The life you've built was only ever meant to prepare you for the life you know is still to come.

Juliette McConachy is a Somatic Movement Therapist working in trauma recovery and embodied-psycho-spiritual wellbeing. She is also a Wilderness Rites of Passage Guide under the tutelage of The School of Lost Borders and in the lineage of Grandfather Stalking Wolf. Juliette is the founder of Awakening Arts, School of Yoga and Eco-somatics providing professional development and retreats at the intersection of somatic psychology, deep ecology and yoga.

Juliette’s involvement with Wilderness Rites began the way it does for many, with an unshakable intrigue in those two words, spoken softly with such reverence: vision, quest.

“Having walked with deep ecology and eco-somatics for almost a decade prior to my first quest, when the time came to go out on the land I was well primed for dirt worship. I didn’t have urgent questions about my life, or wrongs I needed to right. I wanted to let go of asking my life to be anything in particular, and surrender enough to be made animal by distance from my socialised, civil self. If I could be in praise for days and hear the song of the land in my body, I was convinced I would have utilised my time well.

Turns out, there is plenty of time out there. I found questions, and answers, visions, songs, allies, silence and an untouchable steadiness. An ineffable deluge of gifts came from that first prayer circle on the dirt. And many still surprise me in their unfolding.

One of those gifts led me here; to the loyalty I have toward this work as a gateway to (re)establishing communities of true adult and elder-hood. The presence and practice of Quest is alive and well in my day to day. I am humbled all the way to serve others as they meet the power at the centre of their unique, wild and precious lives.”

Initiated vision quest guide, Stalking Wolf lineage. Trained together with Max and Mish.

Mish’s work is devoted to creating spaces where people can feel safe, seen and supported enough to meet themselves at the edges of what is known.

Grounded in presence, relationship, embodiment and deep care, Mish works as a Water Wisdom and Ecosomatic Therapist, Vision Quest Protector and Wilderness Rites of Passage Guide under the Grandfather Stalking Wolf lineage. Alongside her creative love of underwater portraiture, her work creates spaces where the noise of everyday life can soften, allowing something quieter to emerge.

“Vision Quest found its way into my life at a time when I was navigating deep loss. I had got myself into a state where I felt completely broken and disconnected from who I was, and unsure of my place in this world.

I came to Quest wanting to meet the parts of myself I’d been hiding away from, and I wanted to leave feeling something that felt real, true and alive.

I didn’t come to Quest looking for a vision as such. I came because I wanted the darkness to disappear.

And let’s just say, as the darkness began to dissipate, a strong vision began to emerge.

What I left with was a deep sense of connection to myself, to the land and to community. For the first time, I felt a sense of belonging and safety I had not experienced before. I began to feel steady and anchored in myself.

Quest completely shifted the trajectory of my life. It allowed me the opportunity to meet myself in the depths that only time in stillness and silence can offer.

Quest to me is an invitation into deep presence. It is something that now lives in and through me every single day. Its teachings have become an anchor when life inevitably begins to shake.

The very vision I received during my Quest has guided me here, to sharing this work and walking alongside others as they prepare to meet themselves at the edge of what is known.”

Initiated vision quest guide, Stalking Wolf lineage. Trained together with Max and Juliette.