Home Forums Foundations January 2018 Foundation One Discussion (WI/SP 2018)

  • Kaity Holsapple

    Member
    February 21, 2018 at 1:22 pm

    It is my belief and experience that to be connected with Nature is to Heal, or in other words, to restore ourselves to whole. When I am immersed in Nature, my greatest teacher and healer, space opens up for me to feel fully, to awaken my senses, and to experience myself as vibrantly alive.

    Some words that come up for me: Open. Awake. Whole. I often experience glimmers of these feelings at varying levels while immersed in the wilderness or deep in spiritual practice. For me, the experience of wholeness is much more of a feeling than a concept that can be defined; but for the purpose of sharing with you all, I will define wholeness as an innate experience of being complete, content, and connected to each of the Eight Attributes of Connection (as defined by Jon Young: Love & Forgiveness; Quiet Mind, Presence & Creativity; Inner Happiness; Vitality; A Commitment to ‘Paying it Forward’; Empathy & Respect for Nature; Being Truly Helpful with Gifts & Vision Activated; and Full Aliveness). In a state of wholeness, much of the “doing” we humans tend to fill our time with is replaced by the simplicity and fullness of “being.” Furthermore, wholeness works both internally with how we relate to ourselves, and externally in how we relate to others and our world.

    What happens when humans feel less than complete, content, or whole? I believe that this is a root cause of alienation and separation, destructive behaviors on microcosmic and macrocosmic scales (to self, other, and earth), and all of the many issues associated with “Nature-Deficit Disorder.” As creatures who were born to be at one with the environment and who have radically separated ourselves from it in many ways (schools, cities, consumerism and capitalism, community, food sourcing, and so on), it is clear to me that this missing wholeness contributes to much of the terror, sadness, and anxiety that plague our society. As John Miles shared in his essay on Wilderness as Healing Place, “We need healing when we suffer pain and a reduction of our ability to live well.” I personally feel that the way our culture is shaped does, at times, deeply affect my ability to live well. When I return to nature, I feel restored. It is like a part of me, a part I may often keep numb or at bay in civilization, is able to open up and awaken again.

    Jon Young, Ellen Haas, and Even McGown share in their Coyote’s Guide to Connecting with Nature that “our bodies and our brains have millions of built in neurological connections with the environment, waiting to be activated.” Simply stepping out into the natural world begins creating new neural pathways of awareness and aliveness, and this is absolutely my experience. I feel as if my nervous system relaxes, opens up, and reaches out to my surroundings rather than contracting inwards to save me from sensory overload. Adding purposeful connection to nature through Nature-Based Connection can amplify these effects tenfold for myself, and from what I’ve seen, others as well.

    In Ayurveda, an ancient healing art based on the natural cycles and rhythms of the earth, it is said that the impressions our Nervous System takes in are the main source of food for the mind. Just as we feed our body with different nutrients, and feed our life-force with energy management and breath, we feed our mind with all of the sensory impressions we constantly take in. Our senses act as a bridge from the external world to our internal world, or the physical world to the subtle world. This includes EVERYTHING we see, hear, taste, touch, and smell. What we watch on TV, read in the news, see on the streets, and so on, all are absorbed as food for our brain (whether we are conscious of it or not). Another experience I have in the wild, as I stated earlier, is nourishment. My brain and nervous system feel as if they are getting a delicious, organic, farm fresh meal after weeks of artificial or toxic ingredients.

    My intention as a Nature Connected Coach is to help people feel nourished, find purpose, restore, and return to their natural wholeness. This intention is a guiding force in my own life and coaching career, and also functions as a concentric ring rippling out and facilitating deep healing in the world. It is the true call of the Coyote to bring the purpose and healing cultivated in the wilderness back into civilization. And while there are many obstacles I can see emerging on my path, I also feel deep inner trust in the vision to lead me through.

    • Hannah Grajko

      Member
      February 21, 2018 at 4:48 pm

      Kaity, I love how you expressed your personal connection with nature and how you’re seeing that develop through this work! I received from your writing such a strong, authentic, and earnest image of how you are fed and fulfilled through this powerful connection.

      The following piece also grabbed my attention: “Simply stepping out into the natural world begins creating new neural pathways of awareness and aliveness, and this is absolutely my experience. I feel as if my nervous system relaxes, opens up, and reaches out to my surroundings rather than contracting inwards to save me from sensory overload. Adding a purposeful connection to nature through Nature-Based Connection can amplify these effects tenfold for myself, and from what I’ve seen, others as well”. This is such a beautifully articulated description of how the science of our neural networks intersects with the felt experience of connecting with nature on a deep, meaningful level. I really appreciate (and resonate with) how you describe a shift from being almost on the defensive with how you relate to sensory input to feeling safe and secure enough to open yourself up to the input of nature!

      • Kaity Holsapple

        Member
        February 23, 2018 at 1:56 pm

        Thanks, Hannah and Kent, for sharing your experiences!
        I totally relate to the switch from “being on the defensive” to opening you described, Hannah! Thanks for reflecting that.
        Kent, I love that your drawing became like a neuron! I would love to see it.

        I find myself thinking about the nervous system a lot and relating it a lot to how I feel and act in my life. I find it fascinating how our minds and bodies work, and how the nervous system programs itself to environmental situations based on fear or safety. It’s interesting to see that that part of my essay stood out to you both, as it is something I feel very passionate about and hope to bring forth in the work I do!

    • Kent-Singing Panther

      Member
      February 22, 2018 at 12:45 pm

      Kaity, I appreciate how you highlighted the nature-body-brain connections. That was something I kept coming to over the intensive. It isn’t new information to me, but acknowledging how everything works together helped me to understand wholeness on a deeper level. And it’s fascinating to see how sciences like neurobiology is confirming what most ancient/nature-connected people have always known. One of my goals is to sketch more during my times of connection/meditation and during a hike this past week I found a beautiful shell the inspired me to draw. The drawing took on some interesting forms that I am still allowing to unfold. When I went back to view it recently I felt like one of the images is a neuron. Reading your post really affirmed that image as you stated, “Simply stepping out into the natural world begins creating new neural pathways of awareness and aliveness, and this is absolutely my experience. I feel as if my nervous system relaxes, opens up, and reaches out to my surroundings rather than contracting inwards to save me from sensory overload. Adding purposeful connection to nature through Nature-Based Connection can amplify these effects tenfold for myself, and from what I’ve seen, others as well.” Your reflection nourished my understanding of my own subconscious!

  • Sarah Maybury

    Member
    February 22, 2018 at 2:36 am

    Brian, Kent and David, reading your words brought me almost to tears. It has been a tough transition for me, coming back to life outside the magic world of the Starhouse. I could hear and feel each one of you as I read through your incredible thoughts and reflections. So much of what you all had to say resonated so much, like hit the nail on the dang head of how I have felt or am feeling. I appreciate you all being so authentic and open and honest and aware and wise.

    (I haven’t gotten through everyone’s responses yet, but I promise I will! I’m excited to finally be getting to the reading and catching up on everyone’s beautiful words. Although I don’t show up here very often yet, I am so incredibly thankful to have this platform and to share it with all of you! Balance between work/fun/learning is proving to be a challenge for me for sure but every time I reconnect with you all, I feel rejuvenated!)

    To be connected to nature is to be there, to be amongst it. Whether it be the trudging through the mountains, submerged in the woods, huddling by a waterfall, standing on the very edge of a cliff with the wind on your face – or driving your car, sitting at a desk for work, walking through the grocery store, or sitting at your computer right now.
    Nature has always been an “escape” for me. A fantastic way to run away from the things that overwhelmed me, or upset me, or frustrated me, the things I didn’t understand, the things that scared me. It was like, at the top of that mountain or standing in the midst of that waterfall, none of those things could reach me – not even the thoughts or the possibilities of those anxieties. But, then, there was always the end of the adventure, the “back to reality”. Back to fear. Back to disconnection. Back to an overbearing craving for that feeling of having “little distinction between self and environment, between stimulus and response, or between past, present, and future.”
    It wasn’t really until I discovered my yoga practice that I was gifted with a new sense of flow. A new sense of connection, that was really more like connection than escape. My yoga practice gave (and still gives and gives and gives) me a safe space to just be with and observe all of the things that came up in the silence with myself. It was the first time I really began to build a relationship with and a knowing of myself — but it didn’t go quite deep enough. There were still plenty of walls up, before I would even allow myself to see the gate to my truth or to my Soul. I’ve always felt a sort of peace, though, with calling it a “practice”. Always reminding myself, and my students that practice does not make perfect, it makes progress. So, it really resonated in reading “The Way of the Wilderness”, when Harper says that “practice implies process; no beginning or end, but a lifetime of engagement and discovery.”
    Throughout the f2f, so many things came up for me. There was so much realization, release, forgiveness, understanding – so much discovery. I believe it is because I truly allowed myself to engage with nature and with my Soul, for the first time. On our first wander, I can’t even describe the safety I felt, sitting alone in the woods, at that little desk – that had been planted there just for me to find at just the right time – staring out into the immense beauty in front of me; the safety I felt in knowing my truth. It totally felt like a solid swing to those walls that had been “guarding” my Soul, and when I looked through the whole in that wall – I could see the mountains in myself, the trees in myself, the sky and the birds in myself – I could feel the wind blowing into me and then right through me.
    Alan Watts totally did a number on me with this one, “You did not come into this world. You came out of it, like a wave from the ocean. You are not a stranger here.” And, although I sometimes like to fight it or wish it away, there is more to this world than trees and clouds and birds and foxes and bunnies and beautifully clear mountain streams on crisp fall days. There are work days and there are paying bills and there are mundane moments and people whose opinions I can’t stand and memories I don’t really want to remember. But, “we are nature, we do not have nature” (John Miles, Wilderness as a Healing Place).
    So, why do I need to run away? If I AM nature, I don’t need to escape from me. I can allow myself to be here. For myself and for my future clients. I am here for the process. To be amongst it. Amongst the beauty, but also the shadows. To be present and experience each moment, fully. I am here to be sturdy like the trees when someone I love doesn’t quite understand my vision, but flexible enough to see them and theirs – to stay solid for clients, but flow with them throughout their own discovery. I am here to be light and dance like the clouds across the sky, but be fully present to ride out the storms – to use humor when it’s called for, but to hold space for the sad, the angry, and the solemn moments. I am here to allow myself to feel. To be seen and to see. “I am here to be alive, to be aware, and to practice” (S. Harper, The Way of the Wilderness).

    • Kent-Singing Panther

      Member
      February 22, 2018 at 12:57 pm

      Sarah, reading your post really made my heart smile 🙂 I loved watching your journey unfold over the intensive. Even though you and I didn’t delve into much conversation, it was easy to see how you were being affected. This last paragraph you wrote really touched me “So, why do I need to run away? If I AM nature, I don’t need to escape from me. I can allow myself to be here. For myself and for my future clients. I am here for the process. To be amongst it. Amongst the beauty, but also the shadows. To be present and experience each moment, fully. I am here to be sturdy like the trees when someone I love doesn’t quite understand my vision, but flexible enough to see them and theirs – to stay solid for clients, but flow with them throughout their own discovery. I am here to be light and dance like the clouds across the sky, but be fully present to ride out the storms – to use humor when it’s called for, but to hold space for the sad, the angry, and the solemn moments. I am here to allow myself to feel. To be seen and to see. “I am here to be alive, to be aware, and to practice” ”
      And I will carry this from now on as well, “practice does not make perfect, it makes progress.” Patience has been a virtue I have not allowed myself to accept to the fullest and has caused me much unnecessary stress in the past. I have learned to be more kind, gentle and forgiving of myself when I feel like I’m not where I want to be, but holding this mantra of “practice makes process and progress” feels very good to me.

    • Kaity Holsapple

      Member
      February 23, 2018 at 1:49 pm

      Sara, WOW!
      I love your words and connect with them a lot. I echo the quote that Mandy and Kent highlighted from your reflection. What is there to escape from? To run away from? I think the nature connection practices are a huge catalyst to turn escaping into embracing the present moment, including any and all shadows that come along with it. I specifically love this: “I am here to allow myself to feel. To be seen and to see.”

      What a powerful journey. Thank you for sharing!

    • Mandy Bishop

      Member
      June 4, 2021 at 9:29 am

      Thanks so much for sharing, Sarah! It is good to hear your “voice” after all this time 🙂

      I totally agree with Kent — that same quote really stood out to me as well. I love the way you describe internalizing aspects and elements of nature in how you relate to the world and your future clients. I will take this with me as well as a great reminder of how I can internalize all that is being masterfully taught through nature and how I can incorporate that into my way of being.

  • Daniel Brisbon

    Administrator
    February 23, 2018 at 12:36 pm

    Hey all, I have really enjoyed reading all your posts and responses to this discussion. Seeing the different perspectives and insights that you each share through your posts and comments has been a great experience for me and I’m sure you guys have got a lot of value out of it too. And you guys write and articulate your insights so dang well!

    I’m excited to see more of your posts as time progresses and learning more about you all through the process. Keep up the good work!

  • Brian Crosby

    Member
    February 24, 2018 at 11:25 am

    After reading everyone’s posts, I began reflecting back a bit on this entire discussion. I am truly amazed at everyone’s commitment to this process. All of your words touched me in one way or another. I have so much gratitude for all of you and am honored to learn with you. There seemed to be many common threads in what we all wrote. Ultimately what I am taking away from this discussion is that to be connected deeply to Nature is to be connected deeply to your own Soul. Spending time in Nature (deep physical wilderness, the backyard, our inner wilderness and everything in between) with all of our senses fully awakened will allow this process of deep connection to unfold. I am excited to watch this process to develop in my own life, and all of yours, as we continue to connect to Nature, Soul, and Vision. Watching these things all come together will certainly be empowering for us all!

  • Kent-Singing Panther

    Member
    March 1, 2018 at 4:06 pm

    Foundations 1 Summary

    Through Foundations One I have gained much more insight into what “Coaching” is and how a “Coach” operates; more specifically how a Nature-Connected Coach operates and how it varies from traditional Life Coaching, Psychotherapy, Counseling, etc. Like many of my peers (and instructors) I actually prefer the term “guide” instead of coach, but I do really like Jenny Rogers definition of Coaching in her book Coaching Skills: The definitive guide to being a coach; “Coaching is the art of facilitating another person’s learning, development, well-being and performance. Coaching raises self-awareness and identifies choices. Through coaching, people are able to find their own solutions, develop their own skills, and change their own attitudes and behaviors. The whole aim of coaching is to close the gap between people’s potential and their current state.” (PG. 7)
    In unpacking this definition in relation to nature-connection I notice first that Rogers identifies coaching as an “art.” For me Art correlates with “flow,” or how energy is created and transmitted in the present moment. As we learned during the first intensive it is the responsibility of the coach to enter into a space of deep listening. Entering that space means slowing down, opening up, and tuning into the present moment. Some effective ways we learned how this can be accomplished is through sensory awareness in/of nature, the 7 Breaths, the 7 Steps visualization, and of course, the all important sit-spot. In this deep listening space it is the soul that is in reception. By guiding the client into their own nature/self awareness they begin to access their soul space as well. And when the soul of the coach is listening, powerful questions emerge that penetrate to the heart of the client’s need. When the client’s answers bubble up they are reflected back to them by the coach who is dancing in the flow of the connection happening between them. The sacred questions of “what do you notice?” “what does that tell you?” and “what does that mean for you?” are among the most potent questions that can be utilized at any time.
    Rogers use of the term “facilitating” means that the coach acts similar to how nature does. A person’s connection with nature promotes the potential to make learning, development, wellbeing, and performance easier, smoother, and faster as it does with a nature-connected coach. I experienced this first hand during the intensive as I connected with nature and with my coaches during practice. I think all of us were amazed at how much we grew as people over the course of 9 days. I, for one, have never experienced the kind of soul connection we all shared with one another at some point. The concepts of “soul” and “interconnection” that I knew are true became VERY tangible and reminded me that soul can be accessed anytime, anywhere.
    As we all have come to identify, nature awareness is also self-awareness; what we experience in the wilderness is a reflection of our inner wilderness. The awareness of our own choices in life also become evident through nature connection. Nature is always available to us and we always have the choice to connect; to feel her peace, harmony, support, wisdom and unconditional love…all of that, that is already in us. Out of the choice to connect we can better see the consequences of those choices in our daily lives. Choice is really the only thing we have control over and there are no wrong choices, just different consequences. Once we become aware of this and decide to choose how to respond to each and every moment, then we have are able to find our own solutions, develop our own skills, change our attitude as well as our behavior.

  • Michael

    Administrator
    July 9, 2018 at 12:21 pm

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  • Michael

    Administrator
    July 9, 2018 at 12:30 pm

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  • Kent-Singing Panther

    Member
    February 18, 2018 at 4:38 pm

    Thank you for your reflection, Mandy. I loved reading about your childhood experiences connecting to nature; how innocent, pure and natural it came to you. To share in that relationship at a young age and see how it has helped shape you is a deep reminder of the importance of helping the next generations get outside to not just be in nature, but be connected to nature. I also really liked the way you defined the difference between being in nature and “be-ing” in nature. I think that’s a great way to explain why we are doing what we are doing in relation to nature-connected coaching. I see that chasm all the time between programs that help get people outside but lack a know-how of guiding others into deeper nature connection.

    I really liked this statement you made, “Our senses become keen observers to the landscape that surrounds us, and as we notice and track the outside world we begin to notice and track our inner landscape as well.” Again, a great, simple way to share with others how nature connection works. I also resonated with this statement, “I believe that if I continue to see the true mentor as nature, that my role as coach is really to be more of a bridge to the remembrance of nature, without and within.” We are that bridge between being in nature and be-ing in nature, as you said. That is something we can hope and trust in!

  • Rachel Thor

    Member
    February 21, 2018 at 6:02 pm

    Mandy it’s so sweet to read your post. I resonate SO MUCH with many aspects of it.

    First of all, your quote, “We often engage with the outdoors in the same manner we engage with the rest of our lives — in a hurried, outcome-oriented, agenda-oriented, and sometimes controlling manner. This is in stark contrast to being connected to nature.” is brilliant. I feel that pull between BE-ing and do-ing when it comes to cultural nature norms. I remember taking nature/rec studies classes in undergrad and the class being asked “what’s your favorite thing to do in nature?” and people’s answered varied from one exciting thing to another, rock climbing, mountain biking, adventure racing… I felt a little embarrassed at the time that my “favorite thing to do” was -nothing-. That I loved nature the most when I was doing nothing. I didn’t have the words or confidence to stand for that relationship yet, but I do now! I think we all do a little better because of each other 🙂

    Your next quote, “this is the gateway to begin to move through the healing process from a place of not belonging towards a place where one values oneself enough to recognize that they have unique gifts to bring forth into the world.” is exactly WHY doing -nothing- is my favorite thing. An incredibly gifted friend of mine once told me (and I’ll never forget it) that healing happens at the pace of nature. So profound for me. What an invitation to slow down and be. an invitation that BE-ing itself is the healing process. Thanks for sharing such wonderful insight and inspiration.

  • Mandy Bishop

    Member
    June 4, 2021 at 9:27 am

    Kent,

    I too can really relate to what you write about in your post regarding straddling two worlds, one of a sort of escape to the natural world which feels whole and cohesive, and the other a sort of messy and dismembered civilization. It is very disheartening for me to see how disconnected much of humankind is from nature and our roots and from the whole web of life. Reading through your post however, I felt such a sense of hopefulness and liberation. When you said, “I’ve slowly learned to accept my place in civilization and the ‘reality’ of everyday life. It exists. I can’t deny it or change it. And that includes people too of course. I can’t deny or change them. What I can do is deepen my relationship with nature, remember who I am, and live my life from the place of my soul.” I felt such a wave of empowerment in my own self reading this. It’s as if by you accepting your place in civilization and into the time and place you find yourself in in this life, and by you declaring what you can do within the relationship to yourself and your own soul, you are actually modeling and gifting and emanating that acceptance and that empowerment outwards to others… even through a thread on a post like this.

    “What an exciting and empowering place to be in! I am honored to walk between these two worlds in hope that I will guide even one soul to their origin. Who knows what good that one soul will do for the world.” Also, BEAUTIFUL and I agree. Thank you!

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