| Tel: 07815 591279 | Email: karen@greenspacecoaching.com | Skype: karen.liebenguth |
I will be away tomorrow, from 4- 14 August.
I’ll be going on 10-day meditation retreat in beautiful Suffolk. I will blog about my experience of spending 6 out of 10 days in silence.
The retreat centre is right in the middle of nowhere in Suffolk’s beautiful countryside. In addition to meditating there will be time to immerse myself in nature. I can’t wait!
Warm Regards, Karen
I’ve been building up a list of quotes and some general life coaching tips and insights I’d like to share with people from my blog, on Facebook and Twitter.
As well as continuing to share tips on learning from and bringing nature more into our lives, it would be great to hear what kind of other tips you would like me to share from my experience as a life coach.
Tips for better time management, creating a better work life balance, ideas for countering stress and anxiety, tips for building confidence? Let me know on my Facebook page and we can begin a wider conversation. I will also share some quotes that have made me smile or which have helped and influenced me in some way over the years. It would be great if you could share some of your favourite quotes. Drop me an email or reply on Twitter or Facebook.
‘In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.’ John Muir
Today’s quote is from John Muir. John Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions. His activism helped to save the Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National Park and other wilderness areas. The Sierra Club, which he founded, is now one of the most important conservation organisations in the United States. Click here for more information on John Muir.
Looking forward to sharing more quotes and tips with you all.
Karen
It’s easier than you might think to bring nature into your daily life.
- Try and walk some of your journey to work and find out whether there is a park or green space on your way
- Spend your lunch time outdoors – find out which park or green spaces are around your work place. London is scattered with so many green oases.
- If you have a garden, sit for 10-15 minutes a day or a few times a week doing nothing but watching, listening and then noticing how you are
Here’s an exercise I use to help me tap into nature’s energy. It’s called the 4-3-2-1 exercise
- Take a walk on your own ideally in a green space
- Slow down your pace
- Take a few deep breaths
- Start by naming 4 things you can see, 4 things you can hear and 4 things you can feel (physical sensations); then go on to name 3 of each, then 2 of each and then 1.
I recently did this exercise during my lunch break in Bunhill Field cemetery near Liverpool Street, East London – a beautiful green space. After the exercise I felt light and grounded, alert and energetic with a heightened sense of perspective. This was my experience. Please get in touch to share your experience. Email me or post a comment on my Facebook wall.
Four: “I see the clouds in the blue sky. I see tall trees. I see a big patch of purple crocuses in the grass. I see people on benches having their lunch.
I hear birds chirping. I hear people chatting. I hear distant traffic noise. I hear my in and out breath.
I feel the air on my skin. I feel the soles of my feet on the ground. I feel the warmth of the sun on my face. I feel my heart beating.
Three: I see the sun coming through from behind the clouds. I see two squirrels searching for food. I see daffodils here and there.
I feel the wind in my hair. I feel my trousers touching my legs. I feel my shoulders relaxing.
Two: I see the pretty bark of the planes. I see the light green of the grass.
I hear a dog barking. I hear myself swallow.
I feel the muscles in my face relaxing. I feel the air touching my nose when I inhale and exhale.
One: I see the snowdrops around the trees. I hear the call of a crow. I feel a relaxed heaviness throughout my whole body.”
Try to identify different things for each of the 4 stages. This will heighten your experience in nature and help to ground you in the present moment.
Let me know how you get on.
With best wishes, Karen
I hadn’t until I received my Friend of the Earth’s Tip of the Day. It’s a great initiative and one which resonates strongly with the ethos behind Green Space Life Coaching: that nature, green spaces, parks, gardens, the countryside are vital for our health and well-being.
Imagine what our cities and urban environments would be like without their green spaces and trees. Being surrounded by just grey infrastructure and cars?
Love Parks Week is an initiative by the charity Green Space. It aims to get 1 million people out into their local parks from 23 – 31 July. From Tai Chi classes to jazz nights, urban street games to teddy bear picnics. There’s an event for everyone and anyone can register their own event. What a brilliant idea.
I will be offering two short Nature Connection Workshops on Saturday 23 and 30 July from 14.00-15.30 in Victoria Park (meeting point: Pavillion Cafe). I’m also taking bookings for 30-minute life coaching taster sessions. Come along, tell a friend, book your place in my workshop: karen@greenspacecoaching.com
My discovery of Love Parks Week coincided with my Facebook poll ‘What’s your favourite green space in London’. Thanks to those of you who have already taken part. If you haven’t yet, do share your favourite green space in London.
See you at Love Parks Week!
Karen
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has just issued a White Paper entitled The Natural Choice: Securing the value of nature. It outlines “the Government’s vision for the natural environment over the next 50 years, backed up with practical action to deliver that ambition”.
Chapter 4 of the White Paper talks about reconnecting people and nature. It recognises the growing evidence base which highlights the intrinsic connection people have with nature and nature’s vital and positive impact on our health and well-being. This is encouraging news.
“The natural environment matters to us all – not just because it makes us feel good when we stumble across a bluebell wood .., but because we are now all able to see the terrible price we would pay if we lost what we have or neglected to care for it. … Our ambition is to strengthen the connections between people and nature. We want more people to enjoy the benefits of nature by giving them freedom to connect with it. “ Caroline Spelman, Environment Secretary
It’s nothing we don’t know already but it’s a crucial step towards supporting the many initiatives and projects that are already doing so much valuable work to reconnect more and more people to nature, enrich and preserve the many green spaces and parks we have and to create new ones.
If you are interested in more detail, the charity Green Space has written a response to the White Paper on their blog.
Karen
I’m in an article on stress busting suggestions in today’s Evening Standard.
Here’s a link to the article: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/health/article-23963158-dont-get-worked-up.do. Let me know what you think.
Karen
Summer Solstice – the day with the longest period of daylight in the year. It’s the time of year when everything in nature has had the greatest period of growth and plants and trees are now getting ready to bear fruit.
This mid way point in the year is a good time to take stock and reflect on intentions, wishes and dreams at the beginning of the year and then to look forward to the second half of the year and what you may want to achieve, adjust or change.
I’ve just been through this process of reflection using an exercise called Being It. I find it hugely helpful for looking at things from a different perspective.
To do the exercise, you need to find a place in nature which resonates with you. This can be in a green space or park near you or one of your favourite places in the countryside. Once you’ve chosen your green space, take a wander; find a tree, plant, bush or flower that chimes with you. Imagine you are that tree, plant, bush or flower, step into its world and be it for 5 -10 minutes. Notice how you feel and how the world looks from this perspective.
This powerful exercise helps calm our busy minds and opens up our senses, giving us a different reality to enjoy, explore and learn from. When I do this exercise, I almost always feel attracted to a tall tree. I sit at the bottom of its trunk and become it. The strength and sturdiness always grounds me immediately, giving me a sense of peace and its sheer height offers an amazing outlook of the world! Try it out. Let me know how you get on the Green Space Facebook page.
By the way, I will be offering an additional evening life coaching sessions outdoors tomorrow for Summer Solstice between 5-9 pm. Please get in touch to book an appointment or refer a friend (15% discount on fees for referrals). Email karen@greenspacecoaching.com or 07815 591279.
For many of us, these positive impacts are a no-brainer, and yet it seems such hard work to convince bodies like the NHS, city planners or educators to integrate green spaces and outdoor activities into their planning, treatments and curricula. Is it, I wonder, because we have become so alienated from our very source of origin – nature?
We may not consciously remember our source of origin, but our unconscious minds and bodies know what is good for us. Our affinity to nature may have been subdued in urban city life but there is good evidence that we have a strong need to spend time in natural settings. Picture life in London once the sun shines – our parks fill as we connect with our favourite green spaces.
The latest research by Frances ‘Ming’ Kuo (University of Illinois) Parks and Other Green Environments: Essential Components of a Healthy Human confirms that access to green space is an essential component for good health. Kuo studied the effect of green space on humans in a number of settings in order to prove or disprove the popular notion of the healing power of nature. Drawing on a wide range of research from the last decade she found that in areas with good access to green spaces “people are more generous and more sociable. We find stronger neighborhood social ties and a greater sense of community, more mutual
trust and willingness to help others”. She also goes on to say that access to nature and green environments yields better cognitive functioning, more self-discipline and impulse control, and greater mental health overall.
This research confirms my own experience of coaching clients outdoors in London’s green space. Many come away saying “Oh yes, now I know why you work with clients outdoors, it’s great and I feel so much more grounded, and more positive about life in general.” (See further testimonials here)
So coaching while walking not only offers people space to find solutions to problems but it also provides some quality time in nature to recharge your batteries.
Karen
On my ‘to do’ list for some time was the re-design of www.greenspacecoaching.com. And here it is. What do you think?
My aim for the new site was to give people a real taste of what I offer as a life coach, in particular my focus on working outdoors and to share with people my personal journey to becoming a life coach. I wanted people who visit the site to understand a little more about what life coaching is and how it can help people to achieve their dreams and ambitions, and how it differs from counselling. I also wanted the site to become a place where I can share insights and invite discussion on a range of issues through my blog and a place to share some case studies of people I have worked with (coming soon).
Bear with me as we get some of the new content live, including a gallery of my work outdoors from one to one coaching and the guided workshop walks in nature I run with Adrian Harris. The first workshop is coming up on Sunday 8 May at Hawkwood ancient woodland and local food growing site near Epping. Please get in touch to book your place karen@greenspacecoaching.com
I would love to hear what you think of the new site. If you haven’t already, do sign up to my e-newsletter for latest events and special offers. And if you know someone who might be interested in what I do – please do spread the word!
Before I sign off, I want to give my thanks to the small team of people who have made this redesign possible, in particular web designer Sam Willard and Claire Martin Weir (clairemmartin@yahoo.co.uk), a brilliant writer, editor and strategic communications expert – without her this site would not have come to life.
Enjoy the new site.
I wanted to share with you the findings of a study in an article I recently came across called ‘Greening our minds’.
Marc Berman, a researcher in cognitive psychology ran an experiment in which one group of people took a three-mile walk in a wooded area with gardens and trails and a second group took a walk along a busy street. Subsequent testing showed that the group that took the walk in the wooded area performed better on tests of mental focus and memory than the group that walked along the busy city street.
Soft fascinations (rustling leaves, babbling brooks) found in nature increase focus and memory, while the harsh stimuli (car horns, billboards) of an urban setting cause brain overload.
While this is no great surprise, it is a good reminder that taking some time out of the hustle and bustle of city living in natural surroundings is beneficial for us in many ways.
Tips for integrating nature into your daily life:
| 19/04/2012 Time for a breath of fresh air: Got the wrong end of the stick a... READ > |  |
| 25/03/2012 A balanced week ...: Part two .... A few weeks ago I... READ > |  |
| 05/03/2012 A model for a balanced week: Part one.... However well inten... READ > |  |
| 18/02/2012 New events with Green Space Life Coaching: including singing in harmony wit... READ > |  |
| 06/02/2012 Why choose life coaching?: I’m always really keen to tell c... READ > |  |
