[cindy_sell_schulte]

If I were to map out a plan to work with a client for a six-month time period, this is what it would look like, for the most part:

I am going to plan to work with someone who lives at a distance, has email and a printer and a webcam. I will also ask if he/she has a way to play back extended/recordings on their cellphone, as well as take photos. (Isn’t it funny the role technology will have to play, when many times, technology seems like such a hinderance to nature-connection?…). I will need to be very flexible in my delivery, I know, so some of the meetings will have to be in person, over the phone, or even by use of snail-mail. We shall see….

Before we meet, I would ask the client to set aside a binder that is dedicated to ONLY our coaching items. In it, would be simple notebook paper for journalling and all of our assignments. This would be something I would want the client to have handy, most times of the day, throughout the entire coaching experience.

I would send the necessary ‘contract agreement’ paperwork, outlining my role, expectations, payment process, etc.

(1) I would then set up delivery of worksheets that help the client self-rate the aspects of their own wellness with either the Wheel, or a basic chart system that I’ve used in the past. This work will happen before our first meeting. Chances are, the client hasn’t evaluated much around all of the aspects of wellness/wellbeing/nature awareness/involvement, so this should be an interesting first step to be addressed.

(2) The first session would be a discussion about what they want from our experience, (goal), and what they discovered from the Wheel/chart. This might take a couple of sessions, and several journal entries.

After that:

(3) We would “meet” weekly (in person, or by Skype). Lots of listening. Lots of discussion and question asking about the homework/assignments (below) and/or the journalling or Image Book making.

(4) After each of our meetings, if needed, I would send documents via email, or have a specific assignment for each week if needed. (see below for examples). In between times, the client would have the continuous assignment of the SIT SPOT with observation journalling (hopefully daily), and a twice daily required use of a self-made ‘image’ book.

(3.5) I feel like the Image Book is so important because it will be a tool that will help establish the emotions and ‘environment’ for the outcome the client is seeking. I have found this tool to be very successful in my OWN goal-setting, over the years. I would encourage images gathered that include nature like forests, streams, people hiking, people smiling, as well as images of success in the goal (ie: for a relationship issue: couples sitting together, cooking together, whatever OR for career success: words and images of people doing the work the client wants to do, AND many many encouraging words and phrases like: SUCCESS, HAPPINESS, COMFORT, REST, etc). I have made these image books in an actual, physical album, for years, but I have also made them as a slideshow for myself on my computer (using stock images from Googling), and I made a makeshift one on my cellphone in the same way. Anyway, the client will make this item and look at it TWICE DAILY, like medicine, so even when the client doesn’t feel much like going outside, they have the backup that will re-establish the mindset of success and returning to nature for guidance. This is a huge assignment, and it requires continuous adding and adjustment of content, throughout the journey to the goal. This ‘assignment’ may take up another month’s worth of ‘homework’, depending on the client. Just making the item, alongside journalling, nature observation, and meeting with me, may be enough time to dedicate toward the goal.

Each client will be different, so I must remain flexible in my delivery, and have other assignments available when needed (below).

(5) Besides assignments, homework, (below) I will record meditations for relaxation, using nature sounds as a backdrop, similar to the SEVEN STEPS meditation.

(**) Some ideas for ‘homework’/assignments will include: rock-stacking/balancing (of course—balancing and finding that innate sense of keeping things in line/working with nature), nature sculptures (similar to what Michael described doing with his client in the final video class), mimicking bird calls and songs and ‘doodling’ what the client is hearing (noticing patterns and familiarities—and then journalling on familiar patterns that relate to their goal), storytelling, yoga and tai chi outside, cooking or preparing foods out in nature and/or eating fresh fruit from a vine/tree, camping overnight if possible, fishing, saving a bug/spider and not smashing it, identifying leaves/trees/animal tracks, following tracks, growing a plant from seed, etc, etc…

(6) I want to allow each assignment to connect an emotion, an experience via the use of the five senses, and Nature, and throw a lot of creation time in, so the client becomes aware that he is able to create things from what he knows/ what he has/ he innately knows the best ways, etc. Even when the client experiences ‘failure’, I want the client to report back their feelings and next steps for that assignment (prep for ‘failure’ and re-direction/abandonment in the stages toward an established goal…)

By the way: I have a couple of people in mind to work with in a town that is an hour away, but I haven’t talked to them about it, yet, because I have another (unrelated) certification to complete (required for my current work situation) before I am able to put more ‘on my plate’….so…

(!!!) I would really like to form weekend workshops with small groups of people, using some of these same ideas, but that will come.

That will come.

Best wishes to everyone, on whatever stage of your journey with NB Coaching.
It has been a pleasure.

[cindy_sell_schulte]

It went very well. I am pleased with this plan as one of my coaching session ideas. I am going to work a distance client, with this plan, next. When I have more time (more than an hour, and more like a day or weekend) I am going to look at setting up a plan for ceremony, because I love the notion. Unlike the other short coaching plans, I want to do this one in person, only, and maybe try a small group of people (more like a workshop, maybe).

[cindy_sell_schulte]

I’ve had a number of challenges in finding the time, and the right person, to try a wander with, these past few weeks, so I decided to take a different approach, and change some things up, so that I could apply the same material in a more convenient way, for myself, and for some people I have asked to participate.

What I find, mostly, is that people are busy. The two people I work with seemed like a good match, to do this type of work with, but setting aside a time that we could meet and do this became more and more of a challenge. I suppose that when I actually start coaching in this way, the recipient will seek ME out, not the other way around. That aside, my main intent for this time/applying this lesson and combining material, was to establish a workable plan that led to discovery and maybe even goal-setting, for my client.

So I started working on that.

Instead of doing a physical Wander, I decided to invite nature indoors, for those who have a limited timeframe and atmosphere. I have come up with two different sessions, and one of them goes like this: (this is the one I am probably going to work on making a remote session, with recordings and steps that need photo-documenting—some of my clients will most likely be participating at a distance):

(1) First I have the client ‘connect’ with Nature in a fun and creative way: I make them find a patch of clovers—on their own time— and make a clover chain out of them. This step forces them to search, find, create and have something to bring with them on their ‘journey’. They have to take a photo of themselves with it and send it to me. This has been fun.
(2) when we actually meet, I’ll have the client do breath work with the help of guided meditation using Nature elements in the backdrop. Since I already own several sound CDs for my usual meditation group, the main goal is to establish a connection of breath with the natural flow of the Earth—for example: the wave of water coming into the shore, cleansing the sands, and returning back out to sea. (The client brings a piece of paper/notebook and pen with them to this session, by the way.)
(3) Once the client deepens their awareness of breath—about 5-8 minutes of continuous cycling with this inner vision—I begin the Seven Breaths instruction, and they do that. I bring them out of the meditation, and have them narrow their list.
(4) Next I provide them with small stones and tell them to stack them, as high as they can, and then snap a photo of it. If I was doing this remotely, they would have to, again, seek, find, and do, forcing them back out into Nature. During this step, I will leave the coaching scene and have them fetch me, once they have completed, so they must draw on their own sense of balance, etc, experience frustration without an audience, etc.
(5) After the success of stacking, I would bring them back to their list, and have them jot down why they feel each way (in the words that they have narrowed down), and what they are going to do about it. I would refer to the idea that they already innately know how to create (from the clover chain) and also how to solve problems and work with what they have (from the stone stacking).

I am hoping to work this entire session with the two people from work, today, some of it on their own time. (mostly steps 4/5, but eventually I am probably going to record steps 2/3).
It seems like it could work. We shall see….

[cindy_sell_schulte]

Lyria:
You are such a great writer–I can feel your experiences, each time you write about them. I am excited to hear how you use the lessons and techniques, in your own unique way, and how you ‘allow’ for modifications, and accept that wherever you are, Nature can be/is. Thank you for sharing.
C

[cindy_sell_schulte]

Reflect on your wander. How did Nature participate? And, what thoughts are there for you in regards to application to your life and career?

I am really enjoying reading about the outcomes of some of these exercises. Thank you for sharing them. I love how Joshua said that his daughter is able to tune in to things he has long been tuning out, so easily. Very cool. Kids get it. And parents who share that experience with them are great parents….And Cory: I giggled a little when I read that you just followed the wind and hopped a flight back home…that’s really following your pull, and it sounds like it brought you to the place where you need to be, in order to take care of unfinished business that might be ‘holding you back’ from the next steps in your inner journey. Again: very bold and very cool. Very difficult, but very necessary, it seems.

So:
During the last session, we were asked to pay attention to the “pull”. These past few weeks, my husband and I have been looking for a new place to live, and even though I keep thinking I want to go one direction in my life (north) my “pull” EACH TIME when I “ask”/listen/feel is actually east/southeast of where we are living, now. Finally, Monday night of this week, I decided we were driving toward the pull. We drove to a nearby, smaller town, and we looked around. We saw nothing. On the way back, I had the feeling that we were in about the right area, along a road that we hadn’t ever been on. Nothing for sale. Nothing but the deer that kept telling me where they were, alongside either side of this road. So I’m very curious about all that. It really makes me wonder. The direction seems right, but the outcome/why is not there, when I follow. Should I keep going back? I have no idea why my pull goes that direction, but it feels right, even when I seem to think otherwise. Perhaps my inner compass is broken…teehee.

Along those lines, I have to say, and maybe someone else has said this: I feel a little uncomfortable with the Wander, as I feel like I could get lost. Is that weird? Its not that I don’t EXPLORE, because, believe me—I am a gatherer of Nature stuff when I walk, but just randomly wandering makes me a little frightened. Maybe that’s the control freak in me— a trust issue. I feel like our society doesn’t wander—we ask our phones and cars to take us to certain destinations, so we don’t waste time. Since I’ve had jobs where I have to be at a certain location, by a certain time, I have turned my trust over to technology, for doing that, in all traveling. I think because I’m one of those people who needs a map or directions, I have lost my spacial-orientation, or parts of it, because sometimes I get SO TURNED AROUND in my directions, in everyday life (and I used to be all about N, S, E, W). This is just random thought. I was thinking maybe I just need to start small, in a park, or something, to do my wander, until I build that trust back up in myself.

Otherwise, here is how I’m using some of what we are being introduced to, in my work, as a Wellness Coordinator:

Since Earth Day is Sunday, my focus during the guided meditation this week was connection with Nature/ the beauty of Nature. I brought in a bunch of stuff from outside that I could find around the building like feathers, a long piece of tree bark, pods, cones, dandelions, rocks, etc and put them in the center of our circle. During the meditation, I asked that the members really open their sensual awareness outward in the Nature around them. Even though I lead the meditation, and help guide the participants through each sense, I “deliver them to a sense”, and then pause to allow them to focus on that sense, before we move to the next sense…at one point the room was so quiet (with 9 people in it) that I had to open my eyes to make sure everyone was still sitting with me. They were really into it. After the session, one of the ladies who is visually-impaired, said she felt the depth of the lines in a tree…another said she heard a stream and fire crackling, and the noises of a duck, or something. Because this group is on the ‘independent living’ side of our campus (in an aging-in-place community), I asked them all to take some time this week to try to find what they felt, smelled, tasted, heard or saw. Even if they don’t do the “homework”, the idea that they were able to savor the environment and share what they experienced was amazing and really made my heart sing.

See you tomorrow night!

[cindy_sell_schulte]

1 Come up with 3 different opportunities to intentionally practice objective awareness (i.e. At your sit spot, in a conversation, at work).
2 Use the Sacred Questions to formulate your initial post:
• What did I notice?
• What does that show me?
• What does that teach me?

I have to say that using the “Seven Breaths” meditation has given me the best, most useful, and immediate direction, this past week, or so. I have been using it “PRN” to figure out why I am feeling the way I feel, mostly when I am experiencing a negative emotion. So I’ve been journalling, but only when I feel a certain way. Writing the seven, then narrowing it down, makes me really “zero in” on the base emotion(s). The “why” seems easy, after you pinpoint the basic three or four. The “how” isn’t always so easy, nor is the “conversation”. For me, I’ve found that sometimes the emotions arise from knowing that I cannot always change a situation, and that I can only change my attitude and reaction to it—accept that I’m not always in control. This completely changes my usual “control” and “planning” behaviors, and sometimes my “goal” is to just accept whatever is going on, without creating a reaction or plan to change to make it what I think it should be. This was a great discovery, for me, because it sort of ties into the acceptance of NATURAL DISASTERS. When I think about people who have endured such catastrophe, they don’t stop in the middle of a storm and say: I’m moving! They take shelter, be safe, and when the storm passes, they gather what they have, and they take action. The bottom line, I suppose, for me is: you cannot expect to be safe, moving, in the middle of a storm. There is time to clean up, re-assess, and move, afterward. I needn’t feel like I can change everything, while everything is changing. Pretty powerful for a self-labeled “control-freak”.

I’ve also used the sensory meditation and even introduced “layered listening” to my weekly meditation group, to see if anyone else hears that same humming noise that I mentioned during the lesson/class. I’ve been curious to see if I hear this noise outside of the ‘city’, but I haven’t had time to find out/leave town. On my walks, to and from work, this week, I have sometimes just tuned in to the noises of the animals, and the changes in the environment with the approach of spring (until yesterday, when winter came back).

I have not yet found a “sit-spot” that I am comfortable with, apart from a place inside my home. I think I feel like I’m being watched, outside (as I live in a neighborhood where the houses are close together, and many can see what you are doing). I just want a place, nearby, that I haven’t found, outside, to sit.

Hope everyone has a good week. See you on Thursday.

[cindy_sell_schulte]

Nature-Connection, I believe, can be reduced to “connection” as pointed out, in the lesson. I am a Wellness Coordinator (currently working in an aging-in-place community) and I try to include aspects of nature in all that I do, to keep people actively engaged in their wellness experiences. For instance, I use trees or seasonal cycles as focus for guided meditation sessions, yoga reflections, and earthly purpose, and as guidance in generating and using energy in Tai Chi. I help invite nature indoors, by maintaining an environment rich in plantlife, visits by domestic animals and aviaries, and “sunlight cleansing” opportunities when days offer up sunshine through windows (for my residents in the care center setting).

Personally, I am fortunate to be able to walk to and from work when the weather is permittable, and I enjoy absorbing nature, all along the way. I look forward to weekends when I can take longer walks, outside, and engage in interactions with domestic animals and also observe the activities of the birds, squirrels, and deer and plants that surround our neighborhood. My most emotionally- powerful moment, this year, seemed to be while walking, in the early morning, and watching the lunar eclipse. I don’t believe I can ever dis-connect, at this point in my life, from Nature awareness, as it has always been a part of my life, in the good times, and the not-so-good times. I know that a walk outside, a joyful feeling of hearing the birds sing in the morning, and watching the gentle and peaceful fall of snow, can never be replaced by any device.

I am fortunate to be able to bring what I love to my work, but I am not certain that outcomes for what I do are as measurable (black and white) as they need to be, for the respect of my therapy peers, nor my fitness peers. I am not sure that I can stay true to my “calling” of helping others, and also remaining true to myself, as a connected individual. Recently, I have been considering a major shift in career, back to coaching, and leaning more toward artistic experiences for my clients, whether it be journalling, drawing, painting or body-movement, that is influenced by nature experiences and individual interpretation. I am still working out details on this, but NC coaching seems to be a route I need to include.

One of the things I found interesting about our Nature Awareness Exercises (assignment) was the concept of “wide angle vision”. Since I work a small portion of my day doing 1:1 visits with residents who have dementia in a care setting, one of the stages of the disease involves NOT being able to see outside a set view—not far beyond themselves. The idea of intently looking past myself, or directing others to do so (in a coaching experience) seems so important for overall mental health. Perhaps this type of thinking is what one of the students was speaking about, in the call: I believe it was called the “diminutive effect”. When I also think about how our society, as a whole, seems to be constantly tuning into a smaller-world base (cellphones, technology-based information, etc), it makes me really start to understand how the “shift” in our connections can create our own destiny. We have the choice to send our children out to play, or to go outside and breathe fresh air and observe nature (wide angle vision) or we can tune out all that is around us with earbuds, loud televisions, cellphones, and small-living. Either way, our minds respond, and it becomes our new reality, so that when something in nature shifts (the concentric rings), we really don’t know how to handle it (I’m thinking about natural disasters, here), and see it as something that happens TO us, instead of knowing it is happening to all, and how we react can create our own outcome. We need to redevelop the 6th sense, and stop ignoring its existence, I think, is what I’m “gathering” in my own thoughts about it all. Our minds need it, individually, and as a society/inhabitants on this planet.

[cindy_sell_schulte]

Lyria:
I keep coming up with the same word:
TRUST.
I had a lengthy reply to your super (!) post,
but that one word seems to sum it up.
I think a lot of us
are in the same boat.
I think TRUST is my own bottom-line.