Your Guide To Coaching & Yoga

The coaching industry has grown rapidly in the last 30 or so years, and has had a noticeable surge in the past few years. Coaching has expanded so much that you can pretty much find a coach for anything, from football and dating, to wellbeing and business.

Most coaches aim to raise performance in some way, and provide space for individuals to explore their progress, challenges, goals and behaviours. Good coaches do a lot of listening and asking the right questions to help clients support themselves. The process might improve sporting ability, increase professional performance or shape a better sense of wellbeing.

WHAT IS COACHING?

Crucially, coaching believes that an individual can find their own answers and solutions to their own challenges. A coach will not give you the answer and tell you what to do, but a good coach will ask challenging, open questions that can help you to explore options available to you and commit yourself to action. A coach can give you space to raise your awareness and work on yourself in a confidential and non-judgemental space.

As well as being a yoga teacher, I also manage leadership development programmes and focus mainly on executive coaching. In 2018, I also started a coaching journey myself, working with someone very closely to help me reach certain goals and increase my potential, something that’s really important to me. I’ve experienced and seen the impact coaching can have and I’m now training with the Møller Institute at Churchill College in the University of Cambridge to advance my coaching skills. So it’s safe to say: I’m a huge advocate of coaching.

THE CONNECTION TO YOGA

So when I went to do my yoga teacher training and we learnt to develop our awareness (and self-awareness), to make small progress towards big goals, and to be true to our individual values… Well a lot of it sounded very familiar to me; a lot of it was what I was doing as a result of my coaching sessions.

Together, I genuinely believe yoga and coaching are such a powerful combination to help you be the best that you can be. The grounding, presence and awareness that you can build through yoga is exactly what will enable you to develop yourself, fulfil your potential, both personally and professionally too, when you work alongside a coach.

Doing activities regularly that allow us to restore physically and mentally can have a huge impact on the way we function and feel. So making small changes and setting small goals to begin with is a great way to get started. Once you begin to build the habit, then you can start to gradually increase the time where you are focusing on yourself.

WANT TO START YOUR COACHING JOURNEY?

If coaching seems like something you’d like to try, whether it’s to help you make a decision about something in your life, or to creating a lasting lifestyle change, get in touch.

I can direct you to some great coaches, depending on what you’re looking for and I am also taking new coaching clients, particularly if you’re looking to focus on your wellbeing and personal performance.

A coaching relationship should be a partnership and allow you to navigate the session and topics in a safe space, with accountability. For me, this is where it’s also similar to yoga: yoga teachers hold space for you to move freely and be yourself, work through emotions and shift energy.

So coaching and yoga? Not only complimentary, but also powerful and can be transformational.