Jeannie Hodder

What is Mindfulness coaching

Mindfulness / self observation is extremely powerful and transformational.

• Unless we know ourselves, we are driven by habits which we do not see, and so we cannot be free. 

• To know myself is not necessarily to change who I am, but to be able to take a step back and to have more choice about how I react in a particular situation.

• Our relationship with others and the environment, depends on the quality of our attention.

• Our quality of attention depends on the inner place from which the attention originates.

In mindfulness coaching, you strengthen your ability to be present to yourself, to others and to the situation. You learn techniques to remain clear and resourced under stress.

Paradoxical theory of change

• We are hard-wired for wholeness and health.

• Paradoxically, “by being what one is fully, one can be free to become something else” – Beisser

• Focusing on the present, what is actually happening, (rather than just the problem and one’s personal reactions) with curiosity, leads to change. 

• We are blocked by our identifications (self-concept, history, habits, judgements). (P Senge / T Gallwey)

• The coach’s role is to be present with compassionate curiosity, to be able to abide with not knowing,​ and to ask questions, to help loosen the habitual automatic responses that do not serve.

SOME questions that people bring to do Mindfulness Coaching with me

What do I do next in my work?

How can I be less stressed and have more of a balance in my life?

How can I be more authentic and include my emotions in my converstions and presentaions, so that I can be more inspiring, more impactful?

How can I be more collaborative, more interconnected with myself (mind, body, emotions and spirit), with others and with the environment? 

I want to experiment in living more from the heart, from awareness and from choice.​

What do people, organisations and the earth we live on, need and how can I be of service to the whole at this time of political uncertainty, climate change and mass extinctions?​

Tools

• May use poetry, body language, drawing, time in nature

• Mindfulness practice 

• Qi Gong (an ancient Chinese healing movement form)

how I have worked with a client to create clarity of purpose

• We set out within the space we were working, a physical map on the floor to represent his situation and question, using pieces of paper to represent different competing voices within himself, that were influencing and confusing him.

• I encouraged him to explore standing in different places – How is this? What are you interested in? How does your body feel? What do you notice? What do you need? Do you want to move somewhere else?

• He then rearranged the papers he was using to represent his situation more positively. He moved some papers and threw other pieces away. He created a more empowering map with the papers on the floor, moving things around until he felt satisfied.

• Later in the week he phoned up to say how this exercise had helped him. In the next session he reported that he was more confident and decisive e.g. he had applied for a job he formerly thought he could not do, and he was able to deal with conflict more constructively, as well as being able to be more compassionate with himself.