-
NCL2- Session 1
-
I’m a little late to this party :), but have thoroughly enjoyed hearing everyone’s unique and diverse perspectives. I feel this kind of sharing – amongst ourselves – is where we can really learn different ways of seeing/reflecting/applying the knowledge presented in this course to ourselves and then to the many many different kinds of souls we do and will encounter on our journey and through our work. Seeing the vastness of experiences and perspectives on these discussions enables us to see so much more in the world and those around. So, much gratitude. to you all for sharing. I’m humbled to be a student of your collective wisdom.
What does Soul-directed and nature connected mean to me?…
I was very blessed (some might say cursed lol) recently to have gone through one of those very dark and life-changing experiences that come around but a few times (hopefully) in ones life. It was dark, difficult, dirty and demanding, to say the least.
…and I wouldn’t change a thing about it. Not one thing. And would welcome it all over again as it was one of those times/experiences that are so raw and real, you know you will never be the same again. So in this way it was beautiful, and just what The “Universe ordered”.
One of the greatest benefits was that it brought me so far down deep into myself, to a place I could not move from without facing the internal structures and self-defeating “obstacles” I had built up over the years. Horrible, yet completely real and beautiful at the same time. I realized that this time was the Dark Night of my Soul for me. The spiritual reckoning as it were.
It was there, in the depth of self, that my soul re-revealed itself to me after many years of trying to get through to me when I was too “preoccupied” to listen…to connect, to SEE, without all the distractions we fabricate in ourselves through ego.
I was very fortunate (I will say miraculously blessed) that in that time, the clearest, and only the clearest, messages came through to me in a multi-lateeral discussion between myself, my Soul, the Cosmos, the earth…All. In harmonic discourse. It was amazing. and it was pure Soul.
As so happens in these rare times of the deepest self-reflection that happens in our lives, the right messages cam through to me from the pages of the right book. “Awakening the Soul” by Michael Meade. I’m not sure a more clear and relevant message of SOUL has been written.
As I turned each page, I settled deeper into the KNOWING…of Soul. My Soul. the Soul of the World. Your Soul. Our Soul. For they are all One.
And as Mr Meade (a key member of my vision council) says, “the work on one’s soul is the very work of the soul of the world”…and when you realize this, you see that we are usually precisely where we need to be, IF we are in communion with Soul.
So, to stop short (for now 😉 …Soul-directed means to me, to be in dance, in dialogue, in relation with the Soul of the World, with Spirit, with Source…in that place of Oneness. Pure, unequivocal Oneness. Where falseness is stripped away to leave only pure truth. All that ever was,and is, and will be. And direction from that place of Soul is never “wrong”, if we take the time and intention to get down to that bottom, deep realm.
Its difficult to express, and expressions of it are as diverse and many as there are beings and living creatures on earth. Its direction from Source. Its moving, while being still. Its pure resonance.
And “Nature-connected” is the holy “Cathedral’ for this all to happen, because that is where Source, in all her perfect and complex expression, simply IS. So one cannot be Soul-directed if one is not Nature-connected, in my humble opinion. And One cannot be truly Nature-connected, with experiencing Soul-direction at the heart of that nature connection.-
I am also late to the party (but I was invited, haha), just signing up for this course today with plans of enrolling in the June Nature Connected Coaching course. Pardon my late interjections as I get caught up with you all. Just a quick introduction….I’m David and I’m from Nashville, TN. I’ve arrived here because I’ve finally hit a point in my life where I can no longer ignore the inner dialogue and external signs that I have a purpose greater than sitting at a desk and making money. I not only seek to have a career in nature connected coaching but to also redefine my personal connectedness to nature.
Reg, I can really relate to and appreciate what you shared and can clearly define the start of my spiritual journey as the time I was at the lowest low in my life. I love how you are also able to see that it is those moments that can set us on a course for a greater connection to our true selves.
I’m blown away the responses and input you have all put into this thought provoking question of what it means to be soul directed and nature connected. I took a little piece away from everybody’s perspective that just felt so true and accurate at the core level!
For me, being soul driven means living according to our true essence, our true self . And I define that as simply coming from a place of love and respect for others and the true nature of the world . To care about the well-being of everyone and everything in our world.
One of my favorite verses of the Tao answers the question of “what it means to be nature connected” perfectly for me:
“The supreme good is like water, which nourishes all things without trying to. It flows to low places loathed by all men. Therefore it is like the Tao. Live in accordance with the nature of things. In dwelling, be close to the land. In meditation, go deep in the heart. In dealing with others, be gentle and kind. Stand by your word. Govern with equity. Be timely in choosing the right moment. One who lives in accordance with nature does not go against the way of things. He moves in harmony with the present moment, always knowing the truth of just what to do.”
I think of nature as much more than the outdoors. Nature is everything. It is the natural state of everything that exists. So being nature connected is about being in tune with the natural flow of everything going on around you. It’s about participating in it without trying to hold it back, make it conform to our ego preferences or alter it in any way. I’m in agreement with Reg that, if you’re soul driven you are also nature connected. They are almost synonymous.
-
-
To perhaps be more succinct in my definition that came to me today in reflection, and to answer directly “what BEING Soul-directed” means to me, it to BE intentional and purposeful and endeavour at any opportunity to touch down into our soul, to behold the golden thread (purpose) of our lives, and to draw our direction from this place.
And to BE Nature-connected is to ground into and channel through nature (that is found in all places and in all things at all times) as a means of reaching that place where we meet our Soul. -
Welcome David! Your comment “It is the natural state of everything that exists. So being nature connected is about being in tune with the natural flow of everything going on around you. It’s about participating in it without trying to hold it back, make it conform to our ego preferences or alter it in any way.” Really nailed it for me. Thanks for summarizing it in this way. Looking forward to meeting you on the call tonight.
-
The idea of being soul directed for me is showing up fully with what’s real. When I’m tuned in to Soul, it feels authentic and full of all of the characteristics in the nature connection wheel. Others might use other words like compassionate, loving, balanced and so on. In my tradition, kabbalists have used the attributes on the kabbalistic tree of life to identify those attributes of Unity-of-everything that we can aspire to. For me, it’s easy to fall into a dichotomy though, something like soul is real (and I tend to conflate this with Spirit), the “outside world” is just a stage that we are actors on. Not my original thought of course, but I don’t want to live in such a bifurcated perspective. Been there, done that. So in my work world, how do I live in connection with nature, or all-that-is, when bureaucratic or political stresses feel like they separating me from Soul or Nature? Or how do I bring soul-direction that may arise in meditation or ceremony into these areas that don’t seem conducive to Soul? That’s where remembering the place of connection, breathing, wide-angle vision, other techniques come into play.
-
HI ALL, Sorry to be late jumping in here. I had to do some rearranging of my schedule to be fully on board. I’ve arrived and look forward to meeting you all at the next video session. Reading your posts, hearing your perspectives and the wisdom that you openly share, has been thought provoking and inspiring.
For me, throughout my life, soul direction has been deepening and evolving as my nature-connection strengthens through interaction and growing awareness. I experience soul as the formless part of self that is connected with something much greater (the unknowable whole). Because “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts”, I invite “the whole” to inform self through meditation, observation and awareness. It brings depth and breadth of understanding to consciousness. Nature is universal wisdom/intelligence manifest, physically, energetically and probably in ways we have yet to fathom. Through mind and heart I access both.
To be soul directed is to go within. To listen, to learn to distinguish the voice of the soul from the many voices that are in my head. This voice is often wordless, a feeling, a sense, a knowing. Nature nourishes my soul. It brings the light of understanding, at the same time it provokes endless questions and curiosity. We are all “nature connected”, being soul directed is a reflection of me recognizing and responsibly acknowledging this connection.
The unconscious mind speaks in metaphors…the patterns of nature offer metaphors of understanding, the wind blowing through the trees, the flow of water creating its dynamic path (via the path of least resistance!?). As I immerse myself in nature, observing with all my senses, I am better able to live from my soul. -
Hello everyone,
I am pretty confused about this forum. I just completed the first intensive with EBI (ending Feb 3) and this forum is listed in my courses. I am guessing that I should just jump in, and I have read all of your posts. I am sorry to have not met most of you, only some of you, and to not be as up to speed as you all seem, especially given that the forum appears to have started before my course started. So, a little confused, but eager to get connected, and so wonderful to hear all of your experiences, wisdom, and curiosity.I have yet to do all the reading for the course, as well, so I think my perceptions will change as I get a chance to move through all of that. While at the intensive, however, I began to put words into ways that I see myself and others connecting with nature-nature here meaning the out of doors, but nature also meaning connection with ourselves and with others. Of course there are so many ways to be connected, but it has helped me to label them being connected IN nature, TO nature, and WITH nature. When I or someone else is IN nature we are travelling along in our own bubble but are in the surroundings of the out of doors. Sometimes when I am hiking (actually, a lot of times), I will pass someone who is out hiking too, but with their headphones on. Or they are with a buddy and their feet are travelling but their talk is travelling even faster. It seems clear to me that these people are totally engrossed in their buddy and in the shared stories and support they are doing with one another and have decided to do this activity among the trees but maybe could just as easily and thoughtfully done this activity at the mall. The other visual I get when I think of being IN nature is when a drop of oil is put into a glass of water. They aren’t mixing, but one is surrounded by the other.
Then being in relationship TO nature, is when we USE nature for our pleasure or healing. Like it is a safe place for people to go to and be with themselves to heal or reflect or grow, and the actual life and death and cycles all around us in the woods are used as metaphors and support and to help us bring our systems into a more regulated state so that we can process our emotions or psychological life. Here is where we get better connected to ourselves and more clearly hear our own voice within, bringing us to new truths and greater connections.
When we are connected WITH nature, we are honoring it and are in deep relationship with the web of life. We understand that our energy is the same as the energy around us, that we are all the same. Our human existence does not seem to be able to sustain an actual deep connection with nature, because our bodies are contained and separate from the trees, flowers, etc. But we get glimpses and “peeks” at that deep connection and can work toward sustaining that connection. And one way we can nudge that connection is by extending our own energy into the energy of the woods. Here, we ask permission from our sit spot before we enter, and thank our sit spot for the support it has given us when we leave. And honor our sit spot when we hear, “not today, there is something happening here that should not yet be disturbed by your presence”. Being connected WITH nature is where we hear the voices that do not use words, where serindipity (sorry, can’t spell that) is the norm, and there is the realization that everything is unfolding in exactly the right way for our self and for all that is around us, and that we are just as much of the dance for others (be it woods, a person, or the universe), as they are for us. We can honor these experiences by taking seriously being stewards of the woods, by being in right relationship with our self, and by being in right relationship with others.
These, of course, are just my initial thoughts on this and as I said aren’t based on any of the readings yet. But so far it has been helpful in me structuring additional elements of the training in the intensive and as I am just starting to get acquainted with what is coaching and what is nature-connected coaching.
-
So yes, I was very confused about which forum I was in. So sorry! But now I have been able to listen to the recording of Nature directed Leadership, and contemplate the question of wht does it mean to be Soul connected and Nature-directed.
I am so lucky in that I spent the majority of my childhood, including my very early years, in the forest and wilderness of Minnesota. There, I would spend hours by myself just exploring the land. In retrospect, the Division of Family Service probably would have not thought it was “good parenting” for my parents to just let me go off into the miles of forest that I explored by myself, but I lived through it and so as it turns out, their decision to let me do that is one of the best things of my life.
So since I was a very young child, I have had the experience of being connected with myself and that deeper “knowing” that I guess I would call “Soul”. I remember listening to the trees and feeling that that really did talk to one another, and then passing under one of them and being swept away in the feeling of unity and greatness and incredible strength of peace. We had horses, too, and when we went to ride them we would step out into their pasture and hold out the halter toward them, asking with our mind and spirit if they would take us on their backs. Some days the answer was “yes” (most days!) and some days it was, “no”. But I got used to thinking that this is the way of all things-communicate through heart and soul and you get back their answer.
When I was a young adult and someone came to me with a book about “Animal Speak”, to look up what their dream about a bear meant, I could not believe they would look to a book. I said, “why don’t you just ask the bear what he was doing in your dream?” Ha! How naive I was, thinking everyone had the same wonderful experiences I had had, and felt as naturally connected to nature and their soul as I did.
So for me, being soul connected and nature directed seems like it is just following the natural order of all things. I wish that for all of humanity, as it seems to me to be the most authentic and beautiful of all of the experiences available to us in this life.
