Why work with a coach or mentor?
In his book: Crossing the Unknown Sea, poet David Whyte speaks of a time when he was at a crossroads as to whether to leave his safe job in a not-for-profit organization or to move towards his heart’s longing. He went to his mentor: David Steindl-Rast, and his guidance was:
“You are like Rilke’s Swan in his awkward waddling across the ground; the swan doesn’t cure his awkwardness by beating himself on the back, by moving faster, or by trying to organize himself better. He does it by moving toward the elemental water where he belongs. It is the simple contact with the water that gives him grace and presence. You only have to touch the elemental waters in your own life, and it will transform everything. But you have to let yourself down into those waters from the ground on which you stand, and that can be hard. Particularly if you think you might drown.”
So, a good part of our work might be to help you discover or affirm what your elemental waters are, and then create a powerful, inspiring—and practical pathway, to jump in! For me it’s a joy to help you discover, refine and fulfill your vision, purpose and mission.
Private Spiritual Mentoring:
Note: Some of my clients don’t really feel the need for “coaching” for value fulfillment and success— but just want private mentoring in meditation training, mantra instruction, yogic scripture etc. and building their own spiritual practice (sadhana). Please inquire if interested. Often coaching and mentoring are combined.
Professional Coaching
I work in person, by phone and, typically, by videoconference. I usually work with a client once a week for 45 minutes (flexible) 3x a month, including email communications and/or brief check-ins in-between, and in the case of mentoring curriculum preparation. Typically, I first explore with a potential client in a complimentary session. This gives the client a chance to get a sense of what coaching is like.
If we find we are a good “fit,” and choose to work together, the next step is a one & a half hour discovery session: this helps reveal the client’s values, the goals that spring from them, and we set an agenda for our work over the next three-month period. This agenda is one of the key elements setting coaching apart from psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is, primarily about healing. While coaching can have a healing effect, it assumes the client has reached a sufficient level of healing to feel the call for something greater. Sometimes, though, the presenting agenda (“I’m tired of my job”) turns out to be part of a transformational agenda: “I need to change my lifestyle and give to the world in a whole new way.”)
My practice blends my certification training as a Professional Coach (CPC)–and a 40-year career background in self-development and teaching transformational practice. My training includes including a 2-year Gestalt psychology certification; direct personal yogic training and mentoring in India with Swami Rajarshi Muni; Systems-Centered® Therapy (SCT®); and other psychological and mind-body trainings.
I love to work with clients who are ready to “heartfully”—and practically—design and enter the next phase of their persona, spiritual and professional lives. I have also run non-profit holistically oriented organizations for decades and this fortifies my ability to help clients who are building their own wellness-oriented business or centers. I help them set up the practical structures: fees, marketing, classes, workshops, private sessions—as well as working with their personal goals and obstacles. But I work with all kinds of clients, no matter what the aim—personal, spiritual, or professional.