In April, we posted a little note, inviting people to join us in a new offering slash experiment.

Last week, we celebrated the conclusion of our weekly ‘Active Hope’ circle gathering.

My co-facilitator, Monica Sander Burn, of The Society of Trees, wrote this reflection after we wrapped up our last gathering.

The Society of Trees is offering mid-week forest-therapy walks, at the Nurture in Nature community gardens on Pemberton Meadows Road, from 5:30 – 7:30pm if you want to get a sense of this beautiful practice of embodied mindfulness and nature connection. Follow them on Facebook or instagram for the latest. (Book through societyoftrees.com for our special, introductory pricing of $49 per person!)

And if you’re interested in learning more or being part of the next intake for Active Hope Climate Squad, message Monica or Stewardship Pemberton, drop us a note here, or watch this space for upcoming announcements.

by Monica Sander Burns:

“The Active Hope Climate Squad began when my friend Lisa had the inspiration to unite Forest Therapy with the Work That Reconnects to help us process the seemingly relentless tragedies and suffering of our times – both personal and collective.

I was already familiar with the teachings of the Work that Reconnects and straight away recognized the need in our community for a framework that helped us to transform our despair into repair.

What I wasn’t prepared for was the incredible potency of undertaking this work (in-person!) as part of a circle of committed people.

For two hours every week I had the honour of seeing these women show up with vulnerability and courage, knowing that it takes nothing less and nothing more to change our world.

I had the privilege of being witnessed compassionately in my own sorrow and pain as I navigated the environmental and personal devastation of what it means to be alive now.

This experience transformed me and I witnessed the transformation of the women who answered the call to reclaim our place in the wider community of our human and non-human relatives.

Charles Eisenstein writes that only when we restore the internal ecosystem, the fullness of our capacity to feel and to love, can we restore the outer ecosystem.

It was my immense honour to be a part of this ecosystem repair.”

We will be running another free ‘Active Hope’ circle in Whistler later this summer. Send Monica a message if you are interested!