Are You Ready.…

• For a Break from the Hectic Pace of Life?
• To Reconnect with Your Vitality?
• To Know What is Truly Important to You?
• To Seek Vision or Direction?
• To Mark A Transition in Your Life?

“My quest experience changed my life in profound and lasting ways. Thank you!”    -Jon L., 31, community planner

We invite you to join us to step into an exquisite dance with Nature and discover how a voyage into the outer wilderness can reveal to you the riches of our own wilderness within. This transformative
adventure will help you slow down from the fast pace of modern life and find again your place within nature’s rhythms and cycles. Let the stark beauty of the wild, the whispers of the breeze or the
vastness of the night sky become your guide to the rejuvenation or self-discovery you need. If you are hungry to understand yourself and your world more clearly, or seek help in navigating life’s changes, this trip can be a powerful ally in your search.
Through storytelling, creative expression, council practice and living simply on the Earth, you will reconnect with yourself and with what you are longing for in your life. Following this period of preparation, we will hike into the stunning wilderness to setup our basecamp. There, as our ancestors from many cultures have done, you will walk alone to your solo place and discover the magic and power of turning to the earth with the needs, yearnings, fears and dreams of your life. After this period of solo time, you will return to the sanctuary of our small group where together we will spend the next few days bringing a deep understanding to the teachings nature has offered you and how they fit into your life.

The Details
The Quest has Three Phases:
Preparation/Severance: A time to become acquainted with your guides and fellow questers as we utilize 3 days to cover such topics as: Leave No Trace camping; natural history of the desert; safety and survival procedures; teachings of the four directions and applying them to your own inner map; creating your own ceremonies for growth, healing and celebration; and exploration of your reasons for questing through expressive art, deep imagery, dreamwork, medicine walks.
Threshold: On the third day we travel to a wilderness base camp that will support you as you find your place of solitude in this gorgeous landscape in which you will spend 3 days and nights living alone without contact with other people. If you choose to fast (as most people do), this will begin one day before you cross over the sacred threshold, making the duration of the fasting time 4 days and nights.
Reincorporation/Integration: After your three days and nights of solo time in your place of beauty in the wilderness, you will return to base camp to be greeted by your guides and fellow questers. After celebrating we will support you in engaging the challenging process of gradually returning to “normal” life – eating, coming back into the body, being with others, cars, etc. – and most importantly, we will work together to help you make meaning of your alone time in the wilderness. Each quester will have a chance to share her/his story with the group and will be assisted in a myriad of ways in bringing the many facets of the quest back into daily life.

When: August 24, 9 am – September 2, 1 pm, 2017.

Where: We are currently finalizing this quest’s site to either the Central Coast or the mountains east of the Sierra Nevada. Permits and camping fees for the duration of the quest are paid by W.R.

What you need to provide: Personal camping gear; Five breakfasts and lunches for yourself (All dinners are provided); share in carpooling costs/vehicles. Ability to carry a 30-40 lb. pack for one mile. No prior camping experience needed.

Fee: $1200-1450. Deposit: $200. For those in need, payment plans & financial aid are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

REGISTRATION: To register for this program, please send us your payment or deposit for the program and a one-page letter of intent describing your reasons for wanting to attend and what you hope to learn or explore through your participation in the program. It may also be helpful to include any significant life transitions you’ll be marking or life challenges you wish to engage by completing the program.
Register Online: Click here to complete your registration form, submit your letter of intent and make a payment online(http://www.wildernessreflections.com/registration-form/)
** EARLY REGISTRATION DISCOUNT** Register 90 days in advance, and receive a $100 discount.

Register by Mail: Send us your name, address, phone and email contact along with your letter of intent and deposit or full payment to: Wilderness Reflections, P.O.Box 311, Fairfax, CA 94978.

Guides for the Summer Wilderness Quest

Anna Swisher is a wilderness and rites-of-passage guide, youth mentor, and certified Yoga Teacher. She holds an M.A. in East-West Psychology, and weaves her passion for nature, Earth-based spirituality, and indigenous wisdom with years of experience facilitating conscious movement and ritual.  She has worked with various organizations facilitating nature-based mentoring and education, rites of passage and wilderness adventure for youth and teenagers. She continues to guide and support adults in nature and wilderness experiences through 1:1 ecotherapeutic work, dayquests, vision quests, and group workshops. She is now deepening her study of permaculture, village building, cultural mentoring, and restorative social/ecological justice, and synthesizing all her experience into a dedication to regenerative community building.

Brian Spear brings a wide variety of hard and soft skills to his work as a mentor, guide and facilitator. Since 2012, he has been guiding at risk youth on whitewater rafting adventures and has also worked with 5th grade boys as part of a school year nature immersion program. In 2014, Brian completed the Somatic Ecopsychology and Wilderness Quest Training with Wilderness Reflections and has undergone a comprehensive training in the Hakomi Method to strengthen the somatic integration into wilderness guiding. Brian is committed to bringing people closer to Nature through connection with their own bodies. Brian currently works privately as a guide marking and supporting life transitions for adults through somatic healing, ritual and intentional time in nature. As a guide, he brings a sensitive capacity to see, hear and track organic unfolding and weaves connections between self, other and place. Brian is a certified Wilderness First Responder and a member of the Wilderness Guides Council.

Bio Pic 1, cropScott Davidson is a deep nature guide who cultivates an ecology of belonging through a unique weaving of wildlife tracking, tending and questing in community. As a gifted council and quest guide, he collaborates with the School of Lost Borders, Wilderness Reflections, Wilderness Guides Council, the Tracker Academy and local schools. As a wildlife ecologist and tracker, Scott is a leader with the Art of Mentoring – Deep Nature Connection community with the 8 Shields Institute, co-founder of the Tracking & Nature Connection Series and others that bring deep connection and healing for people of all ages in potent service to life. He is a certified Wilderness First Responder.