I feel so very fortunate to encounter and develop relationships with so many amazing people through my task as a teacher and guide for mindfulness, health, and wellbeing. All of the intersecting stories we live are revealed to us, not at the beginning, but when we look back at the weaving and unfolding of how we help each other. If I look back at the path that links me with Placecraft I think of chanting under the stars with a powerful group of women in the jungle where a small village with no roads exists on the coastline of Mexico.  Yet Placecraft is a design and construction business run by a group of men in a former shipyard turned incubator space under the St. Johns Bridge along the Willamette River in the Pacific Northwest.

A few months ago, I visited this old shipyard. Following the directions, I was a bit unsure at first as they led me down a steep ragged road and across a messy trail of train tracks, through a funky gate into an industrial space full of old boats on stilts, renovated train cars, metal sculptures hanging from cranes, and double decker busses turned into homes, and a larger than life sized blue dragon dog perched next to a gypsy wagon. But I was in the right place and it was obvious that magic happened here.

Oliver, the founder of Placecraft, had extended his generous spirit in my direction and offered to give my cob hut project some attention. Placecraft is a core team of 4 men who are dedicated to life affirming work supported by the ethics of permaculture. It truly boils down to the fact that the earth provides us with all we need to live a good life and if we align with the laws of nature we will flourish. This team is devoted to natural building, using regenerative forms of energy (such as our own bodies), working with natural materials, and accomplishing goals through community building events.

YARA and Placecraft’s collaboration is a great expression of these principals. The Cob Hut project needed some walls. My friends and I came down to Green Anchors and with the help and guidance of the Placecraft crew, we built StraClaBlocs, which is straw and clay mixed and packed into forms then cured. It was satisfying work, it was fun, we did it together, it was all natural, there was no waste. With a small group of people using their bodies, enjoying the company, contributing and creating a natural and needed product, we made 20 blocs in a few hours. They cured for a few weeks at the Blockery, the name of the building where it all happens, and then we brought them to the sanctuary and popped them in between the studs. With a blink of an eye we had walls. It was so fulfilling.

I am so full of gratitude for the work that Oliver, Joe, Jared, Matt, and Tarn do. I am grateful that Denise, who is Oliver’s loving partner, came on retreat with me many years ago and chanted under the stars in Yelapa, Mexico. And it brings me so much joy to continue visiting that magical place under the St John’s bridge. I am devoted to offering a warm up with stretches and mindfulness meditations prior to their work parties. It is important to center and ground yourself and remember why you are doing this work. It transforms the mundane into magic.

In permaculture there are zones to consider and zone zero is where you start. The body is where we start and from there we can integrate; we can be whole. We can live with integrity, as an individual, as a group, as a community. We can be the life we are meant to be living.

Thank you PlaceCraft. May more stories arise from our connection.