Mind of the Mentor with Jon Young
Building nature connected communities
Oct 24 to Nov 1, 2026
An Art of Mentoring event
This event is now SOLD OUT, but if you follow the booking link you can go on the waiting list for any cancellations
Keep an eye out for our online offering to accompany this workshop
If you are keen to understand the relationship between nature connection and mentoring, then this workshop is for you.
Deep in all of our roots, there are stories of our ancestors living in healthy, regenerative communities—villages where people of all ages were in deep relationship with the land, each other, and themselves. This workshop is an experiential, nature based gathering designed to help us remember these old ways and learn to apply them to our modern communities. In particular to understand the lost art of mentoring which lies at the core of building deep connection.
In the last decade there have been many nature based programs emerging in Australia, alongside an increasing awareness of the value of nature connection for our health and wellbeing. With nature connection as the foundation for this work to build healthy communities and a healthy sense of self, mentoring is a necessary tool that is mostly unfamiliar in modern culture. Mentoring is the foundation of indigenous cultures going back 300,000 years that facilitates a way of living, grounded in connection.
In this workshop, Jon Young will be guiding us through the foundational pattern of indigenous teaching methods using an experiential approach of modern facilitation techniques. We will consider “what is mentoring?” compared to modern teaching methods. This will include the 10 stones of connection, the role of curiosity and mystery, the natural learning cycle, sensory awareness and body radar, bird language, storytelling, deep listening and the art of questioning.
Jon Young has been teaching, mentoring and refining this work for 40 years. His work has translated into many different schools and programs running in over 300 locations worldwide, proving their effectiveness as a model in reestablishing deep nature connection to ourselves, our communities and the natural world around us.
Who is this experience for?
This experience is for those who seek to understand how to create and live in a healthy regenerative community that is deeply connected to nature. It is open to those who are experienced in deep nature connection, as well as newcomers to this work. For those running existing nature based programs it will deepen your understanding of the role of mentoring for facilitating lasting and effective change for building stronger healthier communities based around connection. For anyone interested in the role of mentoring plays in our lives, this workshop will expand your awareness and gift you with experiences and tools to further this work in your life. And for those that may be interested to expand their parenting, aunty/uncle roles in life, together we will all benefit from the inherent wisdom of these teachings.
It Takes A Village to…
Engage the gifts of our elders
Create essential rites of passage for our teens
Ensure parents are supported and thriving
Welcome our babies into a world of open arms
Feel deep gratitude and kinship with nature.
Understand our gifts and how to apply them in service to the people and all life.
What is involved?
Guided by Jon Young, alongside an Australian and New Zealand facilitator team, each day includes personal and group activities. These are largely outside and include the ‘Art of Listening & Questioning’, Inner & land based Tracking, Naturalist Education, Sensory Awareness, Inspirational storytelling, Creative Arts, Ceremony and Discussion.
You will walk away with tools and embodied practices of regenerative community design, mentoring techniques, deep nature connection, and an amplified passion for learning. This will support you to be more successful in your relationships, your career, your community, and in life in general, by enhancing your ability to experience empathy, compassion and sensitivity to your surroundings and others, through increased awareness. Our hope is to activate and inspire you to create healthy communities right in your own back yard!
When: October 24th – November 1st, 2026
Where: Yagaari, Mid north coast, NSW
Includes accommodation – camping on site, and three wholesome main meals provided each day. Participants are expected to cater for their own snacks.
This event is now SOLD OUT, but if you follow the booking link you can go on the waiting list for any cancellations
“This is nature education as it should be : mysterious, timeless, hopeful, evocative, and playful”
-David Sobel, author of “Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the Heart in Nature Education”