CRAFTING WHOLENESS – cultivating inner resources and connection with the world

“CRAFTING WHOLENESS - cultivating inner resources and connection with the world” is an international mobility for youth workers who want to cultivate their inner resources, expand their professional horizons, and become eco-centric agents of cultural transformation. This program is a space for restoring, nurturing, and expanding our connection with Ourselves, the Earth, the Others and the Great Mystery that prevails everything.

This mobility program will bring together 12 participants from: Ireland, Poland and Romania.

From where we begin and our intentions

Wholeness is our capacity to experience health as transcending all limitations while accepting them. Wholeness involves all of what makes us human - mind, body, soul, emotions and relationships.

Wholeness is important because it offers a profound sense of fulfillment, resilience, and authenticity in life. When we strive for wholeness, we integrate all aspects of ourselves, including our strengths, weaknesses, joys, and sorrows. This integration fosters inner peace and self-acceptance, enabling us to navigate life's challenges with greater resilience and clarity. Wholeness encourages genuine connections with others, as we embrace our authenticity and relate to others from a place of honesty and understanding.

Developing wholeness through nature offers a unique and enriching path towards integration and self-discovery. Nature provides a serene and nurturing environment that encourages us to connect with our inner selves and the world around us in profound ways.

“CRAFTING WHOLENESS - cultivating inner resources and connection with the world” is an invitation to get in touch with the Earth’s intelligence, that we find within and without ourselves, and enhance our wholeness.

The process is envisioned for engaging and enhancing the four human dimensions: the physical, the mental, the emotional and the spiritual.

Through this program we intend the followings:

• To create a space of deep explorations and learning, in which the participants can evolve at personal and professional level.
• To inspire and motivate the participants to become agents of cultural transformation, especially in the work with youth.
• To support the participants become multipliers of holistic eco-centric development.
• To uncover and explore unique practices and initiatives from the local community (Cluj-Napoca) which contribute to the development of youth.

The way we are going to work

We are going to experience and explore ecocentric development, which is a human development approach that places nature and the human soul at the center of its actions. We combine elements of eco-depth psychology, inner work, nature connection, rewilding, indigenous wisdom, non-religious spirituality, art and principles observed in nature.

The main tool

We will explore and work with one core instrument (the nature-based map of the human psyche) which was developed by the American depth psychologist Bill Plotkin, in his book Wild Mind. It is a tool of psychological wholeness which maps elements of the psyche onto the qualities of the natural world that we observe in the cardinal directions as well as the characteristics of the four seasons and the four times of day: dawn, noon, dusk, and midnight.

Practices and activities that will be offered

Nature explorations, solo time in nature, presentations, interactive discussions, reflection groups, working in pairs, mentoring practices, journaling, symbolic art, music making, singing, drumming and rhythms, storytelling, rituals and ceremonies, deep imagery journeys, contemplative practices (silence, meditation, praying), sharing circles and the way of council, dancing, embodiment, authentic movement, poetry, nature connection activities, hiking etc.

Two parts of the process

• Immersion in nature: We will spend the first five days of the program in a remote area in the mountains near Cluj-Napoca. Here, the group will be guided into deep explorations and experiences, which will focus on wholeness development.
• Immersion in community: The last two days will be spent in the city of Cluj-Napoca, where we will explore and interact with several local initiatives and change makers, who contribute to holistic human development and expansion of wholeness in people. This will support the exchange of good practices, ideas and solutions for common challenges.