[Cynthia Allen]

SORRY FOR BEING LATE TO POST HERE. I LOOK FORWARD TO ENGAGING WITH EVERYONE ON OUR POSTS!

The meaning of nature connection has transformed through my life, and I’m experiencing another change now, as I walk through this program. I reflect on the different interactions and connections I’ve had with nature and how these culminate to create my sense of nature connection. In my early life, nature was a place to freely explore, create, and play. I would watch the ants for hours and make up magnificent stories about their kingdoms and their lives under the cracks in the earth. My love for being in the natural world along with my love to move my body found me adventuring outdoors, climbing and skiing mountains, riding my mountain bike through remote valleys, meadows, deserts, and mountain ridges, and journeying deep into the wilderness at every chance I got. These experiences connected me to something bigger than myself and taught me self-confidence, perseverance, reverence and respect for all life. I’ve always turned to nature to come home to myself, my authentic self, my heart, and my soul. Just as Steven Harper writes in Ecopsychology, “People have always turned to wilderness to become whole again.” (p. 184)

Now, with the practices I learned in the Nature Connected Leadership course and the Foundations Intensive I’ve found deeper intentional awareness, connection, inspiration, support, and growth with nature than I have previously experienced. These topics and learning materials are bringing together what I have always innately felt as a human; that I belong in nature, that I am nature and nature is me. It’s like I finally found the script for cultivating this belonging and can create it and evolve it as I grow. The commitment to visiting my sit spot daily, doing the full sensory awareness practice, incorporating more frequent wandering in the wilderness, and engaging the 7-Breaths exercise has brought me a deeper comfort with myself and a profound knowledge of my soul through stillness and deep listening. I like how John Miles states it in Wilderness as Healing Place, “All of this compatibility can be liberating. It can allow reflection that can lead to discovery of a different self, a self less constricted, more integrated, and more desirable.” (p. 46) So, all of this culminates to form my meaning of nature connection as being a whole human with my unique gifts, fully aware and present, connected to all that is, and with reverence for life.

With this expanded awareness of nature connection, I venture into coaching and guiding people to meet their deepest needs and cultivate a greater sense of themselves. I see my relationship with nature being critically important in supporting my effectiveness as a Nature Connected Coach. As I fully embrace and embody my whole humanness though expanded nature connection, I will better be able to see others as whole, resourceful and with unique gifts. As we discussed during the foundations intensive, seeing our clients as whole, functional, and complete people who have the wisdom to create their best selves is a foundational principle in coaching. In the Coaching Skills book, Jenny Rogers writes, “Coaching is about drawing out this intrinsic human resourcefulness” (p. 27). On my wander during our Foundations Intensive, I noticed that when I slow down to the speed of nature, ignite my senses, and deeply listen, my soul guides me to exactly where I need to be. This sense of wholeness is critically important in developing trust with my clients and myself as a coach.

Also, cultivating awareness and presence through nature connection is central to supporting deep listening. Deep listening is a core skill in coaching to be able to hear what is underneath the story. I like how the Coyote’s Guide (p. 44) talks about listening to the story…”rather than passively listening to stories, you are pulling stories – pulling out stories and pulling on stories – to reveal all the rich gems of learning, as well as all the gap and pockets of unawareness.” I think that through the full sensory awareness practice and tapping into baseline I’m training myself to be aware, present, and a deep listener. This is so important to help my coaching clients see the gaps and unconscious behaviors that may be holding them back from their ultimate goals.

Finally, as my nature connection grows and expands my sense of reverence for all life and interconnectedness of all beings, my coaching will be nurtured in many ways. When I feel connected to all that is, loneliness dissipates, and joy radiates from me. As my reverence and gratitude for all life amplifies, things begin to fall into place and I embrace an intuitive knowing that the path I’m walking is perfect and exactly where I need to be. The more I can live from this place, the more I will attract what I want in my coaching practice and how I want to be as a coach.

[Cynthia Allen]

Hello Everyone!

My name is Cynthia and I am enrolled the NCC program beginning in January 2021 and decided to take this course to get me started on this exciting journey. My background is in environmental science and policy and I spent 20 years working in these fields both in the public sector for the State of Colorado and the private sector in the energy business. I left the corporate world in November 2019 to pursue a more balanced life and discover my next step. I’ve always been passionate about preserving and protecting the natural world. In the last few years, I’ve awakened to the knowledge that the more people are connected with nature, the more they’ll want to protect and preserve it. I want to help people awaken to this truth, so they can heal themselves, so we all can heal the world.

Some other things about me; I love spending time outside, hiking, mountain biking, skiing, backpacking, and just sitting amongst the trees. I’m a sculpture artist working with metal, mostly found objects. I love turning someone’s old junk into art. I also love to garden, cook, walk my sweet Lulu dog, and go on road trips.

[Cynthia Allen]

Thank Amanda! As I read my last statements again, it reminded me of the quote you put in your post, ”Uninterrupted and undisturbed nature takes care of itself.” And it makes me ask the question, How can I be uninterrupted and undisturbed nature? The word surrender comes up for me. Easier said than done!

[Cynthia Allen]

Amanda, thank you for sharing so openly and vulnerably with us. It’s interesting how the events of our lives shift our perspective and point us in new directions. Or remind us what is important. I hear you sitting with this question of trauma, grief, and suffering and how helping others heal these aspects of the human condition fits into your vision. I wonder if you’ve had more clarity since this post?

I really love the inquiry you offered at the end of your post about how does the concept of uninterrupted and undisturbed nature take care of itself apply to us and how doesn’t it? If we are all nature, my sense is it fully applies, all the time, it’s the practice of surrendering to this that can be so challenging for me. What has come up for you in this inquiry?

[Cynthia Allen]

Sue, I was struck by this statement from your post, “Nature/wilderness can balance the masculine Feminine energies that exist within both individuals and group dynamics which is a balance that is difficult to even out in the culture today.” I find truth in the healing powers of nature to bring this balance, it’s a felt experience and seems to happen organically. I hope the more we, as a culture, can holistically and systematically connect to nature, the more this current imbalance can find equilibrium.

[Cynthia Allen]

Rachel, I love the quote you pulled from the Wilderness as Healing Place article, “By relinquishing the illusion of control over the environment people paradoxically acquire more internal control and can relax and pay more attention to their surroundings and to their inner selves.” I also felt a resonance with this concept and love that spaciousness and opening that is felt when deeply connected to nature. I’m wondering how you carry this into everyday? I’m working on this myself so anything you’ve learned/noticed and feel comfortable sharing would be awesome!