I extend my excited congratulations to the 3 members of the first “cohort’ that I have been mentoring over a period of 12 months. These facilitators work in different areas of the Great Turning, experienced in their own particular fields of work and they had in common that they had all experienced their a-ha! moment with the WTR.
I acted as an accountability partner and guided their self training. I also invited them to co-facilitate workshops with Gaia Speaking so that they could get the hands on experience that is required to register as a facilitator. The Work that Reconnects self training is “open source”: based on free and accessible resources and materials.
Please get in touch if you work in Southern Africa and are interested in receiving more information about the 2026 cohort plans.
Erin Cowie, the Green Queen
What attracted you to the WTR when you first encountered it?
I first heard about The Work That Reconnects on a podcast where Joanna Macy was being interviewed. I was blown away by her grounded and calm words, her deep compassion and her wisdom. She said “everything is alive” and shared how our culture is extractive because we see the beings of the natural world mostly as dead or inert resources to plunder. She said that when you begin to see the world around you as alive, as a living, breathing web of interconnectedness, everything changes. This was a huge aha! moment for me. I had long been interested in finding ways to live in the world that are less extractive and more compassionate. For years I had been exploring permaculture, regenerative agriculture, yoga, slow living, thrifting, recycling, natural building and many other “alternative” modalities and perspectives. Hearing Joanna’s words felt like a homecoming. The Work gave me a language and a framework that validated and helped me to voice some really big feelings that I had been feeling about the world for a long time.
How will you use the WTR in the work that you do?
I have been bringing WTR rituals into my own unique offering, called Wild Immersion, which I run regularly in my local area. I would love to facilitate more Truth Mandalas as I have found these to be incredibly welcome and meaningful for my local community. It seems that the humans around me are thirsty for this kind of nourishment and I look forward to offering it as a way to bring healing and re-rooting my community of humans back into the Earth. I would love to bring some of the concepts and practices of WTR into my work with FynbosLIFE as a locally indigenous landscaper, to enliven my clients’ perspectives as we create wild gardens that support biodiversity. I am interested in learning more about anti-oppression in order to support the unfolding of a unique South African flavour of WTR. I am inspired to bring WTR into the corporate world and also to explore WTR through the body, using movement, dance & sensuality.
https://daughterofdirt.substack.com/ ; www.fynboslife.com
Diony Lalieu, a pledge for our Oceans
What attracted you to the Work that Reconnects when you first encountered it?
My first impression of the WTR with its deep spiral is how perfectly aligned it is with the work that I do in conservation. In the formative years of my NGO, I walked around with my eyes on the ground, constantly scanning the environment for plastic, until I finally reached a place of eco-despair. What I love about the Work that Reconnects is understanding that from the grief comes the potential to shift and that seeing the world with new eyes can lead to a more empowering vision in which we can create hope through our actions. I now walk with my chin up in the knowledge and peace that if I do my bit to rebuild a life sustaining society, it is enough.
How will you use the WTR in the work that you do?
Ocean Pledge is about growing a network of youth ambassadors to be the spokespeople for the oceans. To nurture that powerful voice, it is crucial that we speak from the heart. Until recently, my students speak as if it is a school oral rather than coming from a place of passion. So, introducing the WTR enables us to really tap into the fear, uncertainties and emotions that the youth are holding, It creates a deeply honest space that builds trust and enables our youth to tap into their centres of power more effectively. There are so many opportunities to adapt this powerful work to our South African context and it has been stimulating and thought provoking to gauge how to do this best.
Simric Yarrow, bridging with playshops
What attracted you to the Work that Reconnects when you first encountered it?
I first encountered the principles of the Work That Reconnects on a workshop that included lots of embodied movement, and so from the first I was aware that it was a set of ideas that could be deeply applied, experienced and practised. Subsequently I attended many of Joanna and Rachel’s song circles which likewise bring the principles to life through artistic and ceremonial experience. I felt from the beginning that it was one of the most “real” processes I had been part of: facing our reality with honesty, but not stopping there. That’s the beauty of the spiral: it makes sure we don’t avoid the difficult feelings about the mess our world is in, while at the same time the continual movement through it builds heart-based resilience. This then support us in aligning with the Great Turning.
How will you use the WTR in the work that you do?
In the processes I run, I do intend to use the principles as a powerful guiding framework, while also encouraging participants to express themselves in ceremonies that include artistic modes – such as music, movement, poetry and theatre. I look forward to working with many kinds of group, including teenagers who are my main work focus at the moment.
Gaia Speaking 