Cecile Bonnet
Forum Replies Created
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Hi Liv, I really resonated with what you said when you shared that NCC falling into the discipline of Ecopsychology brought more credence to it and provided more foundation. Everything interweaves somehow and it is really interesting to understand all the different pieces. As we learn more and more, I feel it is going to be easier to explain it to others.
And yes to the “nature of change” and how our brains works. As the Coaching skills book states p 28, “when you feel you are being told what to do, your first response is virtually always to defend your existing position. It becomes impossible to listen carefully to what the other person is saying, however sensible it is”
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Where does Ecopsychology and Coaching come together? How does this blend add foundation to your interests as a Nature-Connected Coach. How might it fall short? And what skills are needed?
Ecopsychology holds that there is a “synergistic interplay between planetary and personal well-being” as described by Roszak, T in “Ecopsychology- The Principals”. Nowadays, our society forgot the simple things in Nature that make us happy and feel connected. Just looking at the Corporate World, people do not know how to slow down and do not value a slower pace because they value their self-worth by the amount of hours they work or by the amount of projects they are handling.
In “Ecopsychology- The Principals” Roszak, T illustrates that “Ecopsychology seeks to heal the more fundamental alienation between the person and the natural environment” and “Ecopsychology therefore deeply questions the essential sanity of our gargantuan urban-industrial culture”. We are actually losing our sanity by disconnecting ourselves from Nature. “Time in nature proves essential to our health as humans because it impacts our psychological, mental, emotional and physical wellbeing” as described in the Coyote’s Guide.
This is where coaching comes in… where Ecopsychology and Coaching come together to co-create in order to help our clients transform their life. Nature and the coach are both acting as a container to hold space for the client and guide him to where he needs to go.
As a Nature-Connected Coach we are not here to give answers to the client. We are here to draw out “this intrinsic human resourcefulness” and “the first step to establishing trust is to abandon advice-giving as a coaching tactic” (Chp 2 Coaching Skills from J. Rogers). Nature is exactly what the client needs to take ownership of his own experience and to trust his intuition.
Nature is also here to help him reconnect with his inner child and appreciate the simple things in life that are often forgotten. As mentioned by Roszak, T in “Ecopsychology- The Principals”, “The ecological unconscious is regenerated, as if it were a gift, in the newborn’s enchanted sense of the world. Ecopsychology seeks to recover the child’s innately animistic quality of experience in functionally “sane” adults.”
It might fall short with people that are not open-minded and need proof before even trying something new. I feel that Ecopsychology and Coaching can be hard to explain at times to people that are scientists and believe in data, facts and that are a lot more in their heads than in their hearts. I also believe that it might not be for everyone and that is ok.
I believe that the skills needed are (non-exclusive list):
– Great listening
– Powerful questioning
– Restraining ourselves from doing their work for them
– Going slowly and leaving time for the information to sink in + “Repetition is the mother of mental habits” (Coyote’s guide)
– Telling inspiring stories to show what is possible and to show appreciation for the little things in life
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Summary reflection
I’ve been waiting to do this summary until I was done reading all the book chapters/pdfs…this is the perfectionist in me… and I realize now that nothing is perfect and it needs to stop right here right now… Just like Nature, I am perfectly imperfect and I need to embrace it. I can still remember being in Gunnison and contemplating all the aspen trees… with their unique shape and boo-boo, what a beauty!!! We are all beautiful just the way we are and in our own ways 🙂
In reading “the way of wilderness” from Steven Harper, I recognized myself in “upon emergence from wilderness we are confronted with our inconsistencies and notice more than ever before how drastically out of balance we live”. I have been so busy with my chemical career that I almost forgot what life was all about and what was making happy.
Last year I felt lost, disconnected from work, with a lack of direction… I am truly grateful to have found NCC and this community of like-minded people. It’s this deep feeling of “I found my tribe, my people, my purpose in life, my desire to continue doing the inner work and to help others do the same…”
Being in Gunnison was my “rebirth of sensory aliveness”. I’ve been able to BE so much more aware and to allow myself to feel. smell. look. listen. slow down…
The story of Jan and the king snake reminded me of the night where I was convinced that a bear was outside my tent… I was beset by anxiety and fear, trying to calm myself, exploring silently all the options in my head:
1. run to someone else’s tent and scream (Hannah and Maria were the closest. Too bad Michael had left)
2. go outside and make myself bigger to scare the bear away
3. talk to the bear through the tent and tell him that I am a human with no intention of hurting him and repeat a mantra: love (breathe in), peace (breathe out) several times
I actually opted for the 3rd option. And ended up peeing in a bottle by fear of getting outside haha
It was midnight and this lasted probably 2h. We had agreed with other students to get up at 5am to watch the sunrise and I was determined to see it. So after 3 little hours of sleep, I woke up with sleepy eyes yet full of vitality and soaked in all the sunrise energy. I recounted the story of my experience to others and we had a good laugh.
This experience in Gunnison was amazing and I want to help people experience the power of nature and adventure to heal and reconnect with themselves.
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What does it mean to be connected to Nature, and how can that relationship support your coaching?
I always loved nature without really knowing WHY it was making me feel so good. I’ve also always dreamed about having classes outside and remember enjoying doing my homework in the backyard whenever I could… I’m all about having fun, playing, experimenting as mentioned in the Coyote’s guide book.
After our intensive week I realized what being connected to nature really meant; taking the time to slow down and to listen.look.feel. I’ve been doing that all along without being conscious of it or without being able to explain it to others. What we call “the sit area” is the equivalent of what I call “my happy place”; a quiet place where nobody is around, where I have wide angle vision with a feeling of expansion and where I am surrounded by trees (bonus if there are birds and water nearby!)
Trees have a really deep meaning for me. They represent the connection, the community that I’ve always been craving. Trees are all unique and beautiful in their own way… they all have imperfections (scars, knots, burls…) just like humans and it doesn’t remove any of their charm (in fact it adds more charm!). They all have something to offer and it’s all together that they can survive and support each other. Humans, just like trees, need to stay grounded and adapt to the environment if they want to thrive in life.
As John Miles described in the article “Wilderness as a healing place” there are many benefits of wilderness and with our modern lifestyle we definitely need contact with nature to be fully functioning humans on a physical, mental and spiritual level. I feel this is definitely something that I want to implement in my coaching.
Having a chemistry background and coming from the corporate world, I can see the stress and high pace of this environment and thus the need for connection with nature. I, myself, feel stressed and overwhelmed often and I want to be able to help others that go through the same feeling. I am leaning towards coaching the corporate world and bringing them into “my nature world”.
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Hi everyone!
My name is Cecile Bonnet (Cici if it’s easier to pronounce 😉 )
I am French and have been living in Pennsylvania for about 10years. My husband and I recently rented our house in PA and are now living full time in our RV. Currently in Florida and about to go to Nashville, TN then Texas and Las Vegas (where my husband’s family lives).
My background is chemistry and I’ve been working in this field for the past 10years while knowing it wasn’t my passion and I was meant to do something different.
Last year I’ve done a lot of inner work and really focused on what is it that I really want in life. After a lot of reflection I realized that my North Star is Nature/Adventure. Self love. Connection. Communication.
After typing Nature and Coaching in google, I discovered the Earth-based Institute and I felt drawn into the NCC program 🙂 I followed my intuition and quickly registered!
I am excited to live this whole new experience and to meet all of you really soon. I’ll also be flying to Denver on the 25th (still need to buy my flight) and I’d gladly share a ride with you (Sara, Lindsay, please let me know your plans and I’ll try to book my flight accordingly).
Cecile
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Thank you Sara for sharing your reflection. Your post provoked an aha moment for me… Originally I didn’t really know what the word severance meant.. and you expressing “a literal severing from the old, disconnected way of being” made it crystal clear to me… I see it as the beginning of the transition; getting more awareness, getting more clear and letting go of the old in order to step into the unknown, this threshold that the client gets to experience with Nature 🙂
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Hi Liv, I really resonated with what you said when you shared that NCC falling into the discipline of Ecopsychology brought more credence to it and provided more foundation. Everything interweaves somehow and it is really interesting to understand all the different pieces. As we learn more and more, I feel it is going to be easier to explain it to others.
And yes to the “nature of change” and how our brains works. As the Coaching skills book states p 28, “when you feel you are being told what to do, your first response is virtually always to defend your existing position. It becomes impossible to listen carefully to what the other person is saying, however sensible it is”
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Hi John! Thank you so much for sharing your childhood memory about watching the sunrise while fishing. What an amazing experience and recollection at such a young age! Your writing is amazing and as I was reading it, I was right there with you and I could observe this sunrise through your eyes and still feel the warmth on my skin… just marvelous. Through your words, you took me back to Gunnison watching the sunrise on top of the ridge… especially this one morning when I was surrounded by sacred silence and a hummingbird just showed up in front of me, I had to pinch myself to make sure I was not dreaming. This is definitely the power and connection of nature and us being one 🙂
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Hi Toni. Couldn’t agree more to what you said about this society DOING more than BEING. The feeling of needing to be busy and overwhelmed to show that you are “on track” resonates so much with me. And it is absolutely true that nature gets everything done the way it is supposed to, on its own time so why can’t humans do the same?! Thank you for sharing your perspective.
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Joy – I love the awareness that you have! Knowing that you WANT to slow down, sit down and observe. I feel “sit still” is a big one for you and you’ll become a master at it.
Meditation IN NATURE is the best! no need to have one or the other, you can have both 🙂
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Lindsay – I could feel your appreciation, gratitude and peace for nature in your post. It really resonated with me when you mentioned the sense of belonging, as an element of nature itself. And I really enjoy the part where you say that being connected to Nature also means respecting nature; its lessons and its mystery. Often times, we, as humans, try to control situations in life and nature is the perfect teacher to learn to let go and surrender.
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Hi Amy, excited to learn more about you and what you do in craniosacral. Never heard about it before 🙂 Similar to you, I love to learn new things and connect with nature! Thanks for offering a ride, I’d definitely be interested, I am arriving late in Denver on June 24th (and returning on July 4th at 10am) and can definitely find my way to Boulder. As Lindsay mentioned, there are a few of us looking for car arrangements. I believe Hannah was also interested. I’ll let her join the conversation here! Maybe at some point it might be easier to exchange our phone numbers and do a text group. Mine is 702-497-2170. Excited to meet all of you really soon!
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Yes please 🙂 I’d be happy to connect/coordinate with you and Sara for a ride on the 25th.