About Us

This blog was created as a project for apprentice seminar at the High Mountain Institute.  Anything posted here is entirely theoretical though may come into existence when the resources and time are available to create such a school.

Mission: To nurture connection with the unique ecological community of Southeast Alaska, through cultivating an understanding of natural history, and native culture with the tools of mindfulness and leadership.

Values:
                                                               Mindfulness of Place

                                                                 Cultural Competency

                                                 Curiosity Surrounding the Natural World

                                                                   Sustainability

Outdoor Leadership

Lifestyle

Day to day life on campus revolves around mindful living. In order to reinforce this mindfulness we have created an intentional community in which we constantly reflect on the importance of every individual to the community.  We have 2 structured meditation sessions every day though we push ourselves to practice meditation and mindfulness in all aspects of daily life.  We have an emphasis on free play and participants have free time each day in which they may play, go for a walk, socialize, or read. We also stay close to our core value of curiosity surrounding the natural world by encouraging self driven education. A typical day on campus might look as follows:

5:45 Wake up
6:00-6:45 Meditation
7:00-8:00 Excercise (Hike, Run, Yoga, Games)
8:00-9:00 Breakfast and chores
9:00-12:00 Classes
12:00-1:00 Lunch
1:00-4:00 Field Class
4:00-5:30 Class
5:30 -6:15 Dinner
6:15-7:00 After dinner nature walk
7:00-9:00 Darma Talk and Meditation
9:30 In bed


While in any SEAKMEC program we practice the six buddhist precepts as follows.

1.	I undertake the training rule to abstain from killing .
2.	I undertake the training rule to abstain from taking what is not given.
3.	I undertake the training to avoid sensual misconduct.
4.	I undertake the training rule to abstain from false speech.
5.	I undertake the training rule to abstain from fermented drink that causes heedlessness.

Our Campus

Programs

At the Southeast Alaska Center for Mindfulness and Ecological Studies we run a number of course each summer as well as facilitate retreats and classes.  We run two, seven week courses every summer focused on our core curriculum of mindfulness, ecology and Alaska Native studies. The schedule of these courses are as follows:

Week 1-2 Expedition 1, Kayaking in the vast fjords of Southeast Alaska exploring the marine, forest and alpine ecosystems as we travel.  During this 2 week expedition we build the course foundations with introductions to mindfulness, ecology, Alaska Native studies and outdoor leadership.

Week 3 On campus intensive study of ecology, and Alaska Native culture with preparation for homestay.

Week 4 Homestay with a Tlingit Native family in a small Alaska Native village.

Week 5 3 days on campus with reflection on homestay and prep ecology course for the Wrangells
             3 days solo (2 nights meditation and reflection)

Week 6-7 10 Days backpacking in the Wrangells and then 3 days wrap-up with final transference on campus.

10 Day Meditation Courses

We also run 2 10 day silent meditation courses each summer.