Welcome to Regenerative Coaching & Consulting
- Julia Senecal
- Aug 22, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 21, 2024
Generating something brand new has always been incredibly intimidating to me. The empty course syllabus template, the bare walls of a new home, a blank card to a loved one, the stark white page of a new document — each represents a new beginning and necessitates the confidence and focus to start the work.
As such, this endeavor has been over a decade in the making. I’ve long dreamed of having the time and space to CREATE, and yet I’ve managed to put it off until now. Admittedly, I’ve gotten caught up in convincing myself that “there’s just not enough time,” and “I don’t have anything to say that people will want to read,” and “I’m not really that creative, so it would just feel like a chore.”
That’s the thing about creative practice, isn’t it? It doesn’t live in a box and it can’t be relegated to a specific or linear time, place, or practice. We create daily, regardless of whether or not we’re cognizant of it; we write our to-do lists, we put together our outfits, cook our meals, engage in brainstorming conversations with our colleagues, daydream about our next vacation.
So why is it so hard to allow ourselves the time and space to engage in creative practice that feels soul-filling to us?
The researcher Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi (well-known for his work on the concept of ‘flow’) asserts that creative people “embody complexity” and “balance intense energy with quiet rest, playfulness with discipline, fantasy with reality, and passion for their work with objectivity.”
This description (albeit, from a white dude) captures the expansiveness of deep creativity, which is not bound by rigid societal expectations and the white supremacist, patriarchal, capitalist constructs that have shaped us to believe that everything is “black and white” and that our imperative is to be the most productive and rule-abiding human we can possibly be.
Whoof. That’s a heavy load for us to carry, isn’t it?
But here’s the thing….
We are inherently creative creatures who “embody complexity” and deeply yearn to balance our intense energy with quiet rest.
We crave creativity, flow, connectedness.
And by and large, this has been stripped away from us as we get older and more entrenched in the aforementioned harmful systems. We’re too busy keeping up with the pace of the world, doing too many things at once, consuming endlessly, and participating in extractive and exploitative practices – perhaps all without being conscious of it.
Not coincidentally, the same practices and principles that dull our light also…
Disconnect us (from ourselves, other humans, other species, and the natural world)
Marginalize non-dominant communities and cultures
Promote “othering” and harmful biases
Destroy the environment
Perpetuate burnout and scarcity mindset
Fuel an economy that is predicated on patriarchy and hegemony
Contribute to biodiversity loss
Limit our perspectives and open-mindedness
Devalue indigenous ways of being and knowing
Degrade our mental, physical, spiritual, and social well-being
It’s time to slow down.
It’s time to connect with ourselves.
It’s time to connect with each other.
It’s time to connect with and actively care for the planet.
This endeavor - Regenerative Coaching & Consulting - flies in the face of this “go-go-go” status quo. This creative adventure is fueled by the desire to raise consciousness around our collective ecological well-being and challenge the systems, worldviews, and ways of being that dull our creativity, our connectedness, our compassion, and our light.
This space is dedicated to sharing ideas and practices that are regenerative in nature – that is, ways of being and thinking that allow for
all humans
all species
all ecological systems
to flourish and thrive
- not just sustain the status quo.
So, what does regeneration in action look like?
Regenerative practices...
Center joy and creativity and pleasure
Mandate and celebrate equity and inclusion
Engage systems-thinking and a holistic worldview
Value collectivism over individualism
Elevate the interconnectedness of all humans, animals, and the natural world
Empower communities
Promote mindful and critical consumption
Create reciprocal, respectful, and life-giving relationships
Value diverse perspectives and diverse ways of being and knowing
Is grounded in indigenous wisdom and traditional ecological knowledge
Foster critical and creative thinking skills
Allow for the co-evolution of human and natural systems
Uplift the creative process and emergence
Embrace localization and place-based ways of knowing
Look to the natural world for inspiration (i.e., uphold embrace biomimicry principles)
Here, I’ll be digging into the concept of “regeneration” by sharing my own reflections and experiments with regenerative living, doing my best to ground these musings in evidence. I am also eager to uplift and share the work of brilliant leaders in the field of “regenerative futures,” including many creatives and organizers using their gifts to make this world a more just and joyful place for all.
Specifically, my work will:
Support individuals and organizations in caring for themselves, other humans, and the natural world using creative and resilience-building modalities (including but not limited to holistic self-care, movement, community-building, tending to our inner worlds, plant-based nutrition, nature-connection, and humor)
Ask questions that encourage critical and generative reflection, such as: How do we transform ourselves so that we can transform the world? What is our adaptive potential? What is our interdependent practice? How do we decentralize power so that more of us have it and get to make decisions about our own lives? (shout out to adrienne maree brown for inspiring these!)
Offer tips & tricks for living a more regenerative lifestyle (going beyond the greenwashed “sustainable living” paradigm)
Propose strategies for co-creating a regenerative culture at home, at work, and in our communities
Highlight the intersections of power, privilege, and oppression, and how co-creating a regenerative future offers liberation for all
Offer ideas for regenerative teaching, learning, and coaching
Reflect on my own journey towards building an intentional living community
Uplift our relationship with other humans and other species
Encourage and explore ways to support our individual and community regeneration, including but certainly not limited to: meditation, mindfulness, embodiment practices (including yoga, strength-training and endurance sports - my personal faves), fostering authentic connection with each other and the natural world
Celebrate the unique role of educators, social workers, and other helping professionals in co-creating a regenerative future
I’ll end this (perhaps too long) first post with a quote from the late Grace Lee Boggs - a social activist whom I (unsurprisingly) did not learn about in school, but of whom I am a devout student now:
“A revolution that is based on the people exercising their creativity in the midst of devastation is one of the great historical contributions of humankind.”
I am grateful to you, dear reader, for joining me on this journey. I welcome your comments, thoughts, critiques, and questions – let’s connect and co-create a Regenerative future together.
Sources:
My work and writing is largely inspired by:
Mother Nature
& so many more, who I will continue to credit.
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