The first half of the series is about cultivating wholeness in the four facets of the Self. The second half is about self-healing engagement of our sub personalities (fragments of the self), welcoming them home, celebrating their efforts, allowing our wholeness to become our primary place of being.

 Benefits of the Wild Heart Journey

• find inner peace, mental clarity and autonomy thru Self-Healing
• become more grounded in yourself, reawakening dormant capacities
• re-wild yourself while accessing natural compassion
• develop enhanced self-empathy and self-healing skills by befriending subpersonalities
• freedom from reactivity, reduced recovery time from triggers (working with the unconscious)
• expanded windows of knowing, flexibility in strategies/outcomes
• sense of connection and belonging to the natural world, reduced loneliness
• increased autonomy, conscious choice and agency resulting in self-empowerment
• re-discover your indigenous connection to the land, a re-wilding of how you show up in the world

Wild Heart extends the internal practice of Nonviolent Communication through archetypal depth psychology by Bill Plotkin's Wild Mind. Each of the NVC components (Observations, Feelings, Needs, Requests) are mapped to the 4 cardinal directions of the Wild Mind Map, exploding the potential for self-connection and self-healing through cultivating wholeness practices. We'll explore the four facets of the self for expanded experiences of who we are and the resources available to us in every moment. We will also identify and befriend our subpersonalities -- the fragmented parts of our selves -- as a means of integrating them into our wholeness. This series combines the works of Nonviolent Communication with Wild Mind.

“Why 10 weeks?” Because that’s the average time to make a new habit.

Thursday Dates: 8/22, 8/29, 9/5, 9/12, 9/19, 9/26, 10/3, 10/10, 10/17, 10/24  (10-weeks)

Times: 9 am - 10:30am PDT (12 pm - 1:30 pm EDT)  (6pm - 7:30pm CEST/GMT -- Europe friendly)

Optional: 10:30am - 11am PDT is provided for additional discussion and questions

Personal Work: 1 - 2 hours a week required for outdoor practices

Optional Reading: 1 - 2 hours a week for reading the book Wild Mind (series focused on connecting within Plotkin's "Horizontal Plane" -- sessions generally correspond to chapters in the book)

Location: Sessions online on Zoom; link provided with registration. Personal work to be done outdoors in a wild, semi-wild place.

Note: Zoom sessions main room recorded and available for registered participants through members-only webpage.

This series will only be offered once in 2024.

"It’s time to take another look at ourselves — to re-enliven our sense of what it is to be human, to breathe new life into ancient intuitions of who we are, and to learn again to celebrate, as we once did, our instinctive affinity with the Earth community in which we’re rooted. We’re called now to rediscover what it means to be human beings in a wildly diverse world of feathered, furred, and scaled fellow creatures; flowers and forests; mountains, rivers, and oceans; wind, rain, and snow; Sun and Moon. It’s time to take an ecological and holistic look at the human psyche, to make a fresh start with Western psychology." - excerpt from "Wild Mind" by Bill Plotkin

"Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is a way of focusing our attention on what's alive in order to facilitate compassionate giving and receiving." -- Marshall Rosenberg, Ph.D.

"Our human psyches possess astonishing resources that wait within us, but we might not even know they exist until we discover how to access them and cultivate their powers, their untapped potentials and depths. Wild Mind identifies these resources — which Bill Plotkin calls the four facets of the Self, or the four dimensions of our innate human wholeness — and also the four sets of fragmented or wounded subpersonalities that form during childhood. Rather than proposing ways to eliminate our subpersonalities (which is not possible) or to beat them into submission, Plotkin describes how to cultivate the four facets of the Self and discover the gifts of our subpersonalities." -  excerpt from the "Wild Mind" by Bill Plotkin 

Testimonials

• Thank you James for these really great 10 weeks: you took us underneath the surface and you guided us to investigate the multiple aspects of the self. It was like navigating and exploring the caves of our own iceberg that represents our beautiful and complex wholeness. Your enthusiasm and passion for nature is contagious and your curiosity for the wonder of the human beings spread amongst all of us. This is something I will continue practicing and bringing with me. Raf Poggi - General Practitioner and Clinical Director (NHS UK)

• James' approach to melding Wild Mind and NVC is such a powerful and worthy approach to this work! I really appreciated how the two concepts were interwoven to dive deeper into the natural self. I'm super grateful for the insight this course provided and hope to expand more into this work as time goes on. Thank you, James!

• It was great to learn about the different directions and how they relate to aspects of ourselves. Because of the class, I feel like I can better embrace wholeness by nurturing my aspects and paying attention to nature's messages to me. (Anonymous)

• I recommend Wild Heart as a useful introduction to the work of Bill Plotkin and his map of the psyche. This map characterizes development of the "whole self" in ways that are thoughtfully derived and based in real people's experiences of personal transformation. It has opened up a world of practices and possibilities for me.

• “Wild Heart really opened my eyes--and heart! I was drawn to the workshop because I wanted to reawaken my "natural self" to become more connected to nature and integrate my spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and physical being into "wholeness." This workshop was an excellent way to do that! Exploring the four facets of wholeness and subpersonalities gave me a deeper awareness and understanding of parts of myself that I hadn't fully explored and a helpful framework to use as a guide. I also made meaningful connections with others in the workshop. I enjoyed the discussions, learning from each other's stories and perspectives, and the weekly exercises both in class and out in nature. I had many aha! moments and memorable experiences. I highly recommend this workshop!"  Kelly Knowles

• "Initially, when I decided to write a testimonial, I would have simply listed a number of extremely positive aspects of the Wild Mind course with James Prieto. However, I chose to mull over the two months the group met until I could distill its essence. James managed to take what could be judged as two disparate curriculum and integrate them seamlessly. His keen intellect, his passion for both Non-Violent Communication and Wild Mind, and his willingness to devote hours to create aesthetically pleasing and pedagogically sound material resulted in 8 weeks of class that were relevant and inspiring to me. I left the course with a heightened appreciation both for what it means to be fully human and for the unified whole that is our existence." - Carole Grabiec, retired high school teacher with 40 years experience

Escape the Flatland of Ego-centrism!

Wake up to the connected self you always wanted!

My Story

After years of practicing NVC, identifying my feelings, connecting with my needs, I’d still find times when I behave in ways that don’t match my values -- when I was overcome with an intensity of feeling that overrode the “good compassionate” person I was trying to become. 

I discovered Bill Plotkin’s “Nature and the Human Soul” in 2012, where he lays out eight stages of maturity, and I came to realize that I needed more work for growing out of adolescence into adulthood. It wasn’t until I came across Wild Mind that I came to understand and value wholeness — how the Self has 4 facets of wholeness, and I was focusing mostly on my North — my Nurturing Generative Adult, the part of me that’s compassionate, acknowledges and accepts differences (including my own), and wants to contribute meaningfully to a better world. This is the part of me that practices Nonviolent Communication (NVC).

Furthermore, I realized how diagnosing and healing areas of my life seemed pointless and never ending because my ego didn’t have a stable place to go. In reading, and in participating in Animas Valley's Wild Mind Training Program, I began to grow by cultivating wholeness — how parts of my East (Innocent, Sage, Trickster), South (Wild Indigenous One), and West (Dark Muse Beloved) also needed attention. Without practices to support my growth, my sub-personalities, which cause much of the discord in my life, needed to be acknowledged, embraced, thanked, and promoted into retirement. My many wholeness practices give me richer life experiences, broaden and strengthen my sense of self, thereby allow me to make better choices. 

In short, I've been developing my NVC skills and participating in personal growth journeys with Animas Valley -- both of which have helped me to get out of my matrix-box of engineering to dedicate my life to contribute to a more compassionate world. I see an opportunity to exponentially impact the world by bringing these two paradigms together. 

References: "Fusion of Jung's Cognitive Functions with Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication (NVC)" and "Collaborative Empathic Discovery" as the foundational documents for this work.

My hypothesis is that NVC role plays with our various parts, as identified by the Wild Mind four facets of the self, will help us befriend our subpersonalities and contribute to wholeness -- discovering the connected self you always dreamed of. Would you join me in this life changing journey?

Dream of Organizational Collaboration for Social Change 

I have come to realize how NVC compliments Wild Mind (and Animas Valley Institute), and how Wild Mind compliments NVC. My vision is to establish a relationship between CNVC and Animas Valley, as they both have similar missions for social, spiritual and environmental sustainable change. Mainly that NVC offers a conversational connection piece that Animas needs, and Animas Valley offers an embodied nature-based life-change piece that CNVC (and the world) needs. My sense is that both organizations would be more effective together than apart.

Communities of Practice

* Nonviolent Communication -- A Language of Life by Marshall Rosenberg, Ph.D. | The Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC)  

* Wild Mind - A Field Guide to the Human Psyche by Bill Plotkin, Ph.D. | Animas Valley Institute

Series Desired Outcomes

• more aliveness
• knowledge of the four facets of wholeness and associated subpersonalities
• reinvigorate your wildness and connection to nature
• identify a path toward freedom from destructive patterns of subpersonalities
• inner-peace and harmony that is grounded in self-connection
• enhanced awareness of the self (through the four facets of the self)
• development of strategies for acknowledging and integrating sub-personalities
• development of practices for cultivating wholeness

Series Prerequisites

During the online session, you will be guided to identify and connect with different facets of yourself, and then engage with other participants from these facets. 

You will need access to a wild or semi-wild area for nature-based practices each week, which happen outside of our Zoom group time. Participation in the series requires a commitment to also engage in the outdoor practices (minimum 1 hour each week).

The emphasis of the series will be on Wild Mind. This is NOT an introduction to NVC! This is intermediate NVC offering, but prior experience in NVC is not required.

Required Skills

* take responsibility for your inner experience

Desired Skills

* reliably distinguish between observations and evaluations

* familiarity with feelings/needs

* know how to give yourself empathy, identifying feelings and needs (self-attunement)

* are comfortable and skilled at giving empathy to others

* are able to express yourself authentically with compassion

* have the ability to make clear/doable positive action requests

Weekly Session Agenda

1. Council check-in circle around nature practices and experiences (from previous outings)
2. Overview of NVC Component
3. Wild Mind facet of wholeness or corresponding sub-personalities
4. Online Practice: Engaging our facets of wholeness or sub-personalities
5. Define and Discuss nature based outdoor wholeness practices
6. Outdoor Practice: Solo practices in nature (1 - 2 hours per week)

Series Agenda

Cultivating Wholeness - Conscious Self (5 weeks)

1. Present-Centered Sensing/Observation - East: Innocent/Sage/Trickster — presence, knowing, understanding, play
2. Embodied Feeling - South: Wild Indigenous One  -- embodiment, aliveness, movement
3. Deep Imagination/Needs - West: Dark Beloved Muse — creativity, imagination, identity
4. Heart-Centered Thinking/Requests - North: Nurturing Generative Adult — compassion, contribution, growth
5. Four-direction Circle for Cultivating Wholeness

Befriending Subpersonalities/Fragments - Unconscious Self (5 weeks)

6. North: Loyal Soldier
7. South: Wounded Child
8. East: Addict, Escapist
9. West: Shadow, Shadow Selves
10. Four-direction Circle for Self-Healing
 

Note: The purpose of this training is to provide information and practices for Nonviolent Communication combined with Wild Mind. Participants are responsible for their own personal safety.

Discounts are available for "Low Income/Students". First session is Free. You may also send money through Venmo @Jaime-L-Prieto-Jr, or PayPal to james.prieto@gmail.com (as friend to avoid fee).

About the facilitator
 

James Prieto guides towards wholeness, connection and integration of our natural selves by cultivating inner-resources, self-healing, and compassionate communication (NVC). James has a Center for Nonviolent Communication trainer certification (cnvc.org) and is certified by Animas Valley Institute as a Wild Mind Practitioner (animas.org).

Click here for extended bio.

Cover Art by Doug Van Houten