VITAL CYCLES 2023
Our Signature Permaculture Design & Human Ecology Course
Our Vital Cycles Permaculture Design & Human Ecology course offers an integrative perspective along with practical skills for creating regenerative designs for your soul and the soil you tend
Vital Cycles’ Signature PDC 2022
Join us! Registration for our 2023 Cohort is now open
Vital Cycles’ Signature Permaculture Design & Human Ecology Course is a 9 month course spanning from February through November 2022. This is a PINA recognized Permaculture Design Course (PDC) and includes over 40 hours of additional materials and practice on Human Ecology.
Class sessions will take place one weekend per month in Santa Cruz County in Watsonville, California. Saturdays 9am – 7pm, and Sundays 9am – 5pm.
We keep each cohort to no more than 25 humans, so register early to secure your space. We would love to share the year with you!
Want to find out more? Complete this 2023 Interest Form and/or email us at vitalcyclesinfo@gmail.com to set up a time to connect, get to know us, our approach to Permaculture and Human Ecology, and how Vital Cycles will make your 2023! We would love to meet you!
For our 2022 schedule and to sign-up for an individual weekend please go here.
VITAL CYCLES 2023 – Course Outline
BREAKING GROUND – February 25-26, 2023
breath, ecotones & edges, principles & patterns, design science and stories, alchemical mandala
BREATHING SEEDS – March 18-19, 2023
soil, seeds, nourishment, microbiomes, inoculants, compost strategies, fertility
RADICAL ROOTS – April 22-23, 2023
sleep, water, climate, earthworks, rainwater roof catchment, swales and berms
EMERGENCE – May 20-21, 2023
movement, agroforestry, trees, plant guilds, awe, botany and pollination
EXPANSION – June 24-25, 2023
pollinators, personal energy flow, pruning, bioremediation, greywater design
** July Summer Break (Exhale!) **
FULL FLOWER – August 26-27, 2023
creativity, invisible structures, regenerative economics, urban permaculture, energy
FRUITFUL HARVEST – September 23-24, 2023
connection, ancestors, design for resilience, animals, land access and policy
CYCLE PROPAGATION – October 21-22, 2023
healing, homesteading, fermentation, food as medicine, seed saving
WILD VISIONS – November 4-5, 2023
design project presentations, permaculture networks and pathways, graduation & going forth
TESTIMONIALS
“Anne and Lydia have been my guides on a journey to a deeper relationship with the extraordinary beauty and complexity of the earth. They are wonderful, warm, gifted teachers and create a great learning environment. I send everyone I know to their classes.”
“Vital Cycles has transformed the way I see the world around me! Mind you, I felt I knew a lot about the environment and self care – and yet, after taking Vital Cycles I absorbed a way of seeing and living well with interconnectedness that I have used daily ever since! I think it is no accident that so much of what was taught stayed with me; Anne and Lydia’s skill at teaching complex material to living, interesting human beings is bar none; I was deeply touched by the way they met everyone right where they were at. Taking their class was one of the best self-care choices I’ve made, it’s still taking care of me two years later! Lately I’ve been really into what I learned about the water cycle and how my back yard fits in! Greywater reuse is happening!”
“I could not be more grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in the Vital Cycle’s Signature Permaculture Design & Human Ecology Course. The course brought such joy and depth to my year. The journey of the course is very intentional and helped me move through cycles of learning, reflecting, and connecting in such an authentic and easeful way. The course material was consistently fresh, interesting, inspiring, and helpful both personally as well as professionally. And Lydia and Anne are such a gift to be around, their knowledge is awe-inspiring and their enthusiasm contagious. I wish for all to have the container of the course in their life to learn and grow this year and every year!”
What makes Vital Cycles PDC unique
- We offer a broader and deeper approach to the traditional Permaculture Curriculum to encompass a multiplicity of regenerative design patterns and practices
- Longer course format which includes material on and integration of Human Ecology, the exploration of how our human bodies and consciousness reflect the natural world
- Emphasis on ancient and emergent authors, thought-leaders, researchers and project planners working towards human and planetary health and regeneration
- Small intimate class size (max 25)
- Time for folks to share, connect and learn from each other. Singing, poetry and artistic expression is encouraged!
- Physical space and opportunity for gaining practical hands-on skills
- Start creating personal and planetary resilience with practical tools you can start using from our first day together.
- All this, with the company of people and plants that will bring out your hidden laughter!
PDC TUITION AND REGISTRATION
This is a PINA recognized 72 hour Permaculture Design Course (PDC) and includes over 40 additional hours dedicated to materials and practice on Human Ecology through Vital Life Skills.
Sliding Scale tuition for this 18-day certificate program is $1495-$2095
Groups – please inquire at vitalcyclesinfo@gmail.com
Register here for more information about upcoming workshops, introductory session or the complete Vital Cycles program. You can also contact Anne and Lydia directly at vitalcyclesinfo@gmail.com or (831) 288-2090
ABOUT ANNE & LYDIA
Anne and Lydia bring together extensive backgrounds in community health and permaculture education and activism. Curiosity about and study of Alchemy and Biodynamic herbs inspires a deep integration of the health of the land and the health of the individual. We have an action-based perspective that highlights skills, practices and resources necessary for growth, creativity, and vitality in person and place.
Anne Freiwald, MPH: Community health and earth activist, permaculture educator and regenerative life and landscape designer, with 29+ years specializing in human ecology & community resilience.
Lydia Neilsen: PINA certified permaculture educator, landscape and habitat designer, specializing in water cycle restoration and passionate polyculture.
In addition to this signature course, Anne and Lydia also offer regenerative landscape design consultations as well as custom educational courses. Contact vitalcyclesinfo@gmail.com for more information.
QUESTIONS
We are happy to set up a time to meet and discuss our program.
Contact us at vitalcyclesinfo@gmail.com or 831-288-2090
How do we intentionally design our lives and landscapes in balance with natural and human cycles to create thriving selves, families, and communities in a vibrant, natural world?
