So, what does life coaching look like exactly?
Well, there can be a lot of misconceptions, most of which are based off sports coaching, which can be someone’s only point of reference. Therefore, I thought I'd start with addressing the most common misconception I hear about this work: Life Coaches Tell You How to (and not to) Live Your Life. In this work, we don't tell clients how to live their lives, or give them a rulebook to follow of shoulds and shouldn'ts in different scenarios. (We actually do the opposite and help untangle all the shoulds and shouldn’ts society and our upbringing has conditioned.) We don't offer our wisdom from our own lives lived and how we'd do things differently knowing what we know now. We don't provide a life-lessons testimonial for you to draft off of. It's never about us and what we know. It's about YOU and helping you connect with your own wisdom. What's right for one person is not necessarily right for another. And who's to say anyone's way is "the right" or "only" way for everyone? There's only the right way for the individual, and only that individual knows what that is for them. We deeply trust that each and every person has the ability and capability of solving their own problems in the best way for them…and they can empower themselves to do so.
There's a Medicine Woman Prayer that sums this up perfectly:
I will not rescue you, for you are not powerless.
I will not fix you, for you are not broken.
I will not heal you, for I see you in your wholeness.
I will walk with you through the darkness as you remember your light.
At a high level, our job as a facilitator is to ask open-ended questions that help clients process their world and gain a deeper understanding of themselves and how they engage with their world. Sometimes we engage the subconscious with metaphors for them to project themselves, others and their world onto like a mirror. This distance helps them look from the outside in and draw parallels to themselves and their lives. This process naturally elicits insights. Other times we facilitate tools that will assist in shifting limiting beliefs that have resulted in unhealthy habits and behaviors that no longer serve us. When we shift the thought pattern, we adopt a new, more true thought (or belief) that supports healthier behaviors.
In addition to the above, a Nature Centered Coach works deeply with nature (plants, animals, elements) as a partner and co-facilitator to support clients in reconnecting with their own true nature. The tools we teach our coaches to facilitate help their clients release blocks across the physical, emotional, conscious, subconscious and spiritual levels.
There is not any point that we tell a client what to do. All tools and modalities are in support of, and a safe container for, the client connecting with their inner wisdom to find a path forward in more peace, joy and freedom.