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The Institute for Natural Learning is dedicated to sharing connection practices that bring health and happiness to you and your family. During these times of rapid pace and unknown change, families experience increasing amounts of disconnection between themselves, their values and their place, to name a few.
IFNL mentors youth and adults in timeless indigenous practices that foster healthy connection to self, community and nature. These ways of being, skills, and approaches are uniquely designed to assist the different life stages, from birth to elderhood.
The Institute for Natural Learning brings people together to explore and discover their connections to the natural world. For each of us, this journey leads both inward and outward, as we tend our inner and outer fires. It spirals us back to the lives of our ancestors, from whom we learn the original essentials of being human. As well, it draws us forward toward generations to come, whom we strive to mentor onto pathways of gratitude and relationship.
>Our offerings span the various life stages and include nature awareness programs, rites of passage, personal mentoring, and more. Many of our program participants come away with a renewed sense of meaning in their lives, along with the sense of what it feels like to trust people. This is a cultural proposition. We hope you will join us!
We invite you to view this video from Coyote Camp, our annual wilderness adventure for teens.
Read about:
Contact us:
(802) 254-5800
Client Feedback:
From: justin.pegnataro@twocoyotes.org
Subject: Coaching Feedback
Date: May 18, 2008
Wow, I started to cry as I wrote some of these. I plan on listening to all
of our CDs after we finish in a month. It has been and is an amazing
journey. I am grateful for this. In particular how gentle the process has
been. While your questions and homework has really pushed my edges there
was always compassion there. I felt safe the whole time. I also sit here
amazed at what gifts you helped me to evoke from within. Your trust in the
process allowed so much growth to occur in me. This is really a gift.
Blessings,
Justin
Name: Justin Pegnataro
age: 28
Location: Woodbridge, CT
Organization: Two Coyotes Wilderness School
Responsibilities or Titles: Executive Director
Structure:
Length of consulting journey: 12 Months
Individual or Group: Individual 2 hour, 2X per month consulting, in person
Mentoring: inner tracking, Community Leadership training, native
consciousness
Impact:
How has the mentoring helped you with your sense of self, community, nature,
and spirit?
When I started to track my personal history one pattern that emerged was a
fear of being rejected and that I protected myself through being the first
one to disconnect from community. The strategy was if I self-rejected then
I wouldn’t have to deal with the hurt of being rejected.
When I became director of Two Coyotes Wilderness School I had no clue that this was my baseline. All I knew was that this thing called community was essential to
building the school.
Through my work with Mark he helped me to understand
the root of my running away from community and challenged me to push the
edges of my fear. Through this work I have found my inner community man and
have begun creating connections and relationships in my life.
What are you doing now that you wouldn’t have without it?
The nature of mark’s consulting opened up my vision from a narrow, focused
mission of teaching survival skills to a holistic mission that now has space
for community, parents, farmers, storytellers, elders, and so much passion
and life.
How has it affected your path?
I feel so much more freedom, the old path I walked on was full of strategies
that held me back or sabotaged my progress and defined my actions. I am not
held to those same agreements now and can see through those shadows and old
patterns into a landscape rich in possibility, faith, and direction.
What roadblocks has it helped you remove?
Fear of rejection, need for control, ambition to grow fast and take over,
fear to look within, trusting others, and many more
What are you thankful for?
I am thankful that Mark didn’t just hand me the keys or give me an answer.
When I first came to him that is what I wanted. In fact, at first I was
frustrated that we began speaking about topics like grief. It was only
after the first few sessions that I realized that What I thought I needed
and what I needed were two different things and It took trust and surrender
to a pace and direction that was set in the moment. This freedom allowed my
heart to sing and took our sessions to places they never would have if my
ego was the driver.
Best story illustrating how Mark works:
My favorite feeling was the ” oh no moment” This was the feeling I got when
Mark would home in on one of my shadows, or ask a question that caused my
programming of patterns and ruts to crash. It was those moments, in the
absence of a dominant inner voice telling how to live that I found true
gold. Mark has a gift to, in a subtle way, lead people to their truth.
What I will remember most from our work together are those honest moments.
Your opinion in a nutshell of what Mark does for you and/or your
organization:
Mark has helped me to step into my role as a man of power and to translate
my passion and vision from a western industrial model of success into a
native model that holds space for community, spirit and the earth.
Are you willing to have your name attached to any of these quotes for Mark’s
webpage?
yes
Thank you for the feedback and helping me develop this aspect of how I serve the world! – Mark
Rite of Competence Starting February 3rd! See Below
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Register for the Webinar: Thriving Families by Design…January 27th
Do you worry about the state of the country? Do you intend to have a grounded connected and thriving family but feel challenged by life?
Thriving Families by Design is a free call of inspirational stories about creating healthy family life by learning about human development, community building, and intentional nature connection.
Human beings have created intentional cultures of connection for the purpose of thriving in all kinds of natural environments. This wisdom has not been lost, but in many cases, it has been forgotten.
Join us for inspirational stories about retrieving and applying this wisdom in everyday communities all across North America and Europe.
Register here and gain access to tools that you can apply immediately to a thriving connected family and community rich life.
Register for Thriving Families by Design.
January 27th, 8:00 pm Eastern (Zoom Webinar)
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Rite of Competence:
A Conscious Parenting Course to Design and Lead a Mid-Childhood Celebration. February 3rd, 7:30pm Eastern.
Lilliana’s Rite of Competence, San Luis Obispo, California.
The Rite of Competence:
The Rite of Competence Program is a 5-month distance-learning training program created and led by Mark Morey for parents or caregivers of a boy or girl who is roughly 7 – 9 years old. The exact age of the child is less important than his or her readiness for transition. This is the point when your child is grappling with having one foot in early childhood and one foot in late childhood.
In this program you will be mentored to design, prepare for, and deliver this transition ritual for your child. Your child does not participate in the program directly, but will be the beneficiary of the training you receive.
Year after year we have about 8 families participate, located in the United States, Canada, and abroad.
Each family is coached through storytelling, timeless principles, and peer mentoring to design a unique and powerful ceremony both modern in feel and ancient in blueprint.
This transition marks a powerful shift in a child’s relationships with her parents and siblings, as well as with other adults in her extended family. Everyone goes through this change together. From the parents view, we begin to see, “This isn’t my baby anymore!”
Benefits to Children
Samuel’s Rite of Competence, Putney Vermont
• Acknowledge and honor what your child has accomplished so far in life.
• Equip them with a new perspective about what they are going through.
• Bolster their foundation of self-respect.
• Foster in them a sense of their own development, like a “map” of their life.
Benefits to Parents & Families
• Gain a plan for the next 6 months that supports your child’s developmental growth.
• Gain new tools with which to observe and change your family dynamic.
• Learn to meet your children “where they are” and to be present with your child’s current needs.
• “Upgrade” the quality and diversity of your closest family friends—like an extended family that shares your parenting goals, interests, and worldview.
• Develop more resiliency, in each family member and in your family as a whole.
• Increase your sense of security by “retooling” your family relationships to make them more rewarding and supportive on all sides.
• Develop peer, adult, and mentor resources for your child and every member of your family.
• Prepare for the most intense transition of your parenting career, adolescence, by traversing those realms in advance when not so much is at stake.
To Learn More please inquire.
Veery’s Rite of Competence, Ogunquit, Maine
Here are a few examples:
Maise
The morning was rainy, but as the guests began to arrive, the sun came out. Maise was very excited. She was donning a skirt she had made for the occasion…more.
Liliana
Greetings everyone,
Last year my family attended Art of Mentoring and it was a very transformative experience. One of the most touching moments was the ceremony that was held to send off the teens on their 3 day trip to the ocean and back. There was something extremely…more.
Jasper
I wanted to share the story of Jasper’s ceremony last weekend with those of you who couldn’t make it. It was a really fun day. Jasper greeted everyone by putting animal cards on their back for a guessing game. We gathered for a thanksgiving circle. Then the crew of “auntees and uncles” all worked together to bow drill a coal for Jasper. We sang him off with a song …more.
Samuel’s Rite of Competence, Putney, Vermont
Why Rites of Passage?
Rites of passage serve as markers of significant moments in our lives. They define the thresholds between one chapter and the next and help us to both see and realize our own progress as we move through life. Many people recognize adolescence as just such a moment that deserves to be honored in some special way, be it through a cultural ceremony like a bar mitzvah, through a personal experience such as a special road trip with mom or dad, or by the giving of a special gift “of their very own.”
What is a Rite of Competence?
Adolescence is seen in many cultures as the transition from childhood into adulthood. While still too young to drive or buy alcohol legally, a 13 year old is no longer seen as a child and is expected to conduct themselves as an adult in most respects. As such, the period leading up to 13 years old can be seen as “the path to adulthood.”
A seven – nine year-old stands at the beginning of that path. This is the first—and arguably the most crucial—threshold of his or her life: between Early Childhood’s comfort with the closeness of Mama, and Late Childhood’s independence and stepping “into the world” with one’s own identity. This path to adulthood is a crucial time for forging a strong self-image, as well as for laying the foundation of relationships which will guide a child into adulthood.
The Rite of Competence generates a kind of mental map not only for you but for your child as well. This helps him to name and make sense of the changes that he is experiencing as he begins to wend his way into the world outside of his immediate family.
Veery’s grandparents beaming their pride and joy.
To Learn More please inquire.
It Takes a Village
Something has been missing in our culture for the last 50 years or so. People’s wistful talk of “The Old Days” centers on simplicity, trust, community, interdependence and nature. Many of us raised in the culture of the 60s, 70s and 80s value the idea that success for our children looks like independence and self-reliance.
We offer an alternative idea: that success looks more like respectful, whole and connected children. This is not about obedience, but about interdependence. It is about how our children conduct themselves in the community of others by helping and giving back. And, crucially, it is about how our children learn to create community—webs of resilient relationships—wherever they go.
Resilience is the ability to cope with stress. And it is interdependence—the many threads of respect, support and love—that generates resiliency for individuals, families and communities. Family resiliency can be nurtured and grown. It starts with the sense of self and is nourished by a conscious extended family, which is an essential element of the Rite of Competence. The extended family we talk about here is your community of friends and relatives that interact with and mentor your child—it’s the village that helps to raise our children. It is through the mirror of extended family that a child can learn to see herself in a new way. And it is through extended family that we build resilient relationships. This is the village of the modern era.
Lilliana playing flute for her community, one of her competencies!
Acknowledging a Family Transition
With or without a rite of passage to mark it, the transition from early to late childhood is one that involves the whole family.
Acknowledgment creates movement. As a parent, the last thing we want to do is miss a beat or get in the way of our child’s success in life. One of the simplest tools that you will gain through this program is how to holistically acknowledge the change that is going on inside your child by orchestrating parallel changes outside your child. In this way movement into the next stage of maturity will be created for not only your child but for each member of the family in relationship to this new stage.
This new stage looks like “not a baby” anymore: actually contributing value and content to the family unit as a functioning member, as in, for example, washing dishes, prepping food, or aiding other family strategies for peace. For your child, it may look like greater autonomy, more responsibility, and more freedom.
This transition marks a powerful shift in a child’s relationships with her parents and siblings, as well as with other adults in her extended family. Everyone goes through this change together. From the parents view, we begin to see, “This isn’t my baby anymore!”
What You Will Learn:
- What are the elements of a powerful Rite of Competence ritual?
- What is the nature of the internal transition your child is going through and what needs acknowledgment?
- What might this transition mean for your family?
- How to design, plan and conduct a Rite of Competence for your boy or girl.
- Defining roles for the participants.
- Creating an invitation list and how to choose people for key roles.
- Making the experience meaningful and rewarding for every participant.
- How to prepare your child.
- How to prepare yourself and your family,
- How to develop richer extended family relationships.
- What to expect next and how to continue to hold the thread of conscious, regenerative parenting.
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REGISTRATION FOR FAMILIES:
Elements of the program include:
- 4 group conference calls with Mark Morey, 1.5 hours each, Wednesday evenings,
- 7:30pm ET
- Feb 3rd, Mar. 3rd, Mar. 31st, Apr. 28th
- 1 follow-up group conference call June 9th.
- 1 focused family mentoring call: two families dialoguing with Mark and one another.
- Customized coaching for your family’s Rite of Competence.
- Audio recordings will be sent after each call for review.
- The application deadline is January 29th, 2021.
Cost: $600 or $495 if paid in full.
2. Payment Options:
(Our apologies, but we are unable to accept out of country checks.)
- $495: Full pay of $495, via credit card or Paypal, due by January 29th.
- $600: $200 deposit by Jan. 29th, plus two payments of $200 each, Due Feb. 19th and Mar. 19th
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REGISTRATION FOR FACILITATORS:
Training Mentors to Offer Rite of Competence in their Communities!
In the past, Mark has only offered Rite of Competence training directly to families. Each year he is asked if he might extend this training to empower community leaders to guide their families through the process. Now he offers this custom mentoring training for community facilitators.
How It Works
Participants in the Facilitator Training will complete the entire Childhood Rite of Competence program, working with their own child or with a child from their community. In conjunction with this standard training, the advanced course will meet alternately to discuss and study the mentoring process. Upon completion of this program, participants will be eligible to enter into an agreement for offering Childhood Rite of Competence.
Enrollment in the Childhood Rite of Competence Facilitator Training is by application. To apply, send an email telling me a little bit about you, also stating your background and interest in this endeavor. Thanks ! please inquire.
Elements of the program include:
- All 5 monthly Childhood Rite of Competence family mentoring conference calls.
- 4 group conference calls with Mark Morey, 1.5 hours each, Wednesday evenings, 7:30pm ET*
- Feb 3rd, Mar. 3rd, Mar. 31st, Apr. 28th
- 1 follow-up group conference call June 4th.
- 4 group conference calls with Mark Morey, 1.5 hours each, Wednesday evenings, 7:30pm ET*
- Additional training sessions after each call.
- 1 follow-up group conference call with Mark in June.
- 1 focused family mentoring call: two families dialoguing with Mark and one another.
- Customized coaching for your Childhood Rite of Competence.
- Audio resources.
Cost: $695
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More Info
For general questions about either program, about the Rite of Competence, or for help deciding what’s right for you or your child, contact:
Mark Morey, mark (at) ifnaturallearning.com,
About Mark Morey
Mark Morey is a creative artist, visionary educator, cultural engineer, and consultant who designs regenerative holistic communities with timeless native principles. He has founded or co-founded three transformational organizations in the last 30 years: Deep Wilds, Vermont Wilderness School, the Institute for Natural Learning, A Connected Leader and We Are Nature Rising, sparking a nature and community awareness movement in the Northeast impacting tens of thousands of adults and children today.
Mark has facilitated wilderness survival and spiritual passages for teens and adults since 1994, including over 100 week-long Art of Mentoring passages for adults, 20 years of co-ed wilderness challenge summer camps for pre-teens and teens, and 14 years of Sacred Fire rites of passage for boys. Mark feels inspired by the hero’s journey model and by the oral history of his ancestors and of native people around the world. His passion for environmental healing and consciousness has gained Mark Morey wide recognition as a leader in earth-centered learning, leadership training, and community building.
His work has taken him into Google and Harvard, where he is dedicated to helping business leaders achieve healthy, functioning, and self-sustaining organizational cultures by harnessing the authentic and powerful principles of nature.
Current & Past IfNL Projects
(this page is under development – please check back for updates!)
Boys’ Sacred Fire Initiation
Coyote Camp
Waldorf Nature Immersion
Art of Mentoring Ring 4 Training
Walking Two Worlds
Extended Family Adoption
Elders: The Foundation of Community
Building Strong Naturalist Communities
Community Nature Awareness Program (CNAP)
Vision Quests
Art of Mentoring
Eight Shields
Sacred Fire
Permaculture
Community Resilience
Ndaka: Adolescent Rites of Passage, Adventure and Leadership
Crossing the Threshold: recognizing and honoring life’s transitions
Coaching and Consulting
Experience customized, in-depth mentoring in the arts of community leadership and building resilient relationships. Areas covered include: relationship to nature, relationship to community and family, relationship to self, and relationship to the spirit that moves through all things.
In general, the agreement is 1 session per week for 3, 6, or 9 months. Most coaching sessions are over the phone. In-person sessions can be arranged for clients local to Brattleboro, VT. Sessions are 50 minutes in length, allowing for transitions on the hour for both the client and Mark.
Rates:
Per Session Frequency
$100 Weekly for 3+ months
$110 10 sessions
$125 4 sessions
$150 1 or 2 sessions
Mark Morey has coached wilderness school leaders and cultural creatives from around North America and Europe, and consulted extensively for organizations including Wilderness Awareness School, OWLink Media, Vermont Wilderness School, the Riekes Center for Human Enhancement, and the Regenerative Design Institute. Click here to view recent client feedback.
The IFNL Intensive Leadership Program
Our commitment to the future generations includes ensuring that young people are intensively mentored into their gifts and their full capacities for regenerative community leadership.
If you’re interested in an intensive leadership training experience, stretching your edges, personal growth, and in-depth mentoring and coaching in your leadership skills and style, IFNL will set up a 3-month, 6-month, or 9-month apprenticeship with you, in which the following is likely to occur:
Leadership Role Participation in all IFNL programs
Weekly Mentoring Meeting with Mark Morey
Access to Extensive Resources for Independent Study