Training
“This training has totally changed my life! I was seen in my totality and held in a wonderful and fun community. Being on the land has given me a true purpose and helped me live life more awake, more fully, more truly.”
- Mara, 2018
For more than 40 years, the School of Lost Borders has offered trainings for students, therapists, teachers, caregivers, and guides around the world. Our trainings are for those interested in deepening their understanding of rites of passage, self-generated ceremonies, and initiatory eco-therapies. They are highly experiential and provide the skills needed to support people in transition through nature-based initiatory practices. These trainings are transformative both personally and professionally and involve a profound immersion in the natural world.
Upcoming Training Programs
The Nature of Council
May 3 - May 10, 2024 Big Pine, California Sam DeBoskey, Yamin Chehin
“There is a world behind the world we see that is the same world but more open, more transparent, without blocks. Like inside a big mind, the animals and humans all can talk, and those who pass ...
Reclaiming the Divine Masculine
May 18 - May 25, 2024 Wildlands in the San Francisco Bay Area Scott Eberle, Logan Falley
ONE SPOT REMAINING! Reclaiming the Divine Masculine A Program for Men in this Modern Age For the longest time, patriarchal beliefs and proscribed gender roles have discouraged men from ...
CA Month-Long Training
Jun 12 - Jul 14, 2024 Inyo Mountains - Big Pine, California Betsy Perluss, Angelo Joseph Lazenka, Petra Lentz-Snow, Meredith Little, Kim Belair
*Pre-requite for this program is having completed a guided 3 or 4-day/night vision fast. Need not have been with the School of Lost Borders. For forty years the School of Lost Borders has offered ...
BIPOC Mirroring Training: Reflecting BIPOC Stories through Nature and Belonging
Jul 27 - Aug 3, 2024 Wild Mountain, Colorado Ruth “Roo” Wharton, Praveen Mantena
This program is run by Wild Mountain Retreats and bookable direct on their website This program is open to all who identify as Black, Indigenous, & People of Color (BIPOC). Many of whom have ...
CO Mirroring the Four Shields of Human Nature: The Art of Story Telling and Listening
Aug 19 - Aug 23, 2024 Dragonback Springs Ranch, Colorado Emerald North, Scot Deily
Who is this miracle speaking to me? And who is this miracle listening? What amazingness are we creating? Out of gray matter a star spark of thought leaps between synapses into the air, and ...
CA Mirroring the Four Shields of Human Nature: The Art of Storytelling and Listening
Sep 8 - Sep 13, 2024 Big Pine, CA Betsy Perluss, Angelo Joseph Lazenka
Telling one’s own story is an ancient art. Nowadays, we have forgotten how to listen and how to tell. Yet the very survival of our species depends on our ability to communicate with each other in ...
CA Two Week Training
Sep 21 - Oct 5, 2024 Big Pine & Eureka Valley, California Ruth “Roo” Wharton, Angelo Joseph Lazenka
In these times of change and uncertainty, it is crucial that we show up for our community in ways that truly serve. The world is calling us to listen in new and old ways to connect with the land and ...
Becoming Human: The Four Shields Model of Nature-Based Therapeutics
Sep 29 - Oct 4, 2024 Big Pine, California Betsy Perluss, Gretchen (Grae) Gerlach
“If there were a measure of ‘mental health’, it would involve the ability of individuals to grow into the fullness of each season – that is, the ability to fully become, or enact, the ...
AZ Mirroring the Four Shields of Human Nature: The Art of Storytelling and Listening
Mar 17 - Mar 23, 2025 Catalina State Park - Tucson, Arizona Silvia Talavera, Gretchen (Grae) Gerlach
“Stories are a form of medicine that can operate at the deepest levels of self and soul.” Michael Meade Telling one’s own story is an ancient art. Nowadays, we ...
CA Month-Long Training
Jun 18 - Jul 20, 2025 Inyo Mountains - Big Pine, California Betsy Perluss, Angelo Joseph Lazenka, Meredith Little, Petra Lentz-Snow, Kim Belair
*Pre-requisite for this program is having completed a guided 3 or 4-day/night vision fast within the last five years. This need not have been with the School of Lost Borders. Please submit an ...
CO Mirroring the Four Shields of Human Nature: The Art of Story Telling and Listening
Aug 20 - Aug 24, 2025 Dragonback Springs Ranch, Colorado Emerald North, Scot Deily
Who is this miracle speaking to me? And who is this miracle listening? What amazingness are we creating? Out of gray matter a star spark of thought leaps between synapses into the air, and ...
CO Two Week Training
Sep 6 - Sep 21, 2025 Wild Mountain, Colorado Ruth “Roo” Wharton, Angelo Joseph Lazenka, Kelly McClelland
In these times of change and uncertainty, it is crucial that we show up for our community in ways that truly serve. The world is calling us to listen in new and old ways to connect with the land and ...
CA Mirroring the Four Shields of Human Nature: The Art of Storytelling and Listening
Sep 28 - Oct 3, 2025 Big Pine, CA Betsy Perluss, Kim Belair
Telling one’s own story is an ancient art. Nowadays, we have forgotten how to listen and how to tell. Yet the very survival of our species depends on our ability to communicate with each other in ...