Online course Nature based coaching - Lesson 2

Vision & working method

In this lesson:

 

The added value of coaching in nature

Coaching in nature offers a powerful added value compared to coaching within four walls:

  • Walking in nature helps you to quiet the mind. Nature is calming, and therefore you will be able to listen better to your inner feelings.
  • As you walk, you are in a moving state, all that is stuck in your head, will then also easily come into motion.
  • A conversation that takes place during a walk, offers space for moments of silence and reflection. Eye contact is not always a necessity, and the client will find it easier to express issues that are sensitive or painful.
  • In nature you are walking in a place that is not familiar. This allows you to literally and figuratively set foot on new paths, which makes you more receptive towards new experiences, insights and ideas.
  • Due to the calming effect of nature it is easier to have more extensive sessions, without it being too overwhelming.  In a two-hour session, you achieve more than two sessions of an hour, because you don’t lose time in setting up and closing off. Coaching in nature therefore provides the opportunity to achieve a very profound outcome in a short period of time.
 

We are not separated from nature

Within the vision of Innersteps we assume that humans are not separated from nature but are part of it. Nature has her own natural laws. Her own pace of moving, growing and changing. It is an intelligent and complex ecosystem, driven by an enormously vital life force. He who neglects the laws of nature, breaks the connection with the wonderful rhythm of life. It then no longer “flows.” This may result in feelings of loneliness, incompetence, frustration or hopelessness. People then tend to act from a place of needing to control. They act from the mind instead of their spirit or heart. But this way, life will not flow, in fact, we are only stagnating things more.

If you want to live and work from a natural flow, you must respect the laws of nature, of your nature and that of the nature as a greater whole. That requires letting go, trusting, and trying to do nothing. The strange thing is that this is often experienced as unnatural. We are (also in coaching) very much used to action, doing and solving.

 

The best leader is the follower

“The best leader is the follower” wrote the Chinese philosopher Lao Tse already in the 6th century before Christ. Follow the intelligence of nature, let yourself be led by the universal, transpersonal principles of nature. That is true leadership. That is the path that leads to an inspiring workflow and a happy life.

And how do you learn these laws of nature? By observing them, again and again. Consciously observing your own actions, your tendencies and the effect you have on your environment. This is what we do when we coach our clients. We ask questions like: What do you feel? What do you experience? When does it flow, when does it not? What is holding you back? According to Innersteps, awareness is the key to change. That which is seen and brought to light, will automatically change, at its own natural pace, without pressure. Providing that the time is exactly ripe.

 

Coaching in a state of flow

When we coach in an open state of being, we create a loving environment in which awareness and change can take place in a natural way.

How do we do that? By being entirely in the here and now. By observing with an open and alert eye. Curious, but neutral. And above all, by trusting that the answers will unfold naturally. It is a way of coaching that is effortless, an organic process, in which you as a coach are merely the spectator rather than the creator. Your strength is that you are completely in tune with yourself. You are in total acceptance of yourself, the environment and the process of the client.

It means that you no longer long for things to be different from what they are in that moment. Or that your client needs to change more rapidly, because you can already identify the problem. You follow the pace that unfolds itself, patiently, lovingly and trustfully.

 

The environment is your loyal companion.

If you coach out of a state of being, the questions will unravel automatically. The environment is your loyal companion. You are present, you observe, and nature will provide you with the right questions naturally. You essentially coach in a state of flow.

However, this does not mean that the coach is passive and simply lets anything happen. On the contrary. Ears and eyes are sharply tuned to everything that is said and done. The coach will actively and consciously mirror, give back what they see and hear, and summarize the stories in a structured manner and thus bringing clarity to the client's (often chaotic) story.

The coach will help the client identify all the feelings that can be felt and will subtly tune into the mood and disposition of the client. They will invite the client to explore many different perspectives and help them feel where their own truth lies. In that sense, the coach is indeed guiding. They guide the client through a number of clear steps.

First to be explored is the desire, then the question is clarified, after which the obstacles are exposed, and the client’s own strength enhanced. Eventually a very clear step-by-step plan is made on which the client can advance. And because we follow the natural flow of this process, it is achieved somewhat effortlessly. Essentially, we do set out a route, but the client is the one leading the way and you are the one that follows.

 

 

Every step begins with standing still

Even though coaching is directed to mobilise people, Innersteps’s vision is that every step begins with standing still. That which blocks your life stream can only start moving if it’s fully and lovingly embraced. All resistance present in your clients’ current situation needs to be discharged, before continuing onward. This means that coaching from the perspective of Innersteps isn’t as much a search for solutions, but more a reflection on what is already right there. Seeing it, feeling it and embracing it.

The task of the coach is primarily to ask questions directed to bringing awareness and to offer a safe environment in which all the processes inhabiting the client can be felt. If this process is carefully guided, then progress will follow naturally. Therefore, in this course, a lot of emphasis will be put on observing, feeling and acknowledging of what is.

 

Basic coaching skills

In this course, with nature as your loyal companion, you will learn the following basic coaching skills:

  • To observe neutrally
  • To fathom and identify the essence of a story.
  • To ask the right (open) questions
  • Gain insight on pitfalls such as: wanting to advise, thinking along, helping, consoling
  • Creating a safe environment
  • Clarifying a goal (making the client aware of what he/she really wants to achieve)
  • Associating (continuously making a link between the symbolic elements outside with what is felt inside)
  • Paraphrasing (repeating and letting the client repeat back to anchor what is being learnt)
  • Specifying (what does this mean practically)
  • Acts of symbolism (to anchor insights and confirm that which is true)
 

Working with metaphors and symbolism

A characteristic of Innersteps’s methodology is the use of metaphors and symbols. Symbols can help you think outside your own framework. A symbol places a situation outside of yourself, making it easier for you to reflect on it from a distance. By then carefully studying the symbol and asking questions about it, the connection to the client’s inner feelings and insights is restored.

You will notice that working with symbols almost immediately accelerates the process of insight. By working with symbols, you also make the insights visual, which offers a deep anchoring of what has been learned.

 

The 5 phases of our coaching trajectory

During this training, we will go through 5 sessions that will usually last around 1 ½ to 2 hours. You can eventually choose which duration for a session suits you best. With these sessions you will have a well rounded coaching trajectory. The following topics will be investigated:

  

1 - Where do you stand now?

By creating a still life, you will try to get as complete a picture as possible of all that is currently taking place in your clients’ life. You will learn to be as neutral and curious as possible and to only ask open questions. In this phase some initial insights will already arise.

2 - What do you long for?

An essential element, which cannot be skipped/ignored, is the identifying of a goal for the whole trajectory. Without a goal, you won’t know where to head with your client, and the path might become directionless . You determine a goal by looking carefully at the simple question: What would you like to have achieved at the end of this process? What are you longing for?

3 - What is holding you back?

In the first 2 sessions, quite a few insights will have already emerged, but this will not immediately bring about a sustainable change. More is needed for that to happen. In this phase you will look at what is happening on a deeper layer. It is often deeply rooted fears and patterns that require insight. In this session a clear choice is being made: “yes, I want to move on towards that which I long for, and will no longer let fear stop me from getting there.”

4 - Enhancing your strength.

Overcoming obstinate patterns and deeply rooted fears takes a lot of courage. Feeling and nurturing your own strength is therefore essential. In this session you take a closer look at your clients’ natural qualities, also called ‘soul qualities’. You invite your client to own these qualities fully. They usually feel quite empowered after this session.

5- Integrating your insights.

After the deeper fears have been unravelled and the most important insights have been acquired, you will look at how your client can integrate everything they have learned into their daily life. You end with a specific step-by-step plan.

 

 

The importance of slowing down

From step 1 until step 4 we are merely exploring. We explore feelings, thoughts, desires and possibilities without leading towards a definitive solution. We explore broadly and keep all options open. By doing so we provide a safe environment in which the client can fully relax in what is. We keep the focus on being aware and acknowledging that which unfolds. The client doesn’t have to “do” anything yet.

Not until step 5, once everything has been explored and everything has been felt, we invite the client to take matters in their own hands, appealing to their self reliance. There is a wish, in which a lot has become clearer, now it’s time to turn that wish into reality. Only now questions can arise such as: What do you need to get there? And What will you do to accomplish this?

In this aspect Innersteps’s methodology discerns itself from most other coaching methods, where the last two questions are often dealt with right away in the first session, making that very goal oriented. We think this is way too fast. We believe that  it is important for a client to first be able to relax in the reality where they are now. To relax in the frustration, pain, powerlessness that comes with the situation in which they feel stuck. Of course, the client wants a way out as quickly as possible, but that would not be a natural pace, and the chance to fall back into that same state will only increase.

 

Simply follow the natural flow of the process

If you feel at ease with what is unfolding in the now, with all the feelings that exist in the present, then the movement that follows will be more natural and likelier to have effect. The coaching will then also be effortless, because you will simply be following the natural flow of the process.

Step 5 is of essential importance, because you will very clearly point out to the client the importance of taking their own responsibility during this process. The client has a desire, they have felt and consequently observed everything that is blocking this wish, they have gained insights, and now it’s time to do something with it, to shape it into reality and to manifest it into something concrete. It is now that we ask questions such as: What do you need? What will you do to accomplish this? When? And with who? It is ultimately the clients themselves that must take action.

In this, Innersteps also distinguishes itself from other spiritual coaches, who just like us dedicate their attention towards feeling and being, but do not settle for concrete results. We do in fact want to achieve results, however not too quickly, only when the time is right. In other words, we aim for long lasting results.

 

 

Your inner attitude

The above framework and work forms are important but much more important is the attitude that you yourself have as a coach. When you work with people, you yourself are the most important instrument that you use. You can receive so many tools and tips but all those work forms only contain real depth if they are being anchored through your own inner being.

How can you own this material in a way that you can coach from your own natural flow? How do you stay in tune with your client? How can you coach from a state of inner peace and trust? How do you learn to look at the greater whole or from a different perspective? Do you dare to abide in the not knowing? This is where we come to the root of skilfully coaching.

 

Keep your self inquiry alive

We can guide you a bit in this but the biggest learning you have to do privately. The amount of time and energy that you invest in your own personal development, determines how rooted you will be as a coach. It is of the utmost importance to keep your self inquiry alive, or how else can you guide others in their process of becoming aware if you stop evolving yourself? Self help books do give insights but they will not bring you there where you have your blind spots.

If you want to seriously proceed in this line of work, you’ll need to find teachers or peers to practice with and keep you sharp. It is also worthwhile to at least once a year do a yoga or silent retreat. Even better would be if you commit yourself now or at a later stage to an ongoing path of self inquiry with a specific teacher or school.

 

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