The Dynamic Equilibrium Method
The 6 principles
The foundation of every program - from open events to one-to-one work.
In nature, the stable systems aren't the ones that stay still, but the ones that keep adjusting. Personal sustainability isn't a destination; it's a practice.
Living systems don't repair themselves by tearing themselves down; they correct course as they go, in small, repeated steps. We build on what already works, not on digging through past failures.
People live within relationships, teams, communities and ecosystems, and balance is a property of those connections. A whole that sacrifices its parts isn't in balance, it's exploiting them.
A system is more than the sum of its people, but it can't sustain itself without them. That's why sustainable systems rely on the sustainability of the people who lead them.
In nature, you don't just observe dynamic equilibrium; you're part of it. The rhythm of your steps, the terrain and the weather are all systems that keep adjusting, and as you walk through them, your own system starts doing the same.
Literally, every step is a controlled fall, instantly corrected. We work while walking because the mind, in motion, does what the body does: it rebalances.
What it's based on
The method is mine, but it draws on research. Below is what we know, and where the research has limits.
1. What we know about coaching
Workplace coaching has measurable effects of moderate size. A meta-analysis of 37 randomized trials with more than 2,500 participants found effects on personal and leadership outcomes, and noted that studies with no results are less likely to be published. A second meta-analysis, of 11 studies, found larger effects on skills than on attitudes and says research in the field is still limited. A 2025 randomized study of 84 employees at a single organization found that after solution-focused coaching, performance, belief in their own abilities and well-being all improved, and the effects held four months later.
- Gerhát, R., Ocsenás, D., & Münnich, Á. (2025). Enhancing performance, self-efficacy and well-being: A randomised controlled study in solution-focused business coaching. International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, 23(1), 24-48.
- de Haan, E., & Nilsson, V. O. (2023). What can we know about the effectiveness of coaching? A meta-analysis based only on randomized controlled trials. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 22(4).
- Cannon-Bowers, J. A., Bowers, C. A., Carlson, C. E., et al. (2023). Workplace coaching: A meta-analysis and recommendations for advancing the science of coaching. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1204166.
2. Why nature makes a difference
Three studies support the idea: a systematic review of research on attention restoration in nature; an experiment in which people came up with more ideas while walking than while sitting; and a nationally representative survey of nearly 20,000 people, in which those who spent at least 120 minutes a week in nature were more likely to report good health and well-being. The authors of the last study note that this is an association, not proof that nature causes it.
- Ohly, H., White, M. P., Wheeler, B. W., et al. (2016). Attention Restoration Theory: A systematic review of the attention restoration potential of exposure to natural environments. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B, 19(7), 305-343.
- Oppezzo, M., & Schwartz, D. L. (2014). Give your ideas some legs: The positive effect of walking on creative thinking. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 40(4), 1142-1152.
- White, M. P., Alcock, I., Grellier, J., et al. (2019). Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. Scientific Reports, 9, 7730.
3. What we know about coaching in nature
A study of 40 people with symptoms of stress and burnout: those who did 12 to 18 weeks of walk-and-talk coaching in nature felt better than a control group that received nothing. And a qualitative study of how people experienced walking coaching sessions.
- van den Berg, A. E., & Beute, F. (2021). Walk it off! The effectiveness of walk and talk coaching in nature for individuals with burnout- and stress-related complaints. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 76, 101641.
- Ivaldi, A. (2023). Understanding and restoring the self in nature for well-being: A phenomenological analysis of walking coaching experiences. The Humanistic Psychologist, 52, 206-222.
Research supports parts of the method: coaching, the effect of walking and nature on attention, and coaching in nature. None of it tests the method as a whole, but it explains why we work the way we do.
The research isn't a promise: your results depend on what you bring to the sessions and what you work on between them.
From principles to practice
The method is the conceptual framework; the programs are how I put it into practice.