Got wild in the Swedish mountains, again

I mentioned previously about my current European summer adventure. It has been so far the most diverse short trip I have ever done (6 weeks) and still to be the most fantastic. I still have two more weeks on the road but I've found some time to start writing about it. I've managed to update my Twitter a few times though...

The first part of my trip was in Sweden. I've been there last year taking part of the GetWild program, and I came back this year as co-facilitator, supporting Martin and Rowan in this mission of providing an extraordinary experience with Nature for 18 young social entrepreneurs for one week in July. We're received once again by Göran Guunvi, CEO of Naturakademin and our connection to the Sami People, "owners" of the sacred lands of Vålådalen.

The learning curve was increadible, and I got a lot from this experience. It was fun at most times and pretty challenging at some moments. We got terrible weather most of the time and three people were "rescued" from the top of the mountain, due to the cold and constant rain. But even for them, the experience turned out very impactful, and it feels great to know that. Bert from Netherlands wrote about his experience in his blog.

I intent to facilitate new experiences like that in the future, in Brazil. I also realized the crucial importance of authenticity - you cannot preach what you don't do yourself. I need to join more solo trips and practice more mindfulness myself before doing it again for others!

Thanks for Rowan for his determined work at Up-Stream.dk and Martin for his experience and calmness.

In the next post I'll share more about the MoldeJazz Festival 2009!

My Nature Quest & John Milton

I've been a couple of weeks ago in a natural reserve area called Vålådalen, in the middle/north of Sweden. It's a sacred place which still belongs to the Sami People (indigenous people from Northern Europe), and it was the scenario and teacher for an amazing 6-days "Nature Quest" with John Milton and Göran Gennvi. John is a shaman, a wise man, a brujo, according to the old indigenous traditions from Mexico, North America and many parts of the world. He is best known as the guru and coach of highly influential business thinkers such as Peter Senge, Joseph Jaworski and Otto Scharmer. The whole chapter "Seeing with the Heart" in their book Presence is dedicated to John's "Sacred Passages".

We all belong to nature and we are all interconnected, but since we (civilized humans) decided to live in cities having individualized lives, we "forgot" our connection - represented by our intuition, presence and mindfulness. Such journeys remind us and helps us to reconnect - basic need for a deeper understanding of sustainability and (perhaps) a key way to find new solutions for our current global problems.

This week was organized by Martin Cadée, Director from the Kaospilot Netherlands, who has been himself last year in the desert of Utah on a Sacred Passage. We were a group of 15 Kaospilots from the schools in Aarhus, Stockholm and Rotterdam, plus a couple of business people.

We camped by a beautiful lake, with view of the snow in the mountains (even in the summer), and the company of a LOT of mosquitoes. We had one day of lectures and conversations with John Milton by the fireplace, inside a little tepee, seated on raindeers' fur, before we head up the mountain. We spent 3 days solo, without any books to read, any journals to write, any MP3s to listen, any mobile or persons to talk to, any watch to check time, and any food to eat (except a special fasting tea made with maple syrup, cayenne pepper and lime juice, on water). The idea was to get rid of all sorts of distractions, and without being able to "DO" anything, allow your self to "BE", by meditations, Tai Chi and Qi Gong practices, and contemplation. At the end of the three days, the return in silence, a slowly and profound sharing of the experiences and a sense of joyfulness.

In the last morning we were together, we also discussed on how to take this practices further, perhaps integrating it into the Kaospilot curriculum, and bringing more young (urban) people on such journeys.

Personally, I felt extremely positive after this experience. Clarity. I had read several books from Carlos Castañeda when I was 17 and by that time never had support from others, or any "masters" around to guide me. It is a sort of spiritual quest, but more than that, it means self-knowledge, awareness raising, and the ability to stay focused and attentive. A warrior's skill. I'm now looking into future opportunities to work and explore more this field, both as projects for my final school year and as for my own personal development.