What course did you take, and where, if I may be so intrusive… you did mention to “reach out” if interested! I also arrived at being fascinated by the concept by ideas of sustainability and “getting away from it all”.
Search for people running PDC's - Permaculture Design Courses - in your area. These are variably well monitored / established syllabus, usually run for 5 days or so. I'm sure there's one-day intro courses, but I suspect you'd get a lot more variability, and obviously a lot less value.
Most practicing permaculturists I've bumped into tend to eschew the woo, as it were, but you may want to validate that before signing up to any particular course. (These branches of study can attract certain types of people.)
I did a PDC here in Sydney AU about 15 years ago, and like GP I found it a hugely interesting and engaging process. (The one I went to was run by a lass who had studied under Bill Mollison, which was kind of funky, but as a rule the material covered is much more practical, rational, etc - than deferential / by association to the two guys that kicked it off.)
Most practicing permaculturists I've bumped into tend to eschew the woo, as it were, but you may want to validate that before signing up to any particular course. (These branches of study can attract certain types of people.)
I did a PDC here in Sydney AU about 15 years ago, and like GP I found it a hugely interesting and engaging process. (The one I went to was run by a lass who had studied under Bill Mollison, which was kind of funky, but as a rule the material covered is much more practical, rational, etc - than deferential / by association to the two guys that kicked it off.)