Daywanders
Come wander through wild places outside of yourself, to understand the wild places inside of yourself.
What is a Daywander?
A daywander is a solo experience in nature. It is a community-held rite of passage practice. It is a place of slowing down, of quiet stillness, of deep reflection. Or perhaps it is a place of coyote howls and dancing with the sunrise. Of laughter or crying or boredom. Of loosing yourself, and of finding yourself.
More concretely, a daywander is a ceremony in which you are alone in the wilderness from sunrise to sunset. That solo experience is bookended by time spent in the community of fellow participants and with the holding help of your guides. In this way, the lessons that you learn on the land can be witnessed by community, and brought forth into your everyday life.
A daywander is a fast. You will be fasting from modern civilization, from rooms and walls and couches, from modern technology, from fellow humans, and perhaps from food. You will be stripping away all these potential distractions in order to arrive at the heart of yourself. To slow down and tap into the embodied knowing that lives deep in your bones.
Typical Daywander Schedule
Day 1
Midday: Arrival and setup at Campsite
Afternoon: Logistics + Safety Council
Evening: Intention Council
Day 2
Sunrise: Begin solo Daywander
Sunset: Complete solo Daywander
Evening: Share dinner at campsite
Day 3
Morning: Storytelling Council
Midday: Pack up + Closing Council
Bring intention to your wander.
A daywander can be a supportive space in which to call in a specific identity, question, idea, challenge, or transition which feels present to you. You may be stepping into a new chapter, considering a big decision, or wanting to ground in who you are.
Some questions that might help you explore an intention are:
Who am I? What do I want to let go of? What do I want to step into? What question needs to be asked? What is being asked of me now?
“My Daywander experience with Tonks was one of the most fundamentally transformative days of my life.
I owe that day to Tonks’ extraordinary skill in facilitation, holding space, and inspiring confidence. And to their deep dedication to helping humans embrace our belonging to the earth.
If given another opportunity to journey with Tonks, I will do everything I can to be there.”
NICOLE
2022 ParticipantYou will be witnessed by community.
A group setting is not necessary to complete a daywander. However, both in my own daywanders and through my work guiding others, I have come to see how valuable it is to be supported and witnessed by community through this process.
Often what we experience out on the land feels almost like a dream, a liminal space. And so, sharing the story of our experience with a group is a way to help to understand and grasp the lessons of that experience and integrate them into our everyday life.
An inclusive, reciprocal space.
We strive to create spaces which are welcoming to all beings, anti-racist, and queer-affirmative.
We carry an ethic of deep responsibility, relationship, and reciprocity with the places where we offer our programs. We strive to leave the land better than we found it, and give back to the indigenous communities of the lands where we work.
Gear
For the solo portion of the program, you will need a backpack with warm layers, rain layers, water, and a headlamp, and a small emergency snack. Optionally you may want a journal, watch, compass, small first aid kit, etc.
We will be camping together as a group at a car-accessible wilderness site both evenings— you will be bringing your own gear for that (tent, sleep system, cook system). I have a few extras of camping things, so please reach out if you are short anything and perhaps it can be borrowed.
This is a donation-based practice.
If you feel moved by your experience, please consider making a donation. The suggested donation range is noted on each program page. The donations will be split between myself and my co-guide. I humbly ask that you give what feels appropriate given your circumstances and access to financial resources.
I donate 25% of profits to femme-lead non-profits in indigenous communities who have been tending the lands were I work, such as this group for my work in Southern California.
Money is by no means my motivation for doing this work, it is a labor of my soul and a calling of my own gut-heart. If the suggested donation scale for any program is not affordable for you, please reach out. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Deposit
We ask for a deposit from all participants upon acceptance into the program. This ensures that those who sign up are fully committed to the journey— which is both helpful for your guides in resourcing our time, and helpful for you in that it encourages thoughtful consideration before stepping into this work.
“Whether we are raised in indigenous or modern culture, there are two things that people crave: the full realization of their innate gifts, and to have those gifts approved, acknowledged, and confirmed.”
Malidoma Patrice Somé
the healing wisdom of africaUpcoming Daywanders
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Mountain Daywander
August 29th - Sept 1st 2024
Colorado
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Fall into Fall
September 19-20 2024
Marin County
California