Life Coaching and Mindfulness - A trendy fad?
People often come to life coaching wanting help to change. For example, to change habits they have or the way they usually tend to respond in particular situations. These changes are often hard to make because most of us operate on ‘autopilot’ or ‘muscle memory’. We respond without conscious thinking, to situations as they come up. We have habitual responses that are often quite deeply ingrained.
Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company famously said that if we always do what we’ve always done, we’ll always get what we’ve always got. To change we must turn off the autopilot and respond consciously or ‘mindfully’ to each particular situation rather than just ‘doing what we have always done’.
To ‘turn off the autopilot’ we must be able to recognise or notice the point where we would usually react automatically, so we can consciously modify our response in a way that will better move us towards our chosen goals. Mindfulness helps us ‘notice the gap’ that very brief interval just before making a habitual response where we can consciously choose a more positive response.
Following extensive research, mindfulness training has now been widely adopted in both coaching and counselling because it helps us be more aware of our thoughts and feelings, and therefore recognise when opportunities to make conscious change arise.
In a simple form of mindfulness, our coaching client sits quietly, often focusing on their breathing. They practice daily or weekly simply noticing their thoughts and feelings, not engaging with them or judging them.
If you would like to develop more mindfulness, here is a simple practice to start.
• Find a quiet space and sit comfortably.
• Close your eyes or soften your gaze.
• Focus on your breath, feeling the rise and fall of your chest or abdomen.
• When your mind wanders gently notice your thought and guide your attention back to your breath.
• Practice for just a few minutes each day, gradually increasing the duration as you become more comfortable.
Contact Steve to book a FREE initial coaching session 021 264 2506
Live Q&A: Garden maintenance with Crewcut
This Wednesday, we're having another Neighbourly Q&A session. This time with John Bracewell from Crewcut.
John Bracewell, former Black Caps coach turned Franchisee Development Manager and currently the face of Crewcut’s #Movember campaign, knows a thing or two about keeping the grass looking sharp—whether it’s on a cricket pitch or in your backyard!
As a seasoned Crewcut franchisee, John is excited to answer your lawn and gardening questions. After years of perfecting the greens on the field, he's ready to share tips on how to knock your garden out of the park. Let's just say he’s as passionate about lush lawns as he is about a good game of cricket!
John is happy to answer questions about lawn mowing, tree/hedge trimming, tidying your garden, ride on mowing, you name it! He'll be online on Wednesday, 27th of November to answer them all.
Share your question below now ⬇️
Poll: When should the tree go up? 🎄
From what we've heard, some Christmas trees are already being assembled and decorated.
What are your thoughts on the best time to get your Christmas tree up?
-
4.7% Second half of November
-
43.6% 1st December
-
17.5% A week before Christmas
-
33.1% Whenever you wish
-
1.1% Other - I'll share below
What's your favourite tomato recipe?
Kia ora neighbours. We know your tomato plants are still growing, but we're looking ahead to the harvest already! If you've got a family recipe for tomatoes, we'd love to see it and maybe publish it in our magazine to share with our readers. Send your recipe to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of our February 2025 issue.
Loading…
