Taking time to explore, play and connect through nature

 Wintering with the Work That Reconnects

Time to join nature in slowing down at this point in the year, taking a moment to reflect on how to look after your energy and find solidarity in doing this with others.

Overview

This workshop gives people fighting for a better world the chance to acknowledge the hard feelings that this work can bring, and to move through them together into a renewed sense of connection and purpose.

Winter can be a time of slowing down, of reflection and going inwards, of coming together to take care of each other and tell stories. After another year of engaging with climate change, fascism, colonialism, genocide and other brutal injustices, we want to offer the chance for people to come together in a gentle, supportive space to connect with human and non-human community, and renew hope as we move through the dark half of the year.

It can feel hard to slow down when everything feels urgent; but it is easy to burn out without time to rest and reflect. We’ve found that connecting with the rhythms of nature can help with this, and being connected with our ecosystems – both human and nonhuman – can make sure we don’t feel alone in the fight.

"I had forgotten the stars, burning so strong and long that theur light reaches us long after they have died. Isn't that what our lives and activism should look like? Not the supernova, a single outburst under pressure. We must be the long burning star, bright and steady... for our energy to reach the next generation... and to be part of constellations! ... That means that we only need to be responsible for our small patch of sky, our specific area of influence."
Valarie Kaur

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We’ll be using a framework called The Work That Reconnects, which has been developed over decades by activists across the world. We’ll ground in gratitude, create a supportive container to hold sadness, anger, and other hard feelings, find new ways to see this moment in history, and set intentions for going forward. There will be time for connection with nature and with each other.

We’re not defining who is an activist here – if you feel that you’re working towards social and ecological justice in any capacity and to any degree, and would like to spend an afternoon in supportive community, you are very welcome. We’re particularly aware that trans folks, people working for a free Palestine, and people working to counter fascism have had a very hard year; we particularly welcome you.

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The session will include:

• Sharing food together – please bring something for an informal potluck (with common allergens labelled) if you’re able to.
• Some gentle games to get to know each other and our surroundings.
• Activities based on The Work That Reconnects, including time for reflection, discussion, and mutual support.
• Time to connect with nature in the garden.

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All the activities are opt-in – you’re welcome to join in with as much or as little as you like.

Please arrive as close to the start time as possible and plan to stay to the end – it works best if we start and finish together. But we know life happens! If you’re going to be late or need to leave early, please let us know.

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Where

Salisbury Centre, Salisbury Road, Edinburgh.

Ticketing

Ticket prices cover the costs of drinks, snacks, materials, and our fees as facilitators; which include our time putting the session together, and take into account our training and experience. We’ve tried to balance the price between needing to pay our bills, and making tickets as affordable as we can! We know ticket prices might be a barrier, so there is also the option of a pay-what-you-can ticket - please do use this if you otherwise wouldn't be able to join us.

We want to offer this session on a sliding scale basis, so that as many people as possible can join in. We need to pay for the space rental, materials, travel, ongoing costs like insurance, and to pay ourselves a modest wage. We want to be transparent and honest about navigating capitalism as an anti-capitalist business made up of people who need to pay their bills.

With that in mind, we have some different ticket prices - please be honest with your situation. We will not turn anyone away for lack of funds - please get in touch with us. If you can afford to pay more, please do so, so that we can welcome those who could not otherwise afford to come.

What to bring

We willl provide tea and snacks; so please bring anything else you need to sustain yourself between 1 and 5 pm.

Further details in FAQs below.

Please contact us on [email protected] with any specific requests, questions or details.

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We want to make this session as accessible as possible. If there's anything we've missed, please let us know your access needs and we’ll do everything we can to adapt the session. Activities will be chosen based on the access needs of the group. Please let us know if it would be useful to know any more details.

We want this to be a Brave Space - acknowledging that we can’t make a completely safe space, but we can make it as safe and supportive a space as possible. In this spirit, we welcome you, and we especially welcome folks from marginalised communities. We will challenge any racism, sexism, classism, queerphobia, transphobia, ableism, or any other discrimination against marginalised people.

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Host or Publisher Edinburgh Nature Connection