Path of the Wild Heart: Trailbreaking
A comprehensive year-long program
For persons in early recovery
Weekly one-on-one support/progress meeting with your guide. (These may be in person or via the internet).- Bi-Weekly ½ day guided Ecospiritual Immersion
- Monthly day-long guided Ecospiritual Immersion
- Development of a comprehensive recovery plan based on your Matrix of Connectedness and daily personal practice plan, that are regularly reviewed in conjunction with your guide.
In all our interactions, we also foster proven recovery principles, from a perspective that respects individual choices and preferences. We believe that there are many pathways to recovery, and we encourage our program participants to engage concurrently in other recovery activities and programs. Various types of recovery meetings, recovery center activities, recovery coaching and addiction-focused treatment can all be valuable adjuncts to our program.
What is an Ecospiritual Immersion?
The Ecospiritual Immersions are the beating heart of our recovery program. Each Immersion is a carefully structured experience, designed to nurture an intimate relationship between us and the wild, natural world. These are done in a group of fellow recoverees and with our ecospiritual guide.
These are never intended to be rigorous outings involving physical stress or discomfort. On the contrary, regardless of the length of the Immersion, participants should be comfortable so that they are able to focus on the subtle nuances of nature’s wildness, as they are experienced through the contemplative and meditative aspects of the Immersion. When describing the process of Ecospiritual Immersion™, we refer to 5 S’s. These are solitude, silence, stillness, slowness and sitting.
What is the Matrix of Connectedness?
The Matrix of Connectedness is the structural underpinning of our Path of the Wild Heart program. It is based on a positive psychology approach, which suggests that we humans are happiest and most fulfilled in our lives when we live at the center of a rich Matrix of Connectedness™.
The Matrix is a network of connections and relationships at every level of our being. Those levels include the physical, psychological/emotional, relational, communal, ecospiritual and spiritual. It is those connections that give us our sense of identity, our sense of accomplishment, our sense of belonging, and our sense of stability in the world.
Trauma and addictions are two of the biggest disruptors of people’s networks. That is the principal reason that people in early recovery feel lost and uncertain. The usual guideposts that help us navigate our lives are gone. Without a rich network of connections, we lack many forms of support, and are missing the many benefits of healthy relationships. Frequently we are even oblivious of our own physical and mental well-being, making it impossible to maintain a healthy connection to our bodies, our emotions, and our minds. A comprehensive addiction recovery program must therefore necessarily address all these aspects of our being as we heal.
Phase I- Taking Root- Building the Recovery Foundation
- Begin basic ecospiritual practices/regular participation in Immersions.
- Learn and begin to implement recovery fundamentals.
- Identify deficits in the individual matrix of connections.
- Begin to create/restore a matrix of connections at every level.
- Establish a basic spiritual/ecospiritual connection.
- Begin the restoration/creation of the individual’s matrix.
Activities at this level-
- Participate in bi-monthly 1:1 review of progress and obstacles, with eco-spiritual guide. (Usually online)
- Attend a bi-monthly ½ day Ecospiritual Immersion.
- Attend a monthly full day Ecospiritual Immersion.
- Continue recovery meetings and activities identified in personal recovery plan.
- Continue spiritual activities identified in personal recovery plan.
- Continue to Identify and engage in other sources of healing.
- Begin to work at least 10 hours/week, by the second month. May be paid or volunteer.
- Time: 6 months
- Cost: $300 month or $1500 if paid in fully initially. Partial scholarships available.
Time: Six months
Phase II- Leafing out- Expanding recovery further into the community.
- Continue to deepen ecospiritual relationship through continued daily personal practices/regular participation in Immersions.
- Continue to identify and practice recovery principles in everyday life.
- Continue to work to heal wounds while continuing to restore deficits in the individual Matrix of Connections
- Deepen and expand spiritual/ecospiritual connection.
- Continue the restoration/creation of the individual’s Matrix.
Activities at this level-
- Participate in monthly 1:1 review of progress and obstacles, with eco-spiritual guide. (Usually online)
- Attend a bi-monthly ½ day Ecospiritual Immersion.
- Attend a monthly full day Ecospiritual Immersion.
- Continue recovery meetings and activities identified in personal recovery plan.
- Continue spiritual activities identified in personal recovery plan.
- Continue to Identify and engage in other sources of healing.
- Continue to expand the matrix, at every level.
- Become more active in community service.
- Work at least 20 hours per week. May be paid or volunteer.
- Time: Six months
Cost: $300 month or $1500 if paid in fully initially. Partial scholarships available.
Phase III- Blossoming- The full return to the stream of life.
Upon successful completion of the Leafing Out phase and with approval of facilitators:
• Recoveree may begin co-leading Ecospiritual Immersions
• They may be assigned to actively mentor persons in the Taking Root Phase
• They will continue to remain involved in all aspects of their personal program.
• Participate in monthly 1:1 review of progress and obstacles, with facilitator. (Usually online)
• Participate in monthly ½ day new facilitator/mentor meeting.
• At the end of one year, may petition to participate in the Ecospiritual Guide training program.
Time: Unspecified
Cost: None