We offer therapists mindful excursions into local wilderness areas for both half and full day experiences, CA location

In a unique and new program at Holos, lead by both licensed and intern therapists, we offer mindful excursions into local wilderness areas for both half and full day experiences.

holistic path of healing on the levels of mind, body, and spirit includes a personal and intimate connection with the natural world

Nature Therapy

My choice is clear.
I am stepping slowly
Into the quiet open land beyond.
There are no roads, no maps, no guides.
There is no insurance coverage, no training school.
Edible vegetation is sparse.
Rain trickles down my back
As I fumble with reed to make a hat.
Through the mist
I catch a thread of song
And rise to see a band of barefoot sisters
Approach with open arms.
With nothing more than faith and grace,
Our dance has just begun.
-Kirstin George

At Holos we believe that a holistic path of healing on the levels of mind, body, and spirit includes a personal and intimate connection with the natural world. Soul is reflected in nature. Our program offerings are carefully designed to encourage a deepening relationship with the wilderness that exists both outside and within our humanity. Our intention is to restore balance, harmony, inspiration, and imagination by attuning to the transformational cycles, energies, and seasons of nature.

In a unique and new program at Holos, lead by both licensed and intern therapists, we offer mindful excursions into local wilderness areas for both half and full day experiences. These are small group experiences that are carefully constructed to provide a meditative, reflective and ritualized encounter with beautiful natural landscapes. The intent of these experiences is to restore one’s natural balance, relax the body and mind, and let the beauty that surrounds us begin to heal the psyche. The actual experience can be a very gentle walk or a vigorous and challenging exercise. Our nature therapy program has half day on-going groups, all day workshops, and entended wilderness excursions.

Friday Afternoon Medicine Walks

Holos lovingly invites the community to try a taste of nature therapy.

This monthly small group excursion meets in the beautiful landscape of Tennessee Valley in Marin County with the intention of developing a personal and intimate connection with the wilderness that exists both outside and within our deepest selves. The walk includes elements of facilitated group sharing as well as some solo time working with a healing intent. The experiences are carefully designed to provide a meditative, reflective, and ritualized encounter with nature. Together, we will explore the richly varied terrain of how nature reflects the qualities and movements of the human soul through the seasons.
Each walk is shaped by the season and weather. Some are focused on animal tracking, some on a discovery of patterns in nature that echo our inner experience.

These 3-hour excursions are lead by licensed and pre-licensed intern psychotherapists who share a passionate commitment to holistic paths of healing. The group meets every 4th Friday afternoon of each month, from 3-6pm. Groups will include a minimum of 4 participants and a maximum of 12. We welcome those interested in a single session as well as those interested in a continuous series throughout the wheel of the year. Anyone over 18 years of age is welcome. The walks are moderately strenuous, requiring the ability to walk 2-3 miles on a fairly level terrain.

We will email everyone registered for the walk with specific details of meeting place and suggestions of how to best prepare a few days beforehand. All walks will be cancelled only with severe weather.

"call for dates and details"

Fee: by donation - (no one turned away for lack of funds)
Pre-registration is required.
To register, please call Holos Institute Events at 510-287-8816
or send an email to events@holosinstitute.net

The Healing Journey
Cultivating the Wisdom of Body, Psyche, and Spirit

"A six day residential intensive set in the beautiful Sangre de Cristo mountains of Northeastern New Mexico"

Ocamora Retreat in New Mexico

June 7-12, 2010

26 ceus available for MFT, LSCWs, and LPCs (BBSE ce provider # 2610)
Ocamora Retreat Center
Ocate, New Mexico

This land-based retreat, held in a beautiful and remote setting in the mountains of northeastern New Mexico, offers a return to natural rhythms and to our own inner landscapes. Recognizing the time-honored need for quieting the mind, it offers a safe and supportive setting for reconnecting with the inherent intelligence of the body, psyche and spirit.

This retreat will incorporate the powerful practices of both Grof Holotropic Breathwork and the time-honored shamanic journey in which we will seek out the healing influences of animal and spirit guides and cultivate the power of inner vision. Our deep journey experiences will be supported and enriched through the use of council, mindfulness practice, self-expression through art and writing, guided time in nature, and sacred ritual. The intention is to listen to the subtle wisdom of Spirit, awaken our creative spark, and discover ways to embody this inner knowledge in everyday life.

This retreat will be of value to those interested in personal regeneration, enhanced creativity and wellness, and heightened
spiritual awareness. It is an excellent adjunct to therapy, as well as a powerful method of self-care for helping professionals.
Theoretical material related to the psychotherapeutic application of both the ‘transpersonal’ perspective and shamanic world view will be included.

The Setting:
OCAMORA is a 265-acre retreat center nestled in a high valley on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo range in northern New Mexico. It occupies a mile-long valley composed of irrigated agricultural and lightly forested land, beautiful pastures, creek, year-round spring, organic apple orchard and garden, abundant wildlife, and mountain wilderness. For over 20 years Ocamora has offered its extraordinary landscape as a retreat, meditation, and educational center during the warm and stunningly green summer season. The facilities, built around a 100 year old ranch complex, offers guests an intimate and homelike experience in a setting of charm and rustic elegance. Ocamora is located two hours northeast of Santa Fe and an hour east of Taos.

Retreat Leaders:

Jan Edl Stein Jan Edl Stein, MFT, is the director of Holos Institute and a Jungian oriented psychotherapist with a deep interest in ecopsychology and the healing power of spiritual practice. She leads workshops and retreats in meditation, shamanic journeying and shamanic psychotherapy. She has taught at numerous venues including the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, Sonoma State University, and the Grof Transpersonal Training program. Jan has maintained a private practice for over 18 years in San Francisco and Marin, which includes clinical supervision, individual and couples psychotherapy. Her spiritual explorations include a long involvement in the yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Vipassana meditation, and shamanic traditions.

Diane Haug, LPCC is a licensed mental health professional and certified practitioner of Grof Holotropic Breathwork. Her background includes a decade of working with adults and children dealing with life-threatening and terminal illness, as well as a seven year cycle living alone in a wilderness setting. Her intimacy with the natural world has informed her interest in shamanism and the the wisdom traditions of earth-based cultures; she has a wide variety of experiences with healers from North America, Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador. As a senior member of the Grof Transpersonal Training staff, Diane currently teaches GTT training modules including Shamanism and The Art of Integration. She is currently an adjunct faculty member with Southwestern College in Santa Fe, New Mexico.