Suez Nields
Forum Replies Created
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Wow!
This discussion prompt seems to be so VAST! Honestly, it’s brought up some resistance, and kept me a bit stuck in my head, versus in the Soul Seat.
Initially, this was the working vision statement from my plan…
Vision Statement:
Reach Out, Reach in, Look up, Look ahead. Find your Path out and Rise Up.
The collaborative vision of Anam Treo is to create a sacred space for healing the whole: Mind, Body and Spirit. To fully develop and apply the client’s own innate intuition, using immersion into nature to understand the relationships of everything to everything else.
“If you bring Forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is in you, what you do Not bring forth will destroy you.”
-from the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas
The Clients that I am drawn to serve are as diverse as the question presented in the forum. For the purpose of discussion, they are these:
Who are we for?
We are Inclusive, diverse and forward-thinking souls. At Anam Treo we strive to meet our clients where they are on their own personal transformational journey. Our services extend hope to those suffering from the despair caused by a myriad of mental disorders and physical challenges including:
Eating Disorders
PTSD
Depression
Anxiety
Chronic Pain / Illness
Life Transitions (Divorce,Grief, Empty-Nest, Retirement
We also offer separate support services for Caregivers and Parents
Supporting Warriors from all Walks
Why am I drawn to this work? This Population?
It’s quite simply, because I have been this population. I know this despair. I also know what lies on the other side, and want it to remain my mission , for the rest of my life to help others find their way back to themselves and I know through personal experience that connecting to soul through connecting to Nature is elemental, and POWERFUL.
I imagine working with clients in the following ways:
1:1 Coaching services
Guided Group Hikes from short, day hikes to overnight backpacking trips
Retreats with complimentary providers ( therapists, spiritual practitioners, massage therapists, keynote speakers, artists, musicians)
Seminars
Some Common Categories of goals that I can forsee exploring within these populations are around;
Purpose, Self-Care, Identity, Relationships.
I imagine collaboration with nature in the form of ritual and ceremony, holding as much of the work as possible immersed in nature, upon the land.
From my own decades long experience with many different types of therapy and treatment programs and also extensive research in different realms, I have concluded that where a lot of programs and well meaning therapies miss the boat is with the Integration piece. Creating a container and an environment that has no support or substance once the supports have been lifted, because the client never OWNED the process they were walking through, a power dynamic had always existed, whether it was an insurance company, or a “system”. Walking beside the client as they integrate and providing reflection and celebration of successes isn’t the norm. Thinking eclectically, and outside the box isn’t the norm either.
Approaching the client with the perspective of exposing the inner ember that just needs the tending, the nurturing to catch and then BLAZE… isn’t the norm. It’s not the “problem” that is the problem. We’ve just forgotten HOW to see who we are. Forgotten how to look to see who someone is.
As Transformative Guides, we get to mirror that KNOWING back to People…How fucking cool is that?!
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Upon reflection throughout this module the things that are coming up for me.. What for me is really alive right now is the whole idea that as coaches we are really, really being attuned to where our own alignment is and making sure that our Individual cup is being continually refilled by our connection to the land, our connection to ourselves, our connection to our communities our connection to healing (also obviously the word connection is coming up) I think that the ways in which we take care of ourselves will be reflected in the ways that we coach. Also what’s grabbing my attention..is that it’s really really important to practice: to engage in these practices that the EBI container has introduced to us to not only heal ourselves, but collectively. If people are living in this truth and in this alignment that it will have such a large reach and impact in a way that’s so desperately, desperately needed right now. I’m in Minneapolis ( which they are calling Ground Zero in the Justice and equality movement ) and with the focus of what’s been going on with the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd and then the murder of Daunte Wright , I’m also holding space for all the pain for the people in Boulder and their collective experience after the mass killings there , space for the pain of the pandemic and all thats been collectively lost there. It is all so very heavy. This whole idea of creating balance and healing in a world where it’s so clearly not in balance. There’s so much pain and so much suffering and so much… ( fill in the blank), but if we are able to do this work within ourselves we begin to see that it’s possible and can begin to look at the possibilities. We begin to look at transformation and change as a by-product of doing the work.For ourselves first… so that it radiates into the collective.
It requires adaptability. It requires a deep listening to the environment in which we are a part of… an openness to that 360 degree awareness. An opening to the dialogue of differences.
It’s imperative for the survival of the species and the planet. It’s a symbiotic thing!!
Sometimes seeing and feeling and experiencing all of it at a visceral level is what inspires transformation. “Necessity is the mother of Invention”,after all.
I’m so incredibly grateful to be held in this community of changemakers.
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Everything that I have experienced as a client in the threshold within the EBI container of Coaching as well as a client in any of the previous experiences that I have brought along with me to this point in my journey have all GREATLY informed who I am , and who I am becoming as a Nature Connected Coach.
My experience prior to landing at EBI instilled a great Curiosity-and a desire to make it BETTER. A desire to create something different , a way of looking at things that maybe traditional modalities were not touching on… things that weren’t “working” for me.
While in the Threshold , experiencing that attunement with another human being who is so deeply listening to not only what words you are saying, but to your whole affect- noticing your body language, your tone, the shifts in baseline and having the awareness to look for these things and to listen without trying to jump in and fix, or to spit rote formulations and answers back at you is such an incredible gift.My experience of nature in the Threshold- especially considering that we were conducting all of our sessions online, included the practice of adaptability… because the accessibility to the land may have looked a little differently than we were originally expecting it to look. Which was ok, and valuable in its own presentation! But I’ll attempt to describe how I experienced nature through the threshold.
I think I experienced it mostly through the practices we were introduced to prior to entering into one on one sessions . I was able to benefit from the obvious effects that those practices had upon the guides with whom I was lucky enough to be paired with.
I got to experience the adaptability and the bend in the Trees, The gentle nudges and the whispers of the wind, the warmth of the sun, the soothing rhythm of the moving water… through my guides connections and resonances with these things. They embodied these elements in their very mannerisms.I was lucky enough to experience Rachel as a guide… and she brought the land to me! she actually held her session outdoors.. and blew me away with the wind whispers of my council… to “LOVE MYSELF”.
I got to experience the curiosity and wonder of Jackie as a guide…
With her openness and enthusiasm- her desire for understanding where a client is generating from…. Like the open skies .
Amanda’s absolute deep level of empathy and absolute “rootedness” ( is the word that is alive for me in describing nature through my experience of her presence)
Jen’s absolute encompassing expansiveness. Like the Earth Mother herself in her capacity to hold story
Cynthia’s embodiment of earth wisdom and ceremony and ability to sing the sacred questions. That is how I experienced the flow of Nature throughout the Threshold.
Taking all of the experiences and weaving their lessons and using the threads to fashion my own Cloak of Coaching and wear it proudly; held by the experience into my sessions with others.While I believe that all of the competencies to be important and that they have their place…
Demonstrating Ethical Practice and embodying a Coaching Mindset,
CULTIVATING TRUST AND SAFETY are all critical elements to any coaching relationship that I would want to enter into as a coach.Communicating effectively… considering the clients experience, from the perspective of where they HAVE BEEN, . Where they ARE and where they DESIRE TO BE. and ability to keep own emotions in check ( but feeling comfortable enough in expressing them when appropriate)
Celebrating the clients progress and successes is another area that I also feel is super important. Adding elements of Ceremony and an expectation within the client… that in these sessions, around this ceremonial fire, the client is in a place where they are honored and respected, given permission to be WHO they are, WHERE they are at any given moment, that they are SEEN , HEARD and HELD within the Sacred Space that we have created together.
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It Seems to me that Ecopsychology (and Ecotherapy) intersect with Coaching, specifically NCC at the application level. As Nature Connected Coaches we must view from the holistic and sacred lens, our perspective includes not only our place and impact on this plane, on this planet… the space we inhabit, the natural world, both inner and outer Wilderness. The impact we have, as well as How we are Impacted by it.
It also seems to make perfect sense… that the discord and the divisiveness that the planet is experiencing and the inner turmoil, discord and discontentment we are experiencing as human inhabitants of said planet stems from the impact of the GREAT DISCONNECT.
We are technologically more connected than ever before, YET more disconnected to self, spirit and the global WE than ever before.”Ecopsychology holds that there is a synergistic interplay between planetary and personal well being, i.e., the needs of the planet are the needs of the person, the rights of the person are the rights of the planet” Further,
Ecopsychology holds that “whatever contributes to small scale social forms and personal empowerment NOURISHES the Ecological ego, Whatever strives for large scale Domination and Suppression of Personhood, UNDERMINES the ecological Ego”
Including the theories and principles of Ecopsychology in our explorations within our own humanness and that of our clients can only lead to greater harmony and healing the discord.One of the challenges I can see is that there is no ONE formula or particular recipe for what a client needs, and what the Blend might be.
Rising to this challenge will require us as Nature Connected Coaches to be Flexible, to have a well stocked Toolbox, and to be open to switching up tactics based on the signs and language and needs of individual clients. While this can be a challenging perspective, It’s also one of the beautiful aspects of the work, because it allows us the Freedom to develop a personal voice and rapport with clients, where the clients feel SAFE and SEEN, HEARD and EMPOWERED, Taking the Reins of Change for Themselves!“How deep the listening must go to Hear the Self, Speak Through the Self.”
( p.2, The Voice of the Earth: an Exploration of Ecopsychology, Roznak,T. 2001)I also really appreciated all of the different questions to ask that were in (Coaching Skills The definitive guide to being a Coach, Jenny Rogers.Chapter 5) and how to use them effectively, and having them to compare to how we, as NCC practitioners use the sacred questions… and using these as a resource for developing your own voice as a coach.
What struck a chord with me after finishing and then attempting to absorb all the information from the assigned and supplemental readings for this foundation, is all of the different ways to engage both our own curiosity and to inspire and invite those we are working with to explore their own curiosity within the container of Nature Connected Coaching. I’m beginning to get a clearer idea of the different levels that a client may be at, may want to reach and how they are connected. The Head level, the Heart Level then the deeper SOUL spot.
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Jackie!
I totally agree with you that this would be a great group to get in front of!I’d like to hear more of your thoughts on this! About How you vision getting out in front of this demographic… and also, if you know of other organizations that are already working with young people in this demographic how you might collaborate within those organizations?
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” I think the most important part of my work with a client is making decisions in a seat of Soul. That is the place that we can hear our intuition and it is the place where we are never “wrong.” “
AMEN!!!
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Thanks for engaging, Amanda and for this feedback!
I do have a list of providers that I am working off of… and its evolving and changing all the time. its ALIVE!!! some of them I am already working with, some have expressed interest in working together in some capacity, while others are strictly social media connections that I can see networking through and in tandem with.
I’m envisioning being led by the client as to what direction to tailor services based on their interest and level of health and stability. which is why I also envision a team approach.Especially initially… some of my services can be implemented as an add on, a compliment to an existing approach -to lead the client to the idea that the answers they are seeking…. are intrinsically within them!
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AMANDA!!!!
I really love how you have jumped “ALL IN” with your discernment process… Go Elpheba!!!!
I’m wondering , have you given any thought to collaboration as an independent contractor , with Air Force Families?
You clearly have a passion for kids and families and have a resonance and shared experience of the commitment that whole families make, and the sacrifices inherent to Military Life. You’ve lived it!! Not to mention, insider knowledge of whom you might contact for connection!!!
I also love your passion for integration and incorperation into daily life as one emerges from an immersive experience, whether it’s an internal or external Wilderness. I’m curious, as a guide- How do you see your role unfolding in supporting clients through this phase of the journey? Are there practical applications you are feeling called to explore?
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Rachel-
YES… What WOULD the world look like if mour people connected to their souls???!!! let’s find out, shall we?!
I find too, that Accessibility can be more and more of a challenge for me in getting out into the WILD. Ive been struggling with this a LOT lately. It’s at this time that i feel pulled the most to do everything I possibly can to bring in the Wildness. I envy that you are able to have that connection for yourself right now… in your pay -the- bills work in the outdoor therapy arena!
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Cyn-
You bring up a REALLY good point. Those people with the disconnection… maybe ARE the people that we don’t necessarily want to surround ourselves with as we gravitate more to those that fill our cup, so to say. Yet… these also are the people who can absolutely benefit from the healing NATURE of the work. so I think that its absolutely imperative that we are continually seeking to refill our own cups, so that there is plenty to tip out and to spill over onto others. and to put our desire to heal that disconnect in an equal balance with the connectedness we feel with nature and with those with whom connectedness is alive!
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Rachel-
I can see myself also needing to remember to let the clients set the pace… and not lead them to the place, but rather have them discover their own intrinsic answers … even if we are super excited ( or exasperated) or whatever the feelings we might have about it! I think you’re right, that patience will be key!
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As a “recovering Catholic” myself…. I can identify with your perspective, Amanda. I have had many conversations regarding the disconnect people seem to be experiencing , possibly stemming from the rejection of the place where community and connection had traditionally been planted and fostered… EVEN if the container was rife with dogma, intolerance and inequality and sometimes the exact opposite of HOLY.
Connecting with nature on that deep spiritual level… is indeed what brought me to healing.In it, I found my anchor. It also led me to search for Community on different terms. -
Rachel!!
I’d like to echo the questions about re-entry after your clients return from immersive wilderness experiences.I have been made aware that in both Wilderness therapy settings as well as in traditional therapy programs that there seems to be a lack when it comes to integrating the lessons learned and FELT while within the experience ( if that makes sense) How do you think we can, in our coaching work… help our clients Remember and relate those feelings into daily life? How do you personally do this? -
Amanda,
“How do people move positively to the other side of trauma and grief?”The healing of our Vets is a cause I also hold close. Im wondering, How can you see yourself as a Coach using nature Connection to help Veterans and their families in healing from PTSD? are there certain organizations that you will reach out to?
I can’t wait to explore these kind of topics together as a Cohort! -
Jen-
Wow…
“For me, being connected to nature is an ongoing coming home, a re-membering or returning to our essential belonging. We are nature. I am nature. Not separate, woven in. The wilderness is not out there, it is the pulse of life and form through all things, including me! When I am in contact with what is natural and wild in myself, in another, and in the world, I come to my senses. Literally. I am simultaneously the center of the world, this unique individual expression (Soul) having an experience, and one with the larger collective unfolding of Life, of All That Is. I simultaneously matter and don’t. I find this freeing. And it allows me to invite this same experience in and for another…”Jen Medrick Page 1, (insert title)
I for one,CANNOT WAIT TO READ THE REST OF THE BOOK!This whole response reads like a love letter.
Thank you for gifting our eyes and hearts with it.