The Eco-Institute at Pickards Mountain

Everything about this program is powerful and transformative. It offers growth in beautiful and untraditional ways. I am deeply grateful for the insistence on seeing each person and system holistically. This way of framing life has been revolutionary for me, and so vital to creating a new world. I particularly appreciated the focus on self-care as community care. We were taught and encouraged to listen to our needs and take care of the whole by taking care of the self. I have been burned out over and over again in my life, and was wondering if it was something I was doing wrong. It turns out, there was something wrong with what the systems I have been in. They have required too much of me, without acknowledging my needs. When I was finally in a space where I could honor my body's needs from moment to moment, and honor other individuals' needs from moment to moment, I was able to be more present, honest and engaged.

I really loved the community environment, the communion with nature, and the engagement in activism. Everything we did was integrated. The learning opportunities were not solely reliant on traditional learning methods, but rather brought in physical and experiential learning as well. The concepts we discussed were introduced into our bodies and the lessons have stayed with me. I am changed because of the tender, ferocious and gracious container of learning and challenging.

I wholeheartedly recommend this program to anyone questioning the systems in society, seeing growth, looking for community, hoping for a brighter future, or who feel a dedication to the Earth.

Greetings! My name is Josie Strick, and I’m a recent graduate of the Rising Earth Immersion program. I’m so excited to see that you’re interested in being a part of this beautiful community and learning experience. I remember when I was also a prospective participant last Spring. I felt something in my gut and heart that led me to taking the leap and applying, which I’m sure you’re experiencing; too. My advice for you is to follow that feeling because it will lead you to an immensely transformative experience. It’s okay and normal to feel anxious or unsure, and that’s why I’d like to share with you a little about my experience in the Rising Earth Immersion program.

Before attending this program, I felt lost as a recent college graduate navigating the world of the COVID-19 pandemic. Being surrounded by environmental and social catastrophes, I struggled to find ways to process the injustices that were occurring in a meaningful way. I knew in my gut that I wanted to figure out what my role was in working toward justice and healing. This calling led me to this program, even though I wasn’t 100% sure in what ways it would transform my life, spirituality, and purpose. However, after only a few weeks at the Eco-Institute, I felt a shift happening inside me. Living and growing with a community isn’t easy. We had to work through our individual and collective struggles in order to grow together, and in order to grow an unconditional love for each other. I genuinely had never felt a love so deep for a group of humans before, even though we all came from different places, backgrounds, identities, and more.

The connection that we grew with each other, and to the land we were on, led me to the most important realization of my life: that we are all interconnected, and that Earth is alive. I was re-awakened to this truth, and learned to see the sacredness in everyday life. I learned that sacredness can show up in so many different ways such as waking up and going to sleep every day in a forest with my yome mate, planting seeds and tending the garden together, taking long drives with my cohort, sleeping under the stars together in the garden and gazebo, learning and unlearning together, and being challenged as a community. All of this ultimately made us stronger and more connected. I discovered the power of collective hope, faith, and love within this program, which have allowed me to understand my role and purpose within the fight for social and environmental justice and healing. I now understand that we can only get through that fight and succeed through the power and love of community.

Being a part of the Rising Earth Immersion program was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. If it has come into your life or caught your attention, I think you should follow that instinct and go for it!

This past summer, I had the amazing opportunity of joining a community with a mission of cultivating social and ecological healing through attending the Summer Rising Earth Immersion Program at the Eco-Institute at Pickards Mountain. I can honestly say that it was one of the most beautiful and developmental experiences of my life thus far. The permaculture foundations of this program were woven brilliantly through an immersive curriculum around sustainably living, garden care, community living, arts and activism, decolonization work and radical self-care, providing a uniquely wholistic learning experience.
It felt especially significant for me to attend this program during such a difficult but critical time for a Black person in this nation (the U.S.), and to practice taking up space, resting, being cared for and uplifted as a marginalized identity, and living in community with folks who are dedicated to doing anti-racist work and becoming better allies. Additionally, I found the land connection aspect of the program to be one of my greatest sources of healing. Not only did I feel a sense of connection to my ancestors through the acknowledgement of their spirit and labor within the soil, but even just the act of paying attention to nature grounded me. Tending to nature became tending to myself, and I ended up learning so much from nature about how to best interact with change through it’s perfect example of adaptability, interdependence, decentralized power, resilience and transformation.

I'll share one experience I had with one of the many workshops we did.

A woman from Fibershed came out to teach us about making sustainable textiles and natural dyes. One of the things l learned is that you can use the tanins leached from ground acorns as a fixative for the dye. This mixture is a byproduct that you naturally get when making acorn flour, so once we were making natural dye, we realized we might as well make acorn flour, and then to make acorn flour, all of a sudden we were foraging in the woods for acorns and while we were there, we thought we may as well forage for mushrooms and other foods too. So once we stepped into these natural processes, all of a sudden I found myself emerged in this beautiful circle of life and sustenance that lends itself to a whole other way of living! And then when I was foraging in the woods and finding all of these materials being freely given like a gift, it made me feel in a deeper sense that the earth is my home and understand how generous it is in sustaining me and giving me everything I need for free. And then I found myself in an abundance mindset, rather than a scarcity mindset that I'd been conditioned into all my life, and it really made me realize what a gift my own life is.

This was just one afternoon on the farm but it is a microcosm of what can happen when you start to live in community and in relationship with the land under the guidance of the knowledge, curious, and beautiful leaders of this program.

If your seeking a loving, caring supportive community this is the place to be. Filled with spiritually wealthy, talented individuals, I have never felt so accepted and encouraged to be my true self. This aspect, coupled with somatic self care, inploration to the inner psyche, and rebuilding human-nature relationships was an incredibly transformative process. Digging deep into what the soul really wants, finding out who I truly want to be. This immersive experience won't change who you are, it will only allow you to become more of yourself.