September 9th Springwood Farm in High Beeches Gardens, England, UK

Leadership, I am discovering in the most embodied sense, is about following nature. This recent September 8th and 9th, I had the good fortune of visiting Regenerative Leadership Coach and author Giles Hutchins for a leadership seminar, where he reinforced many lessons that I have explored in his books and articles. I met with twelve other attendees from around the world (Australia, France, England, Wales, Italy, Scotland, Thailand, and the USA) to share around the fire with our passion for aligning the work of sustainability, cultural leadership, and consciousness.

Three overarching themes of inquiry framed our nature immersion experience at Springwood Farm and Forest:

What two words describe the consciousness you want to bring to this experience?

For me, rootedness and resonance.

What are you willing to let go of?

In my case, any "stuck-ness" or resistance I have to being in full alignment (or misalignment).

What are you welcoming in?

Alignment of my life purpose (who I am), life mission (what I do), and lifestyle (how I live).

The Journey into the Woods

Our group deepened its mutual sharing, as we journeyed from Andy’s cab to the welcoming smile of Giles Hutchins at the entrance of his Springwood Farm in West Sussex, England, UK, and then further we went into the ancient woodland of Springwood Forest, where each participant would sleep in a designated spot for a 14-hour solo quest in nature (on a chilly ~50-degree F / ~10 C night) from about 6pm to the following 8am.

The sleeping area that best aligned with my journey would be the “Welcoming In” part of the forest – a circular area around a large beech tree that is lightly carpeted in green moss. Along this location, we each affirmed our intention for what we’re inviting into our experience (both this experience, and our lives beyond it) prior that day. Others would stay in whatever area of the woods particularly called to them, or where they were otherwise invited and led by Giles (the chosen steward of this land).

My solo quest began with Giles’ mythic invitation to visualize a soul-compass of sorts (around the circular area of this tree), opening clarity around the four directions, to help me find my way. This wasn’t the first metaphor of the experience. Earlier that day, we each walked around two large ropes forming an infinity loop, an archetypal symbol that indicates the cyclical passage of chronological time and the natural seasonality of life, which Giles discusses throughout his work:

In this mini-exercise earlier that Monday, I recognized my tendency to over-identify with winter. Naturally, winter is my comfort zone, having been born in November in the wintry state of Vermont. I’ll translate this into more grounded terms about what I might consider some of my strengths and weaknesses as a “winter-native”:

My weaknesses (or wounds): withdrawal, shyness away from the light, acquiescence to pain, and throughout my life, the occasional tendency toward depression; “frozen” emotions and holding patterns keeping my nervous system in fight, flight, freeze
My strengths (or gifts): depth, resilience, introspection, comfort in dark, and comfort with “being uncomfortable”; over time, I’ve developed mastery in many areas, including the maintenance of the kind of hope that one associates with the deep winter, as nights are long but the stars are brighter, and the days begin to lengthen

Hence, it was fitting that I should practice what has challenged my ego-identity the most: allowing (dare I say, welcoming) comfort and ease into my experience, while letting of go of any proud compulsions or to-do lists. My overnight stay in Springwood Forest brought clarity about being exactly when-and-where I am supposed to be. In other words, I remembered my “life purpose”: Being-in-Flow. I felt safe and connected throughout the night, and awoke to baby deer running around my temporary living quarters while birds sang in the canopy, seeming to remind me that “I” am welcomed into the space as well.

Practical Lessons and Takeaways from the Future-Fit Academy

Throughout the two days from Monday morning into Tuesday late afternoon, Giles guided us through many exercises that reviewed the core ideas of his ever-evolving-and-becoming work, reviewing some of the following:

☸ Regenerative Business is a way of life that includes outer value propositions (circular economy, biomimetic design, and systems thinking; "Doing") but is founded upon inner culture, self-and-systemic awareness, and authentic self-expression: "Being")

☸ The mindsets of leadership (how the cut-throat “opportunist” of traditional business contrasts with the future-fit “alchemist” of tomorrow and now)

☸ That change is not the enemy of nature – it IS nature, nature is change, and we are a changing nature – thus leadership is about playing and creating within change

☸ How Regenerative Leadership isn’t some blind leap from Marketer to Mystic, but rather requires transcending AND including various ways of thinking and relating in the world – the rational, the somatic, the intuitive, and the emotional

I left the immersion with gratitude and a bittersweet farewell to the fellow participants, along with Giles, although I knew somewhere in me that this ending was just a beginning. I felt like I had met Yoda on Dagobah, only starting to grasp the "Force". This experience punctuated a lesson that has been developing for a few years – the unraveling of how I once pushed my pain tolerance with pride. In my present era, I’m learning to allow, as well as “welcome in”, a deeper attunement with the subtle signals of my nervous system and guidance of a deeper Self, listening with greater clarity to every “yes” and “no” that keeps me aligned (or not) within life.

One idea I feel encouraged to put forward: the language of nature is Myth. By “Myth”, I do not mean “untruth”, but rather the soul-resonant symbols and old patterns (archetypes) that “transcend-and-include” the limitations of logic. The language of Myth has an ability to re-sacralize what has been de-sacralized in the modern world (especially nature). As a living system within even larger living systems, I can serve the whole by embodying my own unique Aliveness. When I am immersed in nature, my aliveness is mirrored to me in every sense. This quality of being and way of relating within the world has the greatest ability to change it.

Moreover, this quality of being reflects the ability of nature to change me (or we). No one is here to "save" the planet, and if anything, it's here to save us - away from the mechanical and technocratic tendencies of a modern materialism that misperceives itself as separate from the living world.

What toward? More flow, healthier alignment (yes, also toward a healthier and more sustainable world), deeper fulfillment, and greater possibilities, rooted within a wisdom that is over 3.8 billion years old.

Into the Woods: A Future-Fit Nature Immersion with Author and Regenerative Leadership Coach, Giles Hutchins