Philip Brachi dates his greening to the summer of ’67 spent in North America, including two months at Montreal’s Expo world’s fair. That, and the first pictures of the whole Earth from space, blew the gaff on his Economics MA and things went from good to better.

Co-founding the Biotechnic Research and Development eco-commune brought him to Mid Wales in 1972 where he has lived close to nature ever since. The green thread is the only constant in a life that has included building, lecturing, writing, care work – and Earthwalk.

After discovering Sir George Trevelyan’s legendary Wrekin Trust in the late 70s, his own studies spread widely – from meditation with Sogyal Rinpoche to firewalking with Peggy Dylan, via time spent with Ram Dass, Robert Bly, Van Morrison, Tukaram, William Bloom, Rupert Sheldrake, Laurence Golding and Lawrence LeShan. Often though, the best teachers are unsought and in the moment: we can miss how we do it for one another.

Philip’s interests include yin yoga, hill walking, hang-gliding, samba dance, divination, Dylan, and the logging of small miracles. Experiencing the natural world as deeply supportive and often magical, he sees our co-creative role within it as the key to meaning, purpose and sanity during interesting times. Instant Calmer combines the influences and practices he has found most useful.

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Jo Tonkinson has lived twenty years in Mid Wales and has studied and taught yoga for over a decade in Britain and New Zealand. A talented horticulturalist, she has tended some of the National Trust’s finest gardens. Studying permaculture brought a deeper understanding of what the living planet requires of us, and Instant Calmer embodies that passion well.

Her gift for gardening with nature reveals itself in Ffrwd Wen’s many beautiful niches, open to exploration and meditation; and in the food grown on our land. She is an excellent vegetarian cook with a flair for autumn foraging and innovative recipes. The look and feel of our weekends owe a lot to her eye for décor, flowers and fabric.