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Foundation 4 Cohort 21
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25 Replies
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Right now I feel like I don’t know what I don’t know because I haven’t worked with different kinds of people as a nature guided coach yet. I do have a lot of experience with a wide assortment of people from traveling and being in many different kinds of jobs to formulate characteristics and traits of clients I would like to work with in the future. I don’t think the age or group matter to me as much as who the person is in their life. I enjoy guiding people who take responsibility for where they are and who they are without needing to blame others for their behaviors and choices. Clients that are really ready to commit to making changes and have allowed the space in their life to do that is important to me as a guide. An understanding of SOUL and willing to learn to make decisions from that space is necessary to me as a guide. Populations for me that have come up over the course of my life have been military familes, children, 18-25 year olds, care-takers, moms, creators, people who live in other cultures or countries, and anyone called to serve others. Right now I see myself spending a few months in different areas such as California, Hawaii, and maybe Colorado or Idaho. I would plan to be outside of the country once or twice a year, so I see serving people via zoom and also scheduling them on the land when I am in their area.
It has probably been about 10 years since I wrote down in a journal, “Why can’t I do therapy on a walk?” That led me to being a hiking guide or part of a tourism industry in Hawaii, but I learned I would need to live in Maui to even be considered. At the time I owned and operated a small boutique gym in Palm Springs and there was a gentleman that ran hiking tours, and I thought that was really cool and gave freedom to be around the high tourism time and then you could take a break and travel. Basically a lot of work in a few months and then maybe a couple months off, and I liked that dynamic. In addition to that I have found from traveling and vacations that different parts show up and have a lot of guidance to offer you in terms of habits and new behaviors, but of course it can be hard to implement. I see this even now in incorporation coming home from the intensive, but thankfully we have support towards our vision, but someone coming off a vacation doesn’t. I am not sure what the structure of the coaching program would be but it could be in addition to regular clients. I love the idea of working with nature outside in this circumstance, but working through zoom also feels like I mode that works for my lifestyle.
I really enjoy partswork, and I feel like it helps to make decisions, so goals for future clients could be just making a decision. I have also spent a lot of time learning about relationships with intimate partners, siblings, friends, and parents and find all of that fascinating. Food and health have also been a big part of my life, specifically obesity and self-love for our bodies. I am not sure I would guide/coach kids struggling with obesity, but I would definitely love to help families make changes and provide information as part of my marketing. Getting kids outside is a strong reason for why a NATURE-connected coaching program was important to me. Getting people outside for their physical and mental health is a strong component for my coaching. I also feel the strong tug and pull of television and movies to be inside, so I greatly empathize. Movies and television also contributed to being at EBI. Nature for me is EVERYWHERE(around me, inside me, and outside of me), so my collaboration will be as well. Coaching outside is an added element of creativity in the threshold, but I believe it can be done inside as well. Ultimately being in touch with your SOUL is the space that helps people move forward and being outside helps that along, but all of us are doing our best to be seated in our SOUL moment to moment being outside or not.
The only place I have been interested in the program for awhile is Pacific Quest in Hilo, Hawaii. It takes 16-25 year olds I believe, and they incorporate therapy, hiking, farming, and bring in Hawaiian culture to the program. There is also an outdoor school in Idaho that is run for a variety of children, so I am interested to learn more about both of those programs. I could be interested just because the activities are all the things I would have loved to learn, but ultimately in my vision I see myself as a guide and also a teacher. Rachel pointed out that in the wilderness therapy program she works for they are outside and do a lot of climbing and hiking, but there isn’t an awareness of nature-connection related to their soul minute to minute or even daily and what that means for their life moving forward. I would like to bring that nature-connected awareness in relationship to Soul to help 18-25 year- olds gather adulting skills like being a parent, a spouse, a co-worker, take care of a house and car and finances, and care for their mental, physical, and spiritual health. It could really be for any age range, but I see myself gathering experts in those areas and delivering it in a 30-90 program. Nobody in my cohort watches television, but I going to put down the show-”Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” right here so I don’t forget. It is basically about real time transformation, so in a week they change their clothing, their house, their health, and do coaching sessions with them as well. It’s a show so we don’t know what changes stuck and which didn’t but its’ a group of people that have expertise in different areas, and I like the collaboration between all of them in service to the person they are working with.
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AMANDA!!!!
I really love how you have jumped “ALL IN” with your discernment process… Go Elpheba!!!!
I’m wondering , have you given any thought to collaboration as an independent contractor , with Air Force Families?
You clearly have a passion for kids and families and have a resonance and shared experience of the commitment that whole families make, and the sacrifices inherent to Military Life. You’ve lived it!! Not to mention, insider knowledge of whom you might contact for connection!!!
I also love your passion for integration and incorperation into daily life as one emerges from an immersive experience, whether it’s an internal or external Wilderness. I’m curious, as a guide- How do you see your role unfolding in supporting clients through this phase of the journey? Are there practical applications you are feeling called to explore?
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Finally getting around to Foundations 4 discussion with you, Amanda! I love reading your posts because they are so well thought out and authentic! Thank you for sharing yourself so fully with us!
So many things stood out to me, but the one I want to comment on the most is the concept that nature is everywhere and that you can help people (young adults) discover this for themselves. I can see you working with the 18-24 year olds, your playful spirit will be awesome for this age group (and anybody, really!). As you help people realize that nature is everywhere, gaining access to the calm, clarity, and peacefulness nature provides will be a huge asset to your clients!
You go sister!!!
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Thank you for this reminder that we are doing SOUL work. Something that not everyone is ready for but naming that there are people who are and they can be found in a variety of populations!
An inspiration that sparked for me while reading your post is the idea of going into wilderness therapy programs with an offering.. “I will train your guides to work with your clients on more of a soul level… and you will pay me to do it”. And talking to the guides about the importance of slowing down with clients and teaching them nature connection skills. Because the reality is that the clients in these programs spend most of their time with the guides who are often not the most experienced and sometime (depending on the program) have the reigns to do what they want with the clients. I love this idea!! Thank you for the reminder of SOUL connection and what we are doing here!
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Wow!
This discussion prompt seems to be so VAST! Honestly, it’s brought up some resistance, and kept me a bit stuck in my head, versus in the Soul Seat.
Initially, this was the working vision statement from my plan…
Vision Statement:
Reach Out, Reach in, Look up, Look ahead. Find your Path out and Rise Up.
The collaborative vision of Anam Treo is to create a sacred space for healing the whole: Mind, Body and Spirit. To fully develop and apply the client’s own innate intuition, using immersion into nature to understand the relationships of everything to everything else.
“If you bring Forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is in you, what you do Not bring forth will destroy you.”
-from the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas
The Clients that I am drawn to serve are as diverse as the question presented in the forum. For the purpose of discussion, they are these:
Who are we for?
We are Inclusive, diverse and forward-thinking souls. At Anam Treo we strive to meet our clients where they are on their own personal transformational journey. Our services extend hope to those suffering from the despair caused by a myriad of mental disorders and physical challenges including:
Eating Disorders
PTSD
Depression
Anxiety
Chronic Pain / Illness
Life Transitions (Divorce,Grief, Empty-Nest, Retirement
We also offer separate support services for Caregivers and Parents
Supporting Warriors from all Walks
Why am I drawn to this work? This Population?
It’s quite simply, because I have been this population. I know this despair. I also know what lies on the other side, and want it to remain my mission , for the rest of my life to help others find their way back to themselves and I know through personal experience that connecting to soul through connecting to Nature is elemental, and POWERFUL.
I imagine working with clients in the following ways:
1:1 Coaching services
Guided Group Hikes from short, day hikes to overnight backpacking trips
Retreats with complimentary providers ( therapists, spiritual practitioners, massage therapists, keynote speakers, artists, musicians)
Seminars
Some Common Categories of goals that I can forsee exploring within these populations are around;
Purpose, Self-Care, Identity, Relationships.
I imagine collaboration with nature in the form of ritual and ceremony, holding as much of the work as possible immersed in nature, upon the land.
From my own decades long experience with many different types of therapy and treatment programs and also extensive research in different realms, I have concluded that where a lot of programs and well meaning therapies miss the boat is with the Integration piece. Creating a container and an environment that has no support or substance once the supports have been lifted, because the client never OWNED the process they were walking through, a power dynamic had always existed, whether it was an insurance company, or a “system”. Walking beside the client as they integrate and providing reflection and celebration of successes isn’t the norm. Thinking eclectically, and outside the box isn’t the norm either.
Approaching the client with the perspective of exposing the inner ember that just needs the tending, the nurturing to catch and then BLAZE… isn’t the norm. It’s not the “problem” that is the problem. We’ve just forgotten HOW to see who we are. Forgotten how to look to see who someone is.
As Transformative Guides, we get to mirror that KNOWING back to People…How fucking cool is that?!
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I really love this Suez! I love the concept and care you have put into this vision thus far, and I can completely understand where you are going and how it works; it is very clear. Although I think nature-connected coaching can really cover a lot for an individual I am curious about your seminars and bringing other providers into the make up of that particular seminar. Do you have a list of the people you would use already or is that something you will be gathering along the way to the creation of this Vision. Also will you provide all your services to the populations you would like to work with or are you being specific in say, seminars for parent and caregivers, but daily hikes for those suffering from PTSD. I was curious as I create a more detailed vision if that is something to think about depending on the particular populations I would like to work with. Love it and its fucking cool.;)
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Thanks for engaging, Amanda and for this feedback!
I do have a list of providers that I am working off of… and its evolving and changing all the time. its ALIVE!!! some of them I am already working with, some have expressed interest in working together in some capacity, while others are strictly social media connections that I can see networking through and in tandem with.
I’m envisioning being led by the client as to what direction to tailor services based on their interest and level of health and stability. which is why I also envision a team approach.Especially initially… some of my services can be implemented as an add on, a compliment to an existing approach -to lead the client to the idea that the answers they are seeking…. are intrinsically within them!
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Suez! I love your vision. Your post screams inclusivity and wholistic healing wrapped in Love and support. I think you hit on something important and unique, and that is the integration / ongoing support for clients. This is such an important piece to create lasting change and you nailed it. As you continue to engage clients in accountability and integration, you will help transform so many lives. I’m wondering what specific nature connection practices you foresee using with clients to help facilitate transformation and healing?
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Sue,
I have to say that I feel like you are going to do such powerful work with people because of exactly what you said.. you have been through it and you have done (and continue to do) the work! It felt clear to me while reading your post the populations you want to work with and what you want to do with them!! I loved the clarity and deep knowing that I felt from your post. Thank you for getting clear and thank you for doing the work.
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Suez, once again the depth and clarity of your vision, and how developed your sense of what you are up to, inspires me. I agree with the others that your personal experience with these topics brings such richness and integrity to your vision.
I also came at this from places of resistance on multiple fronts. Thanks for modeling how it can be done anyway, lol.
I also love this: “Approaching the client with the perspective of exposing the inner ember that just needs the tending, the nurturing to catch and then BLAZE…” thus reminding the client HOW to see who they are and getting the privilege of being with them to tend this fire. Yes! Yes!
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Foundations in short, has changed the course of my life in very significant ways. My answer about whether coaching works is a resounding YES! However, a person must be ready to enter into a coaching relationship with me or really with anyone. Change is constant and coaching will shake homeostasis in concert with the coaching structure and skills we have been given and had prior to EBI. There is timing to create a relationship with a coach or client, so there is some trust that it is o.k. if the time is not now. The sales funnel is a real thing, and is very helpful for someone like me who waited three years. I am more than eternally grateful to be in this particular cohort with these particular mentors. My clients will need to be ready and will need to have the ability to be uncomfortable. A room always gets really chaotic and messy when you are trying to organize by pulling everything out putting like items together first (Yes, this is the first step to organizing and Marie Kondo has confirmed it.;) I imagine using parts work in this way of reorganizing a person’s life and priorities. Some things may no longer fit and they need to be repurposed or released. I think the most important part of my work with a client is making decisions in a seat of Soul. That is the place that we can hear our intuition and it is the place where we are never “wrong.” Making decisions is something we do daily as human beings, but many of them are automated, and this work allows us to slow down and drop into a space of clarity(soul) that can really propel our life forward if we follow it. We as coaches are the support, sometimes just the witness, and sometimes keep people accountable whether we know it or not. We might be the only support available or the person that can see all sides a little more clearly rather than being the client living in their situation.
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” I think the most important part of my work with a client is making decisions in a seat of Soul. That is the place that we can hear our intuition and it is the place where we are never “wrong.” “
AMEN!!!
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Hi Amanda! You provide such richness with your posts and I’m so thankful you give me so many things to think about and to respond to! I like the Marie Kondo analogy! It’s so true. I’ve noticed messiness and chaos in my own life since the last intensive and I like thinking of it in this way! I wonder what it’s like for you sitting with people in this discomfort and allowing and giving space for it? Based on my experience with you in the last fishbowl, you help the space for me to be uncomfortable and it helped me know that I will get through. Thank you!!!
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I see myself initially drawing upon my network, my former career experience, and all the work I’ve done through EBI as I begin my coaching practice. Having worked in the environmental and oil and gas fields for 20+ years, I personally experienced the challenges of working in male dominated industries as a female. So, when I think about coaching others, I initially see myself doing one-on-one coaching with women in male dominated businesses and industries and helping empower them to find their inner truth, lead with authenticity, and find and express their voice. I also see myself working with men in this capacity too. Equality is one of my core values and I want to see more women in leadership roles bringing balance to our current patriarchal system. I see myself working with people who are keen on personal development and growth, are seeking balance in their lives, and are looking for something deeper and more meaningful; people who are open to and curious about living soul-centered lives.
Since I’ve begun working with clients, I am seeing a pattern emerge with a common deeper need. The deeper need among many of my current clients is the need for self-love, the need to shed un-worthiness and fully love and appreciate themselves. Goals that arise through this space are centered on body image, perfectionism, being an over-achiever, and seeking outside validation. Some other categories of goals I could see my ideal clients working on are work / life balance, career satisfaction, authenticity, empowerment, growing self-confidence, and finding their voice. My offering to clients will be in the form of a monthly retainer, where they will get 2 sessions with me per month and also have access to me via text or phone call if needed, up to 30 minutes per connection. I will also be providing helpful articles and accountability support in my service offering. One of the two sessions each month will be on the land. Through conducting sessions on the land, I will introduce clients to a variety of nature connection techniques. I’m working on guiding the 7 stairs meditation/visualization to help clients connect to Soul, and also working on the 360-awareness meditation to help clients connect to themselves and the natural world. The ‘wander’ is another tool I use to collaborate with nature and help clients see the benefits and clarity they can get through allowing nature to guide them. Ideally, I’d like to support my clients in cultivating a daily habit of interacting with and being in nature. The biological benefits of this are enormous and the commitment to daily ritual is empowering.
I’ve found several life coaches whose focus is on empowering women, growing self-confidence, and helping people find their authenticity, their voice, and their inner truth. Empowered Women Coaching is owned by a woman who succeeded as a partner at a law firm, went on to be a senior executive at a fortune 500 company, and now runs a coaching practice that helps women. Fran Fischer Coaching is another life coach who focuses on helping people discover their true nature, their authentic self. Amy B Steindler is another life coach who focuses on women empowerment, personal growth, self-confidence, and communication skills. These are three coaches I found doing some brief internet searching that grabbed my attention. I know there are hundreds more. What I didn’t see with these coaches’ service offerings is nature connection to support the goals and aspirations of the client. I even searched on the key word ‘nature’ in the ICF directory, and it returned zero results! This was surprising. With the nature component missing from these three coaches, I see a huge opportunity to bring something different to this space and help people reconnect with their truest selves through deep relationship and connection to nature.
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Cynthia,
When I read the first paragraph of your post I got chills! I truly feel like you are meant to work with women in male dominated industries because you have experienced that! I love that you have this experience working in the oil and gas fields as well as welding! The women of this world need more empowerment and I see you as being one of those women who are going to help others find their voice. I love how the experiences in our life have brought us to where we are now and in someways it feels like we come back to them full circle.
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Wow, Cynthia! This is such a beautiful vision. I feel that, like Suez, you speak so clearly here because you know this territory intimately. Your expertise in the field, as a professional woman in male dominated arenas, and as someone with such a deep relationship to nature, will be an incredible gift within the coaching container.
Reading how explicit you are being with the practices like 7 stairs, 360 awareness, and wandering, as well as saying one session will be on the land and expecting daily commitment to nature and ritual – this is so direct! I’m inspired and a bit intimidated imagining that much direction… and I want to explore what this might look like for me.
I talked about a sense of “coming out” around my commitment to Soul, to Life, to a sense of the Sacred. This has been and continues to be edgy on a personal front. How you create expectations of and for your clients based on how you want to coach and your larger vision has me begin to imagine for myself what that might look like in my vision. What might I ask directly of my clients?
I come back again to how Michael requires Parts work from his clients… How does my sense of the clients I most want to work with shift if I get this direct and explicit?!
Deep gratitude for the inspiration!
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When I first think about who I may want to work with I think about someone who really wants it. I think about all the time and effort that I have put towards working with clients who don’t want it and how much energy that took. What I didn’t realize during that time is that I didn’t have to be putting that much energy towards them, yes to some degree that is my job, and I could have put more energy and focus towards the clients that wanted to be in the program and allowed the ones who didn’t some space. So this feels like the most important part for me.. working with clients who say the big YES!! When it comes to population I can see this being a wide range of ages and backgrounds. I am curious what might come to play when money is discussed. I hope to be able to work with clients who want it.. even if they can’t pay the full price and I am hoping that I am able to work with clients that I can charge the full price and some.. thoughts?
** Update ** After watching the last foundations call I was surprised that I have an ideal client! I think what helped me realize this was when I was answering the question, what do I not want in a client. There were things that I didn’t want and that helped me figure out what I do want! I feel called to work with women between 25-40 (I am flexible on age), passionate and eager to step into who they truly are, they believe change is possible and are seeking support and accountability, they are eager to change and motivated, and are willing to be human/raw/vulnerable.
I see myself getting excited about working with clients in person and especially taking them into nature. I love the idea of using the natural world as a container and providing them a space to feel a wide range of emotions. I would also love to set up sessions where I can send clients out on wanders.. possible with multiple clients and provide council and ceremony.. though this is something that I do in my personal time with my close friends and I would find it difficult to charge money for such a beautiful thing.. so maybe wanders one on one with clients. I would also be available for online sessions and would love to get clients that I could do regular one on one sessions with. I have also thought about the idea of mentoring young women.. I imagine it would also include wanders and nature connection, but I don’t know how coaching works with adolescents.. I am curious if anyone has tried coaching with young ones yet?
I imagine some common categories of goals would be wanting to gain specific feelings/ways of being from the session, wanting to make big life changes, wanting to have better relationships with people in their lives as well as themselves, wanting to follow dreams/visions, and seeking change internally and externally. I think about my own personal experience and how so much of my life was searching and seeking for answers, for ways to feel ‘better’, for mentorship (someone to talk to and understand/see me), for ways to come home to myself.
When I think about how I want to use nature to collaborate I think about this.. the clients have the answers inside of them.. to me this is such an important part to all of this. That the clients know. As a coach and even as a friend.. I see that there is such a power in trusting that the clients have the answers that they seek and it is our job to get them to see that! I feel passionate and excited about helping people connect to their internal nature. I also feel called to take people in wild nature, as far removed from society as possible, so they are able to slow down and feel the peace around them and to feel the peace within them. Slowing down and matching the baseline of the natural world feels important. I also enjoying reflecting the nature world as a mirror during the coaching session. What is the nature world doing during a coaching session and can that be tied in. Also, wanders are powerful ways for people to explore and adventure the nature world on their own. These are all ways I hope to tie nature into coaching.
Juniper Canyon Wilderness Therapy (JC) helped me realize the type of population that I want to work with. I had the opportunity to work at Legacy (the mens program) as well. There were several clients throughout my time working at JC who truly wanted to grow and change and was open to challenging conversations, ultimately it felt like they were saying yes to their lives!
Juniper Canyon implements wilderness into their program. They empower woman to learn skills to become self reliant such as bow-drill fire making, shelter building, backpacking, rock climbing and canyoneering, basic outdoor survival skills, and so much more! They also include wanders and well as Wilderness Rites of Passage into their program. I think something that they could implement into their program is slowing down. Because the program is an adventure based company, it isn’t often that there is much time for spaciousness or just being in the program. I believe this slowing down and allow spaciousness is one of the best ways we can learn what it’s like to be with ourselves and the nature world.
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I worked with my first practice client yesterday who was not a member of EBI. It felt like a challenge for me as a coach because it seemed as if all the client wanted to do was stay in the story. When we were able to hit on some of the deeper needs, it seemed as if he didn’t want to go there and continued to come back to story. The session seemed to stay in the severance phase as we circled around and around the deeper need. Something that I read in Amanda’s last post for foundations is, “My clients will need to be ready and will need to have the ability to be uncomfortable”. This feels crucial for me. I can see how coaching takes clients to deep places within themselves, connecting to the soul and other parts of themselves that they may have never explored before. I see how easy it is in life for people (and myself) to avoid these places within themselves because they are uncomfortable. I want to work with people who have a willingness to go to the uncomfortable places!
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Finally getting around to my summary/follow-up post! Foundations does seem like a while ago and I feel like I’ve grown as a coach so much since! And still I’m so excited to continue evolving and growing as a coach. I am starting to experience how this type of coaching is profound and life-changing! When I think back to the person I was prior to starting this program, I can barely recognize myself. That is transformation in process. As I continue to work these foundational concepts myself and with clients, I think about a few things:
Keeping it simple – At this point I think I have engrained the Severence-Threshold-Incorporation (the ceremonial arc) process into my coaching style in a way that is not linear. I keep an awareness of these parts of the process operating in the background, and really try to follow the clients lead. A continued learning edge for me it to stay with what is. Meaning, not try to push through the whole process just because I’m in love with Threshold experiences. This is a continued focus.
LISTEN DEEPLY – I love it when the coaching sessions are 90% client talking, and 10% me asking questions and reflecting. I think there is so much value in simply listening, and it’s not always so simple!
Laugh and be joyful – only when appropriate. But I do enjoy bringing a light touch if I can
Keep doing my own work! – This is critical and something that I feel deeply committed to!
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I love your post Cynthia, 90% client and 10% the coach. And listen deeply, for me that means from my soul, if I am not in Soul then I know for fact my client will not get 100% of me. Great post Cynthia 🙂
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When I think about coaching and or guiding others the first thing that comes to my mind is “Who” wants to see change, who wants to make a difference and who is willing to go the extra mile to do so. When I think about the population, anyone and everyone falls into this category. But here recently I have been thinking about high school graduates, kids about to go off to college and not know what they want to do, so they follow in family and friends footsteps. I believe if we can get in front of them and help guide them or coach them then they will figure out what “Their” medicine is in the world and that will make a big impact on the world today and not waist years not knowing.
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Jackie!
I totally agree with you that this would be a great group to get in front of!I’d like to hear more of your thoughts on this! About How you vision getting out in front of this demographic… and also, if you know of other organizations that are already working with young people in this demographic how you might collaborate within those organizations?
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I’m coming back to this very belatedly, here at the end of our program. Other than the discussion for Foundations 2, this has been a spot I have felt most resistant. Prior to EBI, every time I looked at how to start a coaching practice, the talk has been about niche, client avatar, very specific demographics, and so on. This has stirred up several different responses in me, including:: “Oh, no, I can’t promote myself because I don’t know who my clients are…” and “Screw that! I don’t fit in that marketing box!” and “How does that serve my Vision?”
A year later, I feel much more grounded in myself as a coach – I feel confident in my skill set and in my capacity to be of service to my clients. I also feel like I know myself much more fully (and have whole new toolsets to continue that exploration). From the dozens and dozens of sessions I’ve done, both with practice clients and with my own long-term paying clients, I do have a sense of who my ideal client is and a slowly growing peace with how that might look.
And, I want to feel into what I’m for again here.
My Evolving Vision:
My deeper Vision (as I see it in this moment) is to be part of weaving humans back into belonging with and to Nature, developing their connection to Soul, and living from a sense of the Sacred (ceremony, ritual, mystery, mythic and metaphoric language, story…), where purpose, resilience, and aliveness emerge from this interwoven connection.
My personal Mission is to bring all my skills, perspectives, and training to support people in this endeavor through:
Emotional, relational, and restorative practices for places of wounding that stand in the way of our ability to connect, know ourselves, and find connection.
Invitation to explore their bigness, their longings, visions, and intentions.
Effective coaching for making meaningful and sustainable change.
Mentoring, facilitation, and teaching in connecting to the natural world.
Facilitation, coaching, and teaching around creating personal ways to nurture a sense of the Sacred.Why is this work important to me?
I believe that inspired, connected people who deeply experience themselves as part of something beyond themselves will be able to participate in envisioning and creating a more beautiful, resilient, and sustainable world in which all life thrives.
What do I get from this?
I am lit up and fed by witnessing and supporting people in coming alive. It permissions me to be and express my own aliveness and purpose. I / they / we become the transmission of what that can be like. I get to engage my heart and Soul in the work that I do.
I get to be out in the natural world consistently, which feeds my soul (and body). I get to live as, and be, an example of how this can look. I get to make my core values and experiences explicit in my life – how I am in love with the world, my access to joy and wonder, my capacity to be with and hold intensity for myself and others, my experience of a life well-lived. And, I get to do all the practices and have all the experiences that I invite others into as part of my own life – indeed, I’m obligated to put into practice this work, to walk my talk and fully permission myself, not just others.
What I know about who I want to work with:
I want to be able to work with anyone, in any context, who wants to orient their life, purpose, and impact within larger circles of meaning and belonging and for whom I am a good match. I want to work with people who bring their heart and soul to their lives and who want to transform how they are in the world with that in mind.
Most likely, my clients are people over 30, who are able to meet their basic survival needs (or have been able to do so in the past), who are experiencing a new awareness or shift in how they understand their lives. They are likely at a turning point where they are ready for something more – deeper meaning and purpose, a way to both continue to meet their basic needs but to also be of service to others or to something beyond themselves, a desire to infuse their lives with new aliveness and joy. They may just be waking up, getting curious, questioning the ways that they or their community or our larger culture have been doing things.
Traits: curiosity, willingness to explore outside their comfort zone, enough ground in themselves that they can begin exploring beyond themselves…
I want to work with my clients on multiple levels. Sessions on the land, in the emergent and exploratory space, wandering in threshold. Healing sessions – where it is safe to feel deeply, where old ways of being can be moved through to make way for new. More practical sessions about measurable goals, action toward their intentions and vision. Larger imaginings, radical daydreaming. Parts work as part of awareness and choice and the integration of more of themselves as allies. Ceremony – as ways to inspire, invoke / evoke, and infuse intention and vision with passion and aliveness. Group practice – not sure what this looks like, but something that includes cultivating relational connection, witnessing, invitation, and celebration in community.
I also want to find, support, create, participate in, ongoing community with people at all levels of this exploration. What does it look like to create engaged, ongoing, integration in these arenas? To gather with others who are oriented to the deep Soul connection that is embedded in belonging to the living world? To not only have this be in a professional paid capacity or in the role of client, but to be an emergent collaboration of tribe, of fellow journeyers?
Reflections on how this work shows up elsewhere (other organizations and practitioners):
I have been involved with many organizations over the years. Outdoor education and adventure experience. Mindfulness and meditation work in relational space. Ceremonial sisterhood. Women’s groups. Transformational and awakening trainings. Nature (in the broadest sense – embodiment and nervous system, relational connection, the outside world, cycles and seasons, metaphors and more) and Soul have been present in all of them. Amazing threshold or peak experiences of growth and connection, of healing and catharsis, of imagining and being in contact with new ways of being self, community, and Spirit. All of these are phenomenal at this.
And almost every single context I’ve been involved in lacks a follow through that supports true integration and the co-creation of new ways of being and living and connecting. Once the program or experience is done, the money has been paid, that’s it. I want more. I want to help envision and create collective ways of carrying all gifts of transformational, nature and Soul connected experience into larger communal and cultural territories. I don’t want to do it alone. I want peers and kin. I want community that orients to Soul, to transformation, to belonging to Life, to work with to envision something bigger, that I can just begin to imagine.
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Summary:
I want to consider what it would be like to be as beautifully explicit as Cynthia in my work with clients. I want to ask them to explore Soul-centered practices (like 360 awareness, sit spot, gratitudes, journaling, wandering, vision council, pendulation, radical daydreaming, altars, parts work, ceremony, and so on) and choose one or two to commit to. I want local clients to agree to at least some sessions on the land. I want remote clients to spend time in their locale regularly. I want to be able to name Soul and nature connection as explicit aspects of the work my client and I will do together. And, I may need to move into this at an easy pace, the way I’ve been integrating parts work into sessions as it emerges naturally, and trust that as I live into all these things myself I will find the evolving way for them to become central.I want my coaching and guiding to be a path to right livelihood and service, to being an invitation to others by coming from my own Soul directed and nature connected way of being and belonging, but also an opening to a collective threshold for as many people as I can touch or be touched by, that leads to transformative change rooted in Life, and serves us all.
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I forgot to put this at the end of my post!
A nature and soul connected guide that seems very aligned with what I want to explore is SoulSkin Journeys (https://www.soulskinjourneys.com/offerings). I particularly like the range of offerings they have: shorter circles, one on one sessions, a 9-month deep dive, and support for those who are parenting adolescents.
Beautiful soul and nature connected language describes what they do:
- “remember our innate reciprocity with the Earth and our ecological kin”
- “connect with the wild world + soul, so you may re-member and weave your intimate belonging into the world”
There is a raw, revealed, and honest feel to the way and the why of what they do. Purpose centered, oriented within the framework of Ecopsychology, an invitation and challenge to drop in, show up, claim our wild essence in service to all. And strangely humble too – not all flashy and high-end, but natural and deep.
While some of the framing is a little stronger than I might use, the general approach not only feels deeply aligned but inspires me to find my unique way of naming what I’m for, what I’m inviting, and how I support others in soulful and life affirming ways. The approach of SoulSkin Journeys has me imagine more is possible than I thought. I want to do some journeying and wandering, some radical daydreaming and visioning, about what my version of this might be!
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