‘When I started looking at all of this, I did have that presumption that everyone can access nature. Nature is there for everyone, and unpacking that unconscious bias is really powerful and really important, and recognising, wow, I didn't know that, but now I do know that. And, I'm going to try to do something about that, because that's really important to me’

Ruth Geddes, coach & supervisor with a passion for equity

‘Is outdoor coaching an accessible and equitable practice?’

Driven by the threads of nature, equity and outdoor coaching Ruth Geddes posed this question for her Masters research project at the University of East London despite considerable personal and professional discomfort. Her conversations with coaches and clients revealed the gap which exists with seen and unseen, spoken and unspoken conscious and unconscious needs. She invites coaches to ponder the following questions:

• Who may feel excluded from my coaching practice and why?
• How could I be proactive in adapting my marketing and coaching practice to increase accessibility?
• When looking around a local nature space, see it with fresh eyes. Can everyone access this space? If not, why not?

The roots of her mantra ‘informed by psychology, inspired by nature’ can be traced back to a wee village on the east coast of Scotland with fond memories from the beach, rock pools and sea. Ruth is on a mission to spread awareness on equity, inclusivity, safety and belonging within the outdoor coaching realm.

Bio: Ruth Geddes is a Positive Psychology practitioner with an MSc in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology, a Senior Practitioner Coach accredited by the EMCC and an accredited supervisor. Her research explored barriers to participation in outdoor coaching, with a particular focus on accessibility and inclusion.

Ruth’s coaching integrates evidence-based positive psychology with nature-based approaches, helping people reconnect with themselves and nature through the often-overlooked magic of everyday outdoor spaces.

Alongside her coaching practice, Ruth works in Higher Education as a Wellbeing Team Manager.

Her work is informed by psychology, inspired by nature.

Ruth Geddes Coaching

LinkedIn

Instagram

Resources:

Conceptual article in Journal of Positive Psychology - Outdoor Coaching – an Accessible and Equitable Practice? Ruth Geddes, MSc., Alison Bishop, PhD - Journal of Positive Psychology Coaching (JPPC) Vol 3, 2026

Dr Alison Bishop

To find out more:

www.rootedrisingpodcast.com

'In 2018, I had a spinal injury. I just stopped making artwork for, about 18 months, I was completely stuck. I couldn't… couldn't do anything. And funnily enough, when lockdown came, I sort of became unlocked. I don't know what it is. I think it was because I felt I wasn't the only one trapped indoors. I wasn't missing anything, because there was nothing to miss anymore’.

Tracey Falcon, Life Coach, Artist Educator and Wheel Chair User

Artist and creative life coach Tracey Falcon joins us from Whitstable, Kent where she lives with her youngest son, dog and a steady stream of refugees. In 2018, her spinal injury prompted an inner search to redefine value within herself and discover ‘who she is’ and ‘what she does’. How she navigated this huge life transition and relationship with grief is a testament to her perseverance and determination. Tracey speaks openly about the challenges she faces as a wheel chair user from accessibility, vulnerability and her enemy otherwise known as mud.

Discover the pun behind her business name ‘Still Life Coaching’ and her strap line based on the concept of ‘lemonading’ that brings an element of playfulness and resilience into her work. Plus, the influence of philosophical enquiry that enters her coaching; ‘what do I think I know?’, ‘why do I think know it, and can I be certain? If not, then what other possibilities could there be?’ From tadpoles to prosthetic tree limbs our conversations are filled with metaphors, perspectives, possibilities…

Bio

As an artist educator working in galleries, museums and even in a forest, also teaching at universities, Tracey creatively worked with vulnerable groups and individuals, igniting curiosity and connecting to places, people, objects and ideas.

A spinal injury in 2018 limited what she can now cope with physically and subsequently had to rethink her career. She learned a great deal through her major life change experience. A disabled, single parent, she is no stranger to a struggle. Drawing on this and her creative project work helping people gain confidence and problem solve, she decided to retrain, first gaining two counselling qualifications and then as a life coach. She has a passion for nature, especially trees and continues to make art.

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Facebook

Instagram - Still Life Coaching

Instagram - Tracey Falcon

Instagam - Treesee Falcon Artwork

Resources

Disability Rights UK

Moving Social Work

The Polyphony

Give Us a Shout - text 85258

Refugees at Home

The Conversation Agency

Blog – Lemons and Lemonade

Concept ‘lemonading’ from research by Shen X and Crawley Z (2025) How does playfulness (re)frame the world? Evidence for selective cognitive and behavioral redirecting in times of adversity. Front. Psychol. 15:1462980. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1462980

To find out more:

www.rootedrisingpodcast.com

‘I had no hope of recovery, I didn't understand what was happening. I felt very out of control and powerless in my own life. I couldn't really see what the future would bring.’

Tracey Robinson, Coach, Occupational Therapist and Post-partum Psychosis Survivor.

From occupational therapist turned coach and founder of Mother Nature Coaching Tracey is on a mission to raise awareness about postpartum psychosis. This severe and sudden though treatable mental illness effects 1 to 2 in 1,000 women in the days or weeks after child birth. She openly shares insights into her personal experiences with mania, exhaustion, hallucinations, disassociation and overwhelm as she narrowly avoided being sectioned after the birth of her first child.

This unexpected shift from NHS service provider to mental health patient gave her valuable insights that led to her role as an ardent change maker within the system. Her work helped introduce the recovery approach to mental health and peer support within countrywide specialist perinatal mental health services and maternity transformation programme.

After a period of burn out she recently re-trained as a coach and stumbled across ‘walking and talking’ coaching. Over the last eighteen months she’s intuitively followed her desire to deepened her connection with nature and support mothers who’ve experienced mental health issues during their maternity leave.

Please note: At times our conversation is difficult and emotionally charged. Please take care of yourself if you’re feeling emotionally fragile or vulnerable. The following organisations offer support:

Samaritans: www.smaritans.org / 116 123​

Action on Postpartum Psychosis Charity: www.app-network.org

Bio

Tracey uses nature connected coaching to support women returning to work after they've experienced mental health issues during maternity leave. Before setting up her own business Mother Nature Coaching in 2025 she worked in the NHS for over 30 years. She is a mental health occupational therapist who progressed to senior leadership roles in service improvement programmes across mental health and maternity services. Her passion for this career was driven by her personal experience of postpartum psychosis.

She is a trustee for Action on Postpartum Psychosis a specialist national charity who raise awareness of the illness and provide support. She has told her story in the media to raise awareness and trained as a peer supporter. Tracey’s journey into coaching and nature connection was a response to workplace burnout alongside managing perimenopause symptoms. She now balances her work with spending reflective time outdoors in local woodland and travelling to mountains and lakes whenever she can.

Linkedin profile

Mother Nature Coaching on Facebook

Charity: Action on Postpartum Psychosis

Resources

Jane Lloyd - Postpartum Psychosis Advocate

Coaching Outdoors Podcast

Dr Annette Bauer, London School of Economics

Animas Coaching Programme

Coaching Outdoors Getting Started Programme

Lesley Roberts

Jackee Holder

To find out more:

www.rootedrisingpodcast.com