What can we do as Coaches to Support Mother Earth?
As a panelist for part of the 3rd Annual Coaching Climate Alliance 24 hour global conversation, I was invited to discuss what we can do as coaches to support Mother Earth.
I have held a deep connection with the earth since childhood. I was blessed to grow up on the banks of the Nechako River in northern Canada (close to Prince George) under the canopy of the birch, pine, popular and mighty Douglas Fir trees, home of raven, eagle, hummingbird, black bear, squirrel, beaver, and dragon fly that grace the air, the earth, the forest, and the river. I also spend seven years of my life, after graduating from university, sailing the Pacific and Atlantic, immersed in nature on a small sailboat with the sky, ocean, and creatures of the sea.
The earth is my coach, mother, and inspiration. As a 30+ year practitioner of Vipassna meditation and yoga and childhood roots in nature, I feel that, rather than living on earth, I am a living part of earth. At least when I’m aware of it, I am one with the earth.
A friend an I headed out to the wild West Coast to go surfing a few weeks ago. We drove to Sombrio Beach on the traditional territories of the Pacheedaht First Nations. Framed by 800 year-old Sitka spruce, the ocean swell of 5 meters and the invigorating onshore winds of 30-35 knots rumbled onto the foamy beach. It was too windy to go surfing, so we walked eastward along the shore until we came to a rock point and could go no further. On the way back, we followed a creek up into the old growth Western Red cedars and Sitka spruce until we were drawn further upstream by the thunderous sound of a waterfall cutting through the mossy sandstone.
As I approached the entrance of what looked like a cave, but was really a deep crevice cut into the limestone, I place my hand on the cool mossy sandstone and stopped. I took in a deep breath through my nose. I knew this was sacred space. I closed my eyes and said a prayer to the water, forest and stone spirits that surrounded me and the Pacheedaht ancestors who cared for this land and held it sacred. I asked permission to enter this sacred space and expressed my deep gratitude to be here in this moment in time, alive, breathing in the mist, touched by the cool spirit of the waterfall and sandstone. I felt my heart open, my lungs fill with sweet, cool air, and almost a beckoning forward into the mist drawn toward the waterfall.
After an amazing experience connecting with that sacred space, feeling the energy and aliveness of the waterfall and the surrounding rock, I paused again at the entrance to the crevasse and looked back. “Thank you,” I whispered into the mist. My gratitude seeped from my heart. I wanted to give back to reciprocate the amazing experience of the waterfall and welcoming spirit of this sacred space. “What can I do” I asked to myself, to the space, “to give back to express my gratitude?” The answer came back, clear and alive as the air: “You will be a voice for this space, for Mother Earth, for air, for fire, for water, for the forests, for all the animals and birds. For those that have no voice. You will bring this connection, this aliveness, this gratitude to the world.”
As I write this, my inner critic pipes up and says, “Who are you to write about this beauty? To bring this gratitude to the world? People will think you are crazy.” I have always struggled with this inner critic. That voice that says, ultimately, “You’re not enough. Play it safe. Play small.” Another part of myself, my wise, inner guide knows that this is my path. This is why I’m here. To be brave and to write my truth. To answer the questions: What is my path? What is my gift to the world? What can I do to give back to Mother Earth, to become a good ancestor for future generations, to reciprocate for all that has been given to me? The answer comes not from the mind, but an embodied, heart-centered listening into an emergent future. Listening into what wants to happen, in presence and awareness, at every moment of my life. As I take this breath, an embodiment of a life well lived.
What is my work as a coach to give back to Mother Earth?
As a coach, I create space for my clients to connect with themselves, to experience that sacred space created when together we listen deeply into what wants to happen. We slow time down because the present moment is timeless, eternal, primordial. We slow down to the rhythm of life, the rising and setting of the sun, the phases of the moon, the tides, the seasons, the emerging snowdrops and cherry blossoms of spring. The client steps into that space, steps into her or his higher self and that leads the session. Going into that space is like walking into the sandstone crevasse of a waterfall. It is hallowed ground.
When we connect at that level as human beings, we connect also to Mother Earth. We connect to the deep spirit that connects us all. We become one with what it.
The paradox of change is that it occurs when we become who we are, not when we try to be who we are not, according to Gestalt therapist Arnold Beisser. In that cool, dark space of the cave, we shed our mental constructs of who we think we should be, based on our upbringing and socialization, and drop into who we are.
From that space, there is a deep reverence and respect for Mother Earth and all life. We are connected to our hearts and the love we have for our planet, the human and non-human world. We are drawn into the enchantment of life, of living.
What does it mean to hold space for transformation? As coaches, we accept and hold our clients as they are, whole, capable and resourceful. We connect with a deeper part of ourselves, our client, our world, and the space we create in the coaching conversation. We allow silence, listening, and deep peace be the crucible of transformation. When they are ready, the client’s deeper sense of Self steps into that space and leads the conversation, the transformation.
We always meet our clients where they are on their journey. Everyone comes to transformation at their own pace. It is not our work as coaches to lead transformation or force it in any way. We can, however, be a stand for transformation. We support our clients when they are ready, willing to hold space for shadow work, to face and lean into difficult emotions, allowing space, silence and nature do the heavy lifting, when the time is right.
We learn from the trees, plants, animals, the wind, the water, the sun to be. When we are, in the moment, listening to the emergent future, connected deeply to our hearts, bodies, and our world around us, this deep awareness heals and transforms. “We are the people that we are waiting for.” This deep awareness integrates the head, heart and the hand so that our actions are grounded in Being and inspired by our source, as part of nature, instead of apart from nature. Action inspired by Mother Earth, rather than action motivated from an objectified, colonized view of the earth and our environment.
Most personal/leadership/organizational/social development is additive. We add more on to our operating system, our way of thinking, like adding a new app to our smart phone. We learn to become a better communicator, delegator, or planner. To increase sales, profits, the bottom line. Transformational development is like moving to a new operating system that sees, feels, smells, touches, and hears the world in a very different way. It is a transformative shift of our perceptual framework. Additive development is like becoming a stronger caterpillar, transformational development is becoming a butterfly.
This is a way to give back to the earth. To move from the scarcity/fear-based, colonized thinking of more and faster is better (greed) which causes degradation, toxicity, and depletion of the earth. To move toward gratitude, resilience, sustainability, abundance, generosity, and giving back to earth, reciprocity. This is not a shift in thinking, but a shift in being. An embodiment of connection, love, reciprocity, and a conscious, heart-felt alignment as being a part of our Mother Earth. As coaches, we have the opportunity to co-create space for this transformation when our clients are ready.
