[Rachel Juth]

What struck me the most from this discussion, is Amanda’s reflection on slowing down/quieting enough to hear our own intuition as a way to connect with our internal nature. After reading her last post and letting the power of the words sink into my bones, I have noticed how this is a truth for me as well. The more that I slow down and connect to myself, the more I feel connected to the natural world around me. I notice when I slow down in the morning, taking the time to drop into the present moment, it allows me to connect more deeply to myself. In turn, the way I see the world changes and the connection that I feel to those around me also changes. I feel grateful for this reminder of slowing down and connecting to the deepest parts of ourselves. This is something that I want to take forward as a guide and a coach. Currently, it feels easier said than done, though there is an unfolding and a dedication that is coming alive for me that feels stronger than ever before. We can only take our clients into the unknown as far as we have gone and I feel a curiosity to dive deeper into my unknown.

Several of you asked how our program supports clients in their weekly transition and how I tend to myself during that time. I brought my attention to the transition this week in the field and I noticed how much I also struggle with leaving the natural world. I imagine this ties into connecting to our internal world and being aware with (and okay with) the struggle. For clients, this week in particular, I was open to holding space and conversations with them by validating their experience and getting curious about it. Our program uses what comes up during transition as a way to better understand a clients process. I myself still feel as though I want to explore what is happening for me at this time.

[Rachel Juth]

Sue, I love the power of your post!

I agree with, when you say, “Nature connectedness through outer wilderness experience heightens sensory awareness and through wilderness experience and nature connection transformation comes from WITHIN.” I am curious when you experienced this personally during the intensive (or even post intensive)? I felt incredibly inspired by your video share with the group at your sit spot.. in the snow!! You truly embodied going to your sit spot regardless of the weather. I feel so curious if you felt a deepening into your sit spot from that experience?

I also felt the power of your words when you said, “I believe it to be crucial for us, in the role of Nature Connected Coaches, to be living in alignment and embodying the knowing that we have received through these practices, in order to share them and be believable to those we wish to reach”. Have been able to incorporate the nature practices into your daily routine? On the call yesterday, Daniel was talking about importance of having our own daily routine so they we are able to to walk the walk with the clients. Are there any practices that you find yourself coming back to everyday? I would love to hear what your incorporation with these practices have been like! Thank you for the share and insight!

[Rachel Juth]

Reflecting on the Foundations One, I experienced multiple ways of connecting to nature and the power that it holds. I imagine if you asked someone, what does it mean to be connected to nature, that each individual would answer that question differently. After reading Chapter 3 of the Coyote’s Guide by Jon Young, I learned that there are multiple ways in which someone can connect to nature. During the intensive we practiced a few of these nature connection routines, including; sit spot, thanksgiving address, and expanding our senses through- 360 awareness, wide angle vision, baseline, and radiance. Throughout the week, I noticed the difference I felt each day as I continued to visit my sit spot, take surrender breaths, and track my baseline. I felt a deepening into myself and a sense of connection to my soul.
In the book, Ecopsychology, Steven Harper states, “Thus, to step out of our limited definition of self, to become these wild, natural things and experience them, is to give life not only to them but to those parts of ourselves” (p. 194). He speaks of the idea that we are not separate from wilderness, but really we are one with the natural world. It seems like in our society we have created such a divide between us and the natural world. We do this by spending so much time indoors for our jobs, while at school, in our homes, etc. To be connected to nature means to step outside of the containers that hold us and keep us separate from the wild world. I often see the effect that nature has on the clients I work with. The wilderness therapy program where I work is both an indoor and outdoor program. We start the week at “base” which is the residential treatment facility. Once we plan the adventure we travel out into “the field” where we spend 5 days in the natural world. I notice the shift in clients when they arrive in the field. It almost feels like they expand and nature holds them however they are feeling and whatever they are bringing. I also notice the shift when we arrive back to base after an adventure. Clients seem to struggle with the confinement of being indoors and the lack of spaciousness that they once experienced in nature. Though the transition from the natural world is difficult for many of our clients, I think it is a way to show and remind us of the power of the natural world.
I enjoyed reading the chapter, Wilderness as a Healing Place by John Miles, as he discusses how we cannot have control over the wilderness stating, “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” (p. 46). I relate to this as a I reflect on the week of our first intensive. It was significantly easier for me to let go and connect to myself at my sit spot each day than it normally is when I practice mediation indoors. At the sit spot there was a sense of spaciousness and opening that allowed me to connect within as well as with the other beings that were around me, especially the birds. In this way nature almost feels like a sense of surrender and allowing ourselves to be as we are and accept things as they are.

A curious question to ask our clients that we work with is, what does it mean to be connected to nature? I think there is power in meeting our clients where they are when they arrive. Therefore we can gain an understanding of what their experience connecting to nature is like. I enjoyed the invitation that the Coyote’s Guide offers when working with children, they mention not to force a child into nature connection, but rather present it as an offering. This feels important to take forward while working with our clients, what would our relationship with clients look like if we present nature connection as an offering rather than something they must do? In Wilderness as a Healing Place, the author quotes Kaplan and Talbot talking about Carl Jung’s view of nature being a larger framework stating, “The wilderness experience is “real”… because it feels real – because it matched some sort of intention of the way things ought to be, of the way things really are beneath the surface layers of culture and civilization” (p. 52). This is a powerful example of how nature can support a client. Daily life can become filled with chaos through busyness, having a job, taking care of family, distractions of technology, finding time for hobbies, etc. In society it feels like we lose track of what “real” is. This reminds me of when we are at the grocery store and are asked, “how are you today.” The simple interaction doesn’t always feel real. Nature seems to be a way for people to spend time with themselves and the beings around them to help them connect deeper to themselves and a sense of “real” through being with their experience.
Having a connection with nature doesn’t only support my relationship with nature, but also the clients relationship with nature and my relationship with the client. Nature connection is a way that allows me to connect deeper to myself, my soul, my truth, and my inner knowing. When I slow down, listen, tune in, and allow nature to be a teacher for me, I find myself connecting to a deeper part of myself. I have noticed that when I allow myself to connect to this part of myself, that I coach from my heart and soul. I notice that I listen deeper, I allow words to come through me, and the busy mind is less present. As I practice these nature connected practices, I can share my experiences of them with future clients. They also allow me to gain personal experience of their benefits. In turn, nature connected practices, as well as just being in nature, can provide clients the opportunity to explore their outer world and maybe even their inner world in their own way. There is a great example of that in the book Ecopsychology as Harper shares a story of a woman on a 3 night solo where she encountered a snake to which she had a lot of fear. He states, “she tried to calm herself and think of other things, then she realized she was trying to push away the idea and feeling of the snake and possibly some part of herself… “I decided I must become the snake” she told me later” (p. 195). This is such a beautiful example of a person who chose to take her power back. Nature reflected a fear and anxiety to her and she faced it in her own creative way. Nature can serve our clients as a mirror while also providing the space for creativity and exploration. Having nature as an ally in coaching opens the door to many possibilities and opportunities for our clients.

[Rachel Juth]

Hi fellow cohort members!
My name is Rachel and I am currently living in Loa, Utah working for a wilderness therapy company. I am excited for this year and very much looking forward to when we are all able to meet up in person. This program is a big step in my personal development and I am grateful for this opportunity. Cheers to a year together growing, deepening, and learning!

[Rachel Juth]

Jen,
Your post was absolutely incredible! First off, I want to say that I appreciate your openness and honesty of where you are in your own personal process. I will say that since our first Intensive there is a lot in my life that is shifting, changing, and challenging within me. It means a lot to know that I am not alone.
I appreciate the way in which you see the world and how you were able to name it in such a beautiful way. As I was reading I feel as though I was wrapped in and reminded of the beauty of the natural world. I felt the most connected when you said, “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.” Yes, yes, yes!!!! We are not separate but somehow it feels like we have forgotten this. I think how I try to make intentional time, when I am not at work, to be in nature, though really nature is all around us! Thank you for this reminder. I love and appreciate the way in which you see the world. It is both beautiful and inspiring.

[Rachel Juth]

Cynthia,
I admire and have respect for your devotion to nature connection. Through getting to know you during the course and reading this post I see the dedication you have to nature connection practices that led you deeper into connection with yourself and the natural world. Hearing about how you would spend time in your younger years touched my heart! I loved when you shared, “I would watch the ants for hours and make up magnificent stories about their kingdoms and their lives under the cracks in the earth”. What a beautiful picture you painted!! This post reminds me of a Webinar we had with Daniel where he mentioned, walk the walk. It feels like by you being able to connect deeper to yourself and these practices, that you will be able to guide your clients to these places as well. What a gift that is!

[Rachel Juth]

Amanda,
What a beautiful share. Thank you for your openness and sharing such raw experience. I enjoyed reading your perspective from a personal point. What a big and powerful question to sit with,”How do people move positively to the other side of trauma and grief?” I feel curious and excited to see how you unpack and explore this question through our time together this year. I wonder if a way that people move through grief is by allowing themselves to feel it. I have experienced, in my own life, the shame that I feel when I am in grief, especially when it continues to show up over an extended period of time. I feel as though our culture doesn’t allow space for people to be in grief for long periods of time. It seems like we are expected to get over it in a certain period of time. I also wonder if community support plays a role in moving through grief. I once attended a grief song ceremony in Oregon where members of the community came together to grieve. We held space for one another as the tears were shed and grief was felt. It was powerful and intense, but there was also something special about coming together as a community to feel emotion together. There was a great sense of empathy and a deep relatedness in the room. I do indeed wonder what our society could look like if more people embraced their grief and held space for one another. Thank you for sitting with a question that I believe will help so many people.