How can we, as travel coaches, use environment and movement more intentionally to support our clients’ emotional healing and clarity?
I still remember the luminous light of an early Reykjavík morning as I stepped out of the airport.
The barren volcanic landscape stretched before me, quiet and solemn beneath a pale-yellow sun.
It was the first day of my sabbatical, the beginning of a six-month journey that would quietly reshape my life.
A dear friend drove me through Iceland’s changing landscapes.
We stood beside roaring waterfalls, watched geysers erupt from deep beneath the earth, and later walked behind a curtain of falling water.
The sound was overwhelming.
It drowned out the constant stream of work-related thoughts I had carried with me for years.
I walked from one natural wonder to another.
It was too loud to think, and at that point, I didn’t yet have much to say.
I didn’t understand then what was happening.
I had simply chosen a beautiful place to begin.
And so I did.
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Why Your Environment Matters
When we leave familiar surroundings behind, we can also leave the hats we have grown used to wearing on the shelf.
In a new environment, we are free to meet ourselves differently.
We notice unfamiliar scenes, try new ways of moving through the world, and begin to think beyond our habitual patterns.
There is no single way to peel an orange, no familiar road to follow, only new possibilities waiting to be explored.
We learn about ourselves in new environments, much like a fish discovering what the sea feels like after a lifetime in an aquarium.
New sounds, colours, landscapes and rhythms awaken our senses and gently bring us into the present moment.
For coaching, and for wellbeing in general, we first need to pause, become aware and simply be present.
Unfamiliar environments can become catalysts for new perspectives, professional renewal, personal resilience, creativity and life transitions. Looking back, I realise I had unknowingly signed up for all of them.
During those six months I trekked mountains, climbed hills, crossed deserts and wandered through forests.
Sometimes I was guided; more often I walked alone. It was always my own journey.
As I began sharing the intuitive thoughts, emotions and transformative moments I experienced along the way, I discovered the Travel Coach Network.
Almost as if by magic, the experiences I had struggled to describe suddenly had language.
Fascinated by the transformational potential of travel, and by the quiet knowing that walking could deepen self-reflection, I pursued my certification while walking the familiar lakeside trails near my home in Finland.
There, on paths I had known all my life, everything began to make sense.
Those lived experiences became the foundation of Luontopolku – Back to Your Senses®, my reflective walk approach inspired by Finnish forest wisdom and the belief that nature can help us reconnect with ourselves.
Why Walking Changes Coaching
There is a different balance when we walk alongside our coachees rather than sit opposite them.
As we walk, our thoughts begin to move with our bodies.
Our breathing settles, our heartbeat slows, and the subtle pressure to perform that coaching conversations can sometimes create begins to dissolve.
We become companions on the same path.
When we stop leading and instead ask which direction feels right to our client, we invite them to begin steering their own journey. When we are no longer looking directly into their eyes, expecting immediate answers, those answers often emerge naturally.
Coaches notice details they would normally overlook.
Rather than searching for the “right” response, their attention shifts to the world around them, and gradually inward as well.
Walking is natural to us.
Returning to nature is natural.
Touching plants, feeling the texture of tree bark, collecting familiar flowers or picking up a stone whose shape suddenly carries meaning; these experiences awaken something deeply human.
Everyday surroundings begin to mirror our inner landscape. Ordinary objects become metaphors, and nature quietly gives language to thoughts that previously felt difficult to express.
What I’ve Learned Guiding Reflective Walks
While walking together, I have noticed that people often slow down without even realizing it.
They begin commenting on what they notice around them before they begin talking about themselves.
Conversations emerge naturally after periods of silence, yet some of the most meaningful insights happen when no one is speaking at all.
Participants often tell me how surprisingly easy it felt to talk while walking side by side, and how quickly the time passed.
When we pause at a viewpoint, notice what draws our attention or simply reach for something that calls to us, small truths often begin to surface.
People are frequently surprised by how naturally they share personal reflections during a walk.
Part of this comes from the environment; part comes from creating a space where conversation can unfold without pressure.
Through thoughtful questions, moments of silence and sensory awareness, intuition gradually joins the conversation.
One of the most meaningful pieces of feedback I have received came from a participant who reflected afterwards that our conversation had felt surprisingly easy.
She said she had never felt pushed in a particular direction.
Instead, she experienced me walking alongside her, not handing her a ready-made map, but drawing it together as the journey unfolded.
That image has stayed with me because it captures what I hope reflective walks offer.
As travel coaches, we don’t need to have all the answers. We create a space where clients feel safe enough to discover their own. By listening with presence, allowing silence, and trusting both the person and the place, we help insights emerge naturally.
The path belongs to the client; we simply have the privilege of walking beside them for part of the journey.
Every person is different, but I have learned that the more often we return to reflective practice in nature, and continue the process with a coach or independently, the more clarity begins to emerge.
Practical Ideas Travel Coaches Can Try
As coaches, we each have our own methodology, but we all begin with the same intention: to meet our clients where they are, build trust and create a space where they can relax into the conversation.
Beyond your own presence and energy, there are simple ways to support that process.
Perhaps begin a session with a few moments of breathing before you start talking.
Perhaps take a short walk together instead of sitting down immediately. Even moving from one place to another can create a meaningful transition.
Ask your client whether there is a place they naturally return to.
What draws them there?
How do they feel in that place?
What does it represent in their life?
Look for opportunities to incorporate place, movement and moments of silence into your coaching.
Sometimes the most important part of a conversation happens in the pause between questions.
The environment is not simply the backdrop to coaching.
It can become an active partner in the coaching process.
What Every Coach Needs to Know
There are no immediate fixes and no single path to clarity.
Both coaches and clients move forward one step at a time, and our practice evolves with every journey we share.
Be open to your clients but also remain curious about what is calling you.
Sometimes the most important shift begins not with a new answer, but with a new environment, and the willingness to take the first step.
About the Author
Mirka Kristiina Bruun is a Finland-based Certified Transformative Travel Coach (TCCP), founder of The Journey Studio, and creator of Luontopolku – Back to Your Senses®, a reflective walk approach inspired by Finnish forest wisdom.
After more than two decades in international tourism, destination marketing, higher education and leadership, she stepped away from her executive career to explore how travel could become a catalyst for personal transformation.
Today, Mirka guides individuals and small groups through reflective nature experiences and slow travel retreats in Finland and Spain, helping them reconnect with themselves through movement, sensory awareness, meaningful conversation and the restorative power of place.
Known as The Finnish Happiness Coach, she believes that the environments we choose, and the way we move through them, can become powerful partners in the coaching process.
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