![\"anne-marie](\"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Watson_Table1.png\")
<\/p>\n\u201cA journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.\u201d \u2014Confucius<\/p>\n
The advantages of heading outdoors and being immersed in nature, combined with physical movement, is increasingly attracting attention as scientific research from a range of disciplines, which promote the benefits (see table 1), is publicized through mainstream and social media platforms. The opportunity for coaches to integrate these fundamental elements of nature and movement into their coaching practice offers a range of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual positive attributes for their clients.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Table 1: Evidence-based research from these disciplines support the benefits of time in nature and physical movement.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The practical considerations behind how to plan and prepare for working with coaching clients outdoors can be covered working through the WALKTALK acronym:<\/p>\n
W<\/strong>alking Works Wonders<\/p>\n A<\/strong>n Open Mind<\/p>\n L<\/strong>ocation, Location, Location<\/p>\n K<\/strong>eep Plan B in Mind<\/p>\n T<\/strong>est It Out<\/p>\n A<\/strong>dd Element Creativity<\/p>\n L<\/strong>ook into Health Safety<\/p>\n K<\/strong>eep It Fun<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Scientific research is continuing to prove centuries worth of human collective knowledge and experience. From experience, the majority of my coaching clients who are willing to step outdoors already intuitively understand the wonders of walking and talking coaching conversations.<\/p>\n \u201cMy clients have repeatedly described they feel more at ease while walking next to me, the coach, versus sitting opposite in a consultation room, which can feel intimidating. There is more of a sense of equality while walking next to each other. Also, they say allowing silence to be there is easier while walking versus sitting opposite the coach in a room,\u201d says coach Karen Liebenguth of Green Space Life Coaching<\/a>.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a duality to this element: firstly, embracing an open mind to explore a new coaching methodology, and secondly, experiencing feelings of openness, which seem to naturally emerge from being outdoors combined with movement.<\/p>\n \u201cThe feeling of openness, rather than intensity, leads to a more open, honest and focused session with fewer distractions,\u201d says Naomi Korolanyi who is one of my clients and and HR Director at The National Composites Centre, a public\/private sector engineering organization.<\/p>\n The \u201cwhere\u201d can make or break an outdoors coaching session as the choice of location can positively enhance or disrupt the entire experience. Think about accessibility, route, terrain and other users.<\/p>\n Walking and talking coach Melanie Faulks, of Agdela Coaching<\/a> and Fresh Air Fridays<\/a>, explains, \u201cChoose a location(s) where you feel comfortable, at ease and inspires you personally. Ideally venue(s) with different route and length options too but this isn’t always do-able. Buy an OS map. Look on local council and wildlife\/nature\/environment related charity websites for your local green areas\u2014sometimes you discover outdoor options you didn’t know existed!\u201d<\/p>\n Ultimately the decision to cancel, change location or reschedule is a judgment call. In your role as coach, part of your responsibility is managing the risk of taking coaching conversations outdoors to ensure both you, your client and other members of the general public are safe.<\/p>\n In the words Cat Treblico, of Reach the Peak Coaching<\/a> and another fellow walking and talking coach, \u201cThe Scottish weather can [be a challenge] but I adapt my plans, and often use the weather as a metaphor for whatever is going on. In three years of coaching, I haven’t yet had to cancel a session.\u201d<\/p>\n Before taking the plunge and subjecting your clients to a completely new coaching idea, it\u2019s worth testing out the concept in advance with your peers. \u201cFind a collaborator and try it,\u201d says Mike White, of Mike White Coaching<\/a>.<\/p>\n Creativity naturally emerges from being outdoors and the coaching techniques discussed below are examples which can be integrated into walking and talking coaching (see table below).<\/p>\n \u201c[My clients] say that they feel more creative about solutions to their issues, have breakthroughs more easily while being in nature and surrounded by wide open space,\u201d according to Liebenguth.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Table 2: Different creative coaching techniques which can be included in walking and talking coaching sessions<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Heading outdoors invites an additional element of physical, mental and emotional risk into the process beyond the safety of four walls, for both yourself, as the coach, and your client. Ensure you\u2019ve reviewed outdoor qualifications, first aid, insurance and legal implications which will vary from country to country.<\/p>\n The key to walking and talking coaching is to organically interweave existing coaching methodologies, theories and styles. The extent to which the outdoor space and\/or embodied practice is openly acknowledged can range from nature unconsciously forming the backdrop to actively inviting nature to co-create the coaching process. As Albert Einstein said, \u201cLook deep into nature; and then you will understand everything better.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n Anna-Marie Watson, PCC, will be exploring this topic more in-depth at\u00a0ICF Converge 2019<\/strong><\/a>, which is taking place October 23-26 in Prague, Czech Republic. Join her session \u201cStep Outside: Taking Coaching Conversations Outdoors\u201d in the\u00a0Practice content group<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0on Thursday, October 24 at 3:00 p.m. (local time). By attending this session, you can earn 0.5 RD in Continuing Coach Education units.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cA journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.\u201d \u2014Confucius…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Walk and Talk Coaching: The Benefits","_seopress_titles_desc":"Discover the benefits of walk and talk coaching for enhanced client engagement and well-being. Learn how to integrate movement into coaching in the blog.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"audience-type":[115,118,121,124,120,117,113,114],"display-option":[],"post-type":[128],"topic":[85,60],"_person-tax":[2308],"class_list":{"0":"post-29106","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"audience-type-coach-educators","8":"audience-type-experienced-coaches","9":"audience-type-external-coaches","10":"audience-type-icf-chapter-leaders","11":"audience-type-internal-coaches","12":"audience-type-new-coaches","13":"audience-type-professional-coaches","14":"audience-type-team-and-group-coaches","15":"post-type-blog","16":"topic-coaching-toolbox","17":"topic-discover-your-coaching-career","18":"_person-tax-2308","19":"not-partnership-post","31":"_person-tax-28223","32":"has-featured-image"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29106"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29107,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29106\/revisions\/29107"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"audience-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/audience-type?post=29106"},{"taxonomy":"display-option","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display-option?post=29106"},{"taxonomy":"post-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-type?post=29106"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=29106"},{"taxonomy":"_person-tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_person-tax?post=29106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Walking Works Wonders<\/strong><\/h3>\n
An Open Mind<\/h3>\n
Location, Location, Location<\/h3>\n
Keep Plan B in Mind<\/h3>\n
Test It Out<\/h3>\n
Add Element Creativity<\/h3>\n
![\"anne-marie](\"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Waston_Table2.3.png\")
<\/p>\nLook into Health Safety<\/h3>\n
Keep It Fluid<\/h3>\n