Collaborating Facilitators

Kate Gloeggler

I feel incredibly lucky to be where I’m at right now, feeling most alive in myself and fulfilled in what I do. The journey to this place has been a wild one where I followed my heart, traveling around the world to learn about other cultures and lands and trying to gain expertise in just as many different vocations. This seemed aimless and random to others, yet necessary to me.

Studying dance, yoga, and massage were integral parts of the first part of my life, often working for national and international projects of integration and inclusion for young people with different abilities, and from various challenging social backgrounds. I realized through my own experience, that through movement and bodywork, we can dramatically transform our state of being, by cultivating confidence and discovering our innate wholeness. And I was still restless.

All my life I’ve been seeking what resonates with my being, never really knowing what I’ve been looking for. I just know that every time I turn towards te taiao, to nature, I feel closer to it. The great mystery of the intricate interconnectedness between all things, us humans amid it all, has always fascinated me and I felt a deep longing for rewilding. I wanted to live a life in which my love for the natural world is the central point and where my actions originate and return to, and integrate the laws of nature into my own ways of being.

Since living in Aotearoa, I’ve felt a sense of belonging that i haven’t felt anywhere else. Te Ao Māori is part of my exploration of this unique place on earth as this worldview helps me to make sense of the world. As an outdoor instructor, now working for Outward Bound, I can share this inspiration and passion of te taiao with others, interacting in harmonious ways with people and this earth. In this role, I feel humbled by my Kaiako, teacher, which is nature itself, that can offer a space for people to explore who they are and allow them to move more freely in themselves and in the world.