09/23/2026
Overflowing with gratitude for Lori Schwanbeck and Mark Coleman, who facilitated the "Awake in the Wild: Awareness in Nature as a Path of Belonging" workshop at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA.
Close to a decade ago, during my teacher training to facilitate mindfulness-based emotional intelligence programs, Lori became my first role model. Her joyful energy and down-to-earth, evidence-based language, accessible to people who would never have imagined themselves as meditators, mirrored my personal wiring and who I aspired to be as a teacher. Even more impactful for my future path was a casual remark she made while introducing herself that day. She had just returned from a silent kayaking retreat in Baja California with Mark Coleman, and she said simply, "Nature is my portal to presence." That sentence planted a seed that has since grown into many branches of my personal and professional work.
Mark's Awake in the Wild retreats and books, and now this workshop, have fed my soul and affirmed my ever-evolving path as a teacher, facilitator, coach, and nature photographer. With each encounter, he has restored the channel of communication between my heart and Nature's wisdom and reassurance.
What a beautiful homecoming to my most cherished teachers: Nature, Lori, and Mark. Thank you for your work in the world.
Heartfelt thanks as well to the Esalen Institute for creating such a magical container to broaden the bandwidth of communication between Nature, ourselves, and other humans.
