Ten Laws with East Forest

Day has been captivated by nature and art ever since first viewed the work of artist, Andy Goldsworthy as a child. Day’s very first altars were on the side of his driveway after every rainstorm, where his five year old self was devoted to saving the displaced worms by digging little holes and then decorating them in a mandala-like fashion. But it wasn’t until a major relationship breakup that he began to cultivate Morning Altars as a daily spiritual and beauty-making practice as a way to process his grief and heartache. For much of his adult life, Schildkret has been traveling three distinct but converging paths of art, nature and education. On the artistic road, he worked on and off Broadway from 2001-2007 with luminaries such a Steve Martin (The Underpants), Jessie Tyler Ferguson (The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged), Duncan Sheik (The Nightingale), and Kristen Bell and Nikki M. James (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer). As an educator and public speaker, Schildkret began his career teaching teenagers and mentoring them to connect their spiritually with a deeper nature connection. He was the winner of the prestigious Helen Diller Award for Excellence in Education with his widely popular ‘Fire Circle’ class. For over 10 years, Schildkret gathered hundreds of students around a fire to learn about ancestry, spirituality, responsibility and impermanence. Schildkret is also the Founder of Legacy As Livelihood, a creative purpose coaching practice, and The Break Free Lab, a nationally touring workshop designed for creative and spiritually minded people who long to find their creative purpose and live a life devoted to serving their creative calling. Schildkret understands that to be a teacher, he also needs to be a student. Over the course of his career, he has learned from nature connection expert, Jon Young (8 Shields Institute), studied and danced with Shoshonee elder Clyde Hall (the Naraya) and is currently a devoted scholar with the author, spiritual activist and public speaker Stephen Jenkinson (Die Wise - Nautilus Book Award Winner) and a recent graduate of his school (the Orphan Wisdom School) in Canada. While Schildkret has been building earth altars his entire life, he has been building an altar every morning as a practice for the past six years inside Wildcat Canyon in Richmond, CA. Inspired to share the benefits of this daily practice, he has gathered communities all over the United States and Canada to attend his altar and mandala making workshops. His work proves there is real healing and connection happening when people create intentional earth art. morningaltars.com

A guided meditation designed to help you fall asleep. I was sitting on the beach at night looking at the stars and listening to the ocean wash up on the shore and I pulled out my little recorder to create a simple approach for ending the day, letting things go, and guiding us into the dream land. http://eastforest.org

Known in the music world as Rara Avis (n. latin for Rare Bird), Alex King-Harris is a dedicated master of his craft with over 20 years experience in live performance and music production with a core focus on where the electronic underground, yoga and ecstatic dance movements collide. He is also CEO and Founder of Yogi Tunes, an world wide online music service that provides top quality DJ driven soundtracks for yoga and other wellness activities. As a long time member of two ground breaking music ensembles “Desert Dwellers”& “Shaman’s Dream”, Rara co-pioneered the sound of contemporary wellness music by combining elements of music therapy, vibrational science, digital music production with a strong background in jazz, blues, ethnic and classical studies. When not producing music or carrying out Yogi Tunes operations, Rara’s prime joy is in mentoring kids, providing rites of passage for youth, and fostering community through the production of monthly Ecstatic Dance events in his home of Victoria, BC. www.yogi-tunes.com eastforest.org

This is a story/essay/poetic monologue from Matt Cochran (Episode #3) from the Boulder Harvest Festival 2018. Matt wrote a beautiful piece about place and nature and dreaming us all awake. He came over so we could record the essay and I put some East Forest music to the background for a little radio play of sorts. Enjoy. ravendreamtracking.com eastforest.org

Alan Macy is currently the Research and Development Director, past President and a founder of BIOPAC Systems, Inc. He designs data collection and analysis systems, used by researchers in the life sciences, that help identify meaningful interpretations from signals produced by life processes. Trained in electrical engineering and physiology, with over 30 years of product development experience, he is currently focusing on psychophysiology, emotional and motivational state measurements, magnetic resonance imaging and augmented/virtual reality implementations. He presents in the areas of human-computer interfaces, electrophysiology, and telecommunications. His recent research and artistic efforts explore ideas of human nervous system extension and the associated impacts upon perception. As an applied science artist, he specializes in the creation of cybernated art, interactive sculpture and environments. Currently, Macy’s primary project development efforts are focused on the areas of multi-channel physiological measurement, digital wireless transmission systems and new sensor development. He has been active in clothing design to support ergonomic methods for ambulatory physiological measurement along with the associated investigated use of “smart” materials, such as conductive fabrics and other textiles that can be employed as flexible and compatible transducers. Macy is involved in the development of new products for the purposes of recording physiological variables in the Magnetic Resonance Imager (MRI) and functional MRI and during virtual reality (VR) sessions. He has developed amplifiers and signal processing methods to remove artifact from biopotential signals recorded in the MRI. In the area of VR, he has been focusing effort on implementation methods to monitor physiological variables during VR protocols and then employ algorithmic results, from these variables, to modify the VR subject experience. alanmacy.com eastforest.org/podcast

Take a dive into this guided meditation to find the internal flame that is our consciousness center and our soul emanance. Backed by East Forest music you are guided on a journey of release and reconnection to that which is you: a center of love and eternal peace visualized by a single small flame. eastforest.org

A live podcast recorded at the East Forest "Spirit Dive" Fall Retreat in Boulder, Utah. Join us at Esalen Institute in Big Sur California Nov 16-18 for the next upcoming retreat. http://eastforest.org/retreat Thank you to everyone who attended and Radha for moderating the conversation. Recorded live in the great room at the Boulder Mountain Guest Ranch.

Jai Sugrim is a Yoga Teacher, Athletic Trainer, and recognized Men’s Health Expert. He is the creator of the Jai Sugrim Method, a scientific approach for bringing the human body and mind into harmony. Jai has worked with many professional athletes, including the New York Yankees, during the 2000 and 2001 seasons. He earned a 2000 World Series Championship ring as the Yankees defeated the Mets in the World Series. Jai is the creator and host of Yoga Sutra Now, a 65 episode Television Show on Z Living, which airs in over 20 different countries. During 2014 & 2015, Jai taught yoga and mindfulness to high school students at Frederick Douglas Academy in Harlem, through a grant from the Sonima Foundation. Jai has worked in the health and wellness industry for 22 years. He is a C.S.C.S (Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist,) L.M.T. (Licensed Massage Therapist,) Advanced Certified Jivamukti Yoga Teacher, Plant Based Nutrition Counselor, Master Practitioner of N.L.P. (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and has Completed Vipassana Meditation Training. He is licensed by the National Strength and Conditioning Association, the American Council on Exercise, the International Sports and Sciences Foundation and Jivamukti Yoga School. jaisugrim.com

What if we could create technology that would help us in our own efforts to be more mindful, present, and accepting towards what is? This same technology would naturally also help us to feel better, reduce stress, be more peaceful, more accepting, and happier. Technology alone can’t do any of these things for you, but it can help facilitate that process. And the process Mikey is talking about has been practiced in one form or another by countless individuals across cultures and religions for thousands of years. It is a process of going within, quieting the mind and knowing thyself. What if the technology that surrounds us every day, in our pockets, on our walls, at our fingertips, could be used to help us learn about ourselves rather than perpetually distract us? He teaches at Stanford University and is also the founder of Consciousness Hacking. MikeySiegel.com EastFoerst

Dustin DiPerna, a meditation teacher and expert in world religions, shares his journey toward making spiritual wisdom accessible for modern life. He discusses the deep connection with nature and the transformative experiences at Esalen Institute. The conversation centers on navigating emotional complexity and spiritual growth, emphasizing human flourishing through acknowledging negative feelings. Lastly, they explore meditation’s transformative potential, touching on consciousness, psychedelics, and the importance of kindness in everyday interactions.