We have been gifted with a beautiful piece of land at the Anam Cara Retreat Centre in the hills above Inverness with breathtaking views over the city of Inverness and to the hills beyond and lies close to the Highland Way offering gorgeous walks in the hills.
Heart of the Wild has created a sustainable venue bringing together the shamanic community and wider public for workshops, healing, ceremony, arts, and celebration. As caretakers of the land, we are committed to rewilding, biodiversity, and respectful land stewardship, with nature guiding all aspects of the centre’s development and activity. Rooted in ancestral wisdom, we support reconnection with the natural world to restore balance and wellbeing across physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels, while unfolding inclusively and sustainably within Scotland’s wild landscape.
This two acre site comprises a small, wooded area, a beautiful venue site called the Earthlodge built into the hillside with a grass roof and log burner. Seating for up to twenty people and a large space for ritual and dancing.
We have put up a small yurt with a log burner for a more intimate venue space for healing circles and can double as accommodation for a small number of people.
– A medicine wheel marked by standing stones and a fire pit.
– A sweatlodge site.
– Areas tucked away for quiet contemplation such as the willow bower.
– Areas of woodland for forest bathing.
– A compost toilet.
We have been holding a small number of events, open to all including a healing circles weekend and a volunteering weekend on the land to maintain the woodland and improve the facilities.
We hope to be increasing the workshops and events we can offer as time goes on and are always looking for volunteers to help with facilitating these activities.
We are currently exploring avenues of funding to improve the facilities on the land. A second, larger yurt, an outdoor kitchen, a second compost toilet and eventually a solar powered shower.
We want to make room for a medicine garden, herb and vegetable gardens near the outdoor kitchen.
A camping area near the medicine wheel.
We want to build a wildlife pond to welcome more life onto the land.
We would like to build a labyrinth for walking meditations.
As care takers of this land, we are working with it to honour and increase the biodiversity and maintain the woodland in a sustainable way.
Respect for nature is central to our vision. We know that when we reconnect to nature, we are able to rediscover our balance, our sense of well-being and improve our health, mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually.
We need to return to our natural wild selves, and to the wild heart of the land. This vision is being nurtured with deep reverence to our ancestors, rekindling their traditions and ancient wisdom.