Adventure for Wellbeing: Our philosophy

Why Adventure For Wellbeing?

Adventure is a vehicle to allow us to step outside what is normal, and to experience the unknown. Our day to day routine means we often get stuck in a kind of autopilot. One of the great things about facing something new is that it shakes up our routine and helps us to notice the present moment and also choose how we would like to ‘be’ during our experience. Adventure doesn’t have to be about taking dangerous risks, but it does mean that we have to step outside of our comfort zone in order to experience some healthy challenge and change.

Wellbeing doesn’t simply mean pleasure, like the type of experience we get from eating ice cream. It is about feeling connected to our most important needs and values, such as our needs for Autonomy (Ownership on our choices and decisions) Relatedness (Feelings of trust and belonging to others, and knowing that we ‘matter’) Competence (feeling a sense of skill and capability), when these needs are met we can experience a deep underlying sense that we matter and belong in the world. When Adventure and coaching are combined skilfully it can allow us to to find our own way of feeling deeply connected to our inner wellbeing.

Our Three Key Principles: Safety First, Feeling safe and Play

Safety First: We use our years of experience as professional qualified outdoor instructors to create an environment that is as safe as it can possibly be. A coaching session is about learning, development and reflection, all of these things can be achieved whilst staying free from unnecessary risk of injury or harm. Keeping our clients (and ourselves) safe during our session is our number one priority.

Feeling Safe: Feeling safe isn’t just about physical safety, it is about building a relationship of trust. This can only come from consistently demonstrating a professional, competent and observant approach. By offering bespoke coaching we are able to pay attention to, and respect, the needs of the individual. We also know the incredible difference that an environment can have on us, and so we think carefully about the location of our venues, the time of day and the style and difficulty of the climbs that we select, all of which can impact upon our feelings of safety. A key aspect for feeling safe is to be grounded in the present moment, rather than lost in our thinking and so throughout the coaching experience we are looking for ways to help people to feel grounded and in present moment awareness whilst also feeling appropriately challenged.

Play: Playfulness is a really important skill for learning and engagement even with adults. When we are playing, just like with mindfulness it means that we are engaging in the present moment, and we are also noticing the opportunities for joy that can be found. Playfulness allows us to be creative and to let go of rigid and limiting ideas about how things should be done and to allow our experiences to feel positive and for the lessons to stick for a lot longer. When faced with even challenging situations, bringing a quality of playfulness allows the body to remain loose and adaptive to its environment rather than uptight and reactive. The paradox to playfulness, is that it can’t be forced, however we have found that by creating a safe and relaxed environment and building in opportunities for different types of play, people discover their own ways to play with the adventurous situations that come their way.

Beyond Technique, a ‘less is more’ holistic approach.

We like to see adventure as a way of connecting with the ‘whole’ person because each individual brings with them a lifetime of experience and skill sets.

It is common for people to come into a coaching session and expect that they will spend their time getting pushed far beyond their comfort zone, or constantly having their skills critiqued or that they will be taught new techniques and models, however we have come to find that most people tend to need less noise and complication, not more. We are interested in stripping away the complications and allowing the individual to focus on some of the incredible things that they might otherwise be missing, and this tends to be: 1) Their own ‘self’ 2) Nature 3) The people who are important to them.

Our clients are often surprised to find that their session travelled in a different direction than they were expecting, and yet they unlock much more of their potential through discovering and exploring areas that are much less familiar to them. Later they discover that they improve their technique or build their courage as if by magic.

“Performance = Capacity - interference” - Michael Neil

Our Structure

Coaching sessions will often begin weeks before the session starts with an online chat or some paperwork to allow for self discovery and clarity before the session begins. A good coaching conversation will reveal truths that neither party were aware of before the session began. It is the first step towards building agreement and trust and setting the expectations for the session.

Where the session goes from there really depends on the goals and needs of the client. We often share breathing and mindfulness practices, sometimes we are teaching instructional skills such as learning to climb or natural firelighting. At other times we help select the right environment and let the magic flow naturally from the individual. Very importantly we offer space time and conversations that encourage reflection. Without reflection, learning and growth happen haphazardly, through effective reflection they increase concisely.

Some people will reap the benefits from having ongoing sessions, other people may wish to have a single session so they can explore a subject more deeply, or they may wish to book in as and when they have fully explored the content from their last session and are ready to begin the next step of their journey. All the sessions we run are bespoke, which means that both coach and coachee can discuss and determine what we believe would be the right coaching pathway.

Are you looking for an adventure for wellbeing? Why not get in touch with us via the form below and we can begin a journey for you.

A little bit of our philosophy in action.