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Jon Young, The Art of Mentoring
Jon Young is a tracker, storyteller, and mentor whose work has helped shape the modern field of nature connection education. He is best known for developing “coyote mentoring,” a relational approach to guiding that emphasizes curiosity, attentiveness, and invisible teaching. Drawing on his apprenticeship with Tom Brown Jr. and his study with Indigenous elders, Young co-founded the Wilderness Awareness School and later the 8 Shields Institute, where his work continues to influence outdoor educators, parents, and cultural facilitators.
Rather than focus on curriculum, his work centers on culture—how to build intergenerational communities of belonging rooted in place. His method blends core routines like sit spots and tracking with practices such as bird language, storytelling, and quiet mentoring. The goal isn’t simply knowledge, but a regenerative way of living in relationship with the natural world.
For educators and families, he offers a model of learning that is communal, slow, and deeply alive. His vision invites us to shift from teaching toward tending, and from performance toward presence.
Related Terms
Coyote Mentoring, Deep Nature Connection, Core Routines, Bird Language, Regenerative Culture, 8 Shields
References
- Young, Jon et al. Coyote’s Guide to Connecting with Nature
- 8 Shields Institute
- Wilderness Awareness School
Glossary
Coyote Mentoring – A style of guiding that uses questions, silence, and story to draw out learning, rather than direct instruction.
Core Routines – Daily or weekly practices like sit spots and storytelling that build deep awareness and connection to place.
Bird Language – Observing bird calls and behaviors to read the unseen dynamics of an ecosystem.
Regenerative Culture – A living system of relationships, routines, and values that supports long-term connection and belonging.
8 Shields – A framework developed by Jon Young and others to model holistic human development through cycles of nature and mentoring.
Articles and Resources on This Site
A simple forest school lesson on bird alarms became a doorway into presence, perception, and pressure—spanning science, parenting, deep nature connection, and contemplative awareness.
When attention softens, the forest responds. Birds, breath, and baseline become a mirror—not of self, but of tone, pressure, and the wake of thought.
A nature-based approach using curiosity, storytelling, and invisible guidance to foster deep connection with the land, self, and others, supporting cultural repair and renewal.
A child kneels in stillness, pencil in hand, mapping bird language and wind. This is relational learning—seeing the invisible through Sit Spot, presence, and reverence for place.
A field-tested mentor’s manual for deepening children's relationship with nature, offering stories, routines, and practices to awaken curiosity, quietude, and ecological belonging.
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