Mindfulness Coaching
You may be wondering what exactly the term mindfulness coaching means to you. And rightly so - because the term is not yet very common. Here you can find out how the two topics fit together and what I personally mean by it.
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What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a felt experience
It's not easy to describe what mindfulness means, but medical doctor and mindfulness pioneer Jon Kabat-Zinn defines it as "the awareness that arises when you are intentionally mindful in the present moment without judgment."
What makes it so difficult is the fact that mindfulness is not something that requires direct action or has a concrete outcome. It requires maximum concentration, patience and, above all, the will to be open and accept what presents itself to us. It can create a connection to our innermost self and our actual being, to what lies behind our thoughts, feelings, behaviors and preferences. Because all these things that we automatically identify with are only an expression of our being through the lens of our experiences.
This may still sound very abstract because mindfulness goes beyond what can be compared and described, but ultimately it means that each and every one of us carries infinite energy and infinite potential in our essence. What else finds its way into our life experience is influenced by a wide variety of factors.
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Mindfulness helps us to make conscious decisions about who and how we want to be and to recognize what is really right for us in order to live our best possible life.
It enables us to connect to our essence, giving us the power to detach ourselves from what has defined our life experience and instead
What is Coaching?
Systemic Coaching after the principles of the systems theory
I practice systemic coaching. It is a special form of coaching based on the principles of so-called "systems theory". It aims to deepen the understanding of the interactions and relationships between different elements in a system. This system can exist on a personal, professional or organizational level. Ultimately, we always act in systems when we are not alone in the room. According to this principle, in systemic coaching we always consider the areas of life in context in order to achieve truly sustainable success.
The European Coaching Association defines coaching as follows: "Coaching is an accompaniment that realizes the client's future, a development process that takes place on a partnership level. Coaching is neither psychotherapy nor curative treatment."
It sounds a bit dry, but it makes two particularly important points clear:
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It is a process, a path that coach and coachee walk together step by step to gradually shape a future in the coachee's best interests - there is no quick fix that I as a coach can use to solve all problems.
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Even though it may unfortunately be much easier to get a coaching place than a therapy place, coaching is not a substitute for those who suffer from mental health problems. At best, it can be used in consultation with the therapist as a supplement to therapy.
Life is very, very challenging. Waking up is not a luxury; it’s an absolute necessity.
How do they fit together?
Mindfulness and Coaching have a common core
Even if mindfulness is seen as more spiritual and systemic coaching as more analytical and tangible, they are actually inseparable. Even if you don't call it that in classic coaching jargon, without cultivating mindfulness in the coachee, no coaching method can bear lasting fruit.
The point is to fundamentally change the automatic ways of thinking and feeling about experiences in order to open up new choices about how you want to react, act and be.
Both coaching and mindfulness practice are based on the conviction that people are whole and perfect. The respective process merely helps to unlock one's own wisdom.
Even if mindfulness is seen as more spiritual and systemic coaching as more analytical and tangible, they are actually inseparable. Even if you don't call it that in classic coaching jargon, without cultivating mindfulness in the coachee, no coaching method can bear lasting fruit.​
The point is to fundamentally change the automatic ways of thinking and feeling about experiences in order to open up new choices about how you want to react, act and be.
Both coaching and mindfulness practice are based on the conviction that people are whole and perfect. The respective process merely helps to unlock one's own wisdom.
My personal Approach
Ultimately, I think almost everyone can benefit from coaching (as I said, possibly in addition to medical treatment). Because it's always about the question:
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What kind of life do I want to lead?
Why or from where you want to develop further, or feel that there is no other way, is irrelevant to me and completely individual for each person. But what I can say is that the vast majority of people I have met so far have had issues that they are trying to deal with and for which coaching can offer wonderful support.
By "issues", I don't just mean what is currently happening in our lives, but above all how much our current life situation is influenced by what we have experienced in our previous lives (and if we can believe epigenetics, even what our ancestors experienced and is literally still in our bones).
Specifically, I'm talking here about protective mechanisms that we acquired, especially as children, when we were really dependent on someone taking care of us and looking after us. As we get older, however, we become more and more independent and face completely different challenges than we did as a child. Nevertheless, we still often unconsciously act in the same way as we did back then, although this is no longer helpful.
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Coaching is therefore about bringing these automatisms into consciousness and then actively making decisions about what still helps or what is perhaps no longer needed and can be replaced.
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In doing so, I assume that my client already has the right solution and all the necessary inner resources within themselves. I hold a safe space for each of the coachee's goals and support them with impulses, questions, exercises and my experience.
My promise to you!
I'm not promising a super simple recipe for success, or a quick happy ending or eternal happiness - because it wouldn't be possible for anyone to really keep this promise.
What I can guarantee, however, is that I am open to YOUR concerns and will do my best to help you as holistically as possible:
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Find sustainable solutions for you
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Discover your true strengths and use them for your benefit
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Making the decisions that are right for you
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Face yourself with love and goodwill
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Break free from automatisms that no longer serve you