Reconnect to the Real: Vervaeke, Sengstock, and Koch on Nature, Circling, and Socratic Practice

Why are we losing our taste for what is real, and what kinds of practices can help us recover it? In this Lectern conversation, John Vervaeke is joined by Guy Sengstock and Kyle Koch to discuss their upcoming Reconnecting to the Real retreat in Whistler, British Columbia. Together they explore why connection is not just a feeling, but something constitutive of who we are: our relationship to nature, to one another, to story, to personhood, and to the sacred. Kyle describes how nature connection, tracking, bird language, and embodied practice can shift the way people perceive and participate in the world. Guy brings the relational depth of Circling, showing how conversation can become a practice of presence, listening, and contact with what is most real. John situates the retreat within his work on the meaning crisis, Socratic practice, dialogos, virtue, wisdom, and the renewal of the senses. The conversation moves from fire, forest, and shared meals to the deeper question of what it means to flourish. Along the way, John, Guy, and Kyle reflect on AI, virtual mediation, the loss of touch and taste, the sacred as something sensed in ordinary life, and why a retreat is not simply a vacation but a participatory apprenticeship in reconnecting to reality. Reconnecting to the Real Retreat: August 31-September 4, 2026 Brew Creek Lodge, Whistler, British Columbia Learn more and register: https://lnkd.in/erVwif6A Explore courses and teachings from The Lectern: https://lectern.johnvervaeke.com/ Support The Lectern and join a growing community of wisdom seekers: https://www.patreon.com/johnvervaeke John Vervaeke: https://johnvervaeke.com/ https://twitter.com/drjohnvervaeke https://www.youtube.com/@johnvervaeke https://www.patreon.com/johnvervaeke Thanks for watching. Chapters: 00:00 Welcome to The Lectern 00:40 Retreat announcement and Whistler details 01:20 Kyle on nature connection and meaning 02:40 Why fire changes how people gather 04:20 Kyle discovers Guy's Circling work 06:00 Integrating transformative experiences 07:20 Guy on tending the earth and togetherness 09:20 Nature, origin, and remembering what is born 11:20 Kyle, Guy, and John: earth, relationship, and the sky 13:20 John on Socrates, meaning, and dialogical practice 15:00 Socratic practices and shared sense-making 17:20 Why these practices belong together 18:20 Retreat as church, practice, and participation 20:30 Kyle on moving beyond information into lived practice 22:40 Curiosity, mystery, and facilitating the fire 24:20 John as facilitator, not only lecturer 25:30 Place, seasonality, and the environment shaping thought 30:40 Guy on the senses reaching toward the world 31:20 Developing a sense organ for the sacred 32:40 What participants take home into ordinary life 36:00 Kyle asks why connection restores energy and life 36:50 John on connectedness as constitutive 38:20 Agency, selfhood, personhood, and spirit 40:20 Disconnection and the energy of repair 41:40 Connection, touch, and contact with the real 43:20 Taste, touch, and spiritual perception 44:40 Developing a taste for the sacred 46:00 Guy on the one skill that unlocks a life 47:20 Wisdom as tasting what is relevantly real 48:00 Shared meals, primate bonding, and tasting together 48:40 Kyle on sight, touch, taste, and reality 51:20 Renewing the senses 52:20 Flourishing as a taster's menu of the real 52:50 Closing reflections 53:40 Guy's invitation 54:10 Kyle's gratitude 54:30 John closes Explore courses and teachings from The Lectern https://lectern.johnvervaeke.com/ Support the Lectern and join a growing community of wisdom seekers https://www.patreon.com/johnvervaeke John Vervaeke: https://johnvervaeke.com/ https://twitter.com/vervaeke_john https://www.youtube.com/@johnvervaeke https://www.patreon.com/johnvervaeke