Sacred Cacao & Shamanic Forest Bathing Ceremony

Come join us for a magical afternoon of cacao, nature connection, and shamanic practices to connect to Mother Earth & her many trees! Come and immerse yourself in nature, in the woods and in sound. Experience the immune boosting and stress reducing benefits of the forest. Reintroduce yourself to your tree neighbours. Engage your senses and allow them to bring you into the present moment. Explore the heart of a 350-acre nature sanctuary, on top of the Oak Ridges Moraine, just an hour from downtown Toronto. We will begin our Ceremony by offering sacred, organic smudge, grown on our land, to cleanse our energies and connect us to the healing powers of plants. We will then honour and call in the powers of the sacred 7 directions, and invite participants to join us for a sacred Mayan Cacao ceremony, to help us to open our hearts and experience a deeper connection with each other, and Mother Nature. We have combined our love of forest bathing walks with a shamanic ceremony, which means we go into the woods after each forming an intention, and we will ask everyone to open themselves to the possibility that we can receive guidance, and healing, from the forest. Later on participants will have the chance to work one on one with large trees, in a way that allows us to exchange energy and information with them, bringing us into deeper into this nature experience, and into the moment. Forest Bathing, or Shinrin-yoku as it is known in Japan, is a unique, evidence-based method of experiencing the many health benefits of mindfully, and slowly, walking through a forest. We bathe in the smells, sights, textures, tastes and sounds of the forest. Talking is kept to a minimum but participants are invited to share their observations in different locations. Just to be clear, we will not be disrobing and "bathing" in the forest! Let yourself be guided into an environment you may have been in before, but in a new way. Rufus will be your guide, but not the therapist - the forest is. Join us in exploring an old-growth forest on the edge of one of the Oak Ridges Moraine’s most unique features - a deep, 12,000 year old kettle lake, part of a provincially and ecologically significant wetland complex. As stewards of this unique parcel of land for the past 80 years, Rufus' family has committed to protecting this land in perpetuity from development by planting over a million trees and by granting conservation easements to the Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust. We will gather at Swan's Nest Holistic Wellness and Nature Retreat, in King Township, only an hour from downtown Toronto. It is located on Rufus' family farm, and the address will be provided to all those who purchase tickets, either through Eventbrite or by e-transfer*. Subsidized tickets are available for those who cannot at this time purchase a regular priced ticket. Please note: Cell phone use during the workshop is not permitted. And Forest Bathing is rain or shine, so please dress appropriately. © TICKETS © Online Advance Tickets: $30 for adults, $20 for youth (<18) & older adults (60+). Pay What You Can for members of Wellspring (Cash or E-transfer - must reserve a ticket on Eventbrite) TICKETS AT THE DOOR: $40 Maximum 25 participants. © SWAN'S NEST © As we are stewards of this private nature preserve, we only provide our address (and Driving Instructions) upon payment via Eventzilla or e-transfer*. © E-TRANSFERS © E-transfers can be sent to [email protected] without a fee, or funds can also be sent through PayPal: paypal.me/RufusGlassco * NOTE: PLEASE BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN THE E-TRANSFER MESSAGE, OR IT'S POSSIBLE WE WON'T BE ABLE TO EMAIL YOU THE ADDRESS OR DRIVING INSTRUCTIONS. © ABOUT THE FACILITATOR © Rufus Glassco is a trilingual facilitator who works with sound and nature to help people of all ages to connect, learn and heal. His company, Sound Benefits, specializes in experiential learning and healing through Drum Circles, with a focus on health and wellness, as well as Sound Healing, Community Singing, Forest Bathing and Shamanic Coaching. He helps both individuals and groups to relax, and come into greater resonance and harmony. Rufus has been studying modern shamanic practices and shamanic coaching for the past 8 years through the Institute of Shamanic Medicine, and will soon become a Shamanic Practitioner. He has been learning from curanderos and chamanes for even longer in Mexico, where his wife Dinora is from. They have been attending Temazcal ceremonies since they first met in Mexico in 1994, and after living and studying in Mexico in the Fall of 2019, they finally became Temazcaleros. They built their Temazcal at Swan’s Nest, the holistic wellness and nature retreat they recently opened, in the summer of 2020. Rufus passionately believes that everyone, regardless of bloodline or ethnic origin, can access the knowledge and practice of Shamanism, because it connects us to our ancestors. If you go far back enough in time, all of us had ancestors who lived in greater harmony with the natural world, and were able to better communicate with, and benefit from the connection to, the natural and spiritual worlds. Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/share/1DyoKV3NRM/