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Foundation One C23 Discussion
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45 Replies
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What does it mean to be connected to Nature, and how can that relationship support your coaching?
Being connected to Nature begins with a feeling of peace I have when I’m within nature. When I am awe-inspired, simply by my natural surroundings, I know I am connecting to something pure, timeless, and spiritual. I can lose a sense of time “without a care in the world” when I am paying attention to nature. When all my senses are tuned in and heightened, movements, colors, shapes, textures, temperatures, and sounds naturally cause me to drop into the present moment. I like the Alan Watts quote in The Way of the Wilderness: “You didn’t come into this world. You came out of it, like a wave from the ocean. You are not a stranger here.” To know this is to be connected to nature. To feel this and realize this is exhilarating and comforting. It’s a sense of belonging, as an element of nature itself, on and with this planet.
Being connected to Nature for me also means respecting nature, its lessons, and its mystery. Nature holds space for me, reassures me, and guides me. There is so much to notice within a simple few steps in nature, that I end up naturally slowing down because I want to drink it all in, and to know it intimately. I feel appreciative of the diversity of nature. Even the bone chill caused by a storm rolling in, or a swath of flies circling my head is curious to me. On our trip, I cultivated an amount of pure acceptance of some of the more challenging elements, which gave me a sense of surrender and deeper curiosity.
My relationship with Nature can support my coaching by integrating it, and having Nature be an active participant. With my deep trust of nature, I can invite its influence into my coaching sessions. I hope to inspire clients or groups to also trust nature. By incorporating sensory meditations, awareness practices, and activities like wandering into a coaching session, the seeds of awareness and lessons can be planted there. I will be able to encourage clients to create their own ideas of how nature can play a part in the coaching process. My personal connection with Nature will give me the confidence to guide my client towards surrendering to nature and its support.
Because I believe Nature is a “healing place”, I have trust in the concept of nature connected coaching. I love the thorough review the John Miles article gave of studies that premise wilderness as a healing place. I believe, as detailed, that nature can aid in self-confidence, encourage deep contemplation, improve physical well-being, improve social functioning, and support giving up control of ones environment. I have definitely experienced all these benefits from nature first hand, specifically (and most notably as it was my first real wilderness experience as a younger person) an Outward Bound trip I did in the Boundary Waters when I was just out of high school. Navigating group dynamics and challenging physical learning/execution, alongside contemplative, still moments (such as when soloing with only a few items alone for a night) contributed greatly to my awareness and contemplation as a younger person, and to the path I have taken in my life.
In the John Miles article, the description of Nature being something that feels “real”, the imaging of what’s underneath when civilization is stripped away, really resonated with me. Also that to be in nature is to enter a “flow” feels like the essence of what it’s like to be connected to nature.
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Lindsay – This was beautifully written. I love how you described your connection with nature – it really felt as though you were dancing through it as I was reading your post. I appreciate how you choose to integrate it into your coaching sessions, especially with the encouragement of your clients creating ideas of what they can do within the realm of nature to connect during your sessions.
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Lindsay – I could feel your appreciation, gratitude and peace for nature in your post. It really resonated with me when you mentioned the sense of belonging, as an element of nature itself. And I really enjoy the part where you say that being connected to Nature also means respecting nature; its lessons and its mystery. Often times, we, as humans, try to control situations in life and nature is the perfect teacher to learn to let go and surrender.
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<font face=”Times New Roman, serif”><font size=”2″>Lindsay,
I like your reference to Alan Watts in The Way of Wilderness:
“You didn’t come into this
world. You came out of it, like a wave from the ocean. You are not a
stranger here.” You then wrote “To know this is to be connected
to nature. To feel this and realize this is exhilarating and
comforting. It’s a sense of belonging, as an element of nature
itself, on and with this planet.” Gosh, I know exactly what you are
talking about. There are times when I am down and find myself
somewhere on my farm or in some other natural setting—not
deliberately having gone there to try to have a re-connection or to
deal with my issue—but it will hit me like a big gong going off: I
feel that sense of belonging and it is indeed exhilarating and
comforting. Then I realize that the connection has been there all
along at a soulful level and that it’s really the mental me that has
simply blocked it. Thinking about this now and how it relates to
what Michael and Daniel were telling us on the mountain, I realize
that the Nature-Connected state, with practice, can become constant;
the switch can be “On” all the time, even when we are not in a
pristine natural setting. After all—as we’ve said before—we are
Nature, and Nature is everywhere, even in the heart of the concrete
jungle. We just need to remember that connection is always there
within us. Thanks for bringing that out.
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What does it mean to be connected to Nature, and how can that relationship support your coaching?
I used to think that being connected to nature meant being outside while doing something that I loved – such as hiking, trail running, camping, etc. But over the course of our Foundations week, I was quickly reminded that being connected to Nature isn’t how much I move in it or how much I run in it, but rather, how much I fully appreciate it. It is about how much I let it teach me. For me and my active self, this is truly reflected when I force myself to slow down. When I sit down and let it teach me. When I sit down and simply observe. When I let nature take over and realize that I actually WANT to slow down, sit down and observe.
I never realized that being in nature was so similar to meditation. I used to think running and hiking quickly were meditative for me and in a way, they still are. But to really become connected to Nature, for me, it is sitting (somewhat) still and finding the peace and tranquility that comes as the mosquitos start flocking or the flies start biting. Each annoyance of nature comes with its own lesson and it is up to me to sit down and really listen to what it is trying to teach me.
When the swarms of mosquitoes were flocking in the forest, there was a cloud cover. When the cloud cover passed and the sun came out, there was a fawn, meowing next to me. When the mosquitoes came back, the cloud cover had replaced the sun and the fawn was gone. This cycle repeated enough to quickly learn that as annoying as the mosquitoes were, the annoyances would stop or I would still my mind enough to not notice them, and the fawn would appear. Annoyances can teach me just as much (if not more) as the joys I experience while in nature.
When on the ridge, in my sit spot, I would go with the intention of living in neutral amusement – where my baseline is at a neutral level and I am amused by anything that causes a rise or fall in the baseline. But as I sat there, happily thinking the words ‘neutral amusement’, the flies began swarming around me, buzzing around me faster and faster in a royal state of annoyance and disdain until I started flinging my arms and legs to get them to stop. This made me realize that it felt much better to move around in my area, which turned into me rolling in the dirt among the sagebrush, giggling happily and finally, FINALLY feeling one with nature, in which I could sit still or roll around or look up at the world as if I was a wildflower and feel incredibly giddy, not even noticing where the flies were (even though I feel as if they were still flying around me in circles) but (actually) not caring at the same time.
The idea of neutral amusement and the actual feeling of neutral amusement are two very different things. The idea of connecting with nature and the actual, wondrous feeling of that connection are two very different things for me. Remembering to take that feeling into the present moment and keeping that connection through everyday life stresses is true connection in my eyes. And taking all of this into coaching is the only way that I can imagine helping empower clients through nature. By allowing that feeling of nature connection to enter into the present moment at any time, no matter if you are around 200 people in a line on the 4<sup>th</sup> of July or on a paddleboard in the middle of a lake – but being able to find that connection at any time and in any place….remembering that nature is always there – no matter where you are.
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Joy – I love the awareness that you have! Knowing that you WANT to slow down, sit down and observe. I feel “sit still” is a big one for you and you’ll become a master at it.
Meditation IN NATURE is the best! no need to have one or the other, you can have both 🙂
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</style><font face=”Times New Roman, serif”>Joy,
you hit right on what I was writing about in my recent comment to
Lindsay when you wrote, <font size=”2″>“</font>Remembering
to take that feeling [of nature connection] into the present moment
and keeping that connection through everyday life stresses is true
connection in my eyes. Yes! I think that is the goal for us going
forward, to learn to maintain a constant conscious connection to
Nature 24-7, where it becomes a way of life, a way of Being. I also
chuckled at your concept of ‘neutral amusement’ in regard to baseline
changes. Ha Hah! What a great way to deal with flies and mosquitoes!
Thanks for your post! </font><title></title><style type=”text/css”>
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Your statement “…being able to find that connection at any time and in any place…” really resonates for me. Embodying nature as a way to move through life. Embodying the energy of a tree, trusting our roots to keep us grounded as we weather a storm tearing at our branches. Inviting in hummingbird to take in the sweetness of life. Or gliding through the skies like an eagle, getting a higher perspective. The connection is always present.
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What does it mean to be connected to Nature, and how can that relationship support your coaching?
I always loved nature without really knowing WHY it was making me feel so good. I’ve also always dreamed about having classes outside and remember enjoying doing my homework in the backyard whenever I could… I’m all about having fun, playing, experimenting as mentioned in the Coyote’s guide book.
After our intensive week I realized what being connected to nature really meant; taking the time to slow down and to listen.look.feel. I’ve been doing that all along without being conscious of it or without being able to explain it to others. What we call “the sit area” is the equivalent of what I call “my happy place”; a quiet place where nobody is around, where I have wide angle vision with a feeling of expansion and where I am surrounded by trees (bonus if there are birds and water nearby!)
Trees have a really deep meaning for me. They represent the connection, the community that I’ve always been craving. Trees are all unique and beautiful in their own way… they all have imperfections (scars, knots, burls…) just like humans and it doesn’t remove any of their charm (in fact it adds more charm!). They all have something to offer and it’s all together that they can survive and support each other. Humans, just like trees, need to stay grounded and adapt to the environment if they want to thrive in life.
As John Miles described in the article “Wilderness as a healing place” there are many benefits of wilderness and with our modern lifestyle we definitely need contact with nature to be fully functioning humans on a physical, mental and spiritual level. I feel this is definitely something that I want to implement in my coaching.
Having a chemistry background and coming from the corporate world, I can see the stress and high pace of this environment and thus the need for connection with nature. I, myself, feel stressed and overwhelmed often and I want to be able to help others that go through the same feeling. I am leaning towards coaching the corporate world and bringing them into “my nature world”.
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Hi Ceci! I love what you wrote about the trees and how you mentioned their imperfections (just like humans) but also how those don’t remove their charm (and adding more instead). What a beautiful insight. I also appreciate how you mentioned that they all have their own unique offering and they need each other for survival (just like humans).
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Hi Cecile! I too loved your speaking of the trees. I had such a vivid picture in my mind of a varied forest with all its textures, knots, cracks beauties and imperfections. Like people, standing side by side. Grounded, reaching, living, dying, swaying, communing, inhabiting Earth together. So many metaphors in nature!
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Bonjourrrr, Cecile–I, too, and drawn to trees and loved your reference to them, which reminded me of the beginning of a Ram Dass quote I’ve always liked:
“When you go out into the woods, and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree…”
Allowing and appreciating nature and all of life. . .Thanks so much for your post!
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What does it mean to be connected to Nature, and how can that relationship support your coaching?
We live in a culture of doing. “Busy” and “Tired” are the currency of worthiness. When someone asks “How are you?”, answers of busy and tired get you into the club. They imply that you’re properly focused on keeping your task list full beyond completion and following the approved cultural script for worthiness. What a lie!
Ugh. Just describing that makes me feel icky and twitchy.
A connection to nature is a connection to Being, rather than Doing. We are nature. Even a moment of true connection to the natural world puts us in touch with a true part of ourselves. It reconnects us to a resonant frequency and quiets the dissonance created from navigating the lie. True connection heals.
As a coach, being aware of the power in a moment of connection, in a threshold experience, and being capable of holding space for that client experience is a beautiful gift we can provide our clients.
In my own practice, I’ve seen how impactful the connection can be. As I’ve been writing, one experience keeps hovering in my awareness. A woman in her 20s was dealing with a lot of anxiety. She described it as “spinning out”. We stepped outside and she sat down and placed her bare feet in the grass and started taking some deep breaths while feeling her feet on the ground. I watched her energy start to shift from the moment her feet hit the ground, as she came back into herself with each breath. When she stopped, I could see the difference and she talked about how different she felt, calmer. My personal experience at Gunnison also reflects the profoundness of nature connections. I came down that mountain a different person than the one that went up.
As a coach, expanding the depth and breadth of my own nature connection will build the capacity to help guide clients through their own experiences. I’m reminded of a saying, though I don’t know who said it and am probably misquoting it. “Nature accomplishes everything.” The context was that nature gets everything done but doesn’t require a frenetic schedule, a long to do list or exhaustion to do so. Nature works from a place of Being, not Doing, and everything gets done with more ease and beauty and flow that our task lists could ever provide.
Being connected to nature means valuing ourselves and the earth first. It means valuing our inherent worthiness first then acting from that place. We are living with the results of Doing being most valued. The result is a world full of toxins, an ocean full of plastic and a food system full of products but little nourishment. Shifting our value system will happen one person at a time until we reach a tipping point that reorients everyone to a connected place of Being.
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I found myself saying YES at the end of each of your paragraphs! 😉 What you described regarding the “busy & tired” culture and the repercussions of a society that operate from a place of Doing instead of Being are exactly why I am taking steps to change my way of living. Being back in the US just three years, this past year helped me recognize how I was already succumbing to that culture, and that is not how I want to live my life. As I make these changes, I am grateful to learn from the journeys of everyone in our cohort, and prepare to guide others on a similar journey! Thank you for sharing your perspective.
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I was struck by the image of the woman with her bare feet in the grass. That her energy calmed to groundedness. The very act of bodily contact to the Earth shifted her into the Being-ness you described (which I loved!)
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Hi Toni. Couldn’t agree more to what you said about this society DOING more than BEING. The feeling of needing to be busy and overwhelmed to show that you are “on track” resonates so much with me. And it is absolutely true that nature gets everything done the way it is supposed to, on its own time so why can’t humans do the same?! Thank you for sharing your perspective.
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Toni–I really connected with your post and the desire to shift to more being instead of doing. A teacher of mine recently said something like: “Humans were not designed to just be productive. . .” and that stuck with me.
I particularly resonated with your statement that “Nature gets everything done but doesn’t require a frenetic schedule, a long to-do list, or exhaustion to do so.” and loved your reference to doing with ease, beauty, and flow. This is what I am trying to do in my life; thanks for the inspiration!
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<font face=”Calibri, sans-serif”>I have
tried to think back to my earliest conscious experiences of being
truly connected to Nature. One event when I was about 7 or 8 years
old comes to mind. It took place on the Mississippi Gulf Coast where
my grandmother lived. Most summers my little brother and I were
shipped off there from our home in New Orleans because of an
extremely dysfunctional home life. My grandmother’s property was
about 4 acres in size and was situated right on the shores of the
Gulf of Mexico. The house (they called it a “cottage”; it was
listed on the National Register if Historic Places as were most of
the other houses along that stretch of coast) sat back from the water
but there was a good view of the water. Behind the house was a
smaller structure that reputedly had at one time been either slave
quarters or an ice house, maybe both over time, depending on who you
talked to. That little cabin is where we stayed when visiting my
grandparents. So we had pretty much free reign of the place when we
were there, only being called into ‘the Big House’ mostly for meals
and socializing. We were allowed to walk down to the beach to a
neighbor’s pier to fish. I loved to fish and I spent countless hours
on the end of that pier. The experience I’m about to relate took
place when I was alone one morning at the end of the pier just before
sunrise. I had baited my fishing pole and was sitting quietly at the
end of the pier, looking south, out to sea. The sea was calm and
flat. When Sun’s rim first peaked over the horizon my attention
turned to the east. I remember to this day the orange glow of Sun
washing over me as it grew higher and higher above the horizon. It
was huge! I could feel it’s warmth, and I remember being surrounded
in such a still, sacred silence. I felt changed at that moment. I
felt I was being bathed in Peace. It was as if Sun was telling me “I
am here with you; all is well; there is more to this life than you
know.” The image is to this day crystal clear in my mind and I have
never forgotten that experience. </font><font face=”Calibri, sans-serif”>So for
me, being connected to Nature is different than having contact with
Nature. Nature Connection is much deeper than simply inserting
oneself into a natural setting. There has to be an interaction with
Nature that takes one to a deeper level than just physically being
there. Nature connection is </font><font face=”Calibri, sans-serif”>a
collection of feelings, a
state of being; not a bag of
outdoor activities. It is characterized by feelings awe and reverence
for the world around us. Some would go so far as to say there is a
divine component to it.</font><font face=”Calibri, sans-serif”>All
of us are naturally connected to Nature; it’s our birthright. But
the “use it or lose it” principle applies here. The demands of
modern urban/suburban culture take many of us away from any kind of
meaningful interaction with Nature. For many of us, our inherent
link to Nature wastes away from lack of use. This is where NC
coaching comes in. Through a collaboration with Nature, along with
transformational guide work, we as professional life coaches are able
to help rekindle the inherent spark of nature connection which lies
dormant in so many of us. Once that flame is re-ignited, we can
point out to our clients the way toward finding answers in Nature.
In the process, we promote self-confidence and self-reliance. It’s
like opening a new doorway for the client to pass through. In this
way, the Nature Connected coach is more than just a coach; he/she
becomes a tranformational guide.</font><font face=”Calibri, sans-serif”>The
beauty of the Nature-Connection coaching model is that it applies to
any type of professional coaching because in all cases the client is
guided to find their own answers, to make their own changes, through
nurturing a deep connection with Nature.</font><title></title><style type=”text/css”>
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John,
I love how you mention nature is out natural birthright, and the use it or lose it. What truth! When I am out of my practice of nature connection I notice how my connection to the external slowly fades, and a deep sense of sadness or longing comes through.
In your post I see/hear a responsibility to nature that many have discarded.
Thank you for sharing your summer childhood and how transformational those experiences where for you.
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Hi Hannah, I enjoyed your post. It’s so true what you say about everything in the ‘container of nature’ (“birds, trees, plants, bugs”) start to become more a part of your awareness, and: “They seem to share information and come at the perfect timing to share its wisdom and lesson…”. Isn’t that the truth?!! Perfect timing, indeed! It’s almost spooky how that works; uncanny.
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Hi John,
What a beautiful memory, thank you for sharing. It sounds like in its own way, that moment with the rising sun was a threshold experience. How powerful to think that a threshold type experience of a young boy can persist into adulthood! I find this really inspiring when I envision working with youth. What you wrote regarding the “lost it or use it policy” really resonates with me – I saw that as a teacher, as I imagine you did during your days in outdoor ed. I appreciate the way you described coaching as a way …”to help rekindle the inherent spark of nature connection which lies dormant in so many of us.” This is key. Thank you! You always have the way to phrase things. (I still have the note with the definition you gave during fish bowl!)
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I will always capitalize Sun after reading this. Beautiful. Thank you. …I too hope, as a guide, to rekindle my client’s inherent nature connection they may have lost or never realized. And to open their minds and hearts to all the wisdom and support that can result from connecting with and listening to Nature.
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Hi John! Thank you so much for sharing your childhood memory about watching the sunrise while fishing. What an amazing experience and recollection at such a young age! Your writing is amazing and as I was reading it, I was right there with you and I could observe this sunrise through your eyes and still feel the warmth on my skin… just marvelous. Through your words, you took me back to Gunnison watching the sunrise on top of the ridge… especially this one morning when I was surrounded by sacred silence and a hummingbird just showed up in front of me, I had to pinch myself to make sure I was not dreaming. This is definitely the power and connection of nature and us being one 🙂
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Sorry about the format garbage in my post. Not sure how that happened; it didn’t show up on my original. Next time I will change my font…
It was good to read all of your posts. Toni, I love your first paragraph describing the status quo in mainstream America. That’s what we’re up against, but it feels good to be on a path that addresses that situation, one person at a time as you say.
Cici, I like what you say about trees. I love trees, too. I often go up to a tree and put my cheek and ear up against it. There’s a stoic energy there, like Tony says, “nature gets everything done but doesn’t require a frenetic schedule, a long to do list or exhaustion to do so.” Trees just do their thing, quietly and without complaint. I am fascinated by their ability to go dormant for months out of the year. Even more by the ability of seeds to be dormant for years!
For what it’s worth, my take on the John Miles article Wilderness as Healing Place is that activities designed to be conducted in a natural setting would most likely fall short if practiced in a gymnasium, meaning that the success of those activities when performed in Nature is directly attributable to being tuned into Nature itself, not the content of the activity.
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Apologies on being so late in this discussion… better late than never 🙂
What does it mean to be connected to Nature, and how can that relationship support your coaching?
Each individuals connection to nature is so different, which makes this relationship especially special. It is a place to drop into a “being” rather than a “doing” state. A timeless place that helps guide your nervous system back into rhythm and connection with the natural external environment. In this timeless place, I am more able to appreciate and see the subtle beauties of life. A sense of deep fulfillment, happiness and feeling that I am always supported by the container of nature.
Birds, trees, plants, bugs all start to become more apart of my awareness. They seem to share information and come at the perfect timing to share its wisdom and lesson. It seems like time and movements start to slow down, my eyes focus on the present. A deep curiosity about what is happening around me. Breathing becomes fuller, smells more potent, vision more vibrant, sensations more sensitive. The feeling of aliveness sweeps over. Awhhh I am home…
As Jon Young mentions in the Coyote Guide book ” We miss much more than just the cries in nature. Children grow up not noticing the beauty of a robin song in the morning, or the fragile first flowers of spring. Grownups walk through streets blind to the hawks soaring majestically overhead, or the fox tracks lacing the back alleys with stories. The oils and clouds stop speaking to our imagination and the paths to the streams and forrest get overgrown.” Without nature, what do we have? This quote shows me how important it is to have respect and communication with the outside world. We are made of earth, from the elements. Earth is like a mother. My connection with nature reflects the connection with myself. If I am feeling lost inside, going into nature to help guide the answer. Nature provides everything, it is limitless.
My relationship with nature can support my coaching by being the neutral container of endless possibilities. A place of inner discovery that is found by the client. With nature always by my side, a trust worthy side kick, the trio of nature, the client and a guide makes the perfect team to unlock inner gems of a clients healing journey.
The more connected I am with nature, the deeper I can connect with a client and their current experience of life. Guiding them to the other side of what current matters have appeared on their plate.
“First and foremost, guiding like Coyote requires that you get to know the people you mentor. You have to watch carefully for what will capture their curiosity, engage their natural gifts, and challenge them in ways they can handle in their own personal learning journey. Look for their edges, the edge of their comfort zone, the edge of their awareness. Then, stretch and pull them to a new edge, and then another, deeper and deeper into a sense of comfort and kinship with the wildness of the natural world. “
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Hi Hannah!
Thank you for sharing your beautiful connections. I appreciate you pointing out the “being” vs. “doing” state – this is huge for me, as someone who has learned to operate from a very mental state of doing, nature is what helps me drop back in to…me. “We are made of earth, from the elements. Earth is like a mother.” I completely agree with this and link it with the quote from the Coyote Guide you shared about kids growing up without that realization…it simultaneously breaks my heart, and drives me forward on this path of guiding kids to recognize and maintain their natural born connection. I remember you also sharing a bit about youth being part of your vision and I am excited to see how kids might be part of yours as well!
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Your writing is beautiful. It left me a little speechless. I felt a deep sense of calm as I read your description of nature as a “timeless place”. Calm and also a sense of weightlessness, like you released me from the burden of time and I could just be. Amazing.
I’m struck by the beauty of nature being a “neutral container of endless possibilities” and a “trustworthy sidekick”. It all speaks Truth.
Thank you for your beautiful words.
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I love “Nature provides everything. It is limitless.” I love the comfort you express with nature as a side kick, and that the trustworthy trio of client, guide, and nature are the perfect team! I feel that too so strongly! Thank you for verbalizing!
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Nature connection is what led me back to my Sit Spot the second time. First I had to pee, I wanted to get there fast, and my brain tried to analyze where it was located based on that Aspen or this fallen branch. It was not until I slowed down and tuned in to my center and to the forest around me, that I walked straight there.
Nature connection is quieting my mind and slowing down, where “slow” does not refer to time but rather to the full sensory awareness of each step, each sensation, each emotion, and the energy encompassing it all. I think his is what Harper means when he speaks of experiencing the world through senses, not through mental interpretation. It is a deep sense of trust in Mother Nature, la Pachamama. Trusting that when we listen to her, she will guide and provide. It is this trust that led me to a job offer that seamlessly merges working outdoors with kids and non-profit management. During Foundations, my logical brain was pitting these two paths against each other as competing commitments. Nature whispered to me, “be patient, it will come.” And so I trusted, and so it did.
Nature connection is living in alignment with my inner knowing, with my values and beliefs, and with nature. In Wilderness as a Healing Place, Miles writes, “…People are bombarded with diverse information and demands and are often unable to do what their environment requires of them as well as what they desire.” To me, living life from a place of deep nature connection is the antidote to this bombardment. Through strengthening our inherent connection with la pachamama, we are gifting ourselves permission to live in integrity with our true self.
Being connected to nature is surrendering to her, recognizing I am part of her and not a separate entity from her. As Harper says in The Way of the Wilderness, “We are nature, we do not have nature.” This is critical for me. Modern society is built on the premise that humans should control the natural world for profit. I believe that to cultivate a thriving, sustainable society, a drastic shift needs to happen in our culture – and that shift is one of returning ourselves to Nature. Like written of Coyote in the Coyote’s Guide, we need to be “the one who breaks ‘out-of-the-box’ of our cultural conditioning to see things anew.” As Richard Louv mentions, youth mimic what they observe in adults, so it takes both a shift in adults and in how we educate youth.
This is where I see nature connection and coaching merge into a powerful change agent. Not only can my own evolving connection with nature support me in showing up as my best self for my clients, but also I can guide others to find their true voice through the support of their own nature connection. I think Harper says it perfectly: “When we are truly willing to step into the looking glass of nature and contact wilderness, we uncover a wisdom much larger than our small everyday selves.” And when people tap into their inner wilderness through nature connected coaching, they also are strengthening their own personal connection with nature. And when we begin to live from this place, change will ripple out.
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Sara–Really enjoyed the idea of slowing down to tune into your center and come into full sensory awareness (literally coming to our senses!). I also appreciated the reference to Pachamama. I first learned that term while on a trip to Peru 12 years, and I remember the people’s appreciation for and reverence for nature so vividly, because it was so foreign to me. “Why would you “waste” all that good candy and flowers in a ceremony?” was my naive wondering. . .Needless to say I have a different perspective now!
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Summary Reflection
I’m reflecting on the concept of nature connection through the lens of this last week in my life. Last weekend my father called me from the ER. He’s been in and out of the hospital since. As his primary caretaker, his health issue activated the thread in my life that’s connected to him as “caretaker”. This activation pulled me into a whole web of complex issues and people in his life that I was previously unaware of but am now connected to.
Shifting my perspective outside, my thoughts are drawn to the tendency to see nature as trees, plants, animals, weather – things that can be seen out our windows. This tendency misses the most profoundly intricate connectivity in nature – the soil beneath our feet. The vast mycorrhizal network beneath our feet is like a invisible communication super highway, creating connections between all the things we see out our window. The trees are not individuals, existing on their own. They are each part of a vast network of organisms working in relationship to each other, providing support and sharing resources so everyone thrives. Each new tree that sprouts joins the network. Each tree that dies feeds the network. Its all connected. Nothing in nature stands alone. Nothing in my family stands alone.
My family is a reflection of nature. Nature is a reflection of my family. As above, so below. As within, so without. Connection exists at all levels, even if we’re unconscious of it.
As a coach, bringing awareness of this interconnectedness to our clients’ is an important part of the process. Every shift we make, changes the agreements our relationships are based on. We can invite people into a new relationship with the new person we’re becoming, but we can’t force them. In my personal experience, I’ve chosen to end relationships because I was no longer willing to be the person the relationship agreement required me to be. And those choices rippled through my life web, touching every person connected to the relationship. Our clients will be faced with similar choices and challenges as they embark on their journeys. As a nature connected coach, we can support this aspect of change by inviting them into nature based experiences that they can then carry with them as a navigate the changes in the web of their life.
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Hi Toni,
Thank you for sharing vulnerably about your father. I hope that he is healing well.
I appreciate your connection between your family and the interconnected weave of roots below. This past week or so in my sit spot, I’ve been struck numerous times by the notion of trees rising up out of the earth as a messenger and the ways they intertwine and communicate below our feet. Then I got on today to do some writing and led to your post – powerful, thank you.
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<div>SUMMARY POST – Nature Connection can be defined as an interaction with Nature that takes one to a deep level of awareness that is free from the normal(?) everyday mind chatter we all experience. It is a state of being characterized by feelings of awe and reverence, free from the steady stream of technological distractions that modern life has become. As John Miles put it in Wilderness As Healing Place, to connect with Nature is to “… tap a spiritual dimension of the human experience…”. Or as Theodore Roszak has said, a connection with wilderness “…abandons the office, the city, the clock in favor of a setting that more closely corresponds to the natural habitat that has always been used by traditional cultures for healing the troubled soul.” (T. Roszak, Preface to Steven Harper, The Way of Wilderness). Nature Connection re-awakens a component of self which in most of us has long laid dormant.</div><div>
Gary Snyder, quoted by Steven Harper in The Way of Wilderness, has written that “… a culture that alienates itself from the very ground of its own being–from wilderness outside (that is to say, wild nature, the wild, self-contained, self-informing ecosystems) and from that other wilderness within–is doomed to a very destructive behavior, ultimately perhaps self-destructive behavior.” We see the signs of this every day; our self-destructive behavior is catching up with us. But we cannot heal the planet until we heal ourselves. This is where we as Nature-Connected coaches/guides come in; through our own connected relationships with Nature, we have the knowledge and tools necessary to lead others toward a deeper, more soulful interaction withe our Earth Mother. In the process clients learn to cultivate their own connected relationships with Nature in order to find answers to the deeper questions confronting them in life and to heal long-buried emotional scars. They develop a more spiritual connection to Nature. As a natural result of this transformation our collective relationship with Nature and our planet–the only home we know–will begin to change for the better.
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What does it mean to be connected to Nature, and how can that relationship support your coaching?
Leading up this program, I reflected on the role of nature in my own life and the meaning of nature connection. I often found myself coming back to language related to safety, support, and connection. Safety from the tumultuous challenges I faced within the four walls of my childhood home. Support to sustain and persevere in this life. And, connection to something larger and more meaningful.
I know those experiences and the connection I have with nature are both why I am here today — in both a very real, physical sense — but also here in this NCC program. Our time in Gunnison and the time since have helped me start to clarify my “why” through a deeper understanding of my connection to nature and how I can use that connection to support my coaching.
To me, nature connection is innate to our being and who we are. Yet, our day to day experience often feels in conflict with that very being, creating distance and distraction from nature. We do not exist separate from nature, but rather a part of it. While these ideas seem obvious to me now, experiencing them firsthand in Gunnison unlocked the potential for both mental and spiritual exploration and transformation.
I was, admittedly, somewhat surprised at how prominent the spiritual connection was over the course of my time in Gunnison. Spirituality is not something I have explored in the years since growing up deeply embedded within the Catholic Church. As I went off to college, I turned away from the church and what it represented, declaring it personally unwanted and unnecessary. But, in that process, I turned away from a spiritual connection and a set of beliefs that were a grounding force in my life.
Over the course of our time with Gunnison, I felt both a reconnection with nature and a clarified connection with its spiritual energy. In the “Way of the Wilderness,” Steven Harper quotes Alan Watts who says “You did not come out of this world. You came into this world, like a wave from an ocean. You are not a stranger here.” While this quote closely represents my feelings and experiences, I have struggled with how to think about this spiritual connection and experience in a nature connected coaching context.
In reading Miles’ “Wilderness as a Healing Place,” I began to recognize how and why this spiritual experience could support my work with clients. Miles discusses the Jung archetype of the Sacred Space and applies it to nature and wilderness experiences. He describes the Sacred Space as a “place pervaded by a sense of power, mystery, and awesomeness” which undoubtedly matches my own experience in life (and, in the mountains outside Gunnison). He goes on to describe how “implicit in the archetype is the concept of transformation and change.” Even if the spiritual dimensions of nature connection are unspoken with coaching clients, I believe there is power in finding ways to mutually recognize and experience nature and our connection with it as a Sacred Space that can help prepare our clients for meaningful change and transformation.
While I believe nature connection is innate to our very being in a deeply spiritual sense, it requires an active effort to reconnect. Nature connection implies action. For me, it is not a passive act. It requires clear and deeply rooted intentions. It requires a deep attunement and broader awareness than we typically bring to our everyday experiences. The active orientation of connecting and reconnecting with nature is core to what I seek to apply with coaching clients. Change and transformation does not emerge simply because you recognize a need. Setting intentions. Following through on those intentions are all lessons from nature connection that I can apply to coaching.
Separate from what I view nature connection to be and separate from what I believe nature connection requires, I believe nature connection reveals an infinite number of lessons and metaphors that can be used to push myself and my coaching clients forward.
For me, one of the clearest revelations from a deeper connection with nature are the benefits of slowing down our senses to the pace and speed of the natural world around us. I am often — and I know this is not unique to me — moving at a speed that does not allow me even the slightest opportunity to experience my emotions, feelings, and thoughts in any meaningful way. Reconnecting with nature means reconnecting with a pace that has been lost amid the flurry of our endless, day to day stimuli. It is through this more natural pace, this more natural attunement and awareness, where we can truly hear what is important to us, to truly listen to and connect with our why.
In summary: I believe nature connection is core to who I am and who my clients are and will become. It is not some separate connection that needs to be developed but rather an existing connection that needs to be strengthened. But, strengthening that connection requires effort and action. And, through that action and effort, our reconnection with nature reveals an endless array of lessons. Most notably for me over the past few weeks: the benefits of moving at nature’s pace rather than some artificial pace imposed by the pressure’s of the world around us to continue to hear and listen to our why.
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I’ve been putting off writing a “Summary” for Foundations 1 because my logical brain was grappling with which content falls under the category of Foundations 1. It was trying to filter by chapter and by day and by pages of notes in the Handbook.
Excuses. I’m avoiding something.
As Toni pointed out so eloquently, “nothing stands alone.” Part of my journey in this work, both personally and in my work with clients, is to shift out of my tendency to compartmentalize and look at things with a duality mindset and move towards expanded awareness. This morning I practiced some of my own nature-connected rituals and, sitting under the shade of a Saucer Magnolia, drew a tarot card asking for guidance in intention this next moon cycle as I settle into the next phase of my life here in Oregon. The message was loud and clear: Expansion. My first reaction was a grimace. What does “expansion” really mean, anyways? And then I realized, the answer lives inside the question. Expanding my understanding of expansion to include multiplicity. Embracing the gray area. Being ok with living in the unknown. Exploring what expansion feels like and means to me. A mentor once encouraged me to “live out the question.” And that is what expansion is about for me right now.
Once I recognized that, I dove back into the content. I realized how I was avoiding digging into the concepts because I was focused on the duality of right and wrong as opposed to the multiplicity of understandings that might exist. Dream vs. vision, coaching vs. therapy…I don’t need to have the perfect definition or explanation or understanding to move forward. I can live out the question and continue to expand my meaning-making. In a coaching session with my mentor last week, she pointed out to me how Vision can be all the things I was speaking of, they do not have to be conflicting parts.
And so to act on my intention, I offer here a messy, evolving blurb of my understanding of myself as a NCC that will exist somewhere in my disclaimer (maybe):
As a Professional Nature-connected Coach I partner with nature to ask the questions that unearth your deeper needs and guide you toward greater self-awareness and connection with your true inner voice. I believe you are the expert in your own life and know that you can discover the answers within your own inner wilderness. We ground in the present to ask what is possible, and tap into your deeper wisdom and creativity to bring it to light.
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Sara–Love your description of your coaching. I’ve been struggling to come up with language that I think adequately describes what we are aiming to offer. Appreciate this as a launching point!
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Summary post. My takeaway from Foundations 1:
The foundations 1 learning module (and true introduction to the NCC course!) validated me, sparked giddiness and excitement in me, and gave me confidence to continue living on the path to fulfilling my evolving Vision. From being on the land – practicing with it, meditating within it, and learning from it – to having the great pleasure and honor of sharing the experience with other people who share my passion and curiosity, was truly a gift. It inspired confidence in my journey, and a stronger personal empowerment resulted from the shared interpersonal connectedness with my teachers, mentors, and fellow students.
I have gained a clearer understanding of what a coach/client relationship can look like in a collaboration with Nature. I have learned that my role is to guide, to empower, and to assist in my client’s own ability to cultivate growth and positive actions and feelings/beliefs moving forward. I realize how important it is that I believe in my client’s innate strength and intelligence to help themselves.
I am taking away the pointed message and guidance about joining my dreams and my Vision together. I am more inspired by my “calling”, and the “pull” of my purpose. I will trust it more moving forward, and take action steps to further solidify the experience. I deeply appreciate the advice to let my Vision unfold, to be patient with it, and to take these first three months of the program to trust the wander through my own “inner wilderness.” I am patiently planting seeds now as I navigate through other areas of my life simultaneously that require a lot of my energy, such as my family/children. But now this course is always there, and the container is holding me and helping me stay on the moving water. I’m being carried, effortlessly, with all the support and wisdom this program provides.
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Summary Reflection
Wow, as I sit months later, trying to summarize what Foundations One meant for me, I just imagine rolling around in the dirt on the ridgeline at my sit spot all blissed out on nature. It was like a drug. The pure ecstatic bliss of feeling the air on my skin while rolling in dirt and sagebrush, giggling with no one watching but a weird chicken-like bird that was bobbing around in the distance.
The most important aspects of Foundations One had everything to do with our time at Nature Camp in June and learning how to be more attuned to what was going on around us rather than carelessly stomping through the forests on trails as I usually do. Everything from finding a sit spot to wide angle vision has changed how I view my time in nature as well as how I view my time back in ‘real life’, whatever that means. Feeling the energy of the trees, plants and ground while viewing everything as an integral part of the system has a very calming effect on my overall view of how we all live in society and have an integral energetic/connected part with everyone around us.
The trust built within nature that arises within myself throughout this foundation one module is unshakable as is the deep listening from the soul that comes along with it. Being connected to nature is being connected to myself, which in turns connects me with others. I find myself asking the sacred questions all of the time, to myself and to others, through coaching, friendships and hypno sessions. It has become integrated into my being each time I teach someone else about finding a sit spot, wide angle vision and feeling the energy and details of every single minute being in the outdoors.
Also, of course, the setting the foundation for a coaching session section was very important in this module too. It opened up the door for understanding what a nature coaching session looks like and feels like. It helped me to differentiate between coaching and therapy while also understanding how the two could go together with modalities such as hypnotherapy. We also learned the different types of threshold experiences through experiential learning during this module, such as wandering – both aimless wandering and wandering with intent.
