Coaching has been a predominantly indoor activity since it emerged as a method for personal development and growth in the 1970s. More recently, outdoor coaching (sometimes referred to as eco-coaching) has appeared as a branch of coaching that takes these coaching conversations outdoors.
Coaches who offer this as part of their practice, and coachees who have experienced it, report wide ranging benefits such as better coaching outcomes and improvements to both mental and physical wellbeing.
Whilst the benefits of contact with nature and natural environments are widely researched across many fields (such as mental health, workplace psychology, education), there is currently very little research into the benefits specifically of coaching in natural environments.
I conducted research, for a Master’s dissertation, with the aim of discovering more about the experiences of outdoor coaching, described by coachees. To discover more about what impact having a coaching session outdoors has on the coachee’s experience of the coaching conversation, and the resulting coaching outcomes.
There are numerous research studies that have looked at how much time people now spend indoors – The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS)¹ found that 86.9% of our total time was spent indoors. A more recent YouGov² report found that people think they spend about 66% of their time indoors, when in actual fact it is about 90%. They believe it can have far ranging effects on mental and physical wellbeing, from vitamin D deficiency, to lower productivity, lack of sleep to increased risk of asthma and obesity and a reduction in physical activity and mobility.
So, it is important for us not only to increase the amount of time we spend outdoors, but also to maximise it. Thinking about and approaching coaching differently and encouraging coaching conversations to happen outdoors can be hugely beneficial – not just for the coaching outcomes, but also for taking another step (pardon the pun) towards improving our predominantly sedentary and indoor lifestyles.
What did the research find?
This research found 7 key themes that describe the benefits of taking coaching conversations outdoors (although many other themes came out of the discussions with the coachees, these 7 were the ones that were mentioned the most). They are summarised below, with more detail in the full report.
- Side-by-side – walking or sitting alongside the coach is a unique aspect of outdoor coaching that differs to indoor coaching, where most conversations happen sat opposite each other. It gives the coachee the sense of being less scrutinised, less judged, more relaxed and builds a connection with the coach. Literally and metaphorically going on the journey together.
- Movement and pace – being outdoors allows the coachee to play with movement and pace, to let it reflect their mood and express their emotions. Meandering, stomping, walking quickly, standing or sitting still, walking back over the same spot – all these ways of moving or being still give the coachee a mechanism to give their brain time to think.
- Outdoor vs indoor – coachees drawn to outdoor coaching appear to feel constrained, trapped and confined when indoors. Being outdoors helps them to feel free, open, calm, relaxed or energised. They also experience awe, metaphor and analogy when outdoors in a way they are not able to indoors.
- Different experiences and ways of thinking – being outdoors brings different experiences, different perspective and different ways of thinking. It is always changing, and with that change brings new analogies and new metaphors to experience and explore.
- Openness, space and expanse – walking alongside a coach enables the coachee to experience the openness and expanse of the natural space in front of them. This leads to freedom of thought, a limitlessness, timelessness and removal of mental and physical boundaries.
- Nature connectedness – the weather, animals and nature all impact outdoor coaching sessions, bringing benefits to mental and physical wellbeing. Some coachees feel a close connection to certain animals, some to certain trees or plants. Some experience the restorative qualities of green spaces, others of blue spaces. Engaging physically with nature during an outdoor coaching session, such as touching a tree bark or leaf, or using a stick to draw in the dirt, enables coachees to creatively engage with nature and use metaphor and analogy.
- Senses, feelings and emotions – outdoor coaching engages all the senses (even taste), which are uniquely experienced due to the outdoor setting. Using all the senses in often new and different ways helps coachees with sense-making and can lead to them feeling more grounded and anchored.
Other areas that came out of the research include: the role of the coach; logistics and location; the weather and the aspect of confidentiality. These are also briefly discussed in the report.
What does this mean for coaching?
It is somewhat surprising that the experiences of outdoor coaching have not been more widely researched and empirically analysed before now. The anecdotal evidence from both coach practitioners and coachees strongly suggests that people experience huge benefits from taking coaching conversations outside.
Both indoor and outdoor based coaches can benefit from aspects of this research. It sought to highlight the benefits of outdoor coaching, but some of these benefits, or variations on them, may be possible to replicate indoors so the research could advance the field of indoor coaching as well as outdoor coaching. The findings of this research will hopefully enable outdoor coach practitioners to a) better understand why coachees enjoy outdoor coaching and b) better understand the benefits and outcomes of great outdoor coaching sessions.
Trying outdoor coaching
I cannot encourage you enough to try outdoor coaching. Whether it is a walk around a park near your office, alongside a canal, around a loch, or a hike up a hill or mountain. Or simply sitting on a bench in a park, or near a lake, or on a blanket on a woodland or forest floor. There are many ways to experience outdoor coaching.
There are some logistical and planning considerations to be made, both by the coach and coachee, and the report provides some suggestions on what these are. For more information I also recommend reading the chapter on Eco-Coaching (Burn and Watson) in “The Coaches’ Handbook”³ due to be published in October 2020.
In addition, Anna-Marie Watson and I will be releasing a podcast series in Autumn 2020, with guest coaches who will discuss all aspects of outdoor coaching and share their experiences. These interviews will provide a great insight into the many and varied types of outdoor coaching and the benefits that can be experienced.
If you are looking for an outdoor coach please do get in touch and I can help you to find one in your area.
I always try to practice what I preach, so I am writing this sat outside before going off for a walk up the hill behind our cottage with the dogs. I now encourage you to take yourself outside……if you are not already!
The Report
For more detail on each of these themes, and how they link with research in other fields please download the full report.
Useful references
- Klepeis, N.E, Nelson, W.C, Ott, W.R, Robinson, J.P, Tsang, A.M, Switzer, P, Behar, J.V, Hern, S.C & Engelmann, W.H (2001) The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS): a resource for assessing exposure to environmental pollutants. Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology, 11, 231-252
- YouGov (2018) The Effects of Modern Indoor Living on Health, Wellbeing and Productivity, YouGov, viewed 31 January 2020, <Http://www.velux.nn/indoorgeneration.com>
- Passmore, J (2020). “The Coaches Handbook: The Complete Practitioner Guide for Professional Coaches”. London: Routledge.