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Initial Post-Foundation 2-Cohort 19
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29 Replies
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“Humankind has not woven the web of life.
We are but a thread within it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.”
– Chief SeattleWhen I think of Ecopsychology and Coaching coming together, I imagine an expanding connection and a web. Ecopsychology is the idea that everything is connected in nature and that we come from the earth and that we are nature. It is believed that the manner in which we treat nature affects all of us. The Gaia Principle proposes that Earth and all its inhabitants are more than the sum of its parts, but a whole system in and of itself. When the Earth suffers, we suffer… and when we suffer, the Earth suffers. Because we are a part of the whole and interconnected to everything, what’s going on within us and around us matters. “The goal of ecopsychology is to awaken the inherent sense of environmental reciprocity that lies with the ecological unconscious. Other therapies seek to heal the alienation between person and person, person and family, person and society. Ecopsychology seeks to heal the more fundamental alienation between the person and the natural environment.” (The Voice of the Earth: An Exploration of Ecopsychology. Roszak, T., 2001. 2nd Edition.)
In coaching, we strive to help clients also ‘awaken’ and to reconnect to the natural world and ultimately themselves. We recognize that we are not separate from nature, and instead connect to the reality of who we are and honor Earth and self. I aim to help guide my clients to have nature experiences where they make meaning, seek knowledge, and ultimately make changes from within to live their best lives- and to go out and have a positive impact in the world. The end of one coaching session is just the beginning of another session, another aim, and another goal. The cyclical pattern of coaching is much like the cyclical patterns of nature.
Ecopsychology tells us that we are wired to be in connection and that when we are in a state of awareness, we can feel the connection deep in our bones. As a coach, I need to have the skills to help facilitate my clients through exercises that will help them realize that nature is like having a drugstore when you need medicine. We can go out on the land, or even just outside to feel the fresh air and can have profound moments of connection. “There is more to know about the self, or rather more self to know, than our personal history reveals…. salt remnants of ancient oceans flow through our veins, ashes of expired stars rekindle in our genetic chemistry”. (The Voice of the Earth: An Exploration of Ecopsychology. Roszak, T., 2001. 2nd Edition.) Simply closing our eyes and listening to the sounds around us, or feeling the sun, rain, or wind on our skin, can teach us much. Often times, people in life view nature as an added extra thing to have in their life versus realizing that they are nature. It’s not a resource to be exploited or a backdrop to our lives, but is our life and is deeply embedded in us. It is primal.
We as coaches know that when we see the natural world as a central part of our lives we treat it better and are also filled with a greater sense of place, a sense of deeper connection, belonging, and a feeling of community. It is my desire to help my clients realize that we humans are a part of the natural landscape and that the deep bond between humans and nature is reciprocal. We are not separate but are already whole and connected to all. “People are intimately connected with, embedded in, and inseparable from the rest of nature.” (Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind. Buzzell, L., Chalquist, C. 2009.)
As a Nature-Connected Coach, I know it is important for me to have my daily practice and also important for me to continue to seek opportunities that will not only help my clients grow, but also help me to grow.
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I really see ecopsychology and coaching coming together in the light of their shared values and principles. Ecopsychology allows us to view our understanding of humanity in a grander and more holistic way beyond the “city limits”, the “urban intellect” of modern psychotherapy, in the same way that coaching is a holistic practice, appreciating and considering the wholeness of a person without defect. They both help to facilitate “profound change in the human heart”. Much like coaching, ecopsychology relies on personal responsibility rather than blame and shame of those who are suffering. And truly, both ecopsychology and coaching are meant for everybody, because no one can afford not to connect with themselves and the world around them. “Ecopsychology is an effort to salvage the more intimate bond between the ego and the world about it” arguably what a productive coaching relationship eventually produces as a client develops greater and greater awareness over time, learning to act from a place of authenticity rather than ego (Roszak, Gomes, & Kanner, 1995).
With the above examples, we see that ecopsychology and coaching are closely linked, and truly they come from the same roots. Today ecopsychology and coaching are viewed as (and evolved as) separate disciplines, but in the past there was no separation between the two. In indigenous communities, ecopsychology and coaching were combined and integrated into every day life. The principles of ecopyschology were a way of life and served the same purpose that coaching and therapy currently does. Shamans and medicine men were the psychologists and coaches of their tribes. The awareness a tracker had of his surroundings mimicked the awareness and mindfulness we cultivate in our clients as coaches. It was only with the move into modern times, industrialization and the removal from our connection with nature that these areas of practice have become divorced from each other and evolved independently out of modern, Western psychotherapy. Only now are Ecopsychology and Coaching starting to come back together and merge, backed by solid scientific research.
The way we’ve projected onto nature – the way we’ve treated it, destroyed it, and the consequences- reveals what needs attention within the human psyche. “Our ecological fears announce that things are where the soul now claims psychological attention” (1995, Roszak, Gomes, & Kanner). This is something that can certainly be addressed by coaching but I think that if we want to truly heal the human psyche, a connection to nature must be a part of our practice and this is not typically a standard in coaching. It’s a tool, not the norm. The skills that we use as coaches to facilitate healing and change are the same as within nature connection – curiosity, humility, the ability to find meaning, deep listening, trust. I wonder if the blend of nature connection and coaching can help to bring about true, full healing likely quicker and more effectively than traditional coaching can. “Other therapies seek to heal the alienation between person to person, person to family, person and society. Ecopsychology seeks to heal the more fundamental alienation between the person and the natural environment.”(Roszak, 1992). It’s this fundamental, underlying relationship between the person and their environment that when healed, could produce healing in a positive ripple effect on all of the other connections of a person’s life.
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In Psyche And Nature In A Circle Of Healing, Buzzell and Cholquist define ecopsychology as “the study of the psychological processes that tie us to the world or separate us from it.” All of us are inherently built to understand our human nature and our relationship to the earth. A healthy understanding and a living of this natural way of being comes with habits and behaviors that are reflective of that…..the person taking care of the earth in the same ways he/she would take care of him/herself. Many human beings live in a state of forgetfulness of this connection and, in turn, struggle with the physical and mental symptoms of this way of being. In fact, we’re the only living things on the planet that can mentally separate ourselves from the earth. Seeing nature and the earth as something that is separate from ourselves can lead to mistreatment of the earth because we don’t consider them as part of our personal sphere of things to take care of and manage. This speaks to the psychological processes that can separate us from the world. When Theodore Roszak writes about the principles of ecopsychology, he tells us that the goal is to “awaken the sense of environmental reciprocity that lies within the unconscious”. That’s where Coaching comes in. In some respects, Coaching could be considered applied ecopsychology, from a non-clinical perspective. And like ecotherapy, coaches aim to reconnect the psyche, the body and the earth. As coaches, we have the opportunity to be a part of this awakening, or reawakening, as I prefer to state it. We get to take clients onto sacred land and watch it interact with our clients. We get to teach them about how the reflection of nature is a reflection of their internal state and how it can be insightful on their behalf. We encourage personal empowerment in our clients, which is another principle of ecopsychology that, when supported, “nourishes the ecological ego”.
“The oldest healers in the world, the people our society once called ‘witch doctors’, knew no other way to heal than to work within the context of environmental reciprocity.” -Theodore Roszak
This blend of Ecopsychology and Coaching adds to my interest as a Nature-Connected Coach because it seems like a less “activisty” way to get people on board with the environmental movement without them really even knowing they’re getting on board. Just by coaching, we can re-connect clients with themselves and the natural world and postively impact their impact on the earth. I can say that initially, I didn’t see Coaching having this far of a reach. As a coach, I want to instill nature-connected routines in my clients that create lasting connection and that build better habits that serve the earth and themselves in more substantial ways.
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If I hold the definition of ecopsychology as Buzzell and Cholquist state, “the study of the psychological processes that tie us to the world or separate us from it.”, then, for me, a definition of Nature-Connected Coaching would include the practice of experiencing and facilitating experiences of the… processes that tie us to the natural world or separate us from it.
I am reminded of a tee shirt idea I had a few years ago, adjusting a quote from Socrates to read on the front “…To heal our world…” and on the back, “…We must heal ourselves…” as a cyclical and repeating message that we can’t really heal one in isolation to the other, that both are interconnected and we as humans can’t heal the wounds to our planet, our bodies, or our spirits with the same wounded psyches that have led to such damage.
I love that there are academics who are devoted to the study ecophsychology. I believe they will help rediscover old practices that have been lost to nearly every primal culture as modernity has overcome them, and these practices and the scientific validation of them will be helpful in bringing the “mainstream” into nature connection. However, I also see the academic field possibly falling short by ignoring the importance of a “spiritual” or “mystical” relationship as well. If forest bathing alone is “prescribed” to someone for depression, they may experience the first level of Nature Connection (as Jon Young describes it) and their symptoms may be alleviated, but without forming a deeper relationship with a particular piece of land, we are really only using the land to serve us, thus continuing the cycle of caring for the land only as much as it serves our current desires.
Something that has been on my mind is the importance of imagination in our nature connection practices. If I believe it is beneficial for plants to be spoken to kindly, then I can speak kindly to a tree while receiving some of the benefits of forest bathing, and that’s the end of it. But if I allow myself to imagine that the tree can respond to me and has wisdom to share, then I have access to a new source of wisdom, and even if it is only coming from my subconscious, my relationship with that tree now has powerful psycho-spiritual and emotional bonds. Similarly, engaging with the same tree physically by climbing it will add depth to the relationship, as will learning how to care-take a particular tree and the ecosystem it lives within. These appear to elements that are weak within the ecopsychology school of thought, but can be accessed in Nature Connected Coaching.
When I first read this quote from Rozak in The Voice of the Earth, “The goal of ecopsychology is to awaken the inherent sense of environmental reciprocity that lies with the ecological unconscious. Other therapies seek to heal the alienation between person and person, person and family, person and society. Ecopsychology seeks to heal the more fundamental alienation between the person and the natural environment.”, I thought to myself, “Why would we need anything else? This sounds perfect!”. After writing down my stream of consciousness that was inspired by the kick-off questions, I am reflecting both on the many assumptions I have made in the above statement, and the excitement and gratitude I have both for ecopsychology as a school of thought and practice, and the freedom that being on the fringe of such a powerful movement can give us as NCCs. We have access to this gold mine of information that is being studied, and the freedom to apply it in a less mainstream and regulated way. We get to be ecopsychological artists! We must be responsible, of course, but we have the freedom to be creative nonetheless.
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Sir James! I love this idea of using imagination in our practices and it brings some things to mind for me. By engaging imagination in these interactions, we’re removing or disabling in a way a brain function that can limit our experience. In talking to a tree, per your example, if we approach that conversation without imagination, we’re left with our brain telling us this is a fooling one-way conversation. With imagination, we can get a response because the brain doesn’t have any “real” experience to go back to and make connections to….and the question I’m asking myself right now is, where is that the response coming from? Is that the soul answering? Is the soul the source of our imagination?
This also makes me think that the more variety and creativity we can build into our practices the more apt we are to limit the automated brain responses that have a tendency to keep things kind of surface level. If we can create unique experiences for ourselves while doing these practices, we’re almost programming in the types of experiences we want to be influencing our minds.
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Hi Leslie! First off, I feel like I’m reading an assigned reading when I read your posts, haha! They’re so thoughtful and wonderfully written. I just wanted to share that.
Secondly, I really connected with your statement that “both ecopsychology and coaching are meant for everybody, because no one can afford not to connect with themselves and the world around them.” This is so true to its core and necessary for the well-being of society and the world. As we keep diving deeper into this course, I feel a stronger and stronger need to build education and practice of the education into my coaching. Education on what it means to be connected to ourselves and the earth. Education on how to make those connections. Education on us and the earth not being separate from each other. I think of this knowledge as life saving or life giving knowledge that literally everyone should have. Much of the world doesn’t value themselves and that is apparent with the condition of our environment. I don’t think coaching clients on just their issues will make the necessary connections for them to remain engaged in their life and the care-taking of the environment long term. We must be teachers as well as coaches.
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James I think you make a great point about the potential for only a surface level connection with nature (at the expense of the more spiritual/mystical) when when it comes to academic validation of age old, nature connected practices that are becoming more mainstream in the modern age. Traditionally, Western science and academics is very reductionist and dualistic in nature, separating the mind from the body which I think we all understand in this space is not possible. I do agree that there is a danger for just that surface level connection/understanding when applied within the model of Western thought.
One thing I’ve realized in my herbal studies is that there is a lot of scientific research done in the world from an Eastern perspective that operates from a very different paradigm. We typically do not see the fruits of this research because it’s published in different languages, and because the philosophy behind them is very different. But, it’s definitely out there, and with the surge in popularity of things like Reiki and Traditional Chinese Medicine, as well as the surge in focus on mental health (though it’s still far too stigmatized) the integration of mind and body is just starting to appear in our paradigm, shifting how Westerners view the world. Reiki is starting to be used in hospitals, and Chinese Medicine Doctors will no doubt be able to accept insurance within the next decade. Another cool thing is that research in Positive Psychology is illuminating how the more “soul” side of things like spirituality and listening to our intuition, are incredibly important to establishing optimal subjective well-being. I think as long as we make an effort to provide service (as coaches, therapists, doctors, etc) and facilitate connection from a cross-disciplinary, cross-cultural perspective towards a new paradigm, we’re on the right track. That will take considerable effort and stepping outside of comfort zones!
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In “Ecopsychology – The Principles”, Ecopsychology seeks to heal the more fundamental alienation between the person and the natural environment. Ecopsychology and coaching have distinct differences, yet swirl and come together like “the needs of the planet are the needs of the person”. Coaching, in my experience, DOES deal with foundations of human nature and behavior just like ecopsychology is noted to do in “Where Psyche Meets Gaia”. Coaching is needed in Ecopsychology to heal nature disconnection and Ecopsychology gives another “place” for a coach to explore in the process of developing their coachee.
Coaching and guiding in the world of Ecopsychology really inspires me. Ultimately, connection and/or reconnection to nature through healing is what draws me to this work. This blend of coaching and Ecopsychology gives me an opportunity to mutually heal with the client. While they are connecting to nature, as the guide, so am I. Where this blend falls short, for me, is coaching without the nature connection doesn’t seem as interesting. I can coach business, finance, time management and more. None of these topics light up my soul like coaching nature connection. In “Where Psyche Meets Gaia” they sum up my experience in the following tribute “A man who is in love declares that “I” and “you” are one, and is prepared to behave as if it were a fact”.
The skills needed to navigate the landscape of this blend between Ecopsychology and Coaching are diverse and infinite. Theodore Roszak in “A Psyche as Big as the Earth” noted the importance of a sympathetic bond with the natural world. The powerful listening required in effective psychology, the willingness to psychoanalyze entire cultures, survival skills, outdoor safety skills and patience touch on a small sample of the skills needed. The reason I’m involved in this style of coaching work is put into language beautifully in “Psyche and Nature in a Circle of Healing”…hopes for an end to the long and self-destructive war between humankind and Earth depend on repairing the damage inflicted on both. -
Ecopsychology and coaching come together as streams of the some river; the latter as a craft fundamentally concerned with supporting and healing the human mind/soul/psyche and the former as the study of the ways in which said “psyche remains sympathetically bonded to the Earth that mothered us into existence.” (Roszak, 5) Presuming a coach takes as veritable the fundamental position of ecopsychology which inextricably links more-than-human occurrences with the ebbs and flows of consciousness, she can and must honor first and foremost her own condition of interconnectedness and seek to understand the world from that place. An understanding of ecopsychology in the coach makes a world of black and white somehow full of color; it widens and deepens the scope of her vision and fixes in place a mindset that allows for a more dynamic coaching style, a more beautiful way of living, and a sense of peace (through a more accurate understanding of the world) – all qualities which serve her own wellbeing, oher clients’ best interests, and our world.
Perhaps it’s worthy to consider a coach who either has not explored the ecopsychological perspective or is simply moored to dualism. Said coach would likely have a difficult time guiding towards successful outcomes in individuals who themselves have a propensity for nature connection. Indeed, she would have to operate in a narrow range and would, I believe, be outperformed by a coach who brings a more accurate and full understanding of the nature of reality into her work.
Although ecopsychology is a powerful field of study for a coach to honor, she need not ‘throw it in a client’s face;’ rather, it can be a quiet philosophy that inspires a style of guiding which connects clients to themselves and to the natural world slowly but surely – even unwittingly. So long as a coach embraces an understanding that the mind/psyche/soul and the other life forms that inhabit this planet are one, that is enough to get going in the right direction.
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Ecopsychology is one of the foundational philosophies/sciences behind Nature-Connected Coaching. “Ecotherapy” is applied Ecopsychology. Nature-Connected Coaching is not therapy, but as Nature-Connectd Coaches, we do may use Ecotherapy methods (applied Ecopsychology) during our work with a client. Both Ecotherapy and NCC aim to awaken the “ecological unconscious” that Roszak refers to in Ecopsychology- The Principles, which is our unconscious (and conscious for some) relationship with nature within the web of life. Roszak says, “…the goal of ecopsychology is to awaken the inherent sense of environmental reciprocity that lies within the ecological unconscious.” From my perspective, NCC shares this goal, but awakens our client’s sense of environmental reciprocity through a coaching lens, rather than a therapeutic lens. Although I am not experienced with therapy, I have taken one Ecotherapy course, and it seems that Ecotherapy focuses on how we can heal through tending and reconciliation with our client’s “broken” parts from past traumas. NCC does this to the extent that the coach is confident and trained in doing, but the focus is also to discover how we can heal through enlivening and illuminating our client’s empowered parts and inner-knowing/wisdom. Overall, Ecotherapy and NCC still seem very similar to me, but maybe Nature-Connected Coaches don’t go as deep into the trauma (unless they are equipped to do that). Also, NC-Coaches may take-on more of a Nature-Connected Mentoring role (as described in Coyote’s Guide), which is about guiding people to their own answers. Traditional therapists prescribe treatment, whereas coaching and mentoring seems to help clients come up with their own “treatment” plans.
Even though there may be differences between ecotherapy and NCC, the Ecopsychology theories are absolutely fundamental to NCC. There seems to be a MINDSET that is shared with Ecopsychology, Coyote Mentoring, and other foundational theories behind NCC. Maybe this mindset comes down to us all be interconnected. As I stated before, Ecopsychology aims to awaken the “ecological unconscious” so that people can truly remember that everything is connected. NCC uses the fact that we are all interconnected when we guide/coach a client (e.g. paying attention to baseline shifts in the environment in relation to the client’s experience), and we also aim to awaken this fact, this remembering, in the people we coach. As an outdoor educator and nature-connected coach in-training, I feel that I have been working on remembering that we are all interconnected the last few years, and I am noticing that it takes a lot of TRUST. Trust in our self and our connection with nature and great mystery. I am also noticing how conditioned my mind is to thinking that I might be “crazy” if I think I can listen and communicate with trees, birds, and Earth. This conditioned fear of “madness” is a product of the “old colonial-consumerist mind-set” that Linda Buzzell and Craig Chalquist refer to in Psyche and Nature in a Circle of Healing. In choosing the interconnected mindset over the “colonial mind-set”, we are choosing a new norm for the consciousness of our species (and ultimately directing the evolution of our species), and perhaps trust and surrendering will guide the way.
Something inside of me stirred and illuminated when I read one of Roszak’s bullet points on Ecopsychology. He stated, “Among the therapeutic projects most important to ecopsychology is the re-evaluation of certain compulsively “masculine” character traits that permeate our structures of political power and which drive us to dominate nature as if it were an alien and rightless realm. In this regard, ecopsychology draws significantly on some (no all) of the insights of ecofeminism and Feminist Spirituality with a view to demystifying the sexual stereotypes.” I am not sure how this directly applies to the kickoff question, but I feel called to acknowledge that this point stood out to me. I feel this statement speak to my vision, my soul, in an intangible and abstract way right now. I feel strongly that healing the masculine and feminine, and empowering the masculine and feminine into their most healthy states of being, is a big part of our work as nature-connection guides, and will be one focus point for my work as a guide and coach.
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David – I see some shared insight and perspective towards the end of our posts. I enjoyed the way you described the subtle influence a nature-connected coaching process can have ‘with’ (I do not say ‘on,’ because that language would imply a hierarchical relationship that differs from the alliance we forge with nature and) the client. I’m appreciating also your view of “coaching as applied ecopsychology,” which rings true, and your contention that “we’re the only living things on the planet that can mentally separate ourselves from the earth.”
To that point: I was listening to a Masterclass with pulitzer-prize winning author David Mamet while cooking dinner last night, and he suggests that the difference between human beings and other animals is our ability to reason; that is, to draw conclusions from cause and effect. Now, I’m not sure he’s got this right, because I’m quite sure dolphins and perhaps other animals can reason according to this definition. Nevertheless, humans seem to have a unique capacity to draw incorrect conclusions through our ‘powers’ of reasoning. Is there a connection between our capacity to reason and our disconnection from the earth? For instance, “it’s cold out –> I could be more comfortable and/or I need to survive –> I will built a house / I will build a shelter.” Such capacities have led human beings to achieve ‘the social conquest of earth’ (a great book by EO Wilson, by the way, which was mentioned in the Roszak reading) above ground (with ants and wasps dominant below). This makes me wonder: Do ants and wasps in their beautiful intricate nests ever feel disconnected from ‘nature,’ the way we might in an apartment building (which, as Michael pointed out Tuesday, is itself made of nature)? Doubtful, as their structures are biomimicry to the max. Hence the criticality of re-architecting our homes, cities, and landscapes to reflect the natural world. I cannot help but think that by changing our structures to look like the nature they’re all made of, a great deal of suffering would be alleviated without having to change ‘the system’ or ‘re-educate’ people. Thanks for the food for thought!
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Deanne – While there are many parts of your post I enjoyed, I was drawn to respond in particular to your observation that “conditioned fear of “madness” is a product of the “old colonial-consumerist mind-set” that Linda Buzzell and Craig Chalquist refer to in Psyche and Nature in a Circle of Healing.” Madness is a funny thing – the very existence of a label that dubs someone essentially as broken speaks to the heart of what’s wrong with our world. This was not always so, as during the Renaissance the ‘mad’ were sometimes glorified (see Foucault, Madness and Civilization.) and seen to possess otherworldly gifts.
Going further on the origins of our collective fear of madness, I’d point out that there have been historically sound evolutionary biological drivers of wariness towards the mentally ill: consider the syphillis caused “GPI” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_paresis_of_the_insane). It has been almost a century since the ‘miracle’ of penicillin severed this direct connection between a sexually transmittable disease and neurodegeneration (‘madness’), yet we carry with us a programming that seems important to honor which Buzzell and Chalquist flippantly gloss over. That said, it seems a real threshold of our time to ‘level-up’ and beyond our evolutionary programming in myriad ways; perhaps ecopsychology and nature connected coaching may hold at least a few of the keys needed to unlock this expansion of consciousness (which, ironically, looks like moving past our programming by stepping deeper into our true nature!).
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Hi friends, Sorry this is so late!!!!
At our most elemental level, at our most ancient level, at our most real level, all of “us”–all energetic manifestations in the Universe–are made of the same substance. We share the same “universal identity. Salt remnats of ancient oceans flow through our veins, ashes of expired stars rekindle our genetic chemistry… hydrogen…is a cosmic theme” (Roszak, 2001, pg 319). We exist in a “matrix” which provides “us” all the foundational elements for our endless variety. We are “intimately connected with, embedded in, and inseparable from the rest of nature” (Buzzel & Chalquist, 2009, pg 18). This reality has profound implications for the wellbeing of humans and non-human beings.
Today, we face a great threat of our own making. Our delusion of separateness gives birth to greed and fear which in turn becomes anxiety, depression, other mental health afflictions, and general dysfunction. Not only are humans suffering, but the greater “us” is suffering too. The loss of our “innately emotional affiliation…to other living organisms” or biophilia (Roszak, 1995, pg 4) has led us to lose awe and reverence for “this glorious, luxuriant, animated planet” (Roszak, 1995, pg 3). The Soul of the Earth and our own Souls are thirsting and longing for reconnection and our wellbeing is intricately linked to this reconnection.
Ecopsychology explores the relationship between the Soul of the Earth and the Human Soul, the interconnectedness of the “us”. According to Roszak, the “goal of ecopsychology is to awaken the inherent sense of environmental reciprocity that lies within the ecological unconscious” (Roszak, 2001, pg 320). Ecopsychology is based on the idea that “ecology needs psychology, psychology needs ecology” (Roszak, 1995, pg 5). At our deepest level, we are “bonded to the Earth that mothered us into existence” (Roszak, 1995, pg 5). I personally experienced this sense of connection to Mother when I went to Ecuador several years ago for the first time since my childhood. Ecuador is my own mother’s land and my ancestral land. I personally had a very difficult relationship with my mother and always felt a sense of loss and longing rooted in feelings of abandonment. When I went back to Ecuador in 2016, something inside me got “fixed”. A puzzle piece long out of alignment fell into place. I connected to Mother—the Divine Feminine, the Pachamama, Mother Goddess—as I walked the Land, the mountains, the montane forests—my sense of connection to Mother energy was palpable and real. I felt healed at a very deep level.
As Nature Connected Coaches, we are participating in the healing of the whole. We are participating in something ancient, known to all indigenous peoples who came before us. We are participating in the reconnection to the “respectful give-and-take with the flora and the fauna, the rivers and the hills, the sky and the soil on which we depend for physical sustenance and practical instruction” (Roszak, 1995, pg 6). We are shattering our limiting belief that we are somehow separate from Creation and inviting us back into our identity as part of the expanded I AM, the Self that includes all the natural world. Not only are we guiding clients into greater clarity and self-compassion, we are also inviting us all into greater compassion for all Beings, human and non-human. Ecopsychology roots Nature Connected Coaching into the greater vision of the wellbeing of Gaia.
I think the most important skills we need to cultivate as NCC are the art of listening to Nature and developing trust that Nature has all it needs to restore itself. These foundational skills of listening and trusting extends to the Nature outside of ourselves as well as the Nature within ourselves. We need to listen to and trust our intuition and that of our clients believing that there is something within us that will lead us to “the self-regulating biosphere” and that we will become “allies of the Earth…returning the human soul to the harmony and joy…” (Roszak, 1995, pg 15) rooted in what we love. -
Hi Friends,
So sorry again (!) for my delay in responding and for the length of this message. I loved your posts and pickec out a few of your thoughts that really spoke to me. THANK YOU for your wisdom and passion for this work. I am so happy to be walking this with you. Our readings reminded me of a wonderful poem/prayer presented at the United Nations Environmental Sabbath program called “We have forgotten who we are”
We have forgotten who we are
We have alienated ourselves from
the unfolding of the cosmos
We have become estranged from the movements
Of the earth
We have turned our backs on the cycles of life
We have forgotten who we are.
Now the forests are dying
And the creatures are disappearing,
And humans are despairing
We have forgotten who we are.We ask forgiveness
We ask for the gift of remembering
We ask for strength to change
We have forgotten who we are.I’ve added my thoughts to your comments below.
Susan: Often times, people in life view nature as an added extra thing to have in their life versus realizing that they are nature. It’s not a resource to be exploited or a backdrop to our lives, but is our life and is deeply embedded in us. It is primal.
Susan, Thank you for this! How many times do we look at using nature for our benefit–exercise, recreation, medicine, rest, etc! We are users and abusers of the natural world. We need to change the meaning of the word “recreate” back to “re”-“create”. We need to see ourselves alongside Nature as co-creators of a new way fo being in the world. Such a shift is needed.
Leslie: In indigenous communities, ecopsychology and coaching were combined and integrated into every day life. The principles of ecopyschology were a way of life and served the same purpose that coaching and therapy currently does. Shamans and medicine men were the psychologists and coaches of their tribes. The awareness a tracker had of his surroundings mimicked the awareness and mindfulness we cultivate in our clients as coaches.
Hi Leslie, The word integration holds a lot of power for me. It reminds me that we are whole and that the possibility of healing is available to all of us. As an herbalist healer and now moving into NCC, you must feel a deep sense of joy that this ancient part of yourself is awakening to your potential. I wish that for all of us!
David: And like ecotherapy, coaches aim to reconnect the psyche, the body and the earth. As coaches, we have the opportunity to be a part of this awakening, or reawakening, as I prefer to state it. We get to take clients onto sacred land and watch it interact with our clients. We get to teach them about how the reflection of nature is a reflection of their internal state and how it can be insightful on their behalf. We encourage personal empowerment in our clients, which is another principle of ecopsychology that, when supported, “nourishes the ecological ego”.
Hi David, Yes! How amazing that we get to take clients to the sacred land! Wow! What a gift this is to the world. I think we are all feeling the pull of the Sacred Land calling us and desiring us to be a bridge. What is it like for you to feel you are part of birthing this reawakening?
James: However, I also see the academic field possibly falling short by ignoring the importance of a “spiritual” or “mystical” relationship as well. If forest bathing alone is “prescribed” to someone for depression, they may experience the first level of Nature Connection (as Jon Young describes it) and their symptoms may be alleviated, but without forming a deeper relationship with a particular piece of land, we are really only using the land to serve us, thus continuing the cycle of caring for the land only as much as it serves our current desires.
Hi James, My mystical “4” friend! Yes! So true that we need to be aware of the Sacredness of the Land. When we forget our interconnectedness to the matrix of life, we become users in an attempt to quell what is unquencheable. The Land calls us into deeper and deeper relationship and community with all Beings-human and non-human.
Rollin: Theodore Roszak in “A Psyche as Big as the Earth” noted the importance of a sympathetic bond with the natural world. The powerful listening required in effective psychology, the willingness to psychoanalyze entire cultures, survival skills, outdoor safety skills and patience touch on a small sample of the skills needed. The reason I’m involved in this style of coaching work is put into language beautifully in “Psyche and Nature in a Circle of Healing”…hopes for an end to the long and self-destructive war between humankind and Earth depend on repairing the damage inflicted on both.
Hi Rollin, Your words inspire me and bring me so much hope. I believe that we can all work towards reparing the damage we are all suffering because we have lost the “sympathetic bond with the natural world.” We are out of balance, we have taken too much, and, as the above poem states, we have forgotten who we are.
Teddy: An understanding of ecopsychology in the coach makes a world of black and white somehow full of color; it widens and deepens the scope of her vision and fixes in place a mindset that allows for a more dynamic coaching style, a more beautiful way of living, and a sense of peace (through a more accurate understanding of the world) – all qualities which serve her own wellbeing, oher clients’ best interests, and our world.
Hi Teddy,
Thank you for your beautiful words! I find that sense of peace and beauty when I spend time walking with intention out in Nature. We are so fortunate to be doing this work and can’t wait for more. We all hold the knowing articulated by ecopsychology deep inside of ourselves. Thank you for painting the image of this concept.Deanna: As an outdoor educator and nature-connected coach in-training, I feel that I have been working on remembering that we are all interconnected the last few years, and I am noticing that it takes a lot of TRUST. Trust in our self and our connection with nature and great mystery. I am also noticing how conditioned my mind is to thinking that I might be “crazy” if I think I can listen and communicate with trees, birds, and Earth. This conditioned fear of “madness” is a product of the “old colonial-consumerist mind-set” that Linda Buzzell and Craig Chalquist refer to in Psyche and Nature in a Circle of Healing. In choosing the interconnected mindset over the “colonial mind-set”, we are choosing a new norm for the consciousness of our species (and ultimately directing the evolution of our species), and perhaps trust and surrendering will guide the way.
Hi Deanna, I so agree with your post. Building trust is such a work in progress! Trusting our instincts does sometimes feel we are “crazy” as you state. You used the word choice in your response. It is such an intentional act–choice, trust and surrender. Thank you for your wisdom!
