Tracking Connections 512 Natural Pathways, LLC

In this conversation, Brian Knittel shares stories and design principles learned from his ten years at the Bay Area Tracking Club. Brian shares what it was like to experience the 8 Shields principles at work from the student perspective in the beginning, and then his observations as he grew to be a station guide and then leader of the club. We hear from Brian and Jon about the finer points of using the Art of Questioning to facilitate the tracking journey, including how it relates to how the San people still train trackers to this day. If you are interested in tracking, or interested in starting any sort of group based around learning nature together, you won't want to miss this episode.
"That was really the biggest draw for me; turning that curiosity on and getting people excited to learn more.”

About Brian Knittel
Brian Knittel’s professional career was as a software engineer in Silicon Valley. He has been on a lifelong journey of spiritual exploration and nature connection.
His journey deepened when he started searching for ways to explain spirituality to his young kids and found Tom Brown Jr.'s books, which sparked a series of "Aha!" moments. He resonated deeply with Tom's teachings and has been training at the Tracker School since 2000. Once he found Jon Young’s work he trained intensively in the Kamana Naturalist journey and the 8 Shields model. He is a long time wildlife tracker and helped lead a vibrant Tracking Club on the California coast for close to a decade.
He is deeply involved in these lineages, taking classes, mentoring others, and has been on a path towards Elderhood. Helping people learn about the essential nature of core routines, community building, and living in harmony with nature brings him immense joy. He has been a leader of groups within the Mankind Project, mentoring heart-centered men on a personal growth path, which has further shaped his beliefs about the importance of cultivating a state of personal peace.
Today, he uses many healing methods – Shamanic, elements of power, nature connection, and more – to help others find their own paths to peace and well-being. His vision is to create a world filled with love, healing, deep connection, and a deep respect for Mother Earth.
He lives in Mendocino, California with his amazing partner Amanda, who shares his passions for healing and nature. They have a blended family of four wonderful children, and when he's not exploring the natural world or helping others, you might find him practicing martial arts – something he's been passionate about for over 30 years.
He's excited to share his experiences with others, exploring the world of spirituality, nature connection, and living a life of purpose and joy together.
About Bay Area Tracking Club
Bay Area Tracking Club meets on the second Sunday of each month from 8am-11am. Locations change based on where the great tracks can be found, although our home base and most consistent venue is at Gazos Creek State Beach on the San Mateo County coast.
Connect with Bay Area Tracking Club on Facebook to learn more

Learn more about what Joël is up to:

Connect with Joël by email: jdubois@csus.edu
"Acorn Assembly" Backyard Naturalists https://acornassembly.wordpress.com/
This is the very simple wordpress site we use to inform people about our local “Backyard Naturalists” meetings, mentioned in the podcast, which also has a way for people to contact me. (FYI, the name “Acorn Assembly” was proposed by a group member who had no knowledge of the Acorn terminology used for team-building/facilitation at 8 Shields events—an interesting synchronicity!)
Online portfolio of classroom activities https://portfolium.com/jdubois/portfolio
This is the site I use to model for students how to showcase their work with the kind of hands-on activities I mentioned in the podcast; the “Connections” tab links to students' own representations of their work.
Internal Family Systems Trainings https://ifs-institute.com/practitioners/all/96565
This is my practitioner listing for Internal Family Systems (IFS) on the IFS Institute site, which also links to resources about this method of working with parts and self. I didn’t go into much detail about this way of working during the podcast but thought I’d provide it as a reference—unless you think this might be best left for a follow-up podcast at some point.
Book - Hidden Lives of Brahman https://sunypress.edu/Books/T/The-Hidden-Lives-of-Brahman
My academic book, “Hidden Lives of Brahman,” showcases my research in traditional Brahmin schools in India, mentioned briefly at the outside of the podcast. My ethnographic approach to the topic actually has a lot in common with the way I approach village building!
Braver Angels (braverangels.org)
​Braver Angels provides community facilitation tools to host gatherings that provide a welcoming space and prompts for conversation between people on opposing sides of the political spectrum. At first glance this probably seems like the opposite of what’s needed to build connection, yet the emphasis on focused listening to each other's' life experiences, with pauses for reflecting back what one hears, is one of the most powerful forms of "culture of allowance" that I've experienced, which also benefits from work drawing on 8 Shield archetypes for facilitation.
https://sites.google.com/braverangels.org/fieldops/field-leadership/alliances
Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

“The coyote’s on the edge of your awareness. Where’s your edge? Where is your student's edge? That’s what you’re trying to find and push gently out.”
In this episode Jon, Sarah, and Aidan are joined by Rick Berry from 4 Elements Earth Education. Rick shares his story of nature connection and how that has led to mentoring others over the past 30 years. He shares about how land and place influence our lessons, how he guides teens in transformational ways, and the importance of modeling the values we want to pass on to the next generation. Rick shares stories of his own lineage of mentoring, including how coyote teaching was passed on to him through Tom Brown Jr and Jon, and how that has contributed to his own teaching style. Rick shares a beautiful vision for unity and the role we can play in welcoming and allowing each other’s unique ways of being, before closing with an invitation for each of us that might offer a little healing today.
“We do have a common vision and we each do this in our own unique way. We have to come together to Heal”
About Rick Berry
Rick Berry began with the Tracker School in 1986 at the age of 15, and has been teaching these skills for the past 30 years. After graduating with a B.S. from Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA, Rick honed his skills in the remote Klamath Mountain range where he immersed himself for 12 years in indigenous life-ways--passed on to him by Gary Morris who himself had lived with Yurok Elder Calvin Rube for 20 years.
Later, Rick spent two years in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey as a care-taker for the Tracker School, refining his tracking and survival skills. Rick taught with both Jon Young and Tom Brown, Jr. through the Tracker School’s Coyote Camps, and moved on to serve seven years as Director of The Children of the Earth Foundation.
Rick, Cherokee Descent, (Grandmother was part of the Red Bird Stokes Stomp Ground in Vian, Oklahoma), has been working in collaboration with the Siakumne Maidu Tribe for the past 14 years creating the Fox Walkers youth programs at Pata Panaka / Burton Educational Preserve in Nevada City, CA. In 2019 Rick was asked to be the Executive Director of The Children of the Earth Foundation; Rick will oversee Coyote Tracks Programs under the 4EEE west coast non-profit umbrella.

Learn more about Rick at https://www.4eee.org
Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

“You can’t rehabilitate someone that hasn’t been habilitated in the first place.”
In this conversation with Jon and Aidan, Kathleen shares her journey to becoming an occupational therapist, the role nature played in raising her own children, and how nature connection principles facilitate healthy sensory development. We also discuss the science behind story catching and the role it plays in helping children develop, and the role we play, alongside nature, in regulating each other’s nervous system. Kathleen brings a wonderful perspective as a mother, occupational therapist, researcher, and mentor, and her stories are funny, insightful, and full of hope for the future.
“There’s no such thing as self regulation; we regulate in relationship to everything else.”
About Kathleen Lockyer
I am the daughter of a fisherman from Newfoundland, Canada, and a debutant from New York City. Raised a little wild, and a little cultured, I’ve learned enough to know that preserving a healthy amount of wild is good for a growing heart, body, and mind. Guiding others to reclaim wholeness and love the messiness of raising children while healing themselves is my joy.
Learn more about Kathleen at https://www.kathleenlockyer.com/
Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

“I'd been working for an organization trying to connect people to nature, who were walking past everything. And it made me kind of slow down and notice the tiny things.”
In this wide ranging conversation, Ciara shares about the challenges of working in an organization that lacks a connected culture and leadership, and finding that culture through nature connection. Jon, Aidan, and Ciara reflect on Greg Sommer, his learning journey and mentoring style, and the impact he has had on each of their lives, and the story of how he introduced Ciara to sit spot for the first time and it transformed her journey. She continues by sharing her story of connecting into the forest school movement, the work she does with children through Forest School Ireland, and the impact nature connection can have on both the students and the teachers.
“Everybody walks into this going, 'Oh, I'm just going to learn a lot of activities, I'm going to write some essays, and I'm going to be a forest school leader.' And afterwards, there's tears at the end of the training, going, ‘Oh, my God, it's epic, my whole life has changed.’”
About Ciara Hincksman
Ciara Hinksman owns and runs Forest School Ireland – formerly Earth Force Education, founded in 2009. In 2008 she lived off-grid in Co. Kerry for three months immersed in bushcraft, nature awareness and sustainable living practices. She went to the first Art of Mentoring camp in the UK, based on the work of Jon Young and the 8 Shields Institute. Subsequently, she traveled extensively in the UK and USA meeting and learning from nature connection mentors, powerful youths, and Elders. Truly inspired by these people Ciara wanted to be part of bringing connection to nature, to self, and to others, back home. Her passion is facilitating place-based, learner-centered development through story, wildlife, plants, crafts and play whilst also following the natural cycles of our seasons and lives.
Learn more about Ciara at https://forestschoolireland.ie/
Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.

Connecting to nature and following natural cycles has a profound positive impact...
In this episode, we’re joined by Sky Maria Buitenhuis from the west of Ireland and Peter Cow from Dartmoor, UK. They share about the programs they have designed around the 8 Shields and their impact on individuals and communities. We learn about the effects of designing in alignment with the lunar cycles, and what happens when we send participants to their sit spots at all different times of day. Peter and Sky also share the positive outcomes they see from carefully designing a container that welcomes peoples’ full selves, allowing them to be their authentic selves and bring their offerings to the world.
Connecting with nature and each other helps heal human relationships and the planet.
About Peter Cow
A heartfelt facilitator and culture designer, Peter has been involved with 8 Shields programs and events since 2011. He’s on the team setting up the UK 8 Shields ‘Nature Culture Network’ and runs 8 Shields introductory weekends and events around the UK and Europe. He has been on the staff for the 8 Shields Institute’s ‘Regenerating Nature Connected Communities’ online course, and since 2017 he has been one of the lead organisers for the UK Art of Mentoring camps.

About Sky Maria Buitenhuis
Sky has extensive experience supporting people to deepen their connection to nature, including our own inner nature as part of the larger natural landscape. She is the co-founder of GIFT (Global Institute of Forest Therapy) and the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy. As well as designing and directing the organizations training programs, she has personally trained and mentored 100s of people to follow their passions of becoming forest therapy guides.

Learn more about Sky and Peter at https://bringingithome.life/ and https://natureculturenetwork.org/connection-camp/

Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.