A Deep Nature Connection
A Core Ingredient for Empowering Youth and Creating a Just World
Gaia Passages was created with an understanding that the root cause of many challenges that girls and gender expansive youth face–including low self-confidence, fractured relationships with peers and family, and self-harming behaviors–stem from the disconnection modern humans have with the natural earth cycles and the more-than-human world. We believe it is our essential role as humans to be caretakers, celebrators, and great adorners of Gaia. The development of deep integration with more-than-human life is an antidote to the mental, emotional and spiritual imbalances of our time, Gaia Passages empowers youth into their sense of belonging and supports their journey towards deeper connection with their authentic and sacred purpose. Together, we are in the emergent creation of an exquisite and ancient story.
Gaia Passages is not rooted in the teachings of any single ancestral or indigenous lineage, but draws from the wisdom embedded in all earth-based cultures that cultivate honor and connection, the raising of healthy children, and the tending of the wildlands. We share traditions that we have been given permission to share, honoring lineages as we have been taught. Our programs are based on building culture from the ground up – rooted in a lived relationship with the lands on which we conduct our programs, the living communities with whom we share those lands, and with each other. We encourage participants and staff to share the stories, songs, practices, foods, and other arts from their own ancestral traditions. All are respected, honored, and welcomed peacefully. We strive to center the inherent wisdom and creative beauty of all cultural traditions in our community.
