Eco-Spiritual Facilitation Training

A five month training for people on a spiritual journey who feel called to guide others.
You’ll grow your confidence as a facilitator while exploring your spirituality & deepening your earth connection. ​

November 2025 - March 2026
live virtual + in-person retreat

Open to All Identities.

You will leave this training with…  

  • More capacity to trust yourself and live from your values so that you can authentically guide others with confidence.

  • Toolkit of earth-based practices and rituals that strengthen your connection to earth and spirit and support your personal journey 

  • More confidence, clarity, and ease in yourself and in your  facilitation style so that you can design and guide meaningful workshops, retreats, and other sacred group experiences 

  • A greater capacity for mindful awareness and loving presence, so that you can meet these times with greater stability and compassion

  • New facilitation skills and resources that will support your eco-spiritual facilitation so that you feel effective and confident

  • Supportive community of peers and mentors doing the work alongside you to enrich your journey going forward

  • Eco-spiritual facilitation certificate to add your resume and website 

In today’s world, where uncertainty and disconnection have become pervasive,  the need for wise and compassionate guides has never been greater. As individuals and communities grapple with unknowns, anxiety, and a sense of isolation, we can cultivate steadiness and resilience.  

Guides—whether we are coaches, healers, teachers, nature-based guides, spiritual leaders, or care givers—serve as beacons of wisdom who can support re-connection to ourselves, each other, and the larger web of Life. 

Facilitating sacred space is not the work of a few; it is an invitation for all of us. Through intentional eco-spiritual facilitation, we can create spaces where people feel seen, heard, and empowered to step into their own capacity for healing and belonging. 

Whether you are a long time facilitator or just beginning, you can gain confidence and learn new tools for holding space, fostering deep listening, and creating earth and spirit-based invitations that support healing.

Are you ready to build the skills & confidence to hold space for healing and re-connection?

You could stay on the sidelines, thinking you don’t have enough to offer, or not trusting that you have valuable gifts to share. You could continue to question whether you are worthy or really have the confidence to guide others. You could put off stepping fully into what is yours to do, thinking you don’t have the time or energy right now, that you’ll do it at some point, later. 

Or you can listen to that whisper and tug inside you to step into a deeper connection to earth and spirit. You can learn new tools and develop the confidence and courage to effectively guide others sooner, rather than later. You can become a grounded and resourced facilitator through eco-spiritual practices and spiritual growth.

 In this training you will learn…

  • How to commit to personal practices that expand your connection to spirit and anchor you in trust

  • How to weave contemplative practices, storytelling, ceremony, and micro-rituals into your facilitation style

  • How to use your intuition to respond to participants when facilitating, how to hold space for the emotional needs of a group, and to guide with a trauma-informed lens 

  • How to facilitate with spaciousness, wisdom, and presence, knowing how to accept paradox and non-closure, and how to guide with a light touch

  • How to create and offer meaningful invitations that are aligned with your unique facilitation style  

  • How to align your values with your practice as a facilitator, and how to build confidence and clarity in your work

Core Tenets:

These tenets are foundational to our work and will be integrated into our learning throughout the training.

  1. Relationship & Interbeing: Our learning and lives are rooted in interconnected relationships. We can learn to trust that when our path is rooted in interbeing, we have access to intuition, earth wisdom, and deeper knowing. We are committed to creating inclusive relational spaces rooted in healing justice.

  2. Mindful & Compassionate Awareness: Our approach to our work and ourselves recognizes the need for our loving attention, presence, and compassion in a distracted and overwhelmed world. 

  3. Ecological Wisdom: We work in partnership with the earth and access wisdom directly from the natural world. Emergent ecological design, ritual, and seasonal connection are tools in this unfolding relationship.

  4. Transformative & Experiential Learning: The learning we guide is participatory, intuitive, emergent, and holds possibility for transformative change.  We use tools such as invitation, reflection, and embodied & sensory experience to enhance learning.

  5. Inherent Wholeness: We believe everyone is inherently whole and deserves to uncover and remember wholeness. We cultivate experiences that deepen relationships, honor grief, and invite joy, playfulness, curiosity, and creativity.

This training is for you if you are longing to...

  • Expand your capacity to trust yourself, allowing intuition and wisdom to guide you and your work

  • Make a commitment to your personal well-being through eco-spiritual practices

  • Hold sacred spaces for others, with skill and confidence

  • Learn practical and proven methods for facilitating eco-spiritual learning

  • Integrate more self-reflection and spiritual growth into your life

  • Move beyond our dominant cultural norms, dismantle systems of oppression, and live and work with more ease, confidence, and creativity

  • Be in a supportive community with others who are exploring their spiritual paths

“Irene has a great way of making a gathering feel warm, welcoming and easy. Time with Temenos groups makes me feel connected to myself, to others, and to nature... the perfect reset and check in with myself, to notice how I am feeling, and where my energies are being spent.”
— Amy

This training is rooted in recent research and wisdom from adult learning theories such as contemplative, experiential, and transformative learning, and is strongly informed by an understanding of Spiritual Ecology, New Science, Ecopsychology, Critical Theory, Relational Forest Therapy, Internal Family Systems Therapy, Ceremony, and Rites of Passage work. Additionally, our decades of practical experience as transformative educators and facilitators inform and guide this training.

This facilitation training will not only offer new concepts and relationships but will model eco-spiritual facilitation, providing a clear experience of what it feels like and looks like to be an eco-spiritual facilitator. You will also receive a toolkit of practices and have opportunities to practice what you are learning. This training will be small enough to provide the space to build supportive relationships and deep connections within our learning community.

Gain clarity and confidence in your ability to hold transformative space for others, knowing that you have the tools and skills to be an intuitive and impactful facilitator.

 

General Information

  • 🌿 3-night In-person Orientation Retreat (Yachats, Oregon)

    • November 7-10, 2025 

    • We will be staying in ocean-side cottages and enjoying retreat time together at Temenos Forest Sanctuary, a private and sacred 5-acre forested property 1 mile from our cottages. It is truly a spectacular place to explore, offering deep nourishment and calm.

    🌿 Monthly Learning Workshops: Explore foundational concepts and practices

    • Saturdays, December-March (1:00-4:00 PST / 4:00-7:00 EST)

    • Dates: 12/13, 1/10, 2/14, 3/14

    🌿 Monthly Toolkit Sessions: Learn specific tools for eco-spiritual facilitation

    • Wednesdays, November-March (5:00-7:00 PST / 8:00-10:00 EST)

    • Dates: 11/19, 12/17, 1/21, 2/25

    🌿 Monthly Practice Sessions: Practice what you are learning

    • Wednesdays, November-March (5:00-6:00 PST / 8:00-9:00 EST)

    • Dates: 12/3, 1/7, 2/4, 3/4

    🌿 1-1 Coaching Sessions: individualized support for your journey

    • You'll have the opportunity to meet with Heather or Irene for 1-1 coaching sessions in November or early December as you begin the training, and again in late February or March as we wrap up.

  • An approach to life rooted in relationships, interconnectedness, reverence, and wholeness. A deep awareness of ourselves as ecological and spiritual beings. A reverence for the magic and mystery of spiritual experience rooted in earth connection. A trust in process and unknowns, in the unfolding of life. Eco-Spirituality has been part of the human experience since the beginning of time. An Eco-Spiritual lens offers a healing response to the climate crisis and other challenges we currently face together.

  • A facilitator is someone who helps open or illuminate the way for others, who supports a growth or healing process. The word facilitate comes from the Latin facilis, for "easy." It means to make something easier or more likely to happen. A facilitator may serve in the role of guide, teacher, mentor, coach, healer, or anyone who creates and supports spaces of ease and possibility for others.

  • This training welcomes people from all spiritual backgrounds. 

    You may attend virtually from anywhere. You will need to make arrangements to attend the in-person retreat in November. 

    Specifically we invite: 

    • Mindfulness and Meditation Teachers

    • Therapists

    • Forest Therapy and other nature guides

    • Life and Creative Coaches

    • Yoga and Qigong teachers

    • Somatic Practitioners

    • Acupuncturists

    • Plant medicine guides

    • Artists

    • Energy Workers

    • Herbalists

    • Doulas

    • Social justice & climate activists

    • Conservation and restoration leaders

    • Spiritual leaders

    • Anyone that wants to bring an eco-spiritual approach to their facilitation work

“Thank you for creating this shared learning experience that touched me deeply and constantly transforms my understanding of life and what our relationship with this earth could look like.”
— Noppawan

This training is for you if you are: 

  • A values-based practitioner or guide who would like to feel more confident facilitating groups ​

  • Wanting to deepen your connection to yourself and the earth, and learn how to skillfully facilitate learning and healing in partnership with the earth

  • Curious about  how to facilitate transformative adult learning that inspires meaning and invites change

  • Needing the flexibility of virtual learning. You are able to commit to a relational learning process with fixed meeting times and an in-person orientation retreat

  • Looking for ways to commit time and space to your personal learning and growth

  • Wanting to connect with like-hearted others in a learning process that is emergent, supportive, and deeply relational

  • A nature or forest therapy guide, an organizational facilitator, a garden-based or wilderness guide, an outdoor educator, a healer, a coach, a teacher, or someone on a spiritual path

 
 
 
 

Format and Timing:

This 5 month training begins with a 3 night retreat Novermber 7-10 2025 (on the Oregon Coast) and culminates in March. Each month from November to March there will be 3 participatory virtual sessions; one 3 hour Saturday workshop session, one 2 hour Wednesday toolkit session, and one 1 hour Wednesday practice session per month (see below for specific dates). We expect people to participate as fully as possible and understand that you may need to miss a session. Due to the participatory nature of the sessions, we will record as much as possible.

 Virtual sessions are designed to be participatory, meaningful, and relational. These sessions will include check-ins, contemplative practices, earth connection practices (on screen and with invitations to go off screen and come back), small group activities, reflective journaling, and more. Practice sessions will offer the opportunity to apply your learning and to practice facilitating short sessions for your peers.

Each month we focus on a specific theme with content that aligns with the season and guides us into deeper knowing and ability in our eco-spiritual facilitation practice. Every month you will receive new facilitation tools, resources, and reflective and contemplative practices to support your learning and add to your toolkit. 

​Themes:

🌱 Nov: Rooting in relationship and opening to trust 

🌱 Dec: Cultivating intuition & wisdom 

🌱 Jan: Discovering confidence & authenticity 

🌱 Feb: Holding spaciousness & invitation

🌱 March: Integrating imagination & reflection- moving forward with intention

 
 
 
 
“Thank you, a million times thank you, thank you. Each class was so personal for me but also just as special in the community building. I feel connected to the land, I feel connected to these people, and I feel connected to myself. Thank you for fostering so much growth.”
— Skyler

Your Facilitators:

Irene Elle Bailey (she/her) is a designer and facilitator of nature connection and mindfulness offerings that support the remembering that we are intimately and inseparably connected to all life. As a creator of spaces for cultivating trust, courage, intuition, and wisdom, Irene has supported hundreds on their path to living a more connected, authentic, and joyful life. Over the past 20 years, she has worked with numerous environmental and sustainability education programs. She is the founder and director of Temenos Rising where she shares retreats, workshops, forest bathing walks, and mentorship, all held in deep relationship with the natural world. 

Irene holds an MS in Leadership for Sustainability Education from Portland State University and is a certified Forest Therapy Guide with the Association for Nature and Forest Therapy. She has trained with the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies as a Buddhist Eco-Chaplain and continues to train in ceremony and rites of passage work with the School of Lost Borders. 

Irene believes wholeheartedly in the transformation and deep healing that is possible when we allow the more than human world to be a wise teacher and cultivate a felt sense of interbeing. Irene supports the creation of safer spaces in the natural world so that others can get the healing and nourishment they deserve to live well.

Irene calls the Oregon coast home where she enjoys hiking, hanging out with big trees, surfing, practicing meditation, foraging for mushrooms and seaweed, and taking romps with her partner, son, and pup.

Dr. Heather Burns (she/her) has been a scholar and facilitator of eco-spiritual learning for 20+ years as a university professor and through her business, Alderroot Healing & Renewal. She holds space for transformative healing and wholeness rooted in relationships and interbeing. She has extensive experience teaching others how to design and facilitate eco-spiritual and sustainability learning, and she is an experienced designer and facilitator of participatory, experiential, contemplative, and transformative learning experiences. Over the years, she has deepened her intuitive facilitation skills through guiding retreats, forest therapy experiences, courses in spirituality and deep ecology, and personal mentorship. 

Heather holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership in Sustainability, an MA in Women Studies and Adult Education, and BA in Psychology. She was the director of the Leadership for Sustainability Education graduate program for many years and has published numerous articles on transformative and eco-spiritual learning. She is the author of the book Transformative Sustainability Pedagogy: Designing and Facilitating Eco-Spiritual Learning. Heather is also a certified forest therapy guide with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy, a Reiki master, and a certified permaculture designer.

Heather believes that we all need mindful support and inclusive spaces of gentle care and guidance as we struggle in these times of climate crisis and crumbling social systems. She knows healing is supported by remembering our connection to the living earth and by truly feeling our sense of belonging in this wise, beautiful world. She supports finding renewal and joy in learning to listen to our bodies, and in direct reconnection to our spirits, the more than human world, and each other. 

Heather calls Portland, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest her home. She finds joy in her daily contemplative practices, tending her large polyculture garden, forest wandering, and ocean and river swimming. She is also an avid reader, writer, and creative designer of eco-spiritual experiences.

“Heather shows up so authentically and vulnerably to every class, it is infectious. Her teaching not only helps you see and understand the world better but helps you see and understand yourself better.”
— Camila

Cost:

$3295- 4795 (sliding scale)

If you need a payment plan, please let us know.
Past participants have used professional development funding from their employers.

Included in this Training:

  • A 4 day/3 night in-person orientation retreat on the Oregon Coast

  • 4  guided Saturday workshop sessions (Virtual-1pm-4pm PST)

  • 4  guided Wednesday toolkit sessions (Virtual 5-7pm PST)

  • 4 guided Wednesday practice sessions (Virtual 5-6pm PST)

  • 2  individual coaching sessions (Virtual)

  • What’s App community for connection between session

  • Suggested monthly practices to guide your learning

  • A library of resources to support your learning including an ecological design workbook 

  • To honor the time and effort dedicated to this training, we’ve established the following cancellation policy.

    Full payment is due 60 days before the training start date or at the time of registration if the training will start in less than 60 days (unless you set up a payment plan).

    Cancellation received 60 or more days before training start date: Full refund minus $250 administrative fee.

    Cancellation received 59 days or less before training start date: We will not be able to offer any refund.

    * There are no refunds available once the training program starts.

  • We offer payment plans for no extra charge. You can choose a 3 or 6 month payment plan. All payment plans must be completed by the end of the training.

Inclusivity:

We ask that all participants be committed to the ongoing learning and awareness of how white supremacy negatively impacts all life, especially Black and Brown people. In an effort to support an inclusive space, we know this work, this dismantling of systemic oppression, is essential to sharing healing spaces and to supporting the collective liberation for all beings.

FAQs

  • November: Rooting in relationship and opening to trust

    Together we will begin to build our learning community and to understand how eco-spiritual learning experiences can be opened and nurtured. We will gather for a retreat with spacious time by the ocean and in the forest to deepen into earth relationship and interbeing. We will deeply observe our current knowledge and practice of facilitation, and start to develop a toolkit for our unique eco-spiritual facilitation journey. We will learn how to create micro-rituals that support earth connection, and will explore how developing trust practices can support us so that we can be confident hosts and holders of eco-spiritual spaces. We will understand how to set strong intentions, let go of control, and how to trust the more-than-human world.


    December: Cultivating intuition & wisdom

    Together we will learn how to listen to our inner knowing and the wisdom of the more-than-human world. We will learn to nurture our body wisdom and intuition so that we can facilitate with greater confidence, allowing courage to support us as we navigate imperfection and discomfort. We will remember how mystery, magic, and synchronicity have always guided life and how re-membering can support our capacity to be grounded and to make wise design decisions as we facilitate. We will learn body-based spiritual practices for nourishing ourselves, cultivating intuition, and regulating our nervous systems so that we can support group containers from a place of calm and confidence.


    January: Discovering confidence & authenticity

    Together we will deepen our clarity about who we are as facilitators and guides. We will learn how to develop more confidence by grounding into our authentic approach and purpose, and telling our own stories. Together we will learn how to consistently approach facilitation with calm, courage, and confidence, knowing we are developing the groundedness and tools to be successful space-holders. We will explore how to authentically weave in contemplative practices, such as ceremony and ritual as part of our facilitation.


    February: Holding spaciousness & invitation

    Together we will explore how to hold spaciousness for groups so that learning and relationships can unfold naturally. We will also learn how to hold space for both joy and grief, and how to lean into joy without bypassing the painful realities of the world. We will learn the language of invitation, and how to skillfully create and integrate invitations into our offerings. We will also learn the practice of medicine walks and how to receive guidance from the earth that can support our confidence and our abilities to hold eco-spiritual spaces.


    March: Integrating imagination and reflection

    Together we will engage with imagination as a tool to grow our facilitation capacity, and to create or re-shape how and what we facilitate. We will reflect on and weave together our authentic practices of trust, embodiment, intuition, and confidence as we integrate our learning. We will reflect on our specific learning in this training, map and share our learning journeys in eco-spiritual facilitation, and set clear commitments about our facilitation craft going forward.

    • 3 night In-person orientation retreat (November)

    • Monthly 3 hour Saturday workshop sessions- virtual (December-March)

    • Monthly 2 hour Wednesday toolkit sessions- virtual (November-March)

    • Monthly 1 hour Wednesday practice session- virtual (December-March)

    • Two 60-minute individual coaching session with Heather or Irene

    • Monthly practices and invitations to deepen earth connection and integrate learning

    • A library of reading , video, and audio resources

    • What's App community for connecting with each other between sessions

  • Yes, this training is also for experienced facilitators who would like to learn to facilitate transformative eco-spiritual experiences and get more grounding in effective and meaningful adult learning strategies. This training also offers the space to gather with other facilitators in a supportive learning community. If you would like to talk more about if this training is a good fit for you, please schedule a short exploration call with us.

  • This training will support you in learning how to put less energy into fear and worry and how to cultivate more rootedness and trust in Life. You will gain a deeper connection to the earth and to your own intuition and wisdom. We recognize that the development of eco-spiritual facilitation is grounded in the personal experience and growth of the facilitator. You will be invited to cultivate courage, confidence, and trust alongside practices of mindful awareness and self-care and compassion to support your inherent wholeness and stability.

  • Yes, we have experience crafting and facilitating meaningful eco-spiritual learning in virtual spaces. Relational and spiritual learning practices can be cultivated anywhere and we can show you how. Our virtual sessions will be rooted in relationship, participation, co-creation, and presence. You will also be offered specific land-based and embodied spiritual practices that support learning beyond our virtual learning spaces.

  • This training will help you to confidently facilitate workshops, retreats, rituals, classes, and other group gatherings that support eco-spiritual learning and transformative change. You may integrate this into your current work within an organizational setting or in your own business.  This training may also offer you the ability to create and lean into new career possibilities.

  • You are invited to participate as fully as possible in order to support the learning container and community. Plan to attend a live virtual learning workshop one Saturday a month (3 hours), a once a month Wednesday evening toolkit session (2 hours), and a once a month Wednesday evening practice session (1 hour). There is also an in-person 3 night orientation retreat on the Oregon Coast.

    In order to fully receive the benefits of this training, you are invited to make space in your life for about 1 additional hour per week of reflection and contemplative earth connection practices that will help you integrate what you are learning.

  • We ask that you commit to adding all the sessions to your calendar and to attending as many sessions as possible. Although we will record sessions, they are highly participatory and there will be personal reflections and breakout room discussions that will not be included in the shared recordings. We highly encourage you to attend as many classes as possible to get the most out of the experience.

    • Certification of completion. Add to your resume, social media, and website as a credential

    • Earth-based and spiritual practices that support you and your facilitation work

    • A toolkit of creative & effective facilitation tools to guide your work

    • Trust and confidence in your eco-spiritual facilitation craft and unique style

    • An abundance of new resources for eco-spiritual facilitation

    • A community of committed eco-spiritual facilitators

  • This training is designed for you to apply what you are learning. Each month there will be specific focus on, and support for, applying your learning during our practice sessions. These sessions will offer opportunities for practicing facilitation, observing other facilitators, and for self-reflection. Additionally, we will encourage you to practice what you are learning throughout the training through direct application to your life and work.

In-Person Retreat Details

Dates: November 7-10, 2025
Location: Overleaf Cottages: Yachats, Oregon 

Together we will gather for an in-person orientation retreat where we will build our supportive learning community and begin to explore how to become confident and impactful eco-spiritual facilitators. With deep time in the forest and by the ocean, this retreat will offer intentional space to nourish our eco-spiritual selves and our connections with each other so that we start this journey from a place of groundedness and inspiration. The retreat offers a sacred space to cultivate trust in ourselves and in this process while also inviting playfulness, wonder, and curiosity to be part of the journey. This orientation retreat will help us ground into our shared experience, while also offering specific skills that will contribute to our eco-spiritual toolkit including micro-rituals, trust practices, earth-connection invitations, and ceremony. 

We will be staying in the charming ocean-side Overleaf Cottages in Yachats. We will spend our days on the land nearby at Temenos Forest Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is a private, beautiful, and sacred 5-acre forested property located 1 mile from the cottages. It is truly a spectacular place to explore for a few days. The ocean is a 15 minute walk, mostly through the forest, and there are various creeks to enjoy on and around the property. This space offers itself for deep nourishment and calm. You will likely go home having the land and its inhabitants wedged deeply into your heart. 

    • 3 nights accommodation in an oceanside cottage where you can relax

    • Nourishing meals to support an easeful and rejuvenating experience

    • Opportunities for deep connection to self, community, & the natural world so that you return refreshed, inspired, and excited

    • Time and space to build relationships with others in this learning community so that you’ll feel supported and connected throughout the learning experience

    • Private forest location to explore and wander during the day to be immersed in nature and to learn in an experiential way

    • Sound & energy healing session to amplify your connection to spirit and earth 

    • Opportunity to observe and practice eco-spiritual facilitation so that you can begin to build your eco-spiritual toolkit

    • Overview of the training themes, schedules, expectations, and Q & A

    • Travel to and from the retreat (Central Oregon Coast)

    • One dinner at a restaurant in Yachats--all other meals included

“One of the most nourishing, peaceful, reflective, and connected weekends I’ve had in years. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. I am so thankful for the wisdom of the teachers, the delicious food, and the opportunity to practice being vulnerable, to slow down, and to connect with the land.”
— Stefanie