“CRAFTING WHOLENESS – cultivating inner resources and connection with the world” is an international mobility for youth workers who want to cultivate their inner resources, expand their professional horizons, and become eco-centric agents of cultural transformation. This program is a space for restoring, nurturing, and expanding our connection with Ourselves, the Earth, the Others and the Great Mystery that prevails everything.
This mobility program will bring together 12 participants from: Ireland, Poland and Romania.
From where we begin and our intentions
Wholeness is our capacity to experience health as transcending all limitations while accepting them. Wholeness involves all of what makes us human – mind, body, soul, emotions and relationships.
Wholeness is important because it offers a profound sense of fulfillment, resilience, and authenticity in life. When we strive for wholeness, we integrate all aspects of ourselves, including our strengths, weaknesses, joys, and sorrows. This integration fosters inner peace and self-acceptance, enabling us to navigate life’s challenges with greater resilience and clarity. Wholeness encourages genuine connections with others, as we embrace our authenticity and relate to others from a place of honesty and understanding.
Developing wholeness through nature offers a unique and enriching path towards integration and self-discovery. Nature provides a serene and nurturing environment that encourages us to connect with our inner selves and the world around us in profound ways.
“CRAFTING WHOLENESS – cultivating inner resources and connection with the world” is an invitation to get in touch with the Earth’s intelligence, that we find within and without ourselves, and enhance our wholeness.
The process is envisioned for engaging and enhancing the four human dimensions: the physical, the mental, the emotional and the spiritual.
Through this program we intend the followings:
- To create a space of deep explorations and learning, in which the participants can evolve at personal and professional level.
- To inspire and motivate the participants to become agents of cultural transformation, especially in the work with youth.
- To support the participants become multipliers of holistic eco-centric development.
- To uncover and explore unique practices and initiatives from the local community (Cluj-Napoca) which contribute to the development of youth.
The way we are going to work
We are going to experience and explore ecocentric development, which is a human development approach that places nature and the human soul at the center of its actions. We combine elements of eco-depth psychology, inner work, nature connection, rewilding, indigenous wisdom, non-religious spirituality, art and principles observed in nature.
The main tool
We will explore and work with one core instrument (the nature-based map of the human psyche) which was developed by the American depth psychologist Bill Plotkin, in his book Wild Mind. It is a tool of psychological wholeness which maps elements of the psyche onto the qualities of the natural world that we observe in the cardinal directions as well as the characteristics of the four seasons and the four times of day: dawn, noon, dusk, and midnight.
Practices and activities that will be offered
Nature explorations, solo time in nature, presentations, interactive discussions, reflection groups, working in pairs, mentoring practices, journaling, symbolic art, music making, singing, drumming and rhythms, storytelling, rituals and ceremonies, deep imagery journeys, contemplative practices (silence, meditation, praying), sharing circles and the way of council, dancing, embodiment, authentic movement, poetry, nature connection activities, hiking etc.
Two parts of the process
- Immersion in nature: We will spend the first five days of the program in a remote area in the mountains near Cluj-Napoca. Here, the group will be guided into deep explorations and experiences, which will focus on wholeness development.
- Immersion in community: The last two days will be spent in the city of Cluj-Napoca, where we will explore and interact with several local initiatives and change makers, who contribute to holistic human development and expansion of wholeness in people. This will support the exchange of good practices, ideas and solutions for common challenges.
The right people
This course is for those who feel a strong resonance with what we have to offer. It is especially for professional youth workers who are active in the youth field (youth workers, trainers, educators, NGO leaders and mentors) who are willing to explore and develop themselves and after that to resourcefully inspire and empower others, in nurturing and life enhancing ways.
The participants must be over 18 years, actively participate in the youth field, and have a good level of English.
Eligible participants must have legal residency in one of these countries: Ireland, Poland and Romania.
The place and our future home(s)
- For the first five days
The program will take place in a beautiful and wild area, in the Carpathian Mountains, near the village Măguri Răcătău. A village located at an altitude of 800 m and 45 km from Cluj-Napoca. We will be accommodated in several wooden cottages, that provide basic conditions. The participants will share rooms of 3 people or more and the bathrooms are common. The meals will consist of vegetarian food.
- For the last two days
On the last two days the participants will be accommodated in Cluj-Napoca, in a local hostel, which offers a wide variety of rooms with shared bathrooms.
The guides
Bogdan Romanică
Bogdan is a human development guide, trainer, and mentor, from Romania. In his work, he intuitively combining elements of eco-psychology, nature connection, experiential learning, outdoor education, storytelling, and art. He loves exploring nature and the human soul. He feels in his element when inspiring and empowering people to become the trues versions of themselves. He has worked locally and internationally in the field of human development since 2010. He developed his craft by engaging consistently in deep and meaningful work and training with the Animas Valley Institute from the USA (organization founded by Bill Plotkin), the Mankind Project, Illuman and other organizations and teachers. Born in Romania, he feels deeply connected with the lands where he lives, the hills, mountains and forests that spread not far from his city, Cluj-Napoca.
Panayiota Karayianni
Panayiota Karayianni comes from a background of Social and Cultural Anthropology and in profession she is a Traditional Hatha Yoga Teacher where she incorporates relaxation and meditation techniques along with breathwork for nervous system regulation. Aside from her experiences gained directly from the residential life in the ashram in India, which was an exquisite and unique life experience, she has been exploring ways to support female bodies in particular, which led her to further trainings like Yin Yoga, Prenatal Yoga and Womb Sciences Immersion which included specific use of herbs and practices for alleviating the Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) and menopause symptoms, but also practices regarding the strengthening of the pelvic floor. She finds that a slower paced healing practice helps women to get in tune with their menstrual cycle and she loves to work in this therapeutic and holistic way. As a practitioner and a facilitator, she has a great interest in holding women’s circles to share her teachings and experiences both as a woman and as a trained person that would be delighted to guide and help other women embrace their Feminine Nature. Her teachings reflect her core characteristics as an easily adjustable and adaptable person who’s willing to hold space and listen, to acknowledge and comprehend people’s needs, and therefore come up with the appropriate teachings and practices.
Practical aspects (travelling, costs, preparation)
The arrival day in Cluj-Napoca is the 12th of May (no later than 17.00) and the departure day is 20th of May (at any time). There are 7 full training days. The training location is one hour away from Cluj-Napoca.
The project is financed by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, thus all the activities, accommodation and food are 100% covered by the EU grant. The travel costs will be reimbursed to the participants after the course in the amount limit presented in the table below.
| Nr. | Country | Nr. of participants/country | Travelling budget/person |
| 1 | Romania | 4 | Covered from Cluj-Napoca to the location |
| 2 | Poland | 4 | 320 Euros (green travel) |
| 3 | Ireland | 4 | 360 Euros |
| A total of 12 participants from 3 countries. | |||
* Green travel: means of transportation with lower carbon footprint, such as trains, buses, carpooling. Green travelling may take longer but is a necessary action for the environment.
Each participant is asked to offer a financial contribution, on a sliding scale from 50 to 100 Euros (each person will choose according to possibilities).
Each participant must have comprehensive travel and medical insurance, covering both the travel and the stay from the first until the last day of the way back home. The insurance should be covered by the participants.
If you plan to arrive earlier or leave later your expenses for accommodation outside of the days of the training will not be covered by the project.
Participation in this training requires a preparation phase.
Those who will be accepted in the training should follow an online learning process (reading different materials, articles, watching videos) related to the topic of the training.
The participants will receive several suggestions for personal work before coming to the program (e.g. journaling on certain questions, self-time in nature and several other invitations). Applying to this program also requires the commitment to follow the preparation process.
A vision with a task
After the training course we want to pay special attention to the dissemination activities. We want to create a powerful impact through our project. As a continuation of the experience, each participant will have to implement at least one ACTION in their own community (dissemination event/workshop for youth).
IMPORTANT: NO alcohol – NO drugs policy
The practices and activities that will be done during the training require our full mental and physical capacities. Thus, we invite the participants not to consume any alcohol and drugs during the whole training duration.
Application procedure and deadline
If you feel a deep calling to participate in this training course, you must fill in the application form available at this link:
https://forms.gle/CgBZZ57sZGhwF3om8
The deadline for applications submission is 10th of April 2024 (included).
The selections results will be published on the 11th of April.
Contact
Bogdan Romanică (Romania) – project coordinator and guide
romanica.bogdan@gmail.com +40745585415
This mobility program is a part of the long term project called “Soil, Soul, Society – holistic approaches for youth development”, prepared and implemented by Dreams for Life from Romania, Siolta Chroi from Ireland and KobieTY from Poland.
