The introduction of my website’s homepage reads…Being a nature-based, spiritual crone is reflected in my life coaching style. It’s one of the first things visitors see when reading through who I am and what I do. Occasionally inquirers ask: What does nature-based life coaching mean to me? Good question.
First, let me say, I am very aware that the words nature-based and the word crone conjures up images of an old, gnarly faced woman who lives alone in the forest. In her small cottage she’s surrounded by hanging herbs and boiling pots. She spends her day mixing magic spells to curse unsuspecting visitors. That’s the figure we are encouraged to see. In the early centuries evil character associations were intentionally inserted into old tales about wise women acting as healers, seers, and warriors. Naysayers dreaded women who practiced their special gifts thus challenging the current order of society. Cautionary tales circulated deterring other women from considering being such a healer, or even associating with anyone like her. They were warned that to become one of the story’s so-called “witches” your life will come to a horrible end. Let’s face it. The effective campaign dredged up lots of fear and hatred from the collective.
I deliberately reclaim these words to express the kind of spiritual life coaching I offer. Yes, I live on the edge of a life-giving wood. Sure, I purposely reach out to draw you into a calm, safe space. Once there, however, I offer a listening ear sensitized by many years of inner work that ripened my intuition, wisdom, and awareness of the magic in nature. True, like the fairytale, there’s death involved. That is, the demise of the old, wrinkled, outmoded-self making way for envisioning something new. And yes, healing is involved.
Honoring the Landscape
We owe a great debt to many indigenous communities for preserving knowledge about Earth and our place in it. With gratitude I recognize there are teachings from spiritual, cultural, and creative disciplines that help us see nature with clearer vision. Original peoples from traditions around the world attribute special names and beliefs to the landscape and her wisdom. We learn that a living Spirit resides in Earth’s elements, her cardinal directions, and in her sacred features such as the sun, moon, or wind.
We too can honor nature and our place in the matrix by creating our own relationship to the land. Look at the living landscape as YOU experience it for guidance and wisdom. If we believe what our ancestors taught that living Spirit flows through and in nature, then rituals honoring Spirit are living entities too. Nothing is static. Earth is continually unfolding. The essence of what we experience can manifest in our own ritual practice that respects this presence.
Using Our Senses to Reconnect to Nature
David Abram in his eco-philosophical book The Spell of the Sensuous writes, “There is an intimate reciprocity to the senses; as we touch the bark of a tree, we feel the tree touching us….The senses are the primary way that the earth has of informing our thoughts and of guiding our actions.”
Abram’s scholarly and deeply spiritual work helps us understand how our participation in the wholeness of nature suffered a disconnect. Looking with compassion at our history, it’s possible to spiral around again taking what we once knew and couple this with knowledge we now carry. Abram suggests activating our sensual nature of sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch. In this way, he says, we are “drawn into the spread of silence.” Our overthinking mind gets to experience a respite, and our sensual being offers us a new way of relating.
Enchantment of the Sensual
As a nature-based, spiritual crone I am a guide, a companion. My gift is to see the other side of things and to help others to do the same. Nature is one of my greatest allies in this work. The horizon becomes the threshold, the doorway, to another possibility. It holds the magic of the unconscious becoming known. It embraces future possibilities of our dreaming into being. Our feet are planted on the land that stores the essence of what was. Layer upon layer of Earth’s memory supports us as we access the present, the now. We can experience this presence animated in nature’s elements.
What about you? What draws your attention the most? Is it the old bones of Earth, the majestic strength of Water, or the fierceness of Fire’s transformative power? Water has always been a potent element for me. I grew up next to the Atlantic Ocean and raised my family near the glacial majesty of Lake Michigan. Yet I feel it’s the abiding force of Air that provides the language to communicate with what is happening around me. Air encircles. It touches. The wind brings rain and cold gusts. Air can be both subtle and wild. It’s always getting my attention.
To the native peoples of the Americas wind and air is sacred. The Diné (Navajo) say Holy Wind resides in all things. Nature’s sacred breath is the Spirit that carries messages offering wisdom and connection to us as we inhale and sends out our own sacred essence as we exhale. The root meaning of the word Spirit is wind or breath. So, the message we carry through our breathing is sacred.
Suggested Exercise
Working with nature is similar to the exploration of dreams. If you are interested in learning more about reconnecting to the natural world, consider joining a dream circle to practice how this is done.
In the meantime, how can you activate your senses to reciprocate with the natural world. Whether on a walk in the woods or looking at the sky in your urban landscape, I offer a simple exercise.
Take some deep breaths.
Inhale life force energy. Allow it to co-mingle with the sacred breath already inside you. Now, offer your essence through an exhale.
Open to the surrounding environment. What draws you the most in this moment?
Describe what you are seeing.
What senses are activated?
Did any feelings or thoughts pop up?
Give thanks for your connection to nature’s wisdom.
As we do in dreamwork, don’t forget to ask yourself what is behind your insights of this moment…What are you dreaming into being?
Interacting with nature is as old as the ancients and as new as the present moment. It is always teaching us, offering signs, reaching out. What part of the natural world are you drawn to the most?
Resources You May Like
YouTube Video: When I Am Among the Trees, Mary OIiver Poem Reading
Book: The Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram
Documentary: Infinite Potential: The Life and Ideas of David Bohm
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