HEARTLAND
connecting humans and nature
Heartland is an invitation to go exploring.
When you venture into wilderness, away from your daily habits, comforts and technology - even for just a few hours or a day - there is something special waiting for you.
Hello and welcome to Heartland!
My name is Michael Silverstein-Bode and I’m the creator and lead guide of Heartland. I have spent my whole life exploring the lands of the Pacific Northwest - walking, sitting, and sleeping outside as often as I can. As an adult, wild places have become my most revered sanctuaries and serve as my wisest teachers.
Since 2013 I have been offering contemplative practices for people to connect with their inner wisdom: as a mindfulness instructor for high schoolers and educators, a retreat manager, an organizer of mens' circles, and more recently as a wilderness guide.
In 2021 I created Heartland after a profound 9-day vision fast ceremony in the Oregon desert. Heartland's mission is to reconnect humans with nature, and as we do that, we also connect with the depths of our own hearts.
Our modern world is daunting - starving for healing, and longing for meaning. I believe that intimacy with the natural world is the greatest medicine for our times. That wisdom, guidance, and healing spring up out of the earth if we are still and quiet enough to receive them. Relationship with nature offers incredible possibility for transformation - for ourselves personally, for human culture, and for the planet. But don't just believe me - come and find out for yourself.
