I am Enough

We Are Nature: Rethinking Work, Worth, And What Matters

• Lyn Man at Earthaconter • Episode 26

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What if enoughness isn’t something you earn, but something you remember when you slow down? 

This week we sit with regular contributor Mark Henderson, co‑creator of Natural Intelligence and seasoned coach, to explore how presence, nature, and awe can transform confidence, creativity, and workplace culture. Mark’s story begins in the Scottish hills, where long solo walks built self-sufficiency and an eye for meaning that shaped a non-linear career across entrepreneurship and leadership coaching.

We unpack the engagement crisis and why so many people feel disconnected at work. Mark explains the three essential connections—self, others, and nature—and offers practical rituals that shift stress into steadiness: morning meditation, unhurried time outdoors, and small group activities like planting or pruning that rebuild trust and belonging. As brain waves settle, the physiology of calm makes room for curiosity, genuine listening, and the quiet insights that often move a team forward. Presence isn’t a soft skill; it changes meetings, decisions, and outcomes.

From there we follow the spark of awe. You don’t need epic vistas—attention and appreciation can turn a tiny flower or a sudden silence into a heart-opening reset. When stress drops, creativity rises, and cultures that favour participation over control tap intelligence from every corner of the organisation. Mark names this alignment natural intelligence: recognising we are part of a living system, letting go just enough to enter flow, and noticing synchronicities that guide our next step. A closing parable about the rarity of life reframes responsibility and gratitude in one breath.

If this resonates, tap follow, share it with a friend who needs to hear it, and leave a quick review—your words help others find the show.

You can find our more about Mark and what he does at https://www.naturalintelligence.se/ and connect with him on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/markmhenderson/

Thank you for listening and taking the time to explore our podcast.

Earthaconter: Connection, Exploration and Expansion
www.earthaconter.org

Lyn Man:

Welcome to I Am Enough, the space where we explore journeys back to our forgotten birthright of enoughness, to draw a natural wisdom along with awareness, acceptance, and compassion, to support each of us on that journey and embrace our wholeness. Despite what society tells us, each one of us is enough exactly as we are. My name is Lin Mann, and I'd like to welcome you to this space where we explore enoughness, people's journeys along the path to feeling I am enough, and look at what can support each of us on that journey. Hello and welcome to another episode of I Am Enough, the space where we embrace our wholeness. So today I'm delighted to have with me Mark Henderson. Now, Mark is co-creator of Earthaconter and a regular contributor to this podcast. And I've known Mark for actually I have no idea how long now. Always online, but we we know each other pretty well and are connected by our relationship to the Scottish Hills. So Mark's own connection from nature grew through his adventures in the Scottish Hills as a teenager, and they became his refuge where he gained new perspectives and could process challenging situations and feelings. This led Mark to develop a fascination around human potential and a deep connection to nature. Mark's own adventure has seen him explore different aspects of life at the edge of his comfort zone, and he's discovered that's where the fun is and where the growth happens. His experience as a business leader, renewable energy entrepreneur, and then as a coach of the last 30 years has given him valuable insights into what it is like to lead organizations. Mark now works with leaders to support them embody a regenerative mindset. So you can find out more about Mark at the website naturalintelligence.se and you can connect with Mark on LinkedIn. So welcome, Mark. See, we have lots of conversations, but it's lovely to actually have you here on a one-to-one and to explore things further.

Mark Henderson:

Thank you, Lyn. Yeah, I look forward to the conversation.

Lyn Man:

And I'm really drawn to the what you said about your your own adventure, has seen you explore different aspects of life at the edge of your comfort zone. And would just like to start there and see how that has actually supported you in seeing your own enoughness.

Mark Henderson:

Yeah, I think when when I look back on the I I never consider myself to have had a career because I've done so many different things. But and a career is maybe in the traditional sense more linear. But I've I've been moved from one thing to another by searching for meaning in what I do, I think. And that's taken prompted starting different businesses and different, completely different sort of areas of activity. And so there's been a pattern of starting a business from scratch, learning about, you know, deepening with what it is I'm actually offering, um finding clients and growing the business. And I particularly love the the first part, the first few years of the entrepreneurial, the the promoting the concept, you know, sharing my enthusiasm and and meaning with others. And I think it's that probably, it's that sense of meaning that I can be authentically myself and what I'm doing that anchors me, grounds me, and gives me that that feeling of uh of enoughness. Yeah, so I think that's a big big part of it.

Lyn Man:

And I love that you bring in here the the search for meaning because in the summer my daughter was reading a book, I think it's called I can't remember if it was the God Gene, I think it's called, or something like that. But it was basically telling us that there is part of our brain that is actually wired to be looking for deeper connection, deeper meaning, something actually beyond which is, you know, kind of implied, I guess, in the title that we're looking for something, something bigger, something greater than ourselves. And it's interesting for me that you bring in this, but also with the searching and the fact that you've the exploring you've done. I'm gonna go back to the the Scottish Hills. What did you get from them in terms of supporting this kind of this search, supporting this these explorations and bringing in the almost the desire to kind of create?

Mark Henderson:

Well, there's so much in that question that I've loved it from start with the the Scottish Hills connection. I think um Yeah, it's probably it's probably the sense of um I don't know. Um what what's the word I'm looking for? You know, when you when you're out in the hills, and I I did a lot of walking on my own when I was a bit older, and I discovered you know how quickly I could cover the ground, and and I had a a great buzz in really pushing myself physically, and that built my confidence. And then also, you know, navigating and in the mist, and there's quite a bit of sort of self-sufficiency required, and and you know, if you go for a couple of days without on your own, you know, you you do start to have this dialogue with yourself. Um and it can be you go through periods of being being lonely, and you go through periods of questioning yourself, but having come out the other side, you you are more self-confident, more self-aware. And I think those are important qualities for that providing that launch pad for for exploring the next thing and just uh throwing yourself into starting a business, for example. But I I love the I love that you brought in meaning came back to that because it's it's such an important question of our time. We see the latest Gallup polls showed that uh in Europe only 26% of the workforce are actually engaged in their work. And that has obviously massive implications for for organizations. And what we see as a result of that is absenteeism, depression, stress, high costs for for employers as as people keep moving on looking for looking for meaning.

Lyn Man:

Yeah.

Mark Henderson:

And I think those organizations that that sort of stop and recognize this issue and can be proactive around it, you know, will stand in good stead and and be places that that people really want to work and and the organizations benefit from the engagement's increased productivity even, but but probably more excitingly, the creativity of uh of those people that work in the organization.

Lyn Man:

Yeah. And it is, it's it's an interesting issue, I think, that's been around and I guess in a way has got worse over many years. You know, it's when you when you're talking about that, what I am also hearing, it's like it's connection and people, because I've seen as well that there's a real issue about loneliness and people feeling lonely, which again connects into this this search for meaning, but also just a a connection in in general. You know, at Earthaconter, what we do um talk about is that it's the it's about connection to self, connection to each other, and connection to to earth, to nature, universe, whatever it is for you. And just going back to to that connection just in your own experience, have you seen that searching and exploration allow you to connect more deeply? You you've talked about being in the the m the hills and being alone and hearing the voices and coming through that loneliness and coming out the other side. And I I love that with the the mist actually is a really good analogy to use because we can see ourselves in that mist where we can't see clearly. But see you just coming back to your experiences, what helps you to connect more deeply with yourself and with others?

Mark Henderson:

Yeah, I think it's when one has to create the time for it, but it doesn't happen automatically. That's the the big reminder, I think. So that's creating time for in my case meditation, which definitely is a fantastic start to the day, and just connecting in with yourself and going beyond beyond self, connecting into something that's a lot a lot larger than than each of us, but that we're still part of. And then it's making time to to be outdoors, to be slow in in nature and to really notice those small things, big things, whatever it is that that catch our attention, that attract us, that's create that feeling of awe and open us up to curiosity and creativity and that open us up to our own inner wisdom and it's it's it really can become a a dialogue and a flow because as nature ourselves we are um you know, we're the connected. So getting in the right state and slowing the the brain waves down opens up for for this possibility. So so yeah, it's it's it's definitely about creating the time and giving yourself that as with so many other things when it comes to to well-being.

Lyn Man:

And I think it's that you know, as well, you when you're saying there we're part of nature and we're connected. And it's amazing how many times, you know, there's so many studies these days, and often like even at the weekend, I saw something um about one of the UK Wildlife Trusts had what was working with GPs to get people to come out and they were getting prescriptions to connect to nature. So it wasn't just about walking, it was actually about connecting to nature and doing actually as well, doing something. So they were actually helping in citizen science projects, but they were doing something and it was making them feel so much better. But just in that, you know, connection and the how it helps us mentally is kind of almost the starting point. And then you bring in the creativity, and going back to what you were saying about organizations, you know, humans are a creative, curious, you think of childlike, and we we somehow get programmed out of that. So just how do you bring in, you know, I'm just thinking of the work you do with organizations and with leaders. And you bring in working with nature and that connection to nature to help them deepen their connection. So what kind of things do you do with them to to help develop that? That maybe somebody could try themselves?

Mark Henderson:

Yeah, two two things come to mind, Darwin. I think the first the first is presence. And the second is is something that you you touched on there at the beginning of your question around bringing people together outdoors to do something as a group. And I think that those two things are are key. Maybe start with the group thing. I've believed for many years and seen seen evidence, it's growing that when people come together, even from even individuals coming together in a new group, it doesn't really matter the grouping, but when they come together outdoors to do something constructive that is and working close to nature. So examples could be you know, it could be weeding, it could be planting, it could be pruning, it could be harvesting, it could be creating a forest garden together. But this there are so many things that that are that are happening that we're not actually aware of. So there's the the physiological benefits of of being in that environment and and having our hands in in in the soil or touching plants and trees. There's so many physiological things that we get for free without thinking about it. And then there's the sort of that that feeling of of letting go and the simplicity of being outdoors, there's the sort of the the feeling of being supported by others, being in the group, and gradually the the brain activity reduces from the the stressful high beta and down into to lower beta and alpha. And and there that's when the restorative processes in our in our bodies start. And and I I come back to to you know my spending my day in the Scottish Hills, I always felt so good, and I couldn't really understand why. And it's just that general feeling of well-being physically and mentally and emotionally, and the same thing happens with with sort of any any activity that you do for a few hours in in a natural environment. And and then it's presence is is the other thing I mentioned, and it's very linked. Because w when we slow down and and are doing something constructive that we feel is meaningful, and we're outdoors, we that slowing down is part of the process of becoming present. And when we get that attraction to something in in nature, and we get curious and we want to get closer to it and understand it and examine it and discover its characteristics, we become very present with it. And uh so and then that sort of relates to becoming present with each other as well. Because as nature, all of us, it's really the same thing. But sometimes it's more challenging to be as present with another with another human because of our built-in prejudices and and judgments and yeah, all sorts of things that that we uh we jump to instead of seeing the seeing the beauty in others and and lifting others, giving them energy, we we tend to retract from that. And so there's there's so much potential here to to explore. But uh, but yeah, presence is so restorative, and then you bring that into the workplace, the changes for me, it changes so much. You know, it changes how we relate to each other, it changes how we relate to ourselves, how we the the inner dialogue with ourselves, and we start sort of being more aware of our needs and and looking after ourselves, and and then we're more receptive to the needs of others, and so so uh yeah, it's it's it's a biggie presence as there's so much uh benefit from developing that in in the group and developing a common language around it. And that's a lot of what um what we do with groups is to give them a taste of that and then support them to to work with that on an ongoing basis in um in their interactions and their meetings, um, etc.

Lyn Man:

And I think even taking presence further, so there's being being present in nature, there's being present with each other, as you said, there's also being present with ourselves. And for me, that's is one of, and it goes back to what you shared about being in the mountains with you or the hills with yourself, and you kind of get that inner dialogue, but being okay with it and being okay with being present with yourself and and all of the presence when you were talking about it, what I was what came up for me was also we need to bring in compassion with that that presence for ourselves and for others. And and it's only when we can sit in that space with with almost curiosity, with um compassion acceptance and with presence that we start to really hear what others are saying and that makes a big difference in communication for me because there's so many times when people are having conversations and they're not truly listening to what's been said because their mind is off thinking about what has been said or what they want to ask or what their opinion is rather than listening fully and presently to what's been shared.

Mark Henderson:

Yeah, absolutely. And this is where the the quality changes in the in the dialogue and the interaction and the it also opens up for making people really feel seen and heard, and that enables them to share more themselves. It it really brings them out and and allows them to take more more space in in a meeting, for example, and it also allows them to be more create creative and gives them this sense of meaning that their contribution is valuable. And we know from nature that diversity is key. So so when we bring in the voice of everybody in the room rather than just the the loudest few, we we get a completely different perspective. And it's often the the quietest of those sitting in the room that are sitting perhaps on the the most valuable insights to to move a question forward. So yeah, it's and and uh to be to develop that well, I I I do believe that we can we can support others to develop that presence with themselves just by by what I've I've I've shared. And but it comes from a self-confidence, a lack of concern about what people will think about sharing, and a lack of lack of a need to have an answer ready. So to to be comfortable with actively listening to the other person without already having formulated what I'm going to say. So to so to just to pick up from that, let it let it land in your body, and then to see what is alive and authentic in in yourself and that you want to share. And if I mean in in many ways it's so simple, but incredibly powerful. The world will be a different place if we could just master this one thing, this presence with each other in our interactions. It's so powerful and relatively simple.

Lyn Man:

It is very powerful. And I say it's simple, but at the same time it's hugely difficult for for most people. But I'm going back to to what you say about people fear feeling heard and listened to and and I think it's things like that that are really powerful. Like if you actually are truly listened to, it makes such a difference for somebody. And being able to just be there with somebody at times you don't have to say anything. It's just there's support in the silence as well. And I think that's you know, when you that's also something you can learn in the um the hills when you're by yourself or out in nature by yourself, there's support all around you.

Mark Henderson:

Yes.

Lyn Man:

And you are connected to it. So when you focus your attention and allow yourself to relax into it, it can really change what emerges for you.

Mark Henderson:

Exactly, exactly. And it's that sense of of of nature when when uh you're present, it's it can be deafening in the silence. Yeah. But you you said you said just earlier then that it's it's difficult to be present. I don't know if it's difficult. I think it's a natural ability that we have, but it's been so our our society doesn't allow us, it just doesn't encourage us to be present. So it moves us on to the next thing the whole time. It it's you know, the the pace is is fast, it's furious, it's it's always not enough, it's looking to the next thing. And that that's the challenge. But when when we talk about organizations, you know, we need to work on the individual level, but we also need to work on the cultural level. And when when we success can successfully change this on a cultural level, then it really makes it so much easier for for everybody to to develop their their skills around around presence.

Lyn Man:

Yeah. Yeah. I think that's really interesting because a lot of the work on changing the culture can be it's kind of like the two have to go hand in hand.

Mark Henderson:

Yes.

Lyn Man:

The individual work and the cultural work.

Mark Henderson:

Yeah.

Lyn Man:

Because you're particularly, you know, some people, maybe those that do speak the loudest at times, so yes, there may be an element of that's naturally who they are, they share things. There may also be an element of they feel they need to share to show their value, and they've never learned to take it deeper. So often it can be very much surface level. And the quiet person, they may be naturally quiet or they may be scared to share what they feel for judgment. So there's a there's always going to be a mix of what's going on with an individual and what you're doing.

Mark Henderson:

Often those patterns become ingrained as well. And you know, so in a group, it's it doesn't get any better unless you proactively work on it. Yeah. So so the use the same people feel all the things you talked about, and maybe it's a sense of responsibility that that's uh well, I need to contribute. And whereas the people who who are quiet, they have different needs, and that those need to be to be seen and they need to be brought into the conversation. So so yeah, it's it's something that needs to be worked on regularly. And and when I'm talking about culture, you know, I don't mean a set of values that's on on the wall in the reception. It's it's very it's something that one has to proactively work with the whole time in uh across many different spheres of activity. And it it does, it it doesn't happen overnight, but it's so so worth it.

Lyn Man:

Totally. And I'm just I'm just gonna go back to something totally different now. But you know, everything you've shared, I think, is is here is is so valuable. But you brought in creativity earlier, and going back to also what you shared, well you actually you did bring this in earlier as well. You talked about awe. And for me, that's something else that is so undervalued, and the actually the impact that when we can sit back and look at something with awe, with wonder and curiosity, that can really all of those differently can really help take us to different places, it can inspire us, it can make us feel connected. In your experiences, how have you what benefit it comes to mind? But how do you see or how have you seen awe and wonder showing up and connecting with it and then impacting yourself?

Mark Henderson:

Yeah, love the question. I I I wrote a a short piece about an experience I had around this in Nepal many years ago. It really forced me to reflect on the process of arriving where I did in this state. It was really uh an amazing experience that was that that awe was a big part of it. And it struck me that it's a It's about slowing down and being present. And then for for me, often I think it's connect there's a sense of appreciation that's connected to it. So the the appreciation I think comes just slightly before that amazing feeling of awe and always such a powerful emotion. It can be just incredibly overwhelming and heart opening. So so yeah, I think it's you know it's the slowing down, it's the the being really present with with what you're observing. It's the sort of sense of appreciation, and then that's that feeling of of awe, and it's not something that I don't I think you can I don't know if you can necessarily manufacture it. Yeah. I'm just wondering about that now as I'm speaking, but I think this this there's a number of things, circumstances that that have to sort of align for it to to um you know fill fill your being. But it it in terms of how it benefits, it's well, it's taken me to to other places that I've experienced before, you know, real sort of uh spiritual experience. But it's yeah, it it just there's a there's a sort of feeling that washes over us that is so regenerative that sort of fills us with love and an abundance that is very that strengthens us and yeah, it it's uh it's it's wonderful.

Lyn Man:

And as you say that I'm always I'm taken back again to almost being in that that childlike mind and and looking at something with curiosity and as you said with appreciation. Because awe doesn't have to be something huge, you know, we it can be just the tiniest thing that we're looking at because I often think that we do think of awe and wonder as like having to like landscapes, vistas that are huge and massive and just like wow that's kind of I think what's often associated with it. But just as you say, being present to an experience that and even just noticing the smallest, tiniest thing can also bring in that wonder, that awe.

Mark Henderson:

Absolutely, yeah. It can be I I've I often use my camera as a way to connect with that, and somehow you you know you can magnify, zoom in.

Lyn Man:

Yeah.

Mark Henderson:

And that's that opens up a a new world that's of uh you know, small insects and and butterflies or or small flowers can really yeah, it's something new, it's something that you hadn't explored before, and you're just as you say, that childlike awe and wonder is is uh wonderful state.

Lyn Man:

Yeah. It is. So just linking that in to back to creativity, because I think for organizations, and I know I keep I don't know why, but I keep bringing it creativity in in this conversation, but I do think it's important for conversations, but also to allow everyone to feel they're creative in their own way, and it is different for everybody. So when you do when you work with leaders who've come, they're wanting to perhaps connect themselves in a different way, to run their organization in a different way, to look at ways to grow. How do you encourage them to bring in an element of creativity?

Mark Henderson:

Yeah, uh I think it's important to to recognize that creativity is like at the opposite spectrum from stress. So the first thing is to make sure that's that uh we are in balance ourselves. And um that's that that's the first uh the first step. That means dealing with stress and making sure that you have tools to to handle that on an ongoing basis and and creating the time to to to take care of it as well. And then people can feel creative and some for some people it's different environments, for some people it's the the people that they they work with, and there can be different positive triggers. So it's becoming aware of those as well and how an individual works best and can can be most creative. I think of you know my my relationship with Smart and my co-director in Natural Intelligence, you know, we have a an amazing working relationship where we we try to practice what we preach in terms of being present with each other, and then you know it sparks this process of of we support each other to be to be more creative in our in our discussions and in our uh yeah, what we what we want to create. But yeah, and again it comes comes down to to culture. If people are in a command and control culture, then it's not conducive to creativity, it's not conducive to to them feeling that they have a meaningful contribution to make. So that's where again culture is is vital in people really genuinely feeling that's that they're important to the organization, they have a key role to play, and that they can they can be creative and that their ideas will will be be listened to and considered. And and the then the other upside of that is that the more that happens, the more they feel responsible they want to take responsibility, the less the less management one needs, the more intelligence also comes back to to the decision-making parts of the organization. And that's key in the ever-changing environments that we're we're living and working in, where the the pace of change is so much faster. And so when we can collect intelligence at from all parts of the organization, coming back about what customers are sensing, feeling, wanting, for example, then that is again a fantastic uh form of competitive advantage. And the better we can we can continue to meet uh meet customer needs. So so it it's it's a maybe a bit complex, creativity is an important part of it, but it it ties in with with culture, with presence, with responsibility as well.

Lyn Man:

Yeah, and I think Theo, it's interesting you bringing in responsibility, and I think that's a big thing. Having self-responsibility and but that doesn't mean we're separate from everything. And I think it's as you say, it's it's almost a mix of everything and finding the right way that works for you as an individual and for an organization. And just looking at this and going back to because you brought in intelligence, but so the name of your organization is natural intelligence. You know, we've talked earlier actually about going out into nature and drawing on, you know, being being open to seeing what you're drawn to and learning from nature and and even your own experience, you know, growing up as a as a team, you use your time out in the Scottish Hills to allow yourself to process things but to see things from a different perspective. So going back to to natural intelligence, how is it that you you draw on not just your own personal natural inside intelligence, but also the natural intelligence around you?

Mark Henderson:

Me as an individual, Lyn, or one as an individual, me. Yeah, it it probably starts with with that recognizing that we we have a specific role, but we are part of this wonderfully infathomable, interconnected existence on earth. And that that my belief is that we all have a specific role to play, and otherwise we wouldn't be here. So it's it's yeah, recognizing that we we are nature and we are participating in this amazing living, evolving system, and that there is a an inherent inherent intelligence that is common to to all of it that links us. And when I recognize that all humans have this, and all other parts of of nature, all other aspects have it, then it's it's easy it's easy to see it. And we've been talking a lot recently in our conversations about sort of flow and synchronicity, and and the more the more you can trust this natural intelligence that that is is in us, that is, runs through us, that is, runs through everything surrounds us, the more we can let go, surrender to it, and be guided by it, and the more we can sort of enter a state of flow, and that's when we we see the the synchronicities, we recognize the the guiding hand in our on our along our path. And it also becomes so much more exciting, it really becomes a an adventure somehow when you can open up to that that curiosity and uh and excitement. You're you're just you know waiting for what's going to happen next with a real sense of excitement and joy. And I I had a really interesting encounter when I was in Glasgow last weekend, and I was waiting for the train home in the evening, and this got on started conversation with this man after ten minutes. He said, um, so what advice would you give to your 35-year-old self? Which was a wonderfully deep, meaningful question, uh, you know, after only uh a few minutes conversation. But one of the things I said was, you know, don't don't take yourself so seriously. And I think we fall into this trap of of yeah, just just taking life so seriously and and being very attached to our own identity. And it's not easy, but well when we can start to to loosen that and realize that there is, you know, we're we're not just we our our being doesn't end with our with our skin, you know, it goes beyond that, where everything is far more fluid and interconnected than than we perceive it. But to yeah, to be able to to relax, to let go into the the awe of of life on earth is is uh makes life so much richer.

Lyn Man:

Beautiful. Thank you for that. So just finally, if you could change one societal belief that would benefit humanity as a whole, what would it be?

Mark Henderson:

I didn't see that one coming. I should have, but I didn't. Yeah, it's maybe maybe that that I've I've just touched on. It's that's if we could all really sense into our the important, meaningful role that we have as part of life on this planet and be able to enjoy it and also take responsibility for it. I I think I love the there's a Buddhist I'm not sure, I think it's a Buddhist story about and it's it's about the the likelihood of being born in the first place, of having a life on earth. And they say that if you imagine all the oceans on Earth, in that in all the oceans there is only one turtle, and you're standing on a beach somewhere with a life jacket, and you throw the life jacket out, and just at that moment, a turt the one turtle in all the oceans in the world puts his head up, and the life jacket lands on that turtle around that turtle's head. That is the same probability as any one of us being born on Earth.

Lyn Man:

Wow.

Mark Henderson:

So when you think of it in those terms and understand how precious life is, and it, you know, that that very story always fills me with awe, then it's yeah, it's just amazing to be privileged to to be walking the earth at this time.

Lyn Man:

I don't think I can add anything to that. That is just an absolutely beautiful way to end this conversation. And yeah, I can just really feel that in inside, but the fact that you know, to to see we all have a role and to value that role and to recognize it's a privilege to be here. You're right, that takes you somewhere else. So thank you so much, Mark. We've had a lovely conversation. Thank you.

Mark Henderson:

Yeah, thank you. I really enjoyed it.

Lyn Man:

Thank you for listening to this episode of I Am Enough. We hope you enjoyed it and are inspired to see yourself as enough and create possibilities. If you would like to discover more, please visit earthaconter.org.