For the young woman who is here to leave the world better than she found it
Natural Leaders is a pilot program that aims to deepen young women’s pragmatic skills, so they can grow into the elders the world desperately needs. Culture and our education system focus heavily on the head, but bodies are often left behind. Natural leaders is designed to teach embodied wisdom through:
- Practical Skill Building
- Mythic Storytelling
- Community Service
- Ecotherapy
- Regenerative Care of the Planet
- Rites of Passage
What sort of person is a Natural Leader?
- She is most at home breathing fresh air in nature or cuddling an animal.
- She cares about the land, the water, and the creatures.
- She feels that there must be something deeper and more to life than she has been shown so far.
- She longs for a community that sees that she may sometimes feel too much and sometimes not enough, and cares for her and includes her anyway.
- She is sick of doomscrolling and wants to generate good news from her actions.
- She wants to connect with female mentors who care deeply about her and the woman she is becoming.
- She wants to learn real practical skills.
- She is willing to fail forward if necessary.
- She wants to know how to survive in the bush.
- She wants to plant trees that will be here longer than herself.
- She wants to protect what matters.
- She wants to become the kind of elder who can heal herself, support others, and support the earth in its regeneration.
What you will learn and do
Developing Bushcraft skills like fire and shelter building.
Training for Rites of Passage – This is an ancient way of helping youth transition into adulthood with their mana intact.
Ecotherapy skills for nervous system regulation
Learn Construction Skills in a safe, women-friendly environment while you make play equipment for underfunded schools.
Permaculture / Regenerative agriculture skills to help you learn how to produce food in a way that doesn’t harm the earth.
Homesteading skills to return the lost skills of our ancestors to future generations.
Learn to unpack mythic stories and storytelling skills.
Nature Journalling deepens your connection with your spirit and the natural world.
Learning how to safely navigate through the forest and friendships.
What we do on alternating weeks:
1. Going to Cahoots (a makersspace for women and gender minorities in Wellington) to learn building and construction skills in a safe, non-judgmental environment.
Why:
- So you can learn lifelong creative skills while you are young
- Become a hero to a bunch of little kids by adopting a local under resourced kindergarden and building them a set of loose parts play equipment from recycled pallets (helps them and you with creative thinking)
- Learn how to use power tools and Computer-Aided Design.
2. Bushcraft, Nature Journalling, Regenerative Agriculture and Homesteading Skills
Why:
- So you can learn more about your environment from an embodied space, not just in your head.
- Helps to learn skills to regulate your nervous system when things become heavy.
- If there is ever a national emergency, you will have the skills to help your family survive and thrive.
- Visit a farm that is working to restore the environment. – Learn how to grow, harvest, and preserve your own food.
- We will plant fruit trees together at a local school.
What this could lead to
Developing skills that could be useful in a career in
- Regenerative agriculture (farming in a way that doesn’t harm the earth)
- Nature-based healing modalities such as Rongoa (herbalism).
- Environmental Science or work with the Department of Conservation.
- Adventure Therapy / Ecotherapy
- Youth Work
- Adventure Tourism
- Writing / Storytelling / Filmmaking (you will learn about the power of ancient stories to pull to consciousness what is unconscious)
We are collaborating with Mangaroa Farms to develop a pathway for students interested in regenerative agriculture. This would eventually be an internship and microcertification pathway. We will use Natural Leaders as a tool to scout for young people who would most flourish in that framework.
How it works
- Every Tuesday after school from 3:30-6:30
- Rotation – One week at Cahoots building and one week in the ngahere.
- Spaces available – 10 per term
- Ages: 13-20.
Cost = Free thanks to support from:
Email: mandi@naturalleaders.nz for more information and to register your interest in the next cohort of Natural Leaders.