[Kelsey Hopper]

What does it mean to be connected to Nature, and how can that relationship support your coaching?

To be connected to nature is to be connected to myself and to the energy that surrounds and is inside me everyday. It means to be aware of my surroundings and my inner feelings, thoughts, and knowledge. To be connected to nature is to know that the outside world is not separate from me. I am not living in my own, private silo away from my environment and away from others. It is sometimes easy to forget that I’m not sailing along and alone in my own little world, but when I intentionally connect to nature I am reminded of how connected to everything I am, and how when I am attuned to the energy around me, and aware of my own responses, reactions, and feelings, that I am powerful. Nature, in all of its simplicity and complexity, reminds me of my power, value, and worth. In turn, when I consciously engage and observe my environment, I begin (again!) to appreciate the world’s power, value, and worth as well. Noticing everything there is to notice is being connected to nature.

My relationship to nature supports my coaching in many ways, but a stand-out way is related to the naturalness of nature! In Coyote’s Guide, the authors write that “just as in nature, where everything fill its niche and contributes to the whole, so does each human.” This sentence brings to mind visuals of the “circle of life,” of symbiotic relationships between flora and fauna, and of the way each ecosystem is designed so perfectly to support life. Beyond these textbook examples, this concept reminds me of making camp with a new group of students on a backpacking trip.The instructor teaches skills and strategies to get camp set-up rolling, and eventually, as the days go by, each person in the group finds a unique and necessary way to contribute to the task. In the same paragraph in Coyote’s Guide the authors share that “connection to nature naturally invites people to appreciate the dynamics of community. They realize that every person has a place and a contribution to make…” This truth is so easy to see and feel and know deep down inside in a group of people when you are travelling from Point A to Point B on foot. This kinship between self, nature, and community is something that drove me to get involved with EBI. I love and need to feel connected in that backcountry-dirty-suffer-backpacking-blisters-camp dinner-rain soaked tent-kind of way. And I am interested in connecting others to that feeling when that kind of experience is not an option.

My relationship to nature, and my appreciation for nature, support me in my coaching. Specifically, the idea that the client sets the agenda. Nature often forces me to slow down. To relax. Or to speed up or react or change my plans. Nature aids me in releasing whatever preconceived notions I have about the experience I’m “supposed,” to have, and I know that this lesson is something that will support me as a coach. From Coaching Skills, a Handbook by Jenny Rogers, I take note of Principle 4: the Client Sets the Agenda. I must remember, in nature, that there is room to go-with-the-flow and realize that whatever shows up is what is there. This is like coaching, where I will not have an agenda, but rather, my client will provide that agenda.

One more way (there are endless ways) that my relationship with nature supports my coaching is being aware of “who we are versus what we do” (from Coaching Skills). On a thru-hike, for example, one can do everything “right.” You can take care of your feet, eat enough calories, stay hydrated, have the lightest equipment and get enough sleep. There are all tasks, or examples of the “doing self.” The Doing Self does not guarantee success. The mental and emotional aspects of a thru-hike are a part of the “being self.” These values and core beliefs that make up the “being self” are a huge part of something like a thru-hike. But, nurturing the “being self” doesn’t guarantee success either. Nothing does! But becoming aware of these selves and beginning to understand them is an important part of a thru-hike (for example) or any feat in life.

My relationship to nature is one that I need to, and will, continue to develop and nurture and nourish and put energy towards. It’s difficult a lot of the time to intentionally do this, but I know that will patterns, practice, perseverance, etc. that I can and will make it a priority.

[Kelsey Hopper]

Wendy! “You can take this girl out of nature but you can never take nature out of this girl!” YES! I concur. I really connect to your sentiment/action of surrendering to nature, her pull, her guidance. I’m so used to making a plan to engage with nature (maps! gear! contingency plans! local operating procedures! medical forms! etc.!) and during our foundations intensive I was finally reconnected with the idea of surrendering (you know that’s hard for me).

Reading your response makes me feel excited for your future and seeing where you end up. It makes me wonder why we have to go off and try out cities and suburbs when we really feel most at home outside, in wild spaces, connecting to our lands and ecosystems and bodies of water. Why do we do that? Maybe we do have to “leave home” in order to truly find our way home 🙂

P.S. eagerly awaiting more news of your job/location transition.

[Kelsey Hopper]

Lauren,
It’s so neat to read about your childhood growing up in NH. What a special time, and an experience that so many people don’t get to have as kids.

Something that caught my eye in your post was your connection to the idea of stretching people’s edges. What a neat idea- and one that I bet you connect to as an outdoor educator! I instantly thought of the comfort zone, stretch zone, panic zone idea. This is one of the core principles of experiential education- I picture an ever-expanding comfort zone as you entice your clients into their stretch zone again and again. I’m excited and interested to hear your ideas about how to engage folks in that way in the big city. Thanks for sharing a piece of your childhood with us!

[Kelsey Hopper]

Wendy, thank you so much for sharing this! It’s helpful to me to read (and draw inspiration from… perhaps even bootlegging!) as I come up with my own little elevator speech to share with my work-world, family-world, etc. about what this thing actually is!

Thanks again. Truly appreciate you sharing with us. LOVE!