Community Building Workshop
In Circles With Nature
Register Here“…our own future is inseparable from the future of the larger community that brought us into being.” — Thomas Berry
Many of us have forgotten that we are not separate from nature, we are nature.
We live in urgent times, times of distance and separation. In such a reality, a genuine encounter with another person is no longer something to be taken for granted. One of our focuses is to help others re-learn the tools for effective communication between humans, to engender the feelings of unusual safety and extraordinary respect which can provide a genuine experience of connection. At the same time, our connection to the natural world from which we come — and upon which we depend — is fractured. Many of us have forgotten that we are not separate from nature, we are nature. In a culture so focused on progress and productivity, so distracted, overstimulated and overwhelmed by information coming at us through a digital landscape, we suffer a collective amnesia which isolates us from not just one another, but from our watersheds and life-giving oceans, forests, and the stars in the night sky which might guide us in the dark. Building community with each other is an essential first step, but we believe we are being asked to rebuild our sense of planetary belonging: to rediscover our place in the biosphere and rejoin the wider earth community.
A lived experience of
True Community.
We invite you a Community Building Workshop in the M. Scott Peck tradition, expanded to include time for developing intimacy and relationship with the more-than-human world. During the Community Building process we learn how to create the conditions for a true encounter. We learn how to navigate what is non-obvious, alive, and often uncomfortable in relationships — without the need to immediately solve or control whatever arises. This practice offers practical guidance as well as a lived experience of a group arriving at a state of what he calls True Community — a state of safety and extraordinary mutual respect. It is a form of group meditation, a shared being-with-what-is, in which both tensions and the potential for deeper connection gradually reveal themselves. This process allows us to see what ordinarily remains hidden beneath habitual communication patterns and social roles, and creates space to try being with one another in a different way. Read more about the process here: Community Building During this workshop we also aim to explore the potential for achieving a state of communion with the nonhuman world. Each day, we will invite you to sit in a circle and practice developing awareness of what surrounds us — expanding our experience of connection, relationship, and belonging with the natural world.
From pseudo-community
to true connection.
Over four days, under the caring guidance of trained facilitators, we move together through the stages of the process.
Pseudo Community
Pleasant, polite, surface-level. Relationships remain fairly shallow.
Chaos
Differences emerge. We try to fix, convince, or solve each other.
Emptiness
We lay down what blocks us from meeting one another truly.
Community
Deep bond, respect, and love — held together despite our differences.
The Community Building Process was developed by psychiatrist Dr. M. Scott Peck and is continued today by Community Building International.
Guided by an experienced team.
The workshop will be led by a team of facilitators trained, certified, and supervised by Community Building International:
Emilia
Ślimko-Tywoniuk
Together with her husband, she co-creates the Wild Cherry Valley project in Laski, near Kłodzko. Emilia integrates personal development and deep ecology in her work. She works as a psychologist and trainer with both groups and individuals. She is a graduate of psychology at the Jagiellonian University, the Mindfulness Teaching Course (MBLC) and the Compassion Course (Mindfulness Association UK), and the Holistic Trainers' School. She is a member of the Integral Ecopsychology School team.
Asia Gumieniak
A sociologist by training, and a co-founder of The Living Bridge, Asia believes in the power of authenticity and intimacy carrying the revolutionary seeds of deep and much needed transformation in the world, which is why she is a facilitator of M. Scott Peck's Community Building process. She's also deepening her knowledge of other practices rooted in relationality, like eco-therapy (Pacifica Graduate Institute) and Sociocracy (Sociocracy For All).
Danny Iacono
Sociology graduate and co-founder of The Living Bridge, Danny has always been fascinated by social dynamics and the invisible connective tissue that quite literally bind us (and the whole world) together. In addition to his facilitation work, he hosts The Passing Through Podcast where he explores themes such as liminality, animism, relationality and ecology. He's currently enrolled in a year-long course focused on myth, animacy, and the somatics of ritual practice led by Josh Schrei of The Emerald.
The team will also include facilitators who are in training.
Dolina Dzikiej Czereśni —
Wild Cherry Valley
We'll meet at Wild Cherry Valley Regenerative Farm in Laski, near Kłodzko. The choice of location is not incidental. It is a beautiful homestead situated in the picturesque landscape of the Central Sudetes, near the Kłodzko Valley, surrounded by fields, meadows, and forests. The workshop will take place partly in a yurt — ensuring the privacy and comfort of sitting in a circle — and partly in the natural landscape of the valley and its diverse ecosystems where we will be able to establish and deepen a relationship with nature. Time in the valley will also be a great opportunity to get a firsthand look at regenerative farming methods — from growing ancient grain varieties (einkorn, emmer wheat), to beekeeping, a backyard henhouse & chicken-tractor, and a vegetable garden. On site, there will be outdoor composting toilets and showers.
Experience shows that this workshop — through encountering a different way of being — can be a turning point.
For anyone ready to
be present.
We invite everyone who wants to build more authentic relationships, gain insight into themselves and their relational self, learn how to move beyond pseudo-community and chaos in their social groups, and also experience deeper connection with the natural world. The workshop may be of particular interest to people who work with groups or co-create organizations and communities — but it is truly for anyone who is ready to be present and meet whatever arises. No experience or preparation is required. Experience shows that this workshop — through encountering a different way of being — can be a turning point which contributes to enduring changes in our relationships in everyday life. If you feel this might be for you but have questions or doubts, please feel free to write to us!
Everything you need
to know.
Schedule
Start: Thursday, July 9th at 9:00 AM
End: Sunday, July 12th at 5:00 PM
On the night of arrival we will have a light supper and an orientation of the space. Due to the nature of the process, partial attendance is not possible. By signing up for the workshop, you commit to participating in its entirety.
Accommodation
Food
Language
Getting there
What to bring
Cost — a gift economy
For reference, the typical prices for these workshops including accommodation and meals range between 800–2,000 PLN.
To reserve your place, please pay a deposit of 300 PLN or 70 EUR to The Living Bridge foundation:
EUR: PL27 1240 6830 1978 0011 5042 3529
The deposit can be fully refunded at your request after the workshop concludes, or applied toward your donation. If we do not reach the minimum number of participants two weeks before the event, the workshop will be cancelled and all deposits returned in full.
Important
What People Say
Testimonials
A place has been
held for you.
To register for the workshop, please fill out the attached application form.
The number of places is limited.