LONNER HOLDEN

Having grown up in the Alaskan wilderness as a wild boy, I learned a deep reliance on the power of wandering in nature as a movement form that offered awareness, confidence, healing, spirituality, inspiration and connection. Wandering became my martial art of choice.

My first transformation was the sudden loss of my older brother in a fatal auto accident when I was about to graduate from high school. All pretense fell away and surrender into a great, invisible embrace held me then.

Months later, a year-long trip around the world exposed me to the great diversity of the vast cultural wisdom that we call humanity. I came to see the world as a story to be lived fully.

My second transformation was several years later, when, during a deep existential crisis, a sparrow landed mysteriously in front of me on a small fishing boat 30 miles off shore in a gale. In my angst, the bird’s single tone broke open my knot of pain and I was instantly liberated from years of inner turmoil and suffering. That is when I became a healer.

In my next few decades I collected experiences as a wilderness adventurer and guide, animal tracker, dancer, athlete, poet and writer, healing arts body/mind/spirit integration practitioner, and father. The synthesis of these helped me develop a gestalt of dynamic processes that can guide us through challenges to realize our personal strengths in the hero’s journey to live into one’s potential.

My third transformation came from an immersion in the connection culture of the San Bushmen in Africa in 2018. Every person in their intergenerational, extended family group community, through their regenerative cultural practices, had cultivated within them a mentor, healer, leader, peacemaker, and visionary. I returned happy and in my original and natural human state. Out of this emergent experience, I realized that connection deficit is the condition of our modern times, and The Great Returning Map crystallized.

A Letter to You:

The most influential mentors of my life and career have been the people that I have served–personally and professionally. All changemakers in their own right–community builders, conservationists, artists, therapists, coaches, healers, mediators, leaders and innovators. Something magical and alchemical flows from these relationships. The reciprocity expands me–my awareness, curiosity and deeper listening and insight, enhancing my capacity to serve better from each relationship. So I give thanks to all of them over these many decades and to you, interested person, for showing up here, considering trusting me to explore with you your deepest desire to master your gift in service to the world.