Nature-based Coaching

 

These sessions work best in person, on the land together, working from an 8 Shields "Coyote Mentoring" approach, cultivating different practices to enter into a learning journey with the land. If you are unable to attend in-person sessions however, online sessions can also be supportive of your deepening relationship with the land, there'll just be more homework.

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Belonging

 

As a naturalist I have a good understanding of the ecological systems in our region. I've gained that understanding mainly through direct experience of those systems, alongside some supplementary study: with field guides, scientific literature, and individuals such as biologists, trackers, and foragers. My goal is to coach you into paying full sensory attention to the land, and questioning your observations like a tracker, in order to gain the poise, presence, and curiosity of a true naturalist.

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By attuning to the land in this way you'll gain a deeper understanding of the beings and systems that make up our ecology. But the real payoff is connection: a sense of being at ease, even at home on the land - as much a part of this place as the cedars, salmon and bears.

 

Learning

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Deep nature connection can launch you on a path of learning like no other, one that is infinitely complex, mysterious, and alive. When we follow our path of curiosity, with respect and attention to the land, we start to experience a sense of mystery and discovery in relationship with the living landscape. This is in fact the experience of returning to the land as our teacher, guide, or even god.

 

When we re-patriate our psyche to Place in this way, we discover what true reciprocity can mean: the deepest sense of belonging, of being seen and held by Place. Land becomes no longer a resource for our industry or recreation, but a living presence communicating its needs, whims, and complex majesty to us through direct experience of apprenticeship to its mysteries. This is the oldest path of learning available to us as humans, and upholds the foundation of any sustainable culture: a dynamic, reciprocal relationship to Place.

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Health Benefits

 

Practicing the core routines of nature connection to re-initiate ourselves into apprenticeship with the land also results in numerous health benefits, especially for mental health. Numerous studies have shown that depression and anxiety are significantly improved by nature-based practices. Our body, mind, and nervous system have all evolved in response to nature. As such, nature has a balancing effect on our biology, and calms as well as heals us. Practicing nature connection will benefit your spatial awareness and navigation, critical thinking and mental imaging, memory and cognition, self-awareness, confidence, creativity, and happiness.

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Skills

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Ancestral skills are an amazing way to cultivate embodied relationship with Place, as well as gaining practical knowledge and craftsmanship. Seasonally, the land offers us different materials and opportunities to engage skills that were essential to our ancestors, and can offer us the same essential confidence today.

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As a part of your nature connection journey you might be drawn to certain skills or crafts, which I can teach you. These might include fire-making, shelter-building, foraging, herbal medicine, tracking and trailing, trapping, carving, sewing, fibres and basketry, hide-tanning, and leatherwork.

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A good naturalist, and any member of a land-based culture, is a generalist with a foundation of skills and knowledge to provide a basic level of comfort, ease, and confidence out on the land. These days that's no longer a necessity for us in terms of our physical needs, but in terms of our emotional and psycho-spiritual needs, perhaps it is.