Theme: Outdoor Session
Friday, October 18th
How do we tune in to the Earth for guidance on how to partner with nature to live sustainably on our beloved planet? Come explore the medicine under our feet as we practice some simple, everyday ways of tuning in and listening to what the Earth has to teach us.
October 18th | 2:45 pm to 4:15 pm | Meet at the Bioneers Info Booth Near the Central Lawn
Panelists
Kami McBride
Author
Kami McBride’s 30 years of teaching herbal medicine is steeped in her calling to activate a deep connection with the earth in our culture and to inspire the next generation to love and care for plants. Kami has taught herbal medicine at UCSF School of Nursing and has helped thousands of families learn to use herbs for self-care. She is the author of The Herbal Kitchen.
As we confront the alarming manifestations of climate disruption and local environmental challenges, we become acutely conscious of both our love for the places and species in our lives and of our sorrow for what’s happening to them. In this workshop, we explore how surviving—and actually thriving—in hard times means holding the balance between these two deep and valid emotions. We’ll offer a simple practice for staying connected with the places we care about during hard times. Participants will also take a short reflective solo walk outside on the grounds of the Marin Center to look for signs of nature’s balance around the lake, the wetland, even in the weeds in the sidewalk cracks. With: Polly Howells, co-leader of Reclaiming Our Lives, Reclaiming Our Earth workshops; Trebbe Johnson, founder/Director of Radical Joy for Hard Times.
October 18th | 2:45 pm to 4:15 pm | Hands-On Workshop Space
Panelists
Polly Howells
| Radical Joy for Hard Times
Polly Howells, a former board chair of Bioneers, is a facilitator for the Pachamama Alliance's "Awakening the Dreamer Symposium" and is a core member of Woodstock NY Transition. She trained for ten years with Jungian Analyst Marion Woodman and she co-leads a five-day yearly retreat for women called "Reclaiming Our Lives, Reclaiming Our Earth." She is currently on the board of Radical Joy for Hard Times.
Trebbe Johnson
Founder and Director | Radical Joy for Hard Times
Trebbe Johnson, the founder/Director of Radical Joy for Hard Times, a global network devoted to finding and making beauty in wounded places, is the author of Radical Joy for Hard Times, 101 Ways to Make Guerrilla Beauty, and The World Is a Waiting Lover, and she leads workshops and wilderness trips worldwide devoted to the discovery of wisdom and insight in nature.
Saturday, October 19th
From the Civil Rights Movement to South Africa to 1960s folk and rock, music has long been a powerful force for change. In this workshop with accomplished singer-songwriter and music educator Noe Venable, we’ll learn songs from a variety of traditions that can help bring us back into right alignment with: spirit, our own deep selves, the Earth, and each other. Everyone (at any level of musical ability or any age) welcome: Come connect, have a great time, and leave uplifted and renewed, equipped with powerful new songs to help you through life’s struggles.
October 19th | 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm
Panelists
Noe Venable
Singer-Songwriter | Meadowlark Music Class
Noe Venable, a singer-songwriter, music educator and “spiritual activist,” has released 8 adult and 8 children’s albums and toured nationally. A musical facilitator, Noe uses group singing as a tool for community building with people of all ages and also leads an outdoor parent-child music eco and spirit-themed program called Meadowlark Music Class and a weekly intergenerational chorus for women, Mothersong.
Come learn about a host of appropriate technologies and creative ecological solutions from solar cooking to wood-efficient rocket stoves to natural building methods and zero-waste systems. SolutionCraft seeks to inspire the building and use of simple ecological solutions accessible to all! With: Brennan Blazer Bird.
October 19th | 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm | SolutionCraft Booth
Panelists
Brennan Blazer Bird
Leader | SolutionCraft
Brennan Blazer Bird, an ecological educator, natural builder, water harvester, and “appropriate techie,” has led a diverse array of artistic and ecological projects around the world. He founded the Peace On Earthbench Movement (POEM), which seeks to inspire youth to transform plastic waste into art, and is currently leading an ecological design, build, and education venture called SolutionCraft. (earthbench.org, solutioncraft.org)
In this thrilling outdoor workshop, passionate chocolate-maker extraordinaire Jonas Ketterle of Firefly Ceremonial Cacao will share his deep knowledge of cacao (gained in part from working with Indigenous Maya farmers). He covers its origins, rituals and myths, regional varieties, processing techniques, cultural/economic/social realities, culinary uses, and health-promoting and mind-expanding properties. He will also lead us in a “hands-on” demonstration of ancestral stone ground chocolate-making, which we’ll get to sample (a once-in-a-lifetime experience!).
October 19th | 2:45 pm to 4:15 pm | Hands-On Workshop Space
Panelists
Jonas Ketterle
Founder | Firefly Ceremonial Cacao
Jonas Ketterle, after a life-changing encounter with chocolate making in Oaxaca, founded the bean-to-drink dark chocolate company Firefly Ceremonial Cacao in 2014 to inspire awe and wonder through cacao. Previously an “Imagineer” at Greenlight Planet and engineering lead at Fenix International who provided affordable solar energy to rural customers, Jonas has extensive backgrounds in Mechanical Engineering (Stanford), Permaculture (Regenerative Design Institute) and eco-villages and co-housing.
Russell and Suki Munsell have forty years’ experience in a wide range of mind-body modalities, movement disciplines, and somatic therapies. Join them in this outdoor workshop as they share their Dynamic Vitality Method, a unique full-body experience for all ages and fitness levels. You’ll learn Dynamic Walking, a biomechanically based method to create balance between your mind, body and intention. Embody a more vibrant, graceful presence as you move through your life.
October 19th | 2:45 pm to 4:15 pm | Meet at the Bioneers Info Booth Near the Central Lawn
Panelists
Suki Munsell
co-founder | Dynamic Vitality Method
Suki Munsell, Ph.D., co-founder of the Dynamic Vitality Method (a blend of sports science, somatic awareness and Asian internal arts), began her career in 1974 under the guidance of her mentor Anna Halprin (still going strong at 99!). Suki has been teaching dance, fitness, biomechanics, and her unique Dynamic Walking program (detailed in Prevention’s Complete Book of Walking), to people of all ages for decades.
Russell Munsell
co-founder | Dynamic Vitality Method
Russell Munsell, co-founder of the Dynamic Vitality Method, has had a 40+ year career training human capacities in a wide range of disciplines, including teaching Mathematics at Humboldt State and creating a number of Stress Management, Accelerated Learning and Performance Optimization programs. He continues to coach medically referred clients in his Dynamic T’ai Chi and Qigong, Swimming, and Walking trainings.
Sunday, October 20th
Holistic watershed management is the critical guiding principle to any ecological design. Come learn the basics of water harvesting on a residential or land project scale through hands-on demonstrations and real-life practicums. Brennan Blazer Bird and Mauricio Rivera will show us how to: calculate rainwater flow and tank size; integrate rainwater systems into our designs; passively collect rainwater in different earthworks systems; best harvest greywater from our bathroom or laundry; and live in better relationship with water.
October 20th | 2:45 pm to 4:15 pm | Hands-On Workshop Space
Panelists
Brennan Blazer Bird
Leader | SolutionCraft
Brennan Blazer Bird, an ecological educator, natural builder, water harvester, and “appropriate techie,” has led a diverse array of artistic and ecological projects around the world. He founded the Peace On Earthbench Movement (POEM), which seeks to inspire youth to transform plastic waste into art, and is currently leading an ecological design, build, and education venture called SolutionCraft. (earthbench.org, solutioncraft.org)
Mauricio Rivera
Mauricio Rivera integrates a background in civil engineering with a passion for regenerative systems. He designs small and large scale water systems in Sonoma County, California, pushing the effectiveness of low impact development, rainwater harvesting, decentralized onsite water reuse, and habitat restoration.
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