildness.
What you will experience: Sacred Storytelling and Ritual: Explore how meaning-making bridges inner and outer worlds through the Buddhist understanding that ritual is embodied narrative. Learn Medicine Buddha practices and elements of Zen as vehicles for spiritual transformation and radical empathy. Somatic Attunement in Nature: Through Dr. Calvert’s evidence-based approach, you’ll learn to calm and regulate your nervous system using the healing presence of the natural world. Discover how mindful connection with earth, water, wind, and growing things can rewire trauma responses and restore embodied wholeness. Contemplative Outdoor Practices: Engage in guided meditations, walking practices, and earth-based ceremonies that awaken your senses and deepen your capacity for presence. These practices draw from both Zen mindfulness traditions and contemporary nature-based healing modalities. Inner Wildness Reclamation: Reconnect with the untamed, authentic aspects of yourself that have been domesticated by cultural conditioning. Learn to trust your somatic wisdom and the guidance that emerges when you are fully present to the intelligence of the natural world.
Daily Rhythm: Each day will flow between indoor teachings and outdoor practice, honoring both contemplation and embodied experience. We will begin with gentle movement and breathing practices, move into nature-based mindfulness sessions, explore ritual and ceremony, and close with group sharing and integration.
