Coach Class

Reflecting on 'Working with Nature from the Inside Out' with Sorrel Roberts

November 09, 2021 Dom Burch Season 1 Episode 30
Coach Class
Reflecting on 'Working with Nature from the Inside Out' with Sorrel Roberts
Show Notes

Sorrel Roberts is a professionally and academically accredited coach, passionate about harnessing the benefits of coaching to assist organisations and individuals in realising their potential.

Her work focuses on three key areas:

In this podcast we both reflect on a Barefoot training course we attended together: Working on Nature from the Inside Out.

Working with nature in the natural environment is becoming an increasingly popular coaching approach. Coaches and supervisors are stepping out in the natural environment and engaging with nature as they walk and talk with coaching clients. But there are also ways to bring nature into every coaching conversation, be that inside a room, or down the end of a Zoom.

Hosted by Jackee Holder (see biog below), the four hour workshop was a brilliant introduction to using nature in your coaching practice or supervision.

We learned how bringing nature in can bring the unconscious into the conscious, and got the opportunity to try free form reflective writing, we conjured up memories of places that we go to, that when you are there help you feel energised, and we used words from nature to enquire as to how we were each arriving - what's the weather like in your head? - and we considered what the various seasons mean to us.

For me personally it was wonderful to get an injection of Barefoot-ness having completed the PG Cert course in July. Although I'm still in touch with my cohort of peers, it was great getting back into the classroom to be inspired by a new topic, and to meet more of the Barefoot family of coaches.

Sorrel was struck by the space the Jackee creates in her workshops, and feels it is both a balm and a boost, but also the nature from the inside out and the reconnection with leaving the house each day for a short walk.

Sometimes in the coaching industry we sell or live on the idea that change has to be hard - but for Sorrel the metaphor of the changing seasons helped remind us that change is inevitable, it is natural and that things will change and emerge into something else.

Sorrel felt quite poetic about Autumn, the leaves are falling, some things are decaying, but also nutrients are being added to the ground.

We finished the day with a 121 coaching session where we used an image of a tree, via a Zoom call, as the prompt for a discussion. Even in 15 minutes we both found it really illuminating how resourceful the metaphor became for our coachees. Noticing more and more about the tree, its roots, its surroundings, the shape of the trunk and that opening up different and interesting thinking.

I'd highly recommend this course to fellow coaches looking for some inspiration, and of course the opportunity to do some personal development while meeting more of the Barefoot family.

10/10.

About Jackee Holder

Jackee is the author of four non-fiction titles, 49 Ways To Write Yourself Well, The Journal Journey Guidebook, BeYour Own Best Life Coach, Soul Purpose and co-author of two unique illustrated writing maps, Writing With Fabulous Trees: A Writing Map For Parks, Gardens and Other Green Spaces (2016) and Rewilding The Page: The Urban Forest Writing Map.

Jacke

If you enjoy listening to this podcast why not check out some of the others in season 1 & 2. Or perhaps you fancy taking part yourself? If so why not get in touch. You can find me via LinkedIn or Twitter