The CHI in coaCHIng: coaching with a spiritual perspective
Posted on May 27, 2011 by Teri-E Belf, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
The CHI in coaCHIng describes how coaches use space to access client inner wisdom: S tillness, P ause, A llowing, C ycle and E nergy.
The elements of S P A C E coaching are:
S = stillness.
Stillness precedes the emergence of wisdom. Stillness allows evocative questions to form. During stillness, scanning of all possibilities occurs before a focus is selected. Stillness paired with curiosity leads to a state of ONE-der. Synapses, (the space between neurons) require no external input; Insights happen only when the brain is still.
P = pause.
During a pause, when coach and client are breathing together, conspiracy happens. Conspire means to breathe together, hence being in rapport.
“It is in the spaces between words that we can begin to hear what is not spoken. Listening and silence are the twins of being; they create and maintain this ritual space”.
Lee Salmon, MCC
A = allowing.
Allowing is permitting yourself to exit the space of doing and enter the space of being - with no agenda. By inviting and allowing silence at the beginning of a coaching meeting, the most meaningful and purposeful conversation surfaces from the essence of being as opposed to what is the ‘hot topic of the moment’. By allowing silence at the end of a coaching meeting, new learning and wisdom can begin to integrate as insights emerge.
C = cycle.
Life is cyclical based upon a balance of internal and external rhythms. The external represents behaviors – what we do in the world. The internal represents our states of being, (thoughts, emotions). As a mentor coach for 20 years I noticed that most coaches deal with the client’s external world. However MCC coaches spend much more time paying attention to the internal world, both within themselves, (their own physical sensations, energy level and flow), and the internal state of the client. To tap into the internal state of a client requires a heightened sense of connection and rapport. Masterful coaches have the ability to cycle back and forth between being in the body and being aware of being in the body through the neutral observer, (wise or detached self).
Try breathing out and again and again and again. Following my instructions literally, you would be out of breath. At some point one must complete the cycle and breathe in. Your breath is a metaphor and reminder for SPACE coaching.
E = energy.
Did you realize that the word, Chi, is found within the word coaching? When we monitor our chi, energy level, life force, we accelerate rapport and can get into our client’s being to gain awareness of what is happening.
As a coach trainer I have been curious about SPACE coaching for some time and I asked clients to share what happens when I hold a space of silence in rapport with them. Here is some feedback:
• I wondered who was accountable for this process, my coach or me. Having no answer, I made myself accountable.
• When my coach didn’t reply, I felt more determined to do something about my situation.
• I moved with my thoughts myself.
• I began to reveal deeper things, layer by layer.
• I pulled myself out instead of expecting my coach to pull me out.
Belf, Teri-E. Coaching With Spirit: allowing success to emerge, Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, a Wiley Company. 2002, pp.56-7
