What is a Life Coach?
If you were like me, you may think/have thought a life coach had to be some sound, aged and wise sage with Dali-Lama-esque wisdom who can tell someone what their problem is, AND what they need to do to “fix” their life. Guess what? I was wrong! Not a big shocker.
Life coaches commonly help people get unstuck, gracefully navigate life transitions, in career or business, health and many other areas. The coaching focus is directed by you! As coaches we facilitate, evoke clarity and support you with presence. We help you to sort out and overcome limiting beliefs and obstacles and we hold you accountable with unconditional positive regard (a coaching term for non-judging and always supportive).
Coaches are trained highly effective partners in helping people their goals whether it’s getting blood pressure under control, or starting a new business. Short and sweet, if we we were able to do it all on our own, all of your life dreams and desires would ALREADY be “in the bag.” And if you’re human, I am guessing there’s room to grow?
We all have blind spots that we can’t see and coaches help to see and move past these blocks in a kind and supportive way. Let’s face it, friends and family are great to a certain extent yet, they all come with their personal baggage and agenda when giving not-so-constructive advice. Coaches have no agenda outside of your success and are trained to check their bags before we engage.
Having dedicated time for mental clarity, to work on goals and to have undivided and uninterrupted focus, in a non-judgmental supportive space is, unfortunately, NOT an organic environment. Even with the best intending friend or spouse to bounce idea off of, it’s never ALL ABOUT YOU, is it?
In coaching, IT IS.
Working with a life or health coach its a highly effective way to accelerate and concentrate your progress in any area of your well-being.
What is an Integrative Health and Wellbeing Coach?
That brings me to address what Integrative or Holistic Coaching is. At it’s base, it is coaching that is prepared to address the well-being of the whole person, not just one dimension.
Depending on where you look there are 5-8 pillars of wellness, each interrelated to the other and affecting the entire system. To be comprehensive, the 8-Pillars of Well-Being include, Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, Social, Environmental, Spiritual, Financial and Occupational. I like the think of the last two as Purpose. If you think of each ray of well-being as a ven diagram, in the extremities, each aspect functions or feels independent. However, in the center, all of these parts intersect and affect each other at the core.
Well-being coaching functions in a client led fashion where we’ll address conflicts or goals in areas of wellness that you would like to grow to help cultivate an overarching sense of holistic well-being.
Here’s a short explainer video to fill in some color for you.
