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Skye Mandozay

Photo of Skye Mandozay

My name is Skye and I am of mixed European, Ashkenazi Jewish and West Asian descent.
My recent ancestors were settlers in South Africa in the 1600s and I now live with my partner and border collie in Melbourne, Australia, on the unceded ancestral lands of the Wurundjeri Aboriginal people, who are part of the larger Kulin Nation.

I am passionate about remembering my belonging and responsibility to this Earth and the sacredness inherent in all life; of reclaiming animist perception and entering back into the conversation with a living world of which I am a part; of nurturing my relations with my other-than-human kin; of tending the ancestors of blood and place; of protecting biodiversity; of bridging Entheogenic plant medicines and ecological awareness; of contributing to The Great Turning, the shift towards a regenerative and life-sustaining culture...
and ultimately, participating in the collective liberation from the painful delusion of a separate Self.

I do this in many ways, but primarily through my work as a Nature Connection mentor with children, as a facilitator of The Work that Reconnects and as a Plant Ritualist. I am always looking to collaborate and am currently trying to establish a community of practice for The Work that Reconnects in Melbourne.

Why I am called to facilitate the Work

I have personally found the WTR framework to be such a potent and eloquent map for navigating and resourcing for the crisis we are in as well as a spiritual path grounded in action and 'being in the world' which is something I have longed for- as many spiritual traditions I have been a part of seem to bypass both the world and emotions to some degree.

I am called to facilitate this work because I believe it has the potential to foster community connections that are grounded in the awareness of The Great Unravelling but are committed to redesigning our presence on this planet.
I also feel its a powerful body of work for building resilience in the face of the widespread ecological catastrophe and a way to begin loosening the grip of the habit of separation which I feel is at the core of the intersectional crises we are facing.

I feel deeply grateful for having come across this medicine and for the calling i feel to facilitate it for others.

How I see the Work serving the Great Turning

I feel this work serves to help existing activists to build resilience, nurture enthusiasm, avoid burnout and ground into a deeper understanding and worldview that can feed and nourish action. I also think it will help them to widen their lens on what action looks like and release lone-wolf tactics while also resting into the uncertainty of their actions.

I feel it serves those wanting to contribute to change but who feel overwhelmed or unsure- by helping them to access their emotional responses as fuel and guidance and to deepen into the worldview where effective responses arise in connection and collaboration with others.

I think it serves everyone in helping to break down the illusion of separation and come into connection with themselves and their own bodies/emotions, each other and the Earth.

Audiences I work with

Anyone

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Background & Training

Background & training in the Work That Reconnects

  • Deep Ecology with John Seed (2017, 3 days)
    Location: Melbourne
    Facilitated by: John Seed
    Residential Immersion
  • Deep Ecology with John Seed (2018, 3 days)
    Location: Melboune
    Facilitated by: John Seed
    Residential Immersion
  • Deep Ecology with John Seed (2018, 3 days)
    Location: Melbourne
    Facilitated by: John Seed
    Attended 3 separate 1day events with John in 2018
  • Active Hope Study Group (2019, 8 days)
    Location: Melbourne
    Facilitated by: Skye, Helm and others
    I co-facilitated this group along with all other partcipants- we met every second Sunday over 4months and worked our way through Joanna Macy's book Active Hope

Other relevant training

  • Tai Chi, Qi gong and Tui Na (2008, 1095 days)
    Location: Cape Town
    Facilitated by: Dr. Jeff Lan
    3 year training in Taoist body based healing therapies with my teacher Dr. Jeff Lan at the International Kim Loong Wushu Center in Cape Town South Africa
  • Wilderness Guide with Eco Training (2010, 90 days)
    Location: Kurger Park
    Facilitated by: Eco Training
    I spent 3 months training and then a year working as a Wilderness Guide in the Limpopo Province of South Africa
  • Curanderismo Apprenticeship (2011, 1825 days)
    Location: Iquitos, Peru
    Facilitated by: Maestro Don Roner
    I spent 5 years living in the Peruvian Amazon where I was in apprenticeship with traditional healers and was leading healing retreats
  • Inbound Yoga Teacher Training (2015, 21 days)
    Location: Cusco, Peru
    Facilitated by: Chaitanya Das
    200 hour yoga teacher training
  • Steiner Early Childhood certificate (2019, 365 days)
    Location: Warrandyte, Melbourne
    Facilitated by: Carol Liknaitzky
    a year long training in Nourishing Early Childhood in the Steiner (Waldorf) philosophy

Other relevant skills & experiences

I can speak Spanish, although imperfectly.
I am a singer and love to lead song circles, participate in jam sessions and make music with my partner who is a musician.
I am an artist, although mostly a secret one.
I have extensive experience in therapeutic dance and movement modalities, breathwork, meditation, transformational process work, and applied psychotherapy.

Experience facilitating WTR events & workshops

Work That Reconnects workshops I have facilitated

  • Active Hope Study Group (2019, 8 days)
    Location: Warrandyte, Melbourne
    Facilitated by: It was peer facilitated
    We met every second Sunday over 4months and worked our way through the book and exercises in Active Hope
  • The Work that Reconnects Immersion (2019, 2 days)
    Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
    This was a 2day immersion for members of Extinction Rebellion Johannesburg
  • The Work that Reconnects Immerions (2019, 3 days)
    Location: Melbourne, Australia
    Facilitated by: Helm Mandozay and Liz Downes
    A residential immersion

Experience facilitating other events & workshops

I spent 5 years co-leading transformational healing retreats alongside my husband and Shipibo maestro's in the Amazon Jungle.

I have facilitated many different kinds of workshops over the last 8 years that involve plant medicine, breathwork, movement, nature connection, emotional process work and activism.

I lead nature connections playgroups and one-on-ones with young children on a weekly basis.

What year did you begin facilitating the Work That Reconnects?
I began facilitating at the beginning of 2019.

Please summarize the number and types of workshops, retreats and presentations of the Work that Reconnects that you have facilitated.
I have facilitated x3 1day workshops, one solo and one co-facilitated

I co-facilitated an 8week long Active Hope study group

I facilitated x1 2day workshop for the members of XR Johannesburg South Africa solo

I co-facilitated a talk on the WTR at the Australian Earth Ethics conference

I co-facilitated x1 3day residential immersion in Melbourne

I am the admin for the Active Hope Network FB group and the Work that Reconnects Melbourne FB group and have a private Active Hope Study Group FB group where I share resources and engage in conversations around WTR on a regular basis.

Are you helping others to explore the depths of the Work That Reconnects?
Yes and am currently trying to establish a community of practice in Melbourne

The Work That Reconnects Network is a fiscally sponsored project of Inquiring Systems Inc., a tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) nonprofit corporation. EIN 94-2524840. All donations are tax-deductible.