Serious illness can prompt individuals to re-evaluate life’s priorities, and the ripple effects on individuals can last long after diagnosis and treatment ends, impacting work, relationships, identities and sense of self.
BECKY SAUNDERS // IKIGAI COACH
REGION: WALES
My own journey through surviving cancer as a child and again in adulthood have underpinned a powerful pull towards nature in my life, to the places that revitalise me, and that ground me and strengthen my resilience, offering perspective, stillness and challenge - when I walk my dog, wild swim, or spend time in the mountains near my home. These experiences inspired me to train in Forest Bathing (Shinrin-Yoku) and to explore the Ikigai concept, particularly its application around living well with illness.
With a professional background in psychotherapy, I have always sought to connect individuals with their own deepest knowledge and to explore personal meaning. Experience has taught me that the emotional bond with nature can serve as a source of vitality and sustenance, and its accessibility offers rich therapeutic potential. As a researcher and advocate for evidence-based practice I recognise the benefits of nature-based interventions on mental and physical wellbeing and have an interest in approaches proven to improve mood, reduce anxiety, decrease stress, improve sleep and reduce inflammation.
I am interested in the intersections of philosophy, ancient wisdom and modern science. I am fascinated by how we experience nature and how awareness of the present moment, and conscious, considered nature connections can link us with what it means to be alive, including how we cherish and protect the living world.
Joining the Ikigai Tribe allowed me to explore what motivates me, what I can contribute and what makes my heart sing. I was struck by the powerful simplicity of an approach that helps us to reconnect with our values, and actively call to mind the connections, activities, and small joys that add up to our life direction and sense of purpose. Such an approach is especially useful when our daily lives and minds may have been filled with the challenges of illness, of appointments, waiting for results and the anxious unfolding of medical treatment.
Through nature-based interventions I aim to support you to connect more fully with nature, to notice more, listen more, feel more and be more curious. I draw on an appreciation of the rhythms and patterns in nature which act as metaphors through which we can understand something more about ourselves, our values and our place in the world.
Illness can bring limitations and uncertainty that challenges our sense of new possibilities. Exploring our Ikigai supports an exploration and rediscovery of the things that matter and which, with practice, helps us to find balance.
As a coach I aim to accompany you in using the Ikigai concept as a framework for living well with illness. I offer 1:1 coaching (in person and online), in person group-based coaching and workshops integrating the ikigai concept and nature-based interventions for living well with illness.
