Time and space to rewild
The Foundations of Natural Intelligence (FNI) is a course
for the curious.
What is this, being human?
Taking place entirely offline and outdoors, the FNI invites you to explore who you are, and to nurture a deeper relationship with nature and reality as a whole.
Embracing the elements in the Scottish Borders.
Course Dates 2026
27th June – 4th July
25th July – 1st August
1st August – 8th August
Course Cost
£450 including food and accommodation
£400 (early bird until 31st March)
£350 (under 25s)
Location
Chisholme House,
Scottish Borders,
TD9 7PH
Truth and nourishment
The Foundations of Natural Intelligence (FNI) course takes place over seven nights. The FNI course is designed to help participants to:
- reconnect to the present moment
- contemplate being
- realise our interconnectedness with nature
- reflect on an ethics of care for people and planet
- nurture compassion for self and other
- foster resilience
- cultivate a more grounded approach to living
Nourishment is provided through delicious food, the clean air we breathe, the fresh water from the nearby natural spring, the warm shelter of the yurts, the canopy of stars above, and the convivial company of each another.
Accommodation is shared, in yurts, and we rely on fire for heating and cooking. There are compost toilets and outdoor showers (with hot water). The course is off-grid (no electricity) and the use of digital devices is discouraged (except in emergencies).
Daily Routine
Each day involves meditation, caretaking, and enquiry:
- A mixture of guided and non-guided meditation occurs twice a day.
- Caretaking could involve helping in the kitchen to prepare meals, chopping wood for the fire, or going to the garden to gather ingredients.
- Three enquiry sessions per day. We explore evolving themes related to natural intelligence through collective conversation. Together we create a space where we slow down, listen deeply, and speak from the heart.
In between sessions, participants work together to help with cooking preparations, table laying and clearing, and washing up after meals.
There are no teachers, but rather facilitators who are there to guide and support, and who are also there to learn and discover.
Revive your natural intelligence
Meet your facilitators
Each FNI course is guided by a diverse group of facilitators who
are well versed in the education of the Chisholme Institute.
All share a love of learning and enquiry (and the outdoors!).
Peter Young
Green ash chair maker
Tim Roberts
Musician / Globetrotter
Hannah Dalgleish
Interdisciplinary researcher
Sakeena Adamjee
Teacher / Dancer
FAQs
What is the accommodation like?
The accommodation is shared (usually between three or four people) in yurts which have been lovingly built and constructed by Chisholme volunteers over several years. Each yurt has a stove in the centre, to keep warm at night. All linen is supplied, including towels. There are also compost toilets, and outdoor showers nearby – someone will get up extra early to make a fire underneath the water tank (so you don’t need to worry about cold showers!). After Storm Arwen in 2021, we lost a lot of trees including the FNI kitchen, since then we have constructed a fabulous new outdoor kitchen which provides extra shelter and warmth during the course.
What is the food like?
We offer a varied and nutritious diet which includes meat. We make as full use as possible of our garden for seasonal fruit and vegetables, which we top up with other ingredients as necessary. We strive to purchase products which are organic and local as much as possible. A menu which includes meat is consistent with the ethos of the Chisholme Institute. We are able to offer a vegetarian diet, but are unfortunately unable to cater for vegans or individual preferences as we do not have the resources and facilities to do so. However, please do let us know if you have any dietary requirements due to a medical condition (e.g. specific allergy, coeliac) and we will do our best to accommodate you.
Do I need to be physically fit or have a lot of outdoor experience to take part?
We do everything we can to ensure that people of different abilities can participate, regardless of fitness level, age (or bushcrafting skills!). If you are unsure about your ability to participate – please do let us know in your application form or ask us (secretary@chisholme.org).
Getting to Chisholme
If you are travelling to Chisholme by public transport, the easiest way is to travel by bus to Hawick and take a taxi to Chisholme from there (or it may be possible for us to help you find a lift with someone else). The X95 bus travels to Hawick from Carlisle (~1.5 hours) or Edinburgh (~2 hours), their timetable is available here: https://www.bordersbuses.co.uk/services/BORD/X95
What is the Chisholme Institute?
The FNI course has been running at the Chisholme Institute (http://chisholme.org) in the Scottish Borders since 2011. The institute was established in 1979 with the aim to provide an education in self-discovery and in promoting a conscious relationship with the wider world and to each other through an understanding of unity, love, and beauty. The courses and retreats at Chisholme integrate body, mind and spirit through study, meditation, work, and spiritual practice. The Chisholme Institute is dedicated to developing and improving an understanding that all life is interdependent, as reflected by the ecological, economic, cultural and spiritual spheres.
How did the Foundations of Natural Intelligence come about?
The Foundations of Natural Intelligence was borne out of an inspiration to find ways to be closer to nature as an essential aspect of unity, and to see what new learning arises from being fully immersed in the outdoors. The FNI also provided the opportunity to offer a course where students find meaning and expression through guided and collective conversation, in contrast to other Chisholme courses which are built on the study of wisdom texts.
“Off-grid and open to the elements we very quickly stepped into a new rhythm of life; wood chopping and fire making, working together as one to warm and nourish ourselves. Under starry skies we reconnected to older technologies, marvelled at the generosity of nature, and in conversation touched depths of meaning of source of being and of self.
FNI student, 2019
Away from the usual creature comforts and my everyday reality, with the collective openness and spirit of the group I reconnected to a part of me that had gone adrift. I re-engaged with a greater sense of what it is to be human, to be of this time and place. I found that there is a place for me and for each and everyone in the greater scheme of things. I left energised and inspired by what is possible when we come together and give space and time to what really matters.”
“I am so grateful for my experience at the FNI. When I ‘surrendered’ my phone and all electronics, normal creature comforts, and all the fixed ideas that I had, I was able to experience a new clarity of Self I had disassociated from. The program was full yet spacious; the participants were unique yet cohesive; the facilities were comfortable yet harmonious with raw nature. The conversations were deep and confrontational to loosen rigid beliefs that I had held onto. On my awakening journey, this program has had an immeasurable impact for which I am humbled. The quality and beauty of the food was one of my favourite and most enjoyable aspects of the program. It was an incredible experience in connection to the earth and its abundance. Thank you Chisholme for this unforgettable adventure which you facilitated. Thank you to all the generous people who made this possible and cared for me with such love and tenderness. I am forever changed and changing from this divine experience of Love in Action.”
FNI student, 2025
“How should the spring bring forth
a garden on hard stone?
Become the soft soil, that you may grow flowers of many colors”
Rumi
Foundations of Natural Intelligence 