Blog - Wamvenga Creative Coaching

Expanding team strengths

Fri, 15 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0200

There are three prerequisites for growing team strengths and the active participation of team members in this process.

Do it systemically. Building team strengths must be systemic and structural. At Wamvenga Creative Coaching we use the systematic approach of the "5 dysfunctions" of teams. 1. build team trust - 2. manage team conflicts - 3. achieve commitment - 4. take responsibility and 5. focus on results. This makes it clear to everyone involved where the focus lies and which growth path has been chosen.
Integrate the promised adjustments. Make sure that you implement and follow-up on changes in the day-to-day's team life and demonstrate a high degree of integrity.
Measure the progress from the get-go. Measuring the growth of team strengths can be accomplished using common measurement methods. Create upfront valuable indicators of team strength, together with the team's key players.

The great advantage of being outdoors is that we increase our creativity and clarity enormously. We can also change our perspective outdoors more easily and see much easier where solutions are. And then there are the great examples of teamwork in nature. They help us to work together in new ways.

Do you want to retain your team members in the long term, realize your team's potential and achieve goals more successfully?

At Wamvenga Creative Coaching, we offer team strength coaching in the Westerwald and Siegerland. Let nature inspire you!

Your intuition-muscle

Tue, 13 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0200

What does it mean to really "understand" someone as a coach? Have you ever wondered where your best questions come from when you coach people?

My answer is: They come from "getting" your coachee and from being fully available to your coachee. It is your intuition that leads you to your best question and guides you to understanding the need behind the issue.

The central question is:

What are the deeper needs that fuel the person's talking and their topic?

I have found that applying this approach is the key to a much higher quality and effectiveness of your coaching. Being it for example; leadership coaching, performance coaching, team coaching or mental coaching. The deeper need approach stays the same.

A great place to develop just that is outside. In our Mindfulness & Nature Coaching course and in our Outdoor & Nature Training course, we train exactly this intuition muscle to take your coaching to a higher and more effective "getting" level. Pure Nature inspiration!

Always do what you are afraid to do.

Wed, 31 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0200

Courage is often about having the courage to “stop caring what others think of us”.

If you want to stop caring about what others think of you, recognize the following:

A. Others will always have an opinion of you no matter what you do. The human mind always judges.
B. You can be completely independent of all this!

So, how can you set out and practically free yourself from it?

Step 1: Decide to stop taking everything personally. When they judge you, it's about their stuff. Not yours. You can't influence that anyway.

Step 2: Become immediately aware of when you start taking things personally and decide to stop immediately.

Step 3: Shift your focus to what you want to focus on instead. This could be:

·      Your authentic self-expression.
·      Creating value.
·      Being true to yourself.
·      What you can contribute to a greater whole.
·      other...

With this new inner attitude; the courage strategy, you can make big changes in the level you experience courage. It prevents you as well from losing valuable energy in things you cannot influence anyway.

These are just the first three steps. If you are interested in learning more steps to be completely free from worrying about what others think about you... or if you would like to be coached by me in "take nothing personally", just get in touch with me. www.wamvenga.com.

We aim businesses reaching more successfully their goals by employability-coaching, healthy leadership development, stress-resilience coaching and coaching business teams in their strengths.

For private people these short articles offer practical coaching tips in how to handle conflicts better, prevent burnouts, increase stress-resilience and coach yourself successfully.

How can I raise my resilience?

Wed, 15 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0200

We cannot avoid stress-full situations. The art of becoming great in stress-resilience is being able to handle stress differently.

One of the causes of stress lies in ourselves. We are often our biggest critic. Somehow, we have learned the very unproductive and unhealthy behaviour to judge ourself and to compare ourself continuously with others around us. This is called the unhealthy "tick” to be perfect, to be appropriate, correct, on time, grown-up, to be professional and in control. Do you recognize it?

When we are perfectionists we have set ourselves an ever-shifting perfect image of ourselves that we can never reach. Including high demands and standards. Becoming aware of this stress-full pattern is the start of the solution. It is supported by this first stress- and resilience coaching and self-coaching Coach Me "tip": Be kind to yourself!

Being kind to ourselves boosts our mood, our health and its immune system. It can decrease blood pressure and cortisol (stress hormone) levels. Being kind to one-self brings different benefits for everyone.

Ask yourself the following three powerful stress- and resilience empowering coaching questions and then ACT on them;

-       How can I be more kind to myself? - (What can I change in my behaviour?)
-       Where can I be more kind to myself? - (In what topic can I bring an alteration?)
-       When can I be more kind to myself? - (In which circumstances, places and time?)

Please tell me how effective this tip is. I am interested what these three “Coach-Me” stress- and resilience coaching questions bring you.

The boss as coach

Wed, 07 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0200

As the world become more volatile, complex and unsure organisations can now only survive when responsibility and creative solution finding is shared between all members of the organisation. The role of the boss was forced to be transformed in the last decennia into someone who is firstly caring and kind. Leaders are now expected to be an example for others, an empathetic motivator, an innovator and lastly a coach.

So, what exactly can leaders take from coaching? I believe that it is firstly active listening and qualitative questioning that coaches practice.

Who can listen better knows more. Many bosses lean still towards a chronic "know it better" attitude. Before they allow their team-members to speak out many leaders have already judged, decided and communicated their way forward. Research has shown that teams are much more likely to reach their goals when active listening is being practiced within the team.

Who questions, leads. Every leader knows this. What makes the real difference here is what type of questions are asked by the boss. Qualitative and open W-questions (when, what, where, whom, how,....etc) provide a multitude of information compared to closed (yes or no) questions. Who is informed better, understands better and makes better decisions.

Leaders can learn to step into active listening and asking qualitative open questions which changes the team-dynamics completely and creates space for others to take responsibility, shine and grow.

What do you believe can leaders learn and apply from "the coaching way of life" in order to lead more successfully?

The turboboost question

Wed, 31 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0200

Asking yourself a powerful question can be extremely effective. Especially when it makes you look out for change(s) you desire to become reality. When it for example, makes you look out for the career you would love to pursuit. Or, when it for example, makes you look out for the parent you would love to be. Or maybe for the relationship you would love to experience.

So, what is your most important question? The One that really inspires you. That empowers you. What question is both dynamic and creative fro you?

Ask yourself right now a question about something that you would love to create instead of thinking about something you would like to fix, solve or get away from. Our actions originate from two departments. Either they come from reactions on past events that we are thinking about or they come from creations that find their source in moments of inspiration.Make sure your powerful question comes from that last creative department!

My own empowering question that makes me look out with trust and an impatient sense of joy is; What becomes possible for me when I step into my power and realise my full potential?

Dealing with criticism

Wed, 20 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0200

However, supportive and constructive criticism is always aimed at supporting our actions. Also called our "doing". It can therefore never be an attack on our being. Unfortunately, we do not make this crucial distinction and mistakenly believe that the received criticism is about our whole being, also called our "self". We internalize this criticism and begin to doubt ourselves.

Unconstructive criticism is intended to harm you personally and says everything about the person who directs it at you. This form of criticism is often not received in an honest and open one-on-one conversation but in the form of emails or maybe social media messages. The sender acts out of his or her own fear and often therefor cannot face you personally.

Whatever might be, you can choose from now on to make this essential distinction and leave behind the world that criticism is about you personally. The first question you should ask yourself in earnest is: Is this constructive or unconstructive criticism?

Welcome constructive criticism into your life and treat it as an opportunity to grow from now on. You say; “Hey, here is a fellow human being who cares about me and is happy when I am doing better and grow further!”

Slowly but surely, as we grow as human beings we find that our being is enough as it is right now. The fact is that as you stand or sit there now, you are perfect, you are wonderful, and you are unlimited. You don't have to be anything else and you don't have to do anything to deserve love. You are simply whole and you are worth to be loved. Always and forever from now on!

Being in Fiji

Mon, 31 May 2021 00:00:00 +0200

All great stories start with, there was once... and, so does this one. There was once a farmer in Iceland and his dream was to build up a great farm full of mango trees, full of his favourite fruit. Now, that is easier said than done. Of course he needed to have the "right" type of mangos to grow and also the ones that he believed were the most delicious. He already saw himself standing in between his trees and that vision and image of him made him already smile and feeling very happy. So, he started immediately by doing the research and preparation to fulfil his dream. He found out that he had to do lots of investments; money, energy and time. All to fulfil his dream and make his vision come true. He could not stand the thought that when he would tell stories to his grandchildren that he never tried to fulfil this one dream. The farmer went on with preparing everything. He started with what a good garden should always start with; the soil. He brought in truck loads of more suitable soil for the mango trees and also implemented a great watering system. He also saw that the climate in Iceland was too cold and the air was too dry for most of the year to let the Mango's grow. He therefor built a big greenhouse that he could warm up and that had always the right moisture levels for the mango trees. When everything was done, the day came that he could finally plant his trees. What a great day! He carefully planted the first 100 mango trees in his greenhouse. During the next months he noticed that the mango trees needed more light and more and better quality soil as they grew slower than expected. He once more put in more investments, energy and time in there to really let them thrive. Unfortunedly the mango trees were still growing much slower as the usually did in other countries around the world where they normally grew. He was beginning to doubt his decision to grow them and that it was all a foolish dream... It definitely costed him lots of worrying, energy and time to maintain the trees and keep them healthy. He didn't expect that when he started the project.

In the meantime the farmer had received from a friend of him in the Fiji-islands an invitation to come to these islands for a sunny summer vacation. This friend was a Guava farmer that did very well with his plantation on the islands. The farmer from Iceland thought long and hard about the prospect of a vacation on Fiji and decided to go for four weeks to these beautiful palm-tree islands. He proudly brought with him a netted bag of his first mango's that were unfortunedly still small and green. On arrival the mango farmer put the mango's down nest to a table in a beautiful and lush garden. He totally forgot about his bag of mango's, that was standing next to the garden table in the gardens of the Guava plantation. Instead he went swimming and sailing at many points in Fiji with his friend. Two weeks later he suddenly remembered the bag of mango's and decided to show them to his friend. When he arrived at the garden table he found that all of the mango's had started to germinate and grow by themselves the first leaves and roots. The mango-farmer from Iceland was perplexed and stunned! Without any investment, time and energy spend, these fruits grew effortless and automatic by themselves on Fiji. The insight hit him as a thunderbolt. He suddenly realised, that he was busy realising his vision and dreams in the wrong environment. He had to change the element to realise his dreams as the best dreams should come naturally, easy and effortless. Not only his dream and vision was important but they were linked tightly and depending on WHERE they were realised.

This story gives us the insight that we not only have to take into account the content of the dreams and visions we would love to create but also that the environment that we are in needs to be evaluated. The main question is the following. Is it an area, business world, organisation, team, group of friends, environment or other element that we fit in and that actively and fully supports our dream or vision?
Did you experience in your life a time when everything or major parts of your life went effortless and easy?Where your life was in a flow? What element, group, organisation area or environment was that and what exactly made it so that you were in that flow? Find out where your Fiji is and where you are maintaining Ice-landic greenhouses!

Wonder in nature!

Sat, 30 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0200

Examples of things where I love to wonder about are; the golden threads in the eyes of frogs, the brilliant light on a icy field filled with snowflakes or millions of termite winged-alates flying up from their homes in a star-lit night after the third day of good rains.

I learned to wonder from one of the best in this. He often came and stayed with me for a week, with his wife and daughter. I noticed that he was always excited when he called me to ask if would mind to take him out again in the bushveld. Each time he left the camp to return to his home, he would promise me that he would be back soon. During the years we went out on safaris together I found out that he had spend many more hours in this environment than me.

He must have known already every little thing I pointed out to him. He must have seen the wildebeest and the zebras thousands of times. None-the-less we stopped every time to look at them. We stopped every time to admire the golden web of a golden-orb spider or to take a look at the bullet-shaped droppings of an old kudu bull that walked by in the morning. We definitely stopped at the fresh spoor of the elephant heard that we heard at night breaking branches while feeding.

We lost ourselves completely on our walks and drives in the wonders of nature. We forgot about the time, which day it was and the roles we play. We forgot what responsibilities were waiting for us when we got back to camp. Every step on our walks together became a possibility to find something new to wonder about. The walk became uplifting and energizing in a new way. Our senses sharpened and the attitude in us changed. We were back in our state of wonder. The state that we were often in when we were children, crawling around in the long grasses and building treehouses in a pine forest. Carefree and happy.

The next time you take a walk or drive in nature remember to take time and stop to wonder about the things you see in nature. What is it that you have not noticed before? What gifts did nature produce last night? Just for your eyes to admire? I believe that there is somewhere a field of wonder where we all can stay how long we would like.

I will meet you there.

Solving riddles - Team Strengths!

Mon, 28 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0200

Each end of the year is such a great time to take a look back at what we experienced. We learn mostly from reflecting on our activities when they are done and dusted. We learn when we set aside time for this and reflect. We learn little by just running on into the new year. Great questions for us can be; What happened that knocked me off my feet? What can I be proud of? What have I learned this year? Where do I need to complete something?

Through reading the tracks of the animals that are around us you will get a deeper understanding and connection to the nature area that you are in. More importantly it is really fun to do tracking and to learn each time new skills. One really gets to know the animals while we track. The same is valid when we look back at the year and the “tracks” that you made. You get to know your self better and you have the opportunity here to learn. Looking into your own tracks can only lead to making better decisions in your life the next year. Tracking shows us the way to a meaningful legacy we love to live. There has not been one day where I did not learn something new about tracking and about myself.

This outdoor exercise can be done anywhere in the world. Yes! It gives you the opportunity to get outdoors away from your office. It is an excellent nature activity with the whole team. With tracking we can immerse ourselves completely into a whole new world and get a fresh look on the world we are normally in.

This exercise is centred around the tracks that animals make in the soil or on the vegetation. Tracks can also be scents that animals make or markings on plants and digging evidence. Tracks can also be feeding or drinking evidence and of course there is the world of droppings. The legacy tracking exercise can be done in all nature areas where wild animals come regularly and where the soil is not to hard . This way you can easily find the animal tracks.. You can track in forests, snowy fields and on sandy beaches, basically anywhere.

What it brings. With practicing tracking we will start to notice more things in nature and making use of all our senses. Tracking makes you move while you are following the tracks and the journey of a specific animal. Learning to track brings you at the same time to look at the energetic tracks that you made in your life. We become aware of what has happened in our journey, where we made choices and what they brought.

This exercise is a lot of fun to do with the whole family and It is a winner at team-outings. Most children just LOVE tracking, this includes the adult ones. You can look at tracking as solving riddles together. In this case we make it specifically into a team-strengthening event. What tracks did the team make so far? How do we recognize and value our legacy we leave behind? What tracks would the team love to make together the next year.

This is how you start. Divide a big team if needed into smaller groups of 3 to 4 persons or in pairs. It doesn’t matter if one of the groups is a bit bigger

The goal of the exercise is to correctly identify tracks in the nature area and growing our tracking knowledge. However the real goal is to have fun and get a deeper connection and understanding of nature and of each other’s strengths and skills. We improve our observation skills drastically. We will need to use in tracking many senses that we do not use often. That is on its own a great experience.

The idea is that every group can find as much as they can discover about 10 different sets of tracks. These can be tracks left behind by mammals, reptiles, birds or insects. Let every group find out what animal made that track and describe a minimum of 3 characteristics of that track that will occur in almost every track that animal would make. You can call these “bank-on” track characteristics. Let every group write those characteristics down on a piece of paper per track-set. Ask every group to think about what they learned about the team or themselves at each set of tracks. Ask them what parallels can be found here with the team’s tracks during the last year.

Wrap up this fun tracking exercise after an hour by evaluating all tracking sets with the complete group. Let each small group tell what they learned while tracking about their own personal tracks and the tracks the team made. Close of the tracking exercise by discussing the tracks the team would love to leave behind in the future and which animal would support them specifically in this.

A Tree encounter

Sat, 28 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0200

A new way of being in nature is unlocked by this simple and fun exercise We start by walking around randomly in your area that you live. Stop at any tree you really like most. We further do two things. First, we identify the tree. Secondly, we spend some attentive time with it. You can use these 7(seven) tree identification principles, that any outdoorsy person can learn, to identify a tree. Having a good tree-identification book is important in this identification step. There are also several great tree apps available that you can download for this purpose.

First we look from a distance at the general size and shape of the tree and decide in what type of tree-group it falls in. Does it have a pillar-shaped upwards growth form? Maybe it has a more roundish side-ways growth form? Second, we look at the type of stem and bark of the tree stem. Is it one singular, straight stem or does it have a different growth form? Maybe it is multi-stemmed? What colour is the bark? Is the bark rough or smooth? Does it have lines or maybe a geometrical pattern in it? Thirdly we take a look at the leaves. Are they compound or simple leaves? What is the colour of the leaves? How does the leaf-margin look like? What does the leaf-venation look like? Are there any fluids coming out of the leaf when you break it? Is the tree evergreen?
Fourthly, are there any flowers on the tree? How do the flowers on the tree look like? Fifthly, are there any seeds on the tree or below the tree on the ground? How do they look like? Sixthly, we look in detail at the young branches. How do these thin, young branches look like? Are there maybe any small hairs on them? In what way are the leaves attached on the branches? In bundles? Alternate? At the branch tips? What colour are the branches? Lastly, we decide what type of terrain the tree grows on. Is it a rocky, clay or more sandy soil? Is it close by a river a small creek? Next to a lake or Is it high on a hill? Was it maybe planted there by people or did it naturally arrive there? Does the tree belong in this terrain? Can it often be found there? Decide now on the tree species you think it is. Check in the tree-identification book if you can read any other extra information about this specific tree.

Now we go into the second part of the exercise. We take time to sit down or stand close by the tree at any distance from the tree that feels right to you. We take five minutes time to be in its presence. Just let go of your thoughts and enjoy the tree. Imagine its life-journey. Beginning from a little seed into this fully grown magnificent tree. Reflect in this time what it is exactly, that made you choose this one tree. Then, after the five minutes. Ask yourself this general question; What does this tree make more meaningful or insightful for me today? Or, What does this tree show me at this moment and place that I am in my life? You can just wait what impulses or images come up inside you. Make notes in a note-book on any answers, emotions, thoughts, words, colours images or ideas that start to arrive that will be of importance for you today. Close-off this exercise by saying “thanks” to the tree in silence. Guess what. You just experienced a meaningful tree encounter!

Into the present moment

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0200

We can become stuck in our active-thinking mind. The result is that we are not really here in the present. Most of attention is focused on memories of the past, making false assumptions or being tied up in future events.

In short, we start to miss a lot of the real beauty and life that is around us. Do you recognise this? Bringing this state of mind in nature decreases the quality of our time there. It’s effectiveness diminishes. What can we do about this? One solution is to re-discover our senses in nature. It is one way nature supports us to really enjoy our time in nature and recharge our energy levels. This is a simple way how you do it.

We are making use of the universal principle “energy flows where attention goes”.

When you place more and more attention on the input from your senses, you will progress through experiences of a higher sensory acuity and relaxation. You will become more aware of what is happening around you than you have noticed before. Your outdoor experience has just become much richer and intense. That is what we want!!!

You will suddenly notice details at a depth that you have never noticed before. This is a state that completely changes your perception and being in Nature.

So, Find a place you like in nature and sit down or keep standing there, comfortably. Take three deep breaths. Follow your breathing with your attention. Feel the air entering your body and when you slowly release it, feel the air flowing out of your nose.

Now, wherever you are, become aware of the colours in your environment around you. Become aware of the white colours, the red colours , the yellows, the greens, the blues, the violets and black colours. Do you notice any other colours?
Then look at all the straight and curved lines you can see. The shapes of the objects and the spaces between them. What does stand out here that you haven’t noticed before?
Then look for all the symmetrical lines and shapes you can find around you. Maybe you can see the symmetrical shapes of leaves, in branches or even symmetrical shapes in the clouds high above you.

Next listen to the sounds you can hear from all directions. What type of birds can you hear? From where are they calling? Can you hear any insects making their noise? Which ones are they? Can you hear maybe the wind blowing softly? Maybe the leaves are rustling in the wind? What other natural sounds can you hear?

Now feel the position of your hands, where are they and how do they feel? Notice the placement of your feet. How do they feel? Notice the movement of your breathing in and out. Can you feel any wind touching your skin? Can you maybe feel any sense of specific energy around you? How does this make you feel?

What can you smell at this moment. What does this specific smell remind you of? Is there anything that you can taste in your mouth? Is it a salty, sweet, sour or maybe another taste that you can define?

Now, let your attention roam throughout all your senses seeking more awareness of each one of them. Do this for as long as you like during any kind of activity. This practice will focus your senses. You will become more present in the moment. It is a skill that can be developed further in nature with practice until it becomes second nature to you.

Getting into the present moment into this very rich sensory field will lift the outdoor experience for you to a much more intense level. The power to create and to realize desired changes in our life, connect with others around us and to experience real joy in life, lie all in the present moment. We can get there simply by re-discovering our senses. Go outdoors in nature and try it out your Self!

Creating Your Reality

Wed, 09 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0200

I asked my Self a question when I was guiding a group in Nature. How can I actively set the right intention for the experience and create a great quality experience for everyone? To set the right intention with everything You do, there are a couple of things to prepare and to take into account.

To have the right intention You first must do what You love doing. If You really do what You love doing you can never grow tired of it. You can never run out of energy as the things that You are doing creates new energy inside you, all the time. This means that you must not be busy with doing the wrong things. These are the things you don’t like. Do instead the things You love doing. It is this simple. So how can I find out what I love doing? Well, what about finding out what You don’t love doing and then stopping with what You don’t love doing…? If You are doing everyday many things that You don’t love doing how can the universe guide you further to what You love doing? You need to make Yourself available for the right things to happen in Your life even if this means changing Your old ways.

The second part of creating the right intention is to get rid of the false idea that You can deplete Your energy and You don’t have something to give tomorrow. When You love what You are doing You will never deplete Your energy! Now, think about how You would love to look back upon Your life. We have had a fulfilled life when we have given everything that we had inside of us. That You can truly say; Yes, I lived well and I gave it all! So, start spending Your energy and spend it all today! That is exactly the right intention to set off on an Outdoor experience. It is especially valid when You guide, teach or train others.

The third part of setting the right intention is to let it be followed with creative actions. To be able to manifest what You want, for example a wonderful outdoor event, You first need to get clarity. Clarity about how this outdoor experience exactly looks, feels, smells and tastes like. Make it as clear as possible. Now step into this manifestation by making yourself a promise. This promise could be something like; “I promise to create an outdoor event on the 15th of July that will start at 8 AM till 18:00 PM and it will be inspiring. Participants will find a new way to look at their own leadership style. They will discover minimal 3 powerful insights how to become a better leader. They will leave that day energized and keen to experiment with their newly found insights.”

There are two simple but powerful questions You can ask yourself to create the right intention before You set out for a nature experience. They are; Question 1. How can I make, or what can I do to the time outdoor in nature the best possible experience? Question 2. Who do I need to be to achieve this? Think about these questions and write down your answers. Then create and step into action to realise them.

Remember. You will attract what you believe in; “reality is a delayed reaction for what is true for You”. Now you set-off and create what You promised to do.

Blessed Uncertainty

Sat, 23 May 2020 00:00:00 +0200

The rain falling now throughout the day makes the African bushveld wet through it’s fabric. It’s a slow falling nourishing rain, soft and gentle and no wind at all. Sitting quietly outside under the thatched roof and listening to the sounds of the rain is magical. Small droplets are falling from the tall Fever trees on the narrow and long leaves of Cape Date palms- and the Sycamore Fig's broad bright green leaves. This morning we went on an early Bush-walk, not knowing what we would find at the other side of the northern hill. As we left camp two male impalas dashed off out of a thicket of bushes right in front of us. Giving is a wake-up call. Their necks were thick and muscular and they must have been challenging each other as it is their rutting season.

Further east a group of Helmeted Guinea-fowl were calling their characteristic alarming call. An intruder! We went to investigate not knowing upfront what we were walking into. Would there be a leopard in the area? We had seen some tracks of a small female in the area the days before. We approached the area carefully, uncertain of what we would find. Suddenly a large bird-of-prey flew by. It was deep grey with a black and white banded tail and broad wings. An African Harrier-hawk had disturbed the neighbourhood and the Guinea-fowls had made everyone aware of its presence. We decided to walk further north up on the hill, suddenly a loud cracking of branches, 40 meters away, on our right. Elephant, I whispered! The animal approached to investigate us and gave us a warning not to come closer. It raised its head high above us. We heeded it’s warning and silently retreated behind a Giant-raisin bush. The elephant went further, walking away from us. The rain had stopped and in the first rays of sunlight were coming through the clouds.

Every time we walk out in nature it is uncertain what we will encounter and we need to trust our skills. Walking a nature trail mirrors our life in many ways. Exploring uncertain terrain is a necessary step to grow and discover new parts of our self. This way our life start to flow. True happiness follows when we adapt and re-invent ourselves in uncertain situations. We become a different person than the one we were yesterday and meaning-fullness start to enter our life.

Take the uncertain and demolished nature path before you, not knowing the outcome but knowing that it will bring great joy, wisdom and bliss. Joseph Campbell, a well-known author calls the uncertain road; the hero’s path. Your light and your greatness lies in welcoming uncertainty as an opportunity and developing a courageous mentality.

The Bushveld stillness

Sun, 26 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0200

Many companies and organizations are dealing with unprecedented change in the world they operate in today. These changes shake the very foundations that they are built on and are a threat to their survival and the jobs of their employees. The main question that everybody wants to answer is; “how can we encourage and enable our organizations to change with the changing world and it’s new opportunities”.
A shift is necessary. A shift from going through the daily repetitive work-motions that used to be enough to get the job done to creative solution finding. A shift that takes us from chasing security to finding the courage in ourselves to do things differently and take up responsibility for it. What prevents us from getting there? Or what do we need to let go off to become truly creative and thinking “out of the box”? Or in other words how do I shift into an “entrepreneurial” state of mind? I believe that in trying times we first truly need the stillness of the Bushveld. We experience all a lack of reflective moments that disable us completely to let go and rethink our future. We have lost ourselves in procrastination, even longer workhours or switching off our brain completely in front of a buzzing screen. Stillness allows that first critical step to become creative and shape your future from the heart. The stillness of the Bushveld comes in many ways. It can be that first cup of tea on your porch in the early morning sun, that walk on your own in the forest behind your village, that gratefulness journal you write in every day, the prayers you say in stillness or that time you spend meditating on your favourite spot in your house. Whatever it is, outward conversations, distractions and noises are reduced in the stillness of your Bushveld to bring you to be and simply observe. You have placed yourself in “the eye of the storm” and from here we can objectively observe, get in contact with our intuition and reconnect with what is most important. Simply be with yourself. Then and there we reach clarity what our legacy to this world is. All our great life decisions, creations and actions follow from here. Your Bushveld stillness is your “home-base”. It is the place far away from commotion, noise and information. It is the place where you feel solid, have trust in yourself, experience hope and where you can rely on. As Einstein once said; “You cannot solve a problem with the same thinking that created it” . We need to shift to this new way of thinking if we want to survive. We can reach that only by just be and be truly still. We touch our base. From here we can shift and look at our world from a different perspective. Now we see our path clearly and we see the opportunities that are aligned to our core being. Enjoy your own Bushveld stillness!

The Tree of Life

Sun, 22 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0200

The leadwood tree can always be identified by its pale grey, deeply fissured bark which splits into narrow rectangular pieces. While it’s the tallest of all Combretum species it has the smallest four-winged fruits, so typical of this genus. The fruits are characteristically yellow, densly covered in small scales and measure about 10-20 x 15 mm. They are very numerous giving the entire tree a yellowish appearance for much of the year. The leadwood is a single-stemmed tree to about 15 meter high with a very characteristic gnarled trunk. It is one of the heaviest wood on earth, a fact referred to by the English common name. Leadwoods reach easily an age of a 1000 years and can remain erect for another 150 years. Many inhabitants of Africa regard the tree as the ancestor of mankind. The German common name “Ahnenbaum”, translated as “ancestor tree”, refers to this.

But what can we learn from the leadwood when we look past the surface and start to use our imagination and creativity? What does the tree show us with its many dead branches combined with the very much alive part of the tree?

The dead branches on the leadwood show us that once we were busy pursuing other things in our lives in which we have stopped putting energy in. We have made here a decision to focus on other things, people and activities. The leadwood shows that we are guiding our focus and energy now into the alive parts of the tree of our own life. The dead branches are still very much part of that tree and so are they of our life.

- Without the dead branches we would not be the person who we are now and we would not be now where we stand now - . The tree simply made a decision and stopped to send it’s sap-flow, it’s energy to those dead branches that does not serve it anymore, but still wears them proudly. These dead branches are indeed useful to many other animals and organisms.

Do you take time to stand still and take a look at the decisions you took in your life that were life-changing? Do you stand still to honour your dead branches, symbols of what you once were busy with? Label those dead branches and name them one by one, for what they stood for. Maybe it was a deep belief but now transformed? Maybe its a changed career or maybe a new partnership? Now focus your attention on the living part of your tree of life. What can you see that you are building up? Take a step back and view and admire the beauty of the leadwood tree, your unique tree of life! Are you leaving the legacy you have in mind? How does the new branch look like that you will create the next year? What decisions do you need to make?

Have a fantastic festive season with your loved ones!!!

Whatever arises, Love that!

Sun, 27 Oct 2019 00:00:00 +0200

“The feedback was harsh, unconstructive and poised to be hurt-full” at the same time it offered a remarkable insight into my fellow-human being fears and frustrations. Indeed we all sometimes receive feedback that takes us by surprise and makes us doubt who we are and how we performed as a fellow human being a family member, a friend or as a colleague.

We all face sometimes difficult times in our life. Times where you feel pain, anger and fear. It can be anger towards some-one else who you think mis-treated you. It can be caused by the fear of losing control of your life or fear of uncertainty. It can be simply that you are feeling alone and misunderstood. We all have times that we believe things are going the wrong way or that we are feeling stuck. We feel unhappy and frustrated. These difficult times and uncomfortable feelings are there for a reason. They lead us to where we need to go and into motion that was all along needed or very much necessary to happen.
There are many of us avoiding uncomfortable feelings and fears and we step into a trap. We become judgemental. We become that person that is always quick to judge others and telling them off. We have made it into an art finding “something wrong” with others. Even if the experience was overwhelmingly positive we then find something that proofs we are different or better. In this way we are always looking for a dis-perfection in the other, in a situation or even in ourselves. We become are our biggest critic, are often overwhelmed with anger and anxiety and we start looking for someone or a situation to let this anxiety surface.
Guess what,… we can never find perfection as perfection is a ever shifting target leading us into frustration, stress and tremendous levels of anxiety as we can never completely control the outcome of events. Life takes us sometimes for a ride and we have to simply hold on. Instead to focus on perfection, which entails a fixed image how things should be, we can choose here and now to change this. Instead we choose to focus on “loving-excellence”. Now that is a very different beast altogether as it is not fixed on a certain wished out-come nor on controlling a situation or other human being. Loving excellence focuses on doing the things you love doing and giving your best that you can be at that moment. We all experience moments that we might be tired or un-focused, still you can choose to give your very best that you can give. That might be at that time 75% and not 110%. Which is Ok. Allow this to sink in. We always believed only 110% is good enough.
When we get hit by others that blame you for their dis-comfort you can ask yourself one question; did I give my best at the time? When the answer is “Yes” then let the harsh, unconstructive and hurt-full feedback fall back to the place where it belongs; to the “blamer”. Then there is something to learn for the person who gave you the feedback as he or she is angry, scared and upset with something that they found in you and don’t want to face this themselves.
I found that the happiest times in my life where the times when I was loving the work what I was doing and was loving the place I was in, learning about myself and giving back to others around me. I find that it is both healing and challenging for me to spend time with the youth of this beautiful area I live in.
We all meet wonderful people, full of ideas, energy and love for each-other. People that are out there to make a difference, people that are ready to help-each other. People who are not focused on finding im-perfections in themselves or the others around them. Look out for them, they don't complain about others and they seldom talk about themselves and what they do. Whatever arises, they love that!

Invite Rain in your life!

Sat, 28 Sep 2019 00:00:00 +0200

“There are currently high winds over the end of the dry season with lots of dry grass (high fuel-load) available. Please be very cautious when working in the bush, especially with electric tools and removing ashes from fire-places”.

This was the message received this morning from our warden who monitors the situation in the game reserve that is bone-dry after about a five months no rainfall period. I really have to think back hard to remember when we saw the last rain in this part of the Savanna bush-veld where rain occurs almost exclusively with late afternoon thunderous lightning storms in our summer months. The sky is steel blue every day with sometimes a lost little cloud in the distance and this long time without rain reminds us how important and precious the availability of water truly is.

These trying times makes you grateful for what is and we learn to value small, often overlooked animals or plants. Droughts makes us realize how fantastic nature can adapt and is ever changing, dynamic in many ways.

A new day starts in the early morning with new chances of rain falling. The wise say that “the greatest skill in us is the ability to make rain”. What they really mean with this is that our greatest gift is to create abundance and that we have all the capability in us to create abundance for ourselves, for our family and for our community. The ability to call rain has always been revered and admired for. Rain is this symbol of abundance in our life. Water symbolizes the flow of our life.

Where in your life are things stagnant and not in flow. Where in your life do you need to create a breakthrough? Where in your life do you need to create abundance and how can you achieve this? Somehow along the line we are buying into the belief that life is a struggle, a competition for scarce resources, lack of energy or a fight for getting love. The only truth is that we are abundant and that are lives are filled all the time with wonderful richness and unforgettable moments. All the resources, love and energy we need are right under our noses. Which wolf do you want to feed? The one that believes in struggle or the one that believes in abundance? Which one do you choose to believe? Trust your choice and allow change to happen. Winter will be turned into spring. Rain will fall. It brings fertility and growth into our lives...make space for this and allow it to happen.

Are you ready for your spring? If not, spring-clean up your life. Complete unfinished business, streamline your affairs, sort out your cupboards. Listen for the rain, it is on its way…

Lekhubu, The island of the jackal

Wed, 21 Aug 2019 00:00:00 +0200

It is this small and often overseen animal that always surprises me every time is see it with feelings of joy, confidence and happiness. By just observing the way the jackal walks you can see it completely feels at home in its area. Even when close to the big cats it still shows its characteristic confident “spring in its step”.

It would be amazing if we could see the world through the jackals eyes and imagine what adventures it experiences being often so close to Hyena, Leopard, Lion or Cheetah. What do they learn every day and where do they go when an interesting sound or smell is picked-up on the African savanna plaines.

Black-backed Jackals live in almost every environment that the African continent offers. Great was my joy when I noticed a Black-backed Jackal approaching our camping ground on Lekhubu Island in the vast Makgadigadi Pans National Park inside Botswana. Our group had been travelling for most of the day by car through numerous vast, dried out salt pans where there was no mammal at all to be seen.

The sun had baked the surface of the pan to a hard crust of white-clay fine soil where I noticed its beautiful Christmas-tree shaped foot-print. I could not imagine that a Black-backed Jackal could survive the dry season in these salt pans. Here on Lekhubu Island there was a different vegetation and there was life. About two hundred Baobab tree’s where standing majestically between granite rocks forming a small ecosystem very different to the salt pans. It is a magical and spiritual place and a place of shelter for travellers like us, crossing these vast salt pans. The Black-backed Jackal only approached the camping ground when the sun had set and was shining its last rays on the horizon. The animal was clearly checking out our intentions and finding out if there was an opportunity for drinking water as there is no river or spring on the island. Black-backed Jackals are known for their great instinct and incredible intuition to survive and thrive. Somehow it always turns up at the right time and right place.

The Black-backed Jackal reminds me that I can allow myself to be proud of what I achieved and that I am a resourceful and creative being. It also reminds me that opening my awareness to be in touch with my intuition is important to make the right decisions. When I went to bed I left it a big cup of water to thank the Black-backed Jackal for this insight. The next morning the cup was empty and the Black-backed jackal was gone. I imagined it travelling on the salt pan to another magical place, maybe one that no man has seen yet....

Listening to Ground Hornbills

Wed, 10 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0200

Especially birds love to call during the early hours of the morning when the world is still sleepy, and their voices travel far and wide carried by the cool air that surrounds them. I found myself on one such a morning in the Khwai community nature reserve in the middle of Botswana not far from the magnificent Moremi National Game Reserve and its Okavango Delta.

I was woken up to my most favourite of all morning sounds; the booming calls of the Southern Ground Hornbill. These birds truly enjoy playing their tunes, that travel for miles around them. Their call can be described as a rhythmic sequence of low notes that a Tuba musical percussion instrument could produce. These are deep booming sounds.

I am fascinated to feel the vibrations of their call travel through my body and into my heart. It connects me to my heart and makes me aware how beautiful it is when two people are connected on a heart-level, truly understanding each other and supporting each other in their path.

We should all learn to listen with our hearts to another person, that would improve our communication and its effectiveness in every way. How can we reach this?

Start by listening to the other with an intention of seeing the beauty and potential of the other and not by listening with own pre-conceived ideas, own expectations and our own agenda nor the assumptions that are playing in our head. We can choose our way of listening to another. I have the choice to do this with every single person I meet today. I feel my heart when I listen, just like when the Ground Hornbills start playing their tuba’s.

Jimmy Hendrix said that “Hearing is Knowledge and Listening is Wisdom”. I believe that he would have loved to listen the Ground Hornbill’s magical morning songs.

Letting go of control on Safari

Mon, 17 Jun 2019 00:00:00 +0200

There is much to discover that can surprise us, so much to which we can gratefully yield, so much permission to let go of our need to know or control what will happen. And yet, when we experience uncertainty in our life it can rattle us, throw us out of our confidence and into our fears. Uncertainty goes against our conditioning that most of us have internalized that not knowing is threatening – that it must be hidden, solved or resolved, as quickly as possible. What if this fear of losing control and all its reactions to it, brings us further away from our path and the way we truly love to live our life? What if this fear of losing control brings us nothing but a false sense of security that leads to being stuck in old ruts and kills our creativity? What if this fear of losing control leads to mediocre performance and the missing of important opportunities?

It is our time we spend in nature that offer us valuable insights about control. Everything in nature is in constant adaptation and movement. Nothing in nature can be predicted and all organisms, from the smallest bacteria to the largest tree thrive because it makes the best of what it is encountered with.

They don’t waste their time and energy on what they cannot influence. They put all their energy and time in creation. On the Living Sense safari retreat and Master Coach educational seminar in the South African bushveld we quickly discover and accept that we cannot control which animal we will encounter and in what situation that will be. We learn to trust that when something happens on our game drive or walking trail our intuition will tell us exactly how to respond.

We let go of control, immerse ourselves in nature and suddenly find ourselves noticing so much more beauty than we did before. We become suddenly present to what happens around us. We start to see our world and our experiences through new eyes. We find our inner peace and our deepest wishes. We connect to our inner voice and experience what it is to be truly grateful. Our heart tells us that it has enjoyed this day and that it sings when it is in nature. It tells us that being in nature allows for magical things to happen. It tells us that the African Bushveld is our home, an old friend, that we have known for a long time and where we always can turn to.

What is your playground?

Wed, 24 Apr 2019 00:00:00 +0200

Lions love to play. I often have seen adults joining into the fun. Lions play with their brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces, uncles and aunts and whatever piece of wood, stone or object is around them.

I once saw lions play with a very frightened tortoise that came off with just a few scratches on its shield. Playing forms a part of their life and they can make out of any environment a great play-ground where they often play the game hide-and-seek. Playing gives them so much.

For instance they learn with playing how to hunt as well as how to communicate with one-another and how they fit into the pride. It helps them to reduce tension in the group and to pass a hot and otherwise maybe boring day.

We all used to play a lot when we were younger, up to a point that our mother needed to look for us to eat our dinner. At a point in our life we maybe have stopped playing and decided that we should close the gate of our playground. Sometimes we even have made big walls around it that prevent us from playing ever again. We take life too seriously and have stopped having fun altogether.

I want to invite you to look back and tell me what was your favourite game when you played and how did it feel to play? My guess is that you were feeling happy and full of energy, without the worries you are having now. We stopped at one point doing what we loved doing and have now an unfulfilled life, often seeking things to compensate for the this. We buy “stuff” but it can never replace the playing.

Remember those times when you were playing on your playground, just like the six lion cubs that I saw. Start playing again on your Playground and allow your self to start doing what you love doing most. Be that little lion cub again, You are allowed to live a life full of fun and excitement.

Bushveld Energy

Thu, 18 Oct 2018 00:00:00 +0200

In the distance sounds the piercing call of a black-back jackal, maybe it has seen a leopard or it’s angry that another jackal has crossed its territorial boundaries and wants to warn its family members. Another day on the African plains in the Bushveld has started.

When you start your day, do you feel full of energy, ready to take on a new day and breath in the morning air with delightful expectancies? How is it when you are half-way through your day? Do you still have enough energy? When we look at animals in the African bush they carefully balance their energy levels throughout their day. They are extremely aware which activities give them the necessary energy and which activities cost what amount of energy.

We can benefit from their insights. By taking a look into your life, where do you spent your energy on each day? Which activities excite you and fill you up with new energy? Wouldn’t it be important to be more aware of which relationships we have and where they are draining your energy? Are there any energy-suckers in your life that you can limit? Can you built in little rituals in your day that increase you energy? It’s also a great idea to look more closely at anger.

When we are angry, we have a lot of energy available. Why not take note of these anger-feelings when you have them and set them up for activities and goals that are constructive. Welcome this anger energy instead of suppressing it thinking it is bad to be angry. It depend all what you do with your anger energy. You have the choice in your hands!

Every morning in Africa, an Impala wakes up. It knows it must run and outwit the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outwit the slowest impala or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or an impala. When the sun comes up, you’d better be running!

On your wilderness trail

Mon, 17 Sep 2018 00:00:00 +0200

Even spare batteries and a raincoat could be a good thing to bring.

The more you bring with, the heavier the backpack and the more energy you will need to carry it.

The great thing is that we can see your backpack as a symbol of what things we carry with us each day in our lives. We carry with us our experiences, our memories, our emotions and each and every moment we went through in our life. In our backpack are many happy memories, good times and the great achievements we have done that put a smile on our face.

We carry also things that weigh us down and that cost us much of our precious daily energy. These could be difficult things as unfinished talks, incomplete relationships, small and big regrets and other unfinished business that is tucked away deep in our Trails backpack, these things keep us busy in our minds every day and it starts to stink if we don’t do anything about it… let’s call these difficult things “incompletions”. We can now take those incompletions out of our Trails backpack and take a good look at them.

Here is the opportunity to deal with them once and for all. We can do this by:
A. acknowledging the incompletion, B. letting it go or C. making a decision what to do with this incompletion in our backpack. One of the three above will resolve it and will result in you having more energy in your life for the good stuff and to walk the nature trail of life with a lighter backpack.

What could be all incompletions? Things like: broken promises, postponements, unresolved arguments, buried dreams, unforgiven things, fixed point of views that keep you stuck, difficult draining relationships, withholding honesty or withholding love, any resistance or the big one....justification stories that you tell others to say I am right...etc.

Why not open your backpack of life and take stock what items are in there, what weighs you down and what would you like to complete? Get that spring back in your step on your Wilderness Trail!

Guarding your Boundaries

Mon, 23 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0200

In nature, every single animal we encounter in this environment immediately takes responsibility to guard its boundaries if needed. When we watch animals from afar they often clearly don’t mind us watching them and continue with their normal day-to-day behaviour and we can say that they are in their comfort zone. The need to guard their boundaries and personal space is not there yet as we don’t interfere with their lives. As we move a bit closer to the animal, into their Alert zone, the animal stops what is busy doing and stands still, observing our next move. We are now interfering with their life and are important to it. As we move further towards the animal it starts to give us clear warnings. The animal now requests us to respect its boundaries.

With an elephant, clear warnings, these are requests, are given not to come closer to protects its boundaries and personal space. These warnings can be for example showing its lateral (big) side, stretching his front legs up and putting its head high up as possible. It will also erect, and stiffen its tail. It might shake its head vividly or it will run a bit half side-ways half towards you. This will be a demand to push you back. Sometimes the animal will choose to walk away from you while looking backwards over its shoulder.

Finally, the animal will vocalize and trumpet to make clear that a boundary has been crossed. These are all clear communications not to go further and the elephant takes its responsibility to do this. Instinctively animals know they need to take this responsibility for their warnings to survive and be safe. One important aspect to do this is clearly communicating it’s needs to others. Why are we often not doing this and forget our responsibility towards our Self and the other?

This example of the elephant requests and demands reminds us about two things. First is how important it is to observe body-language of others. A remarkable 60-70% of all our inter-human communication is non-verbal. When we only focus on what is being said we are missing most of the truth being told. Secondly, it reminds us how often we do not take responsibility to express a wish, request or demand when we need to do this.

The result is that we let others go over our boundaries and lose every time a bit of our power and energy by not taking responsibility to say what should be said. We start to complain to others, are upset, feel negative, frustrated and angry. The good news is that we can immediately step out of this reaction when we take our responsibility and, just like the elephant, become powerful, positive and energized by taking action. When are you giving clear communication what you wish, request or demand for you? When do you don’t do that?