Creating an Ideal-Average-Day - Wies-Camino-Coaching Summer 2022

The Ideal-Average-Day – Wies-Camino-Coaching Day Summer 2022

“What if it is fun and easy?” a frequent question I ask myself and my clients. A few weeks ago my Camino-Coaching companion Michael Simperl and myself had met for an espresso & walk session in the morning and were playing with ideas that have a longterm positive impact towards our 1-million-Euro-Coaching vision.

What if we invite our coach Dr Chris Joseph to coach us during a Camino-Coaching walk? We knew that he was on vacation in early August in southern Germany and was open to do a session face to face.

What if we turn it around and instead of coaching our clients, we adjusted our effectively proven Camino-Coaching format, so that we are being coached ourselves rather than coaching others?

What if we selected a particularly beautiful section of the Munich-Lindau St.-James-Way or #caminodesantiago for this day, to create an amazing day with great scenic views, good food and high energy?

So we created the Wies-Camino-Coaching Day and invited Chris to meet us for a 22km pilgrimage for one day. As he is training for his next iron-man, it will be a walk in the park for him.?

Let me share with you this particular IDEAL-COACHING-DAY:

Imagine parking your car at Wildsteig, a typical small Bavarian village with a beautiful church on a hill and a small bakery that serves coffee and croissants to start the pilgrim’s day. The weather is promising to be a hot summer day with a few clouds and a light breeze. The morning air is fresh when we meet at the parking lot, tying our shoes, putting on sunscreen and preparing to walk towards the next village. We choose the official path, which makes it very easy: you just follow the signs of K?nigsweg or Jakobsweg blue with the yellow shell. We approach a meadow with some cows, they show mild interest and keep chewing while we pass, and the birds are chirping in the trees.

The design of the Camino-Coaching day foresees several deep coaching sessions while walking and regular stops to reflect, take notes and breaks to eat, drink or refresh. Always with the aim to create and maintain a high energy around the whole day. We had intentionally spaced the day in four long coaching session (approximate 3-4 km walking distance), two sessions in the morning and two sessions in the afternoon, when walking back the same route. This way we could alternate roles, one being coached by Chris and one walking ahead to scout the signs that lead the way and have time for self-reflection on a given question. Before we headed off Chris started the day with introducing a concept of six stages of personal power by Janet Hagburg which we used throughout the day. (External power: 1. Powerless, 2. Power by association 3. Power by Achievement and three internal powers: 4. Power by Reflection 5. Power by Purpose and 6. Power by wisdom)

The first hour we walked through the woods until we reached at some point the open meadow. From there we could see the beautiful Wies-Kirch church in the distance. The trail passed under very old trees, with a sacred aura, one had a whole in which some pilgrim had placed a wooden Madonna. Numerous signs indicated that this path was used by pilgrims with deep devotional intentions.

The Wies is named for it meadows and picturesque location, it is full of art and frescos, it is listed as UNESCO-cultural heritage. There is an thought provoking scene above the entrance, the close heavens gates. The mystic god Chronos laying in front of the heaven’s door, being exhausted having dropped the hourglass and the sense of death. Being in coaching spirit, the church invites for contemplation and reflection on the nature of time and death being a wise teacher. Ideal for us playing with Kairos and Chronos time concepts.

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After a short refreshment we switched roles and pursued the yellow-blue signs of the St.James way to Steingaden. As I had done the first section in coaching mode with Chris, I now had plenty of time to reflect on a coaching question. Passing through a herd of cows then entering a swamp walking on wooden boards. We walked through a forest with ripe blue-berries waiting to be picked. The path followed a small stream. The sound of water and some sunny patches created a magic atmosphere with butterflies dancing around wildflowers. Some trail-angel had deposited soft drinks on a serve-yourself-and-pay basis on the path. Several times I needed to stop and really breath in the deep beauty of nature, with an open heart and deep feeling of gratitude.

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At noon we heard the mid-day bells from the Steingaden cloister. We decided to short cut the road and defer the visit of the church to after lunch on the way back. We had lunch at a typical Bavarian restaurant – Gasthaus Drei Mohren, they had a delicious vegetarian choice. After lunch we returned on the Jakobsweg / St.-James-Way now going backwards.

Walking in the open fields with hawks circling in the rising hot air we enjoyed the vast openness and magnificent panoramic view. At the highest point we rested on a bench under two linden trees enjoying the full panorama of the alps. Chris being a master in mindfulness led us through a deep gratitude meditation, while tasting the smell of freshly cut grass in the light summer breeze. The mediation focused our senses to full presence.

In Steingaden we visited the church and got the obligatory stamp of the St.-James way. We wandered the maze in the colorful cloister garden and had some contemplative time to write down some reflections. After a delicious homemade ice-cream at a fountain, we continued the return. We switched coaching roles again and followed the trail signs in reverse order. We were grateful that approximately 80% if the time we walked in shadow, which made it much easier on such a warm day.?

Even though we had been walking for all day, my energy was astonishingly high. Deep coaching, deep reflection and walking requires a lot of energy, though when walking in beautiful nature, together with other highly energetic beings it feels fun and easy. The last section going back I walked in reflection mode again and felt a deep sense of peace and joy.

We reached our cars in the late afternoon and wrapped our Camino-Coaching day with a "gratitude shower".?Allowing for the insights of the day and the small actions to be embedded in gratitude and joy of wonderful company. Acknowledging oneself does reveal deep feelings and makes it really special.

As a foot note we walked 22km this day, almost 38k steps. At Wildsteig we passed a sign: Santiago 2577km, so if we were to continue the pace it would take some 4 months to get there!

On the way home in the car I felt physically exhausted, though energetically charged. It dawned on me, this was an extraordinary day, it moved my scale of an Ideal-Average-Day, the new 10 out of 10. An Ideal-Average-Day which I had been conceptually formed maybe three years ago had become a new experiential truth. It takes time for a formless idea to become reality. Life is created!

If you are tempted to play with designing your own Ideal-Average-Week: Here a few criteria for my Ideal-Average-Coaching-Day which is linked to several sentences of my Manifesto: (another concept shared by two powerful coaches Rich Litvin and Steve Hardison )

• Playing in my zone-of-genius – coaching and creating playfully
• Being with inspiring people – being a curious student or a generous teacher
• Being in beautiful nature – being surrounded by trees, open sky, wide view
• Being a pilgrim – slowing down my walking to the speed of love
• Being in great energy – through beautiful surrounding and eating healthy food.
• Being present, creating Time and Space – Kairos rather than Chronos
• Coming home being physically exhausted and energetically elevated
• Experiencing spiritual being in a physical experience

Creating such a powerful all-day experiences every week would probably be too much, though creating spaces in the calendar with the potential for being such Ideal-Coaching-Days for my clients creates energy and opens my heart with joy.?

P.S. By the way, the only thing that I did not use that day was my swimsuit. I thought we might find some pod or lake to go for a swim. Though I made up for this. The remaining days of the Ideal-Average-Week I invited my clients to take a swimsuit along, and we took the opportunity to walk along the river Isar in Munich and jump into the river. Doing a coaching session floating in the river added extra fun. I was astonished how easy it is to draw out the real issue, when you sit in the river playing with the energy of the water flow.

P.P.S. If you feel inspired by the type of coaching setup and you have a topic which would benefit from a deep coaching walk, feel invited to check out my webpage for further details. I do camino-coaching session about once a quarter around Munich for my clients.

P.P.P.S If you need assistance to create your own Ideal-Average-Week either as entrepreneur, leader or as coach, let's have a chat how I might be able to help.