Looking Inward, Uncovering the “Selfs”
Can your holistic coaching client set time aside to look in the mirror and enjoy the experience and magic that is waiting to unfold? Through excellence in coaching, the process of awakening your client’s sacred self is revealed to them through a few simple steps, allowing your client to fully access their potential and the gifts that await them for being successful in their efforts.
When we say gifts,what exactly do we mean? Life is full of experiences waiting to be embraced. When we have the clarity and an open heart to receive the blessings that lie before us, we are then able to discover that the Higher Power of our sacred self is ready to assist us whenever you ask. This is the gift that a lot of people are always searching for – it is not a given, it is not guaranteed.
“I know in each moment I am free to decide” How many of us can say this and mean it 100% of the time? For some coaches, your work with a client might meant that you have to persuade your client – for it is the client who must have the insight to realize that they have been looking in the wrong direction for the better part of their life, as most people view themselves holistically from an imbalanced state of internal and external influences; they may also have an imbalance of positive vs. negative attractors acting on them.
Before taking a client on any holistic journey, try the following experience for yourself first: take a moment to experience a self-discovery exercise. Picture yourself in any position that you like. Standing, sitting, lying down, whatever is easiest for you to imagine. Now look at that mental picture of yourself. What you see, in this exercise, is a you who is always looking away from yourself. Always looking outside of yourself. You’re facing the wrong way!
Now imagine being able to shift around and face the opposite direction. If you could in some magical way do so, then you would be facing inward. This is not some form of mental gymnastics in which you simply imagine yourself turning around and facing inward. Instead, this is a way of knowing your spiritual identity.
We’ve all been taught to look outside ourselves for sustenance–to look beyond the self for power, love, prosperity, health, happiness and spiritual fulfillment. We’ve been conditioned to believe we get life’s bounty from somewhere outside of ourselves. But it’s possible to reverse our gaze from outward to inward. And when we do, we find an energy we’ve sensed but not previously identified.
A stage of discovery we will look for in our client – the real self – is also one each coach can use to assess themselves as it relates to how we come across to others. Since we all have multiple “selves“, think about all hat is possible. How you appear to your client’s is probably a much different “self” than what you project to friends and family.
The challenge here is to assess yourself by getting information about how you’re coming across and how do you contrast what you learn with what we will call the “faux self”. The faux self is made up of images we have of ourselves that we adjust to and small ways over time. These end up giving us a sense of our self that might be distorted. If we are to coach others, we have to know how we are seen; we also have to learn to think critically about this to be able to glean this information from a client that we know nothing about.
Divine Energy
There dwells within all human beings a divine energy. The power of this energy permeates our entire being and permits us to perform every function in the vast repertoire of human thoughts and behaviors. There are two aspects to this divine energy.
The outer aspect causes the heart to beat, the lungs to inflate and the senses to function–it essentially keeps our physical bodies alive. The inner aspect of this energy is dormant, but it can be awakened.
This inner universe is vaster than the outer universe. Inner joy makes all joy that is experienced in the world of the senses seem meaningful. When the divine light within you is experienced directly, it adds a radiance to life unlike anything that can be described with words or pictures.
When we discover our sacred self, we awaken this dormant inner energy and let it guide our lives. The word most commonly used to describe this inner force is “spiritual”.
How does a holistic life coach help a client find their true selves?
How do you facilitate the sacred self for your client? First, you must make a strong commitment to the process, starting with trying the methods for yourself before use on any client. Try to set a few moments aside to meditate in silence, or listen to your favorite meditation audio. While you do, rid your mind of all negativity. Visualize a virtual trash bin, and discard all the garbage in your mind. When you’ve completely emptied your thoughts from the business of your life, focus on the nature that surrounds you – and if you aren’t outside, find something to hone in on like a dimly-lit candle, a plant, or maybe just a good book of poetry. Now, do this for the client. You can see that this is not something that is not done lightly, without practice or experience.
You must coach clients to spend “alone time” with their sacred self so that they can acquire a sense of their footing, and to “welcome the unknown into their world.” You may find that you have to instruct clients on how to meditate. Describe clearly how you want them to close their eyes and feel the all-empowering love of anything divine to flow through every part of their living body, every cell and every breath. Continue meditation instruction by coaching the client to breathe deeply as if the client was gaining their first breath of fresh air in the spring – when doing this meditation exercise during a coaching session, have the client now open their eyes.
Encourage your clients to think about what it is that they are searching for in life. Ask the client to learn how this process can help them, by repeating it daily… to discover the passions that will help you coach them to be able to create the destiny that each client wants. This requires open communication and feedback during coaching sessions. As your client learns to trust you, this type of communication will grow.
When your client has awakened their inner consciousness, they are suddenly more aware and more tuned into their sacred self; and the answers that were slow in coming in the past, are now within your client’s mind’s eye…and within their reach. Ideally, your client will see that the vision that is gained through learning and connecting with their sacred self is not only your client’s intuitive consciousness, but also their inner guide to fulfilling their destiny (or at least their holistic health goals).
If you are interested in the concepts of holistic life coaching and holistic nutrition coaching and would like to integrate more technology into the coaching process, you way want to consider the Integrative Health Coach Certification.
Evaluating Your Client’s Personal Powers
The process of coaching a client with holistic elements requires that a Certified Holistic Life Coach (CHLC) understand personal power as it relates to both the client’s personal power and how personal power from within the coach is useful in managing the process of getting clients to their goal – optimal holistic health.
Personal Power – A Holistic Coach Perspective:
Whatever your personal style is, whatever your key strengths may be, capitalize on it (or them) to motivate your client and to move them through stag- es of holism. A coach who is more methodical and cognitive-based would use mental challenges to keep the interest of his clients undergoing the coaching process. This type of coaching is more likely to include constant communication and processing of feelings in a safe way. This methodical approach creates a nurturing environment that allows affirmation and containment of the coaching process.
Our sacred selves represent our true nature. But we lose touch with the sacred self through the interference of ego, which produces anxieties and leads us to feel frustration, strife and pain and to then inflict these on others. Strategies for freeing clients of ego and getting back in touch with the sacred include self-reformation of individual consciousness.
An example of how coaches observe and utilize personal power is during the communication of each coaching step, starting at the beginning stages of assisting clients to identify the agenda for the coaching session(s). The CHLC is in control of leading all clients down the pathway toward optimal holistic health. Again, it’s important to understand the client’s agenda and to never sit in judgment of them, giving honest feedback, and never being dismissive of or negating the client’s realities. A coach might entice the client to stay present in the process by constantly challenging and reinforcing the client to reclaim their personal power. The CHLC helps by coaching the client to identify the ways in which they give away their personal power. In this case, the coaching discussion may even include identifying the reaction to, rather than the control of, a coaching situation. Most clients will be enticed or drawn to a style that emphasizes using dialogue of gaining (or regaining) personal power, because these concepts provide reframing for concepts that help a client to find their own personal power. From the coach’s perspective, personal power might be improved with increasing awareness for the client, while offering solutions through behavior change. Part of this coaching style includes being consistent with clients with regard to feedback and to reinforce positive behavior changes in those concepts that may be misunderstood by the client.
Another example of a CHLC’s personal power is tied to different personalities, approaches or styles. A coach who is more gregarious could be seen by a client as ‘larger-than-life’. These coaches have magnetic personalities and bring a lot of passion and intensity to their work – and some clients will find this enticing. This, in turn, brings the client to be more involved in the coaching process; it also starts to create a reputation or following for the coach. We’ve all thought that we’ve known coaches like this – but this style involves so much more.
This coach should use his or her key strengths to passionate-convey the important issues surrounding the coaching process. Using a delivery style of coaching that makes clients feel safe and engaged, is done by letting clients see into a small aspect of the coaches world – which in many ways, will mirror a client’s reality. Using persuasion and good leadership, this coach could easily create hope and vision for a client because the client is able to connect to the coach’s processes and realities until they are able to live holistically on their own.
A Holistic Coaching Client’s Responsibilities Related to Personal Power
Initially, the CHLC needs to be able to recognize the less visible or obvious forces that have clients doing the things that do not support their happiness, peace of mind, relationships, abundance, fulfillment and personal power. We also know that an effective coach needs to be able to support the client to shift away from unproductive behaviors as they recognize the costs of these behaviors.
But once these forces are identified, how does the client resolve the negative influence on their holistic health if you cannot be with them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? It comes down to personal power and the client’s ability to tap into it for those times when both willpower and responsibility are required to make holistic-based health changes. An example would be smoking cessation.
In the same manner that you would use to assess your style of coaching, assess your client’s ability to both understand and use their personal powers to live holistically. Step into their personal power with them during coaching sessions with positive reinforcements; maximize their effectiveness and outwardly exude the benefits of living a holistic lifestyle. We set this entire tone with our client in the initial coaching stages, and is therefore part of your assessment protocol because it is this time when expectations are defined for both coach and client.
You will need to do some form of assessing your client to determine what personal powers are already present. This will help you tap into very strong, positive dimensions to address as the coach.
Clients also have some power within the coach/client relationship. Some clients may not share your perspective of their lifestyle upon assessment. On top of that, everyone has their own perspectives on what holism means, and the client has the power to opt out of any type of coaching you recommend – although this is contrary to the goal.
As an example, imagine a client who feels that they eat healthy enough already, without any intervention needed. To spend time on coaching holistic nutritional dimensions may not be appropriate if the client does not want change in that area.
Help Your Clients Enhance Responsibility Throughout the Coaching Process
Inspiring will in your clients …. This can be hard for some coaches and is somewhat tied to what was discussed in the paragraphs before, regarding your client’s personal power. Some clients might try to control or contain their power and this can have negative effects on the client’s will.
Certain coaching types do better with this dimension of inspiring will, including those with experienced backgrounds unique to their fields. Consider a personal trainer who might inspire will in his or her client just by being a fitness leader and living the life that we tend to promote to clients. Or it could be a wellness coach who encourages clients to make difficult changes due to their ability to use persuasion or change talk to inspire will.
So the coach’s leadership is vital. Coaches have to represent the holistic lifestyle to clients whenever it’s possible. If our client views us as bigger-than-life or if even just a contemporary – we want to Sometimes the coach has to tap into the client’s motivations to understand their will. Being able to assess what drives the client to want to make changes will influence what coaching strategies you choose to lead the client through.
When you know more about what motivates your client, you are showing that you have reached a level of truly knowing your client. You cannot interact on an interpersonal level without reaching deeper levels of trust and understanding with your client base.
Spencer Institute and NESTA have been helping people who want to enter and grow in the holistic coaching industry since 1992. We’re honored to help you each step of the way as you enter, advance and enjoy your coaching practice regardless of the niche you pursue. If you haven’t yet, click here to discovery all of our professional training courses.
