Who we are
Living Wisdom Project is a WA State Nonprofit Corporation and is in process of applying for 501(c)(3) status.
Purpose: Living Wisdom Project exists to inspire personal growth, self-discovery, and transformation by guiding individuals to connect with the teachings of the natural world.
Mission: Living Wisdom Project provides programs, retreats, and community gatherings that guide individuals in exploring nature-based teachings. Through experiential learning and immersive explorations, we empower growth beyond cultural and ideological boundaries.
Values:
Connection with Nature - We honor the natural order as a source of wisdom, guidance, and transformation.
Inclusivity & Open-Mindedness - We welcome individuals from all backgrounds, perspectives, and spiritual paths.
Evolving the Self - We embrace growth as a dynamic, lifelong process of inner exploration.
Community & Shared Wisdom - We foster connection and learning through collective experiences, storytelling, and exploratory discourse.
Sustainability & Stewardship - We respect and protect the environment using the concept of “wild-tending”, ensuring that our work contributes to the well-being of future generations.
Scholarship - We strive to provide opportunities for individuals in need of support, financial or otherwise.
Strategy: By fostering a deeper connection between humans and the other-than-human-world, we will shift perceptions of personal and spiritual growth from being abstract, inaccessible, or exclusive to being practical, experiential, and universally relevant. Through immersive nature-based experiences, community engagement, and partnerships with compatible organizations, we will increase awareness, accessibility, and participation in our offerings and the inspiration for personal practice. This will cultivate a greater appreciation for nature’s role in self-discovery, promote holistic interconnected well-being, and establish the Living Wisdom Project as a trusted guide for transformative growth.
Goals: As a start-up company we will focus on establishing a brand, reputation, and community recognition. This will be accomplished by forming partnerships with other non-profit companies, community organizations with similar missions, and potential sponsors. We will strive to form ties in the community to form a coalition of potential volunteers and source of support and networking.
-
Founder and Executive Director
Tony Held works to bring programming to the San Juan Islands community to help us just BE in nature. To smile at the simple things. To literally stop and smell the nutka roses.
Tony began his professional journey as a personal trainer in 2005. This blossomed into a career in Fitness Management and Gym Ownership, Health & Wellness, Massage, and Somatic Bodywork. He has cultivated a great appreciation for habit change, adherence to goals, and holistic wellness along side the ability to hold space for the individual to do the work that needs doing.
“One of the greatest rewards for me is watching someone realize they did all the work themselves.”.
With training as a Forest Therapy Guide through the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy, he has woven together his diverse skills to create space for healing in many forms.
Living Wisdom Project and it’s retreat center, SHIR, is the culmination of Tony’s ongoing journey—rooted in experience, intention, and a deep commitment to fostering community seeking a deep connection with Mother Earth.
-
Board Member
Deborah Skorupski is a Professional Nature and Forest Therapy Guide, a Certified EcoNidra Teacher, and the owner of Florida Nature & Forest Therapy LLC. As part of her talks, workshops, and customized programs, Deborah shares inspiring stories of personal and professional growth and resilience while teaching actionable steps for embracing time in Nature and the many related health benefits. She has taught and inspired professionals from multiple disciplines, students from all fields, and members of many communities to slow down, embrace and maintain a healthy, happy, and balanced personal and professional life.
Deborah has also been a litigation and international arbitration attorney, a global competition coach and judge, a managing law partner, and an international law and trial skills professor for three decades. She has taught courses and seminars throughout the U.S. and around the world to law students, graduate and university students, and professionals from various disciplines. And she was an administrator of a global conference for an international non-profit for 10 years. Deborah speaks fluent English and French.
Visit:
-
Board Member
Ben Page is a Forest Therapy Guide, global advocate for the practice and the author of Healing Trees: A Pocket Guide to Forest Bathing, The Wild Garden and The World In My Pocket. He is the founder of Integral Forest Bathing and has been guiding Forest Therapy walks since 2015. From 2017-2020, Ben served as the Director of Training for the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy, specializing in curriculum and pedagogical design. He has since designed two new courses, The Art and Practice of Story Weaving and Find Yourself In Nature: Find Nature In Yourself.
Ben traces his lineage of nature connection practices and circle work facilitation through the tutelage of Jack Zimmerman and M. Amos Clifford. His masters thesis, ‘An Exploration in Living Council’ unpacks the ways in which openhearted listening can act as a gateway towards the phenomenon of interbeing and can serve as a cornerstone for anti-bias education and peace-building within community.
Since his practice began, Ben has been featured in publications such as Women’s Health, USA TODAY, Good Morning America, The Washington Post, and WebMD. Ben is also a co-founder of The Open School, Southern California’s only free democratic school. His work within the field of alternative education centers on the conviction that children deserve fundamental human rights of dignity and personal autonomy. Ben holds a B.A. in religious studies from Carleton College and an M.A. in human development and social change from Pacific Oaks College.Visit:
Contact us
Interested in working together? Fill out some info and we will be in touch shortly. We can’t wait to hear from you!