Welcome to Alder Path Coaching

A coach, a gardener.

I tend gardens and I tend people.

For part of the week, I work in a private garden here in the Midlands, hands in the soil, quiet, physical work, no audience, just the plants, the light, and the slow satisfaction of tending to something living.

Alongside this, I am also a walk and talk, nature-based essentialist coach, accompanying people in midlife who are ready to strip back to what actually matters - and figure out what that looks like in practice.

These two things are not as separate as they might seem.

The Thread

I've spent most of my working life around living things. My very first job when I left education was crewing on a hotel boat, taking guests on holiday on the inland waterways of the United Kingdom, traversing the ribbons of waterways that cross our country, through cities and countryside, always amongst nature. I then went on to work for over a decade in employment services as a resourcer and employment advisor. Then came a career leap when I pursued a desire I'd had for many years, a career in the world of horticulture. I went on to work for fifteen years as an interior landscaper - bringing plants into offices, hotels and public spaces. Alongside this, I kept my love of coaching and advising people alive by retraining as a Mindfulness teacher in 2017 and in 2018 qualifying as a life coach. And now following the sale of the interior landscaping business I worked for, I now combine working in a large private garden alongside a wonderful small team and this, Alder Path Coaching, my passion for coaching other people interested in truly finding what matters to them.

The thread running through all of it is the same.

Things grow best when the conditions are right, when they're tended with genuine care, and when they're not forced beyond their natural pace.

That's true of plants and in my experience of working with people navigating midlife, transition and the quiet accumulation of too much - it's true of people too.

A serene forest path lined with tall trees bathed in soft morning light, inviting peaceful reflection.

A serene path winding through a lush alder forest bathed in soft morning light.

The Philosophy

I came to whole life essentialism the long way round.

Through years of trying to be too many things in too many places. Through the exhaustion of maintaining roles and identities that never quite fit. Through the gradual, honest process of stripping back - letting some things go, simplifying others, and slowly building something smaller and truer in their place.

We live in a world that bombards us with choice, noise and the relentless pressure to do more, be more, have more. Most of us have accumulated obligations, roles and identities that crept in without being chosen - and that are quietly draining the energy we need for what actually matters.

Whole life essentialism asks three simple questions.

What actually matters? Not what should matter. What genuinely, essentially, irreducibly matters to you.
What's getting in the way? The non-essential. Named clearly enough to make an honest decision about it.
What does less look like? Your particular version of enough. A life built around what's genuinely yours - and tended with full attention.

This is the work I do, and it's the work I continue to do on my own life. I'm not speaking from a place of having arrived. I'm on the path alongside you.

Training and Qualifications

I trained as a mindfulness teacher in 2017 through a twelve-month, train to teach pathway with Mindfulness Unleashed. The following year in 2018 I completed a level 5 Diploma in performance coaching and NLP with Simply Changing.

My coaching is informed by both - the stillness and presence that mindfulness develops, and the clarity and forward movement that good coaching creates. In practice, they sit naturally together, woven into each conversation according to what's needed rather than applied as a formula.

I'm also trained in nature-based approaches - experience built over many years working with people and nature. Thirty years of working with living things has taught me more about growth, resilience and the right conditions for change than anything else.

What people say..

"Not sure I can put into words how much of a positive impact Roger's coaching has had on my life. Rather than feeling confused, overwhelmed and lost, I now have clarity and feel excited, focused and determined." Linda Shearman, Founder of Sakaura Pathways Counselling.

Roger has been my life coach since 2021 and I can say without hesitation that the coaching services he provides is excellent on so many levels. Roger takes a personalised, guide by your side approach - kind, empathetic, enabling you to freely express yourself and engage with a diverse range of ideas, options and solutions." Dr Jon Tepper, Director, Perceptronix.

A quiet invitation

If any of this resonates - If you're in midlife and sense that something needs to change, that you're carrying more than is truly yours to carry, that there's a quieter and more intentional version of your life waiting - I'd love a quiet conversation.

No pressure, no sales pitch. Just a genuine human conversation about where you are and whether this work might help.

🌳email me at hello@alderpathcoaching.co.uk or use the contact form below...

Contact me

Reach out for a calm conversation about your next steps.

Connect

Walk and talk, nature based coaching for people in midlife and beyond. The disciplined pursuit of what actually matters.

Email

Whats App

hello@alderpathcoaching.co.uk

07921 551203

The Necessary

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