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Foundation One C23 Discussion
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What does it mean to be connected to Nature, and how can that relationship support your coaching?
I see being connected to nature both as connecting to the outer nature and our inner nature. We can learn so much from our connection to the outer nature (what we traditionally call “Nature”)—resilience, adaptation, synergy, symbiosis. I love the idea of moving at the speed of nature, letting nature heal us. For me it is also about being present to use all of our senses in the moment—literally “coming to our senses” as highlighted by Steven Harper in his article, “The Way of Wilderness”—as well as about experiencing awe and reverence of the preciousness of life.
When I feel connected to Nature I feel connected to something greater than myself—a magical combination of feeling both expansive and grounded. The image of a tree resonates for me with this—strongly rooted in the earth and also reaching up (and sometimes down). Another tree image that inspires me is of the Tree of Life where every person is a branch, and we’re all connected at the trunk.
Tapping into our inner nature means trusting ourselves, slowing down, recognizing our own truths.
Connecting with nature can support my coaching in the following ways:
1) Helping me be present and expansive and sharing that state with my clients. Nature-connection helps me get out of spinning thoughts in my head and connect with something larger—to be in the here and now. Being present will help me listen better, which will help me be a better coach.
2) Being connected to nature in my coaching sessions will also encourage expansiveness and openness to experiment. One of the reasons I was drawn to the EBI Nature-Connected Coaching program was its creative, experiential element, which I think is so powerful; I hope to foster an environment in which clients will be able to experience the feeling they want (v. a more traditional talk coaching session, during which that might not happen).
3) Slowing down to learn from nature, away from the “trappings” of our fast-paced lives; asking my clients the sacred questions will help them tap into the purity and simplicity around and within them to find their truths, which is really what these coaching sessions are all about.
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Pausing to celebrate that I actually completed this one step. Can’t wait to look at everyone else’s posts and comment and reflect. Woot! 🙂
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Summary reflection
I’ve been waiting to do this summary until I was done reading all the book chapters/pdfs…this is the perfectionist in me… and I realize now that nothing is perfect and it needs to stop right here right now… Just like Nature, I am perfectly imperfect and I need to embrace it. I can still remember being in Gunnison and contemplating all the aspen trees… with their unique shape and boo-boo, what a beauty!!! We are all beautiful just the way we are and in our own ways 🙂
In reading “the way of wilderness” from Steven Harper, I recognized myself in “upon emergence from wilderness we are confronted with our inconsistencies and notice more than ever before how drastically out of balance we live”. I have been so busy with my chemical career that I almost forgot what life was all about and what was making happy.
Last year I felt lost, disconnected from work, with a lack of direction… I am truly grateful to have found NCC and this community of like-minded people. It’s this deep feeling of “I found my tribe, my people, my purpose in life, my desire to continue doing the inner work and to help others do the same…”
Being in Gunnison was my “rebirth of sensory aliveness”. I’ve been able to BE so much more aware and to allow myself to feel. smell. look. listen. slow down…
The story of Jan and the king snake reminded me of the night where I was convinced that a bear was outside my tent… I was beset by anxiety and fear, trying to calm myself, exploring silently all the options in my head:
1. run to someone else’s tent and scream (Hannah and Maria were the closest. Too bad Michael had left)
2. go outside and make myself bigger to scare the bear away
3. talk to the bear through the tent and tell him that I am a human with no intention of hurting him and repeat a mantra: love (breathe in), peace (breathe out) several times
I actually opted for the 3rd option. And ended up peeing in a bottle by fear of getting outside haha
It was midnight and this lasted probably 2h. We had agreed with other students to get up at 5am to watch the sunrise and I was determined to see it. So after 3 little hours of sleep, I woke up with sleepy eyes yet full of vitality and soaked in all the sunrise energy. I recounted the story of my experience to others and we had a good laugh.
This experience in Gunnison was amazing and I want to help people experience the power of nature and adventure to heal and reconnect with themselves.
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SUMMARY POST
Truth be told, I find this stuff kinda challenging to talk about, because I feel it is beyond wurdzz. . .*and* I am so inspired by all of your posts (you know, with wurdzzz and stuff)!
A few ideas that particularly inspired me are below with their respective stream of consciousness flows (you have been warned!):
Marveling at the vast network of support in the soil—mushroom, trees and more; think if we had similar support for humanity—is coaching it? I keep meeting more and more people (within and without EBI) who want to coach, who want to guide and support and be there for others. In my practice sessions, it has been such an honor to be present as clients’ self-realization expands and unfolds and their energy and excitement changes. And I also acknowledge the self-doubt and rising fear that if everybody is doing it, will there be enough clients for me? Will I be good enough at it? What do I have to offer that is “special” enough? And then I remember at our last Toolbox intensive I heard the message to be authentic as a coach and bring your own gifts. And I come back to employing wide-angle vision, being open and trusting that this is a choose-your-own-adventure sort of situation—there are multiple viable paths—what if none of them were wrong? What if everything that happened was just perfect?
Slowing down—more being and less doing. . .oh, how I am feeling that desire right now, for spaciousness, for realizing that my self-worth does not depend on how much I accomplish…just wanting to show up as my best self and when that (occasionally) doesn’t happen, not beating myself up for it. The irony is not lost on me that most of what I want to *do* right now is to catch up on all my EBI work (lol). . .and, can I do it in a way that is spacious and fun and stress-free? Part of that solution for me is an expedition I call “hike2cafe” where I hike 1.5 hours through forest and trails (nature!) to a café in the central part of town (and then take a slightly shorter route back ;-)).
Feeling at home to explore our inner wilderness—that sense of “home” we have from time in nature through our ability to “land on the land” that is combined with a sense of belonging to something greater than ourselves (I love Harper’s quote about “the webs of light extending out of me to every living thing and from them to me.”). This sense of home also provides permission and an inviting place for us to explore our inner wilderness. As a guide, I strive to create that safe space/home for clients where anything that comes up for them is accepted and part of the journey to feel and release so they can tap into what they want and need and actually get a taste of what is on the other side.
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Summary Post:
Yup it has taken me like 4 months to complete this summary post. While reading Cece’s summary post it hit me like a ton of bricks, with the statement of “I’ve been waiting to do this summary until I was done reading all the book chapters/pdfs…this is the perfectionist in me… and I realize now that nothing is perfect and it needs to stop right here right now… Just like Nature, I am perfectly imperfect and I need to embrace it.”
Yesss, the perfectionist wanted to do this whole program so swiftly, gracefully without hiccups. Because that’s how the perfectionist likes to operate. Wanting all the little ducks all aligned in a row. I have had soooo many hiccups, road blocks, re-arrangements, moves during the last few months that in my mind were “set backs” for being behind in this program.
I now ask myself “what is being behind?” “ Is nature ever behind?”
I am not “caught up in the program”, and I am just where I need to be. Learning what I need to learn and experiencing what needing experiencing.
My main take aways from this module are how to even more fully surrender to what is happening around me, into the moments. How to flow with the moment, and make descions from this flow. How to let the magic of nature enter into the steady stream of life and to bring this reminder of magic in sessions with clients. To help others remember how amazing this experience can be!.
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Summary Post
Reflecting on what it means to be connected to nature and the role that plays in supporting our coaching practice brings back a wave of energy and emotion from our time together with nature on the land in Gunnison. For me during the start of our time, that was so much unknown. What truly is this nature connected coaching program? Why am I here? So much anticipation. How will this experience and this program and the people within it impact my life and how I move through the world? Within a matter of days, many of those questions were answered. Many, though, were still unanswered, and ever expanding waiting for the months (and years) ahead to unfold the answers through our collective and individual experiences.
Beyond excitement about the possibilities to come for the program and coaching, what was so transformative about the experience with nature on the land in Colorado was the rather immediate deepening of my connection with nature, both the real and tangible and the mystical and spiritual, all providing a deep source of wisdom, guidance, comfort, discomfort, challenge, friendship. As I spoke to in my initial post, in many ways, the experience connecting with nature during Foundations was a reconnection. A reminder of the role that nature played throughout my life, especially in those moments when there was no one else to turn to; nature, the land, the wilderness was there to act as my guide.
Lindsay’s reference to the Watt’s quote, “You didn’t come into this world. You came out of it, like a wave from the ocean. You are not a stranger here” speaks so clearly to this relationship to nature.
I also resonated so strongly with Tony’s notion of “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.”
As coaches and guides, we have the opportunity to collaborate with our clients to tap into the existing relationship we all share with nature to support the change and transformation our clients may seek. As coaches, we are focused on helping to bring our presents into the present moment, connecting with their current experience and “being.” As Tony mentions, connecting with nature is connecting with ourselves, our current being in the present moment to support and guide us towards the future we seek to create. As (nature connected) coaches and guides, we are in a unique position to leverage and apply this insight to support our clients.