ReWilding the Soul EcoSpirituality Certificate (March 2026 – February 2027)
Dates, readings, time commitment, and what participation looks like
I’ve been receiving questions about the Rewilding the Soul EcoSpirituality Certificate—practical questions about time, structure, and what participation actually looks like beyond the program description.
This post is my answer. Consider it a reference you can return to, or share with anyone considering whether this program might be right for them.
It is in addition to what I already shared about this embodied learning experience here and here.
What Is This Program?
The Rewilding the Soul EcoSpirituality Certificate is a year-long journey guiding participants (back) into reverent relationship with the living Earth. Four seasonal modules. One book per season. Live community. Embodied practice.
This isn’t content to consume. It’s a living practice to embody.
What makes ecospirituality different? Rather than working with established ritual systems, deity forms, or magical correspondences, this program focuses on direct, embodied relationship with your specific place—the actual plants, animals, landforms, and seasonal cycles of your bioregion. Participants learn to listen to the land itself and allow spiritual practices to emerge from these living relationships.
Who Is This For?
This program serves those who:
Feel the pull toward earth-based spiritual practice, but haven’t found their way in
Are exhausted by spiritual approaches that keep them in their head rather than their body
Sense the Earth calling them into deeper relationship, but don’t know how to answer
Want embodied practice grounded in their specific place, not abstract concepts
Seek community for this work—others walking the same path
You may recognize yourself as:
A burned-out professional whose work conflicts with your deeper values—exhausted precisely because you care
A spiritual seeker hungry for practice but uncertain where to begin
A nature-oriented intellectual drawn to scholarly depth without dogma
Someone ready for transformation through embodied experience, not just more reading
People from many paths find their way here: ceremonial practitioners within Pagan, Druid, or earth-honoring traditions seeking to deepen their bioregional relationship; spiritual directors wanting to incorporate earth connection into their companioning work; chaplains serving diverse populations who need resources not tied to any single tradition; pastors, priests, and ministers seeking personal renewal or contemplative practices that complement their existing commitments; therapists and counselors drawn to ecotherapy or supporting clients with climate anxiety; environmental professionals and activists who need spiritual grounding to sustain them; and those navigating life transitions who sense the Earth calling them into a new chapter.
The program does not teach magical systems or use Christian theological framing—it focuses on direct relationship with the living Earth as teacher, partner, and kin.
Live Sessions
When: Wednesdays, 12:00pm Eastern / 9:00am Pacific
Length: 90 minutes
Format: Live via Zoom. Sessions are recorded for participants, but this is not a fully asynchronous program—the work happens in community, in real time.
The Calendar
Module 1: Sacred Belonging to Place. March 18 – May 13, 2026. Spring emergence—relationship with your home place.
3-week break May 18 – June 1. Integration and rest.
Module 2: Embodying Earth Soul. June 10 – August 5, 2026. Summer depth—body as Earth, tending grief and wonder.
3-week summer break August 10 – August 24. Integration and rest.
Module 3: Wild Earth Spirituality. September 2 – October 28, 2026. Autumn harvest—sensory practices and attentive listening.
2-week break November 2 – November 9. Integration and rest.
Module 4: Sharing Earth Gifts. November 18, 2026 – February 3, 2027. Winter integration—offering practice in service
Each module includes 5 live sessions and 4 council (small group) sessions, with breaks built in for integration. No sessions December 23 or 30 for the holidays.
Council (Small Group) Sessions
Council sessions meet on alternate weeks from live sessions. This is where integration happens—processing the material together, supporting one another’s practice development, building the relationships that sustain this work.
Flexibility: Groups are encouraged to meet on Wednesdays at the same time as live sessions, but each council can set its own agreed-upon day and time. This is built in for participants balancing work, ministry, family, and other responsibilities.
Required Reading
One book per module:
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief by Francis Weller
The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World by David Abram
Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in Without Going Crazy by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone
Time Commitment
Structured commitment: 2-3 hours/week
One 90-minute session (live session OR council, alternating weeks)
Reading: approximately 1-1.5 hours/week (one book over each 8-week module)
Daily practice: integrates into existing life
Sit spot practice (bringing contemplative attention to time outdoors)
Brief earth journaling
The daily practice isn’t really “homework.” It’s about changing the quality of presence in moments you likely already have—morning coffee on the porch, a lunch break outside, time in your yard, or a nearby park.
This isn’t about adding hours to your week. It’s about bringing contemplative attention to the time you’re already living.
Certification Requirements
Successful completion of the certificate includes:
Participation
Attendance in all four modules
Engagement in council sessions
Written Portfolio
Personal Earth Story
Spiritual practice guidelines
Earth theology statement
Community service project report
Documented Practice
12-month nature journal
Species identification work in your bioregion
Nature ally relationship records
Community Impact
One earth service project with measurable outcomes
Demonstrated competency in facilitating earth-based practices
Your Instructor
I’m Jeffrey Keefer—an Educational Consultant and EcoSpiritual Guide with a Ph.D. in Educational Research. I serve as Professor of Research Methodology and Chaplain at New York University’s Office of Global Spiritual Life. I’m an ordained Wild Guide and have walked the French Le Puy route of the Camino de Santiago five times.
Much of what I teach emerged from those pilgrimages—the practice of walking as spiritual discipline, of letting the land shape you, of discovering that we were never separate from the sacred world around us.
How to Learn More
The first cohort begins March 18, 2026. Enrollment deadline is March 1, 2026.
This is a founding cohort. You will help shape what this program becomes.
For full program information and enrollment: Cherry Hill Seminary program page
Questions? Reach me here on Substack or via email.
This post is part of my ongoing work exploring ecospirituality, contemplative practice, and sacred relationship with the living Earth. If this resonates, you may be interested in subscribing to my writing on Where Insight Meets Earth, here on Substack.