Are you looking for a simple, clear path to becoming comfortable and confident in nature, and someone to gently guide you and teach you everything you need to know in an inviting, easy-to-follow and fun way?

How would it will feel to walk into the woods with no unease and no uncertainty?

To dive into any outdoor activity you want, knowing that you’re safe and capable?

To have the tools to melt away worries and stresses of daily life and find relaxation and rejuvenation?

YOU MIGHT BE ASKING YOURSELF QUESTIONS LIKE:

What if I live in a city and can only get to crowded public parks?

What if I’m not physically fit?

I’m so busy. Will I really have the time to make such a dramatic shift?

I HEAR YOU.

I KNOW HOW OVERWHELMING THE NATURAL WORLD CAN BE WHEN NOTHING IS FAMILIAR. AND I KNOW HOW HARD IT CAN BE TO TAKE THAT FIRST STEP.

I’VE BEEN THERE.

If you don’t have a clear path to follow and support and guidance from someone you can trust, it’s hard to feel confident and at ease in an environment that feels so foreign.

YOU BELONG IN NATURE, YOU JUST NEED A GUIDE, A FRAMEWORK AND A COMMUNITY TO SHOW YOU THE WAY.

9 WEEKS TO:

  • Develop a deep, meaningful connection with nature
  • Become confident, comfortable and empowered outdoors
  • Escape the stresses and screens of the modern world
  • Find healing, mindfulness, refuge and empowerment 

What do you get with the Connect with the Wild course?

9 WEEKLY MODULES:

Week 1:

Awakening the Wild Within

  • Expanding your Senses: priming your brain for connection
  • Meet your Sit Spot: grounding yourself in the natural world
  • Dirt Time: the merit of getting your hands (and feet) dirty

Week 2:

Moving and Being in the Wild

  • Being One with the Woods: how to walk, sit, listen, and be in nature
  • Coexisting with Animals: how to think like, and share with, the non-human
  • Basic Camouflage: the animals around you are invisible. You can be too

Week 3:

Forest Bathing & Nature Mindfulness

  • Nature Medicine and Nature Deficit Disorder: the healing power of the grater-than-human world
  • Shinrin-yoku: the Japanese art of immersing yourself in the forest
  • Wilderness Meditation: sensory awareness as a gateway to being present

Week 4:

Understanding Bird Language

  • The Birds around You: basic bird types, ID techniques and bird calls
  • Discovering Baseline: learning to recognize stillness in the woods
  • Alerts and Tractors: letting the birds give you a tour of the forest 

Week 5:

Animal Tracking

  • Being a Nature Detective: every landscape is a story waiting to be read
  • Thinking Like Animals: the game of life and how to play it
  • Reading the Woods: common tracks, trails, burrows, and other animal sign

Week 6:

Plants, Mushrooms, and the Internet of the Forest

  • The Language of the Trees: how plants communicate
  • The Universal Plant Families: how to roughly ID any plant you find
  • Edible and Medicinal Plants: safety and harvesting ethics
  • Mycology, the Forest and Humans: how mushrooms run the world

Week 7:

Wilderness Safety and Survival

  • Survival Basics: purifying water, making fire, building shelter, bushcrafting
  • Wilderness Hazards: wild animals, widowmakers, flood zones and more
  • What to Do if You’re Lost: how to say safe and find help

Week 8:

What to Take With You

  • The Gear Worth Worrying About: what’s important, and what isn’t
  • How to Carry It: packing backpacks, worn weight, ultralight theory and more 
  • Build Your Own First Aid Kit: know what you have and know how to use it

Week 9:

Camping and Longer Excursions

  • Getting Out There: types of camping, where to camp, tent and gear options
  • Eating in the Wild: camping food options, prep, storage and disposal
  • Responsible Camping: Leave No Trace principles & how to shit in the woods 
  • 20+ prerecorded meditations and guided audio activities
  • 3x 1-1 coaching calls spaced throughout the course
  • Weekly live zoom group calls
  • Individual email support to ask questions and get help
  • Digital download of a sit-spot journal and guidebook
  • Lifetime access to our facebook group and community
  • Gear guide and personalized recommendations
  • Option to purchase additional 1-1 coaching

All you need is a spot outdoors that’s more plants than pavement, where birds sometimes visit, and you can build a deep and meaningful connection to nature.

Modules take about an hour each, and an additional half-hour or so of audio-guided outdoor activities each week. Plus a few 1-1 coaching sessions and you’ll be a new you in just 9 weeks!

PLUS YOU’LL ALWAYS HAVE A COMMUNITY OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE MADE THIS JOURNEY WITH YOU – FRIENDS AND MENTORS TO CONNECT WITH, ASK QUESTIONS TO AND SUPPORT YOU AS YOUR WILDERNESS ADVENTURES UNFOLD.

Meet Your Instructor, Eric C. Winter:

Hi! I’m Eric. I’m an Ecologist, Cyborg Anthropologist, Survival Instructor, Wilderness Skills Educator, Animal Tracker and Permaculture Designer, and I’m on the path to becoming a Forest Therapy Guide, too.

But there was a time before all those degrees and certifications. A time when nature and I were basically strangers. For much of my life I was a tech geek, deeply engrossed in the digital world. My fascination led me to the discipline of Cyborg Anthropology: the study of the relationship between humans and technology.

During my studies, I traveled to indigenous cultures around the world and delved deep into their relationships with both nature and technology, and became painfully aware of a crucial loss in our modern society—our bond with the natural environment. Recognizing this void in my own life too, I shifted my academic focus toward ecology and outdoor education, aiming to mend my relationship with nature.

What I discovered transformed me completely. I came to understand humanity’s integral role in the biosphere and the significant impact of our estrangement from nature. Surprisingly, I also discovered mindfulness, a practice I’d long struggled to become adept at. Engaging with nature like the animals, I found, was the key to the meditation practice that had always eluded me.

This newfound connection with nature altered everything for me—my health, my mental state, my confidence, my sense of purpose. Excited to share this revelation, I began teaching others all that I’d learned. As student after student told me that I’d changed their lives, I uncovered my mission in this lifetime: to guide people to rediscover the wonders of the woods, and help them form the deep, intimate connections that are so fundamental and intrinsic to our humanity.

Since then, years of training and countless hours in the wilderness, often with little to no gear, have fueled my commitment to reconnecting people with the awe-inspiring natural world and making it an accessible and enjoyable experience for all. I’ve spent the last several years condensing my knowledge into an engaging online program aimed at redefining our relationship with nature in ways that can apply to anyone, anywhere.

At this pivotal moment for humanity, my goal is to help realign us with the planet, one person at a time.

I can’t wait to guide you on this life-changing adventure too!

DON’T MISS THIS UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO BE PART OF OUR FOUNDING COHORT, STARTING [TBA]! 

AS ONE OF OUR FOUNDING MEMBERS, YOU GET (in addition to everything above):

  • A massive discount on the price of the course
  • All 9 weekly modules taught LIVE on zoom, with opportunities for questions, feedback and personalization 
  • Discounts on all future Connect with the Wild offerings
  • Discounts on individual coaching sessions
  • An opportunity to provide feedback and shape the future of the course based on your experience

You CAN do this. I promise! Even if you’re thinking…

  • “I’M NOT VERY PHYSICALLY FIT, OR I HAVE HEALTH ISSUES THAT PREVENT ME FROM GETTING OUTDOORS.”
    • Making the connection of your dreams and feeling at one with nature is not limited by physical ability. As long as you can go outside somewhere where plants grow and sit, you can immerse yourself in the healing bounty of the natural world!
  • “I LIVE IN A CITY AND DON’T HAVE EASY ACCESS TO NATURE.”
    • Nature is everywhere! Even a median in the middle of a city with some grass and plants is nature. As long as you can get to somewhere where there’s more plants than pavement, where birds occasionally sing, you can make deep and meaningful connections.
  • “I’M SO BUSY. I DON’T HAVE TIME TO DO A COURSE”
    • I hear you. Life is busy and overwhelming. It’s hard to carve out time to add something new like this course. The truth is, though, this course will create free time for you in the long run. By having the resources to de-stress, unwind and center yourself, you’ll find that you work more efficiently, feel less overwhelm, and are able to accomplish more in the same amount of time. And at less than two hours a week for just 9 weeks, this course will create far more time for you than it takes up!

Enroll in Connect with the Wild today, and change your life forever.

I WANT IN! WHAT’S NEXT?

  • STEP 1: Book a call with Eric and make sure we’re the right fit
    • If you’re ready to jump in, or if you wonder if this might be for you and have questions, start by clicking on any of the “Enroll Now” buttons on this page. They’ll take you to an email form where you can send a message to book a 1-1 call with Eric to discuss your unique needs and situation. 
  • STEP 2: Enroll in the Connect to the Wild beta course
    • If we both agree that it’s the right fit, purchase the course over the phone.
  • STEP 3: Get an email full of details & downloads, and start exploring
    • You’ll receive an email soon after your purchase is complete with details, zoom links, calendar links, a link to the Facebook group, and download links with many of the audios, mediations and guides that are included, so you can start delving in anytime you want to!
  • STEP 4: Join our LIVE classes when the course starts in [TBA]
    • Starting the week of [TBA], join our weekly classes for an hour each on zoom, where you’ll be guided through the course content live. And if you miss a live session, don’t worry, recordings will be sent to your inbox after every class!

THE FOREST IS WAITING FOR YOU. WHY KEEP IT WAITING ANY LONGER?


HOW LONG DOES THE COURSE TAKE TO COMPLETE?


The individual modules run for around an hour each, although we might run longer if the participants are able and willing to and we want to delve deeper into that week’s content as a group.


HOW LONG WILL I HAVE ACCESS TO THE COURSE MATERIALS?


While the actual course will be live, each session will be recorded and recordings will be sent directly to you, so that you can keep and refer back to them forever. The meditations and guided audios will also be yours to keep forever, and your access to our facebook group and extended community is also forever. Once you join, you’ll have these resources available to you for the rest of your life.


WHAT LEVEL OF PHYSICAL FITNESS IS NEEDED?


None. As long as you can get outside, even if it’s with the assistance of someone else, you can get value from this course. If you’re dealing with extreme mobility issues or sensory impairments however, like blindness or deafness, some elements of the course may not apply or may need to be adapted to your needs. In those cases, feel free to reach out to discuss your specific situation and needs.


I LIVE IN A CITY WHERE THERE ISN’T ANY NATURE NEARBY. CAN I STILL PARTICIPATE AND GET VALUE?


Yes! As long as you can regularly get to somewhere that’s not paved, where plants are able to grow and birds sometimes land, this course is for you. The deeper you can get into the woods and the further away from crowds, the richer and more immersive the experience becomes, but even in a small and crowded city park nature is there to be discovered, explored and engaged with.


WHAT IF I’M NOT SATISFIED?


If you’re not 100% satisfied with the course content and do not wish to continue, and you’ve showed up, participated, and done the work, I’m happy to offer a 100% money-back guarantee within the first two weeks. After that, it’s my hope that our cohort will become a closely knit group and stay friends forever, so no more refunds will be offered. Thanks for your understanding!


WHAT IF I STILL HAVE QUESTIONS?



If you have any questions whatsoever, or would like to explore further if this course is right for you and your unique situation, feel free to contact me through one of the “Enroll Now” buttons on this page, or email me directly at eric@connectwiththewild.com. I’d love to hear from you, learn about your situation, and see how I can help you accomplish your goals and live the life of your dreams!