Where Love Reigns: The Power of Connection in Coaching

The image depicts an artistic representation of a heart made from strings and pins. Red pins are arranged on a white background, and red strings are threaded between the pins to form the outline of a heart in the centre. The strings extend outward in a pattern that resembles a sound wave or heartbeat, suggesting movement and vitality. The text reads: "Where love reigns, the impossible may be attained." (Proverb)

Today’s quote is a proverb:

“Where love reigns, the impossible may be attained.” (Proverb)

I don’t know what sprang to mind when you read this proverb, but does it have a connection to coaching for you?

You may have heard the phrase “holding space” for a client in reference to coaching. The phrase itself makes it sound like another task to add to your to-do list as a coach. And maybe that description fits with your approach. I’m certainly not saying it’s right or wrong; rather, I’m inviting you to consider if it aligns with your coaching experiences.

For me, the space and connection that occur when a client and I settle and seek clarity around a topic have a unique feeling. Part of that feeling, I think, is a sense of peaceful love. Michael Neill describes this space as one where miracles can happen. Just the other week, a client described it as being able to feel the magic in that space.

This isn’t a post about finding an eloquent or elegant way to explain that feeling, but to point towards something that we can sense, even when words fail us. It’s a feeling that, for me, includes a sense of safety, allowing us to play and explore.

The Magic of “Holding Space”

“Holding space” might sound like a task, but it’s more about creating an environment where your client feels safe and supported. It’s about fostering a connection that allows for openness and exploration. When love and trust reign in this space, the impossible often becomes attainable.

The Feeling of Peaceful Love

In those moments of true connection, there’s a palpable feeling—a blend of peace, love, and clarity. This isn’t just about being nice or kind; it’s about genuinely caring for your client’s journey and believing in their potential. This sense of peaceful love can be the catalyst for profound breakthroughs.

Inviting Miracles

Miracles in coaching don’t always mean dramatic, life-altering changes. They can be subtle shifts in perspective, moments of deep insight, or the courage to take a small but significant step forward. By holding space with love and presence, we create the conditions for these miracles to occur.

Creating a Safe Space for Exploration

Safety in coaching isn’t just physical; it’s emotional and psychological. When clients feel safe, they’re more willing to take look at what seems risky, take action, make mistakes as part of learning, and explore new possibilities.

Remember, this post isn’t about having the perfect words but about pointing towards a shared experience that, even when words seem insufficient, can be profoundly felt. It’s about fostering a space where both you and your client can connect deeply, explore freely, and achieve the seemingly impossible.

About Jen Waller

Jen Waller

Jen Waller is a transformative coach dedicated to empowering individuals to get out of their own way and make a meaningful impact in the world. With an impactful, nurturing coaching style, Jen supports clients in unlocking their potential and achieving their goals. As an experienced coach and trainer, she guides clients from self-doubt to success.

Discover how Jen can support you to get out of your own way here.

Challenging Illusions: Thought-Provoking Questions for Coaches

The image shows an intricate pattern of tiles on the ground, creating a visually striking geometric design. The tiles are arranged in a way that forms an optical illusion of three-dimensional cubes or a zigzag pattern, depending on the viewer's perspective. The tiles are in shades of gray and off-white, enhancing the illusion of depth and dimension. The text reads: "Then I grew up, and the beauty of succulent illusions fell away from me." (F. Scott Fitzgerald)

The quote of the day is:

“Then I grew up, and the beauty of succulent illusions fell away from me.” (F. Scott Fitzgerald)

Questions For Coaches:

  • What do you think the relationship between coaching and being realistic is?
  • What role did illusions play in your earlier life, and how do you view them now?
  • Using an example of something you’d like to see more about, if you look at it as an adult, what do you notice? If you look at it from a child like perspective, now what do you notice?

Bonus Questions:

  • How have your perceptions of reality changed as you’ve matured?
  • How do you differentiate between thoughts created by your mind and the true essence of your experiences?
  • What business beliefs or ideals did you hold when you started your coaching practice, and how have they changed?

About Jen Waller

Jen Waller

Jen Waller is a transformative coach dedicated to empowering individuals to get out of their own way and make a meaningful impact in the world. With an impactful, nurturing coaching style, Jen supports clients in unlocking their potential and achieving their goals. As an experienced coach and trainer, she guides clients from self-doubt to success.

Discover how Jen can support you to get out of your own way here

Cultivating Self-Care: A Life-Long Journey of Kindness

To love oneself is the beginning of a life long romance. Oscar Wilde600 x 400 px 1

“To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.” (Oscar Wilde)

Yesterday was International Self-Care Day, and I had intended to write this post then. However, when I sat down to write and asked myself what I could do in that moment to take better care of myself, the answer I got was to write this a day later and take a nap—which cleared up the start of a headache right away.

In the past, I would have powered through and written the post regardless. Now, I analyse and prioritize in a much kinder manner to myself. In fact, asking myself, “What can I do in this moment to be kinder to myself?” has become a mental practice I associate with self-care.

I could beat myself up for posting this a day after the actual International Self-Care Day, but why would I do that? I find that posts like this often reach the people who need them most at the right time for them—not necessarily on an arbitrary, declared international day. Moreover, taking care and being kind to yourself is a habit that should extend beyond just one day a year.

So, in that vein, what can you do right now to be kinder to yourself?

I invite you to actually take a moment to ask yourself that question and see what the answer is for you—I can wait while you do that! 😉

I hope you took that moment, and if you’re still reading, I’m guessing your answer wasn’t to stop what you’re doing and have a nap. Maybe it was to adjust your posture, or perhaps just take a moment to focus on your breathing and the simplicity that can bring. Did you take a second to drink more water or change the temperature of the room you’re in?

For some, the answer might have been something with a larger impact—perhaps you realized you didn’t need to dwell on a habitual thought that usually brings you down or had a fresh perspective and saw that you had been looking at something in an unhelpful way.

You may or may not have been surprised by the answer that came to you. If it was followed by a judgmental thought like “I should have known to do that already,” remember: you did know, which is why the answer came to you. And has beating yourself up with such judgmental thinking ever helped you remember faster? Probably not. So how about skipping the self-judgment and seeing what a difference that makes?

If that seems like a big leap, then consider doing it as an experiment. You get to choose how long you run the experiment for—start with a small stretch of time and, if you find that you don’t dislike the experience, extend the experiment a bit longer. By approaching it this way, you can observe the effects of being kinder to yourself without feeling pressured to make a permanent change immediately. Think of it as giving yourself the grace to explore a new way of thinking and being.

Remember, self-care and kindness towards oneself are not confined to a single day, but are ongoing practices that enrich our lives daily. By experimenting with small acts of self-compassion and observing their impact, you can gradually cultivate a more nurturing relationship with yourself.

So today, and every day, ask yourself: “What can I do right now to be kinder to myself?” Embrace the answers that come to you, and let them guide you towards a more balanced and fulfilling life. After all, loving oneself truly is the beginning of a life-long romance.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If it resonated with you, feel free to share your thoughts or your own self-care practices in the comments below.

About Jen Waller

Jen Waller

Jen Waller is a transformative coach dedicated to empowering individuals to get out of their own way and make a meaningful impact in the world. With an impactful, nurturing coaching style, Jen supports clients in unlocking their potential and achieving their goals. As an experienced coach and trainer, she guides clients from self-doubt to success.

Discover how Jen can support you to get out of your own way here.

A Short Clip From Last Week’s Coaching From The Soul Conversation

A few months ago, as part of a community project, some coaching colleagues and myself, started to livestream conversations we were having sharing about what we were seeing about what it means to be human.

In this clip, I talk about what I was referring to as wisdom, but some think of it as intuition, universal guidance and others prefer to talk about it as a divine guidance. It’s that invisible nudge that seems to come out of the blue and give you the answer, or you just get a gut feeling about knowing what to do about something etc.

How to Watch More Coaching From The Soul

To watch the whole live stream that this clip came from, you can see that here.

The Coaching From The Soul YouTube channel has lots of short clips taken from previous conversations, as well as the complete past chats.

To find the dates for the upcoming calls, and even put them straight into your calendar, visit https://calendarlink.com/event/collection/ff1c4fbb-70b3-44b0-8951-f69eb13a7fe1

About Jen Waller

Jen Waller

Jen Waller is a transformative coach dedicated to empowering individuals to get out of their own way and make a meaningful impact in the world. With an impactful, nurturing coaching style, Jen supports clients in unlocking their potential and achieving their goals. As an experienced coach and trainer, she guides clients from self-doubt to success.

Discover how Jen can support you to get out of your own way here.

Shine: Thought-Provoking Questions for Coaches

A black background has a single lit candle in the centre of the image, with the flame giving out an orange glow of light. The text reads: "It’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness." (Proverb)

The quote of the day is:

“It’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness.” (Proverb)

Questions For Coaches:

  • What does this proverb prompt for you in connection to coaching?
  • If you were to shine a light as suggested in this proverb onto something to do with your coaching or coaching practice, what would that be?
  • How do you encourage clients that it is safe to shine a light into the darkness?
  • What small step, like lighting a candle, would make a huge difference to you, right now?

Bonus Questions

  • How can focusing on opportunities rather than obstacles help your coaching business grow?
  • What are some small steps you can take to bring more light into your life?
  • What does this proverb prompt for you in reference to coaching?
  • What if you were the light that could shine?

About Jen Waller

Jen Waller

Jen Waller is a transformative coach dedicated to empowering individuals to get out of their own way and make a meaningful impact in the world. With an impactful, nurturing coaching style, Jen supports clients in unlocking their potential and achieving their goals. As an experienced coach and trainer, she guides clients from self-doubt to success.

Discover how Jen can support you to get out of your own way here.

Questions For Coaches on World Listening Day

A white crow is stood facing towards the right. The text reads: "Everybody talks, nobody listens. Good listeners are as rare as white crows." (Helen Keller)

As today is World Listening Day the quote of the day is:

“Everybody talks, nobody listens. Good listeners are as rare as white crows.” (Helen Keller)

Questions For Coaches

  • What does listening mean to you?
  • When was the last time you felt truly heard by someone? How did it make you feel?
  • When you coach, are you listening for something in particular?
  • What role does listening play in building trust and rapport with clients?
  • How could your listening be even stronger?

Bonus Questions

  • What role does presence play in your listening practices?
  • How can you foster a coaching environment where listening is prioritised and valued?
  • When was the last time you listened to yourself at the same level as when you are coaching?
  • What question would you ask about listening?

About Jen Waller

Jen Waller

Jen Waller is a transformative coach dedicated to empowering individuals to get out of their own way and make a meaningful impact in the world. With an impactful, nurturing coaching style, Jen supports clients in unlocking their potential and achieving their goals. As an experienced coach and trainer, she guides clients from self-doubt to success.

Discover how Jen can support you to get out of your own way here

Opportunities: Coaching Questions on Recognition, Evaluation, and Intuition

A navy blue piece of paper has a strip torn and folded back on itself so that a whole is exposed in the middle of the paper. Below that gap, is a white surface with the word Opportunity printed in red. The text reads: "Opportunities do not come with their values stamped upon them." (Maltbie Davenport Babcock)

The quote of the day is:

“Opportunities do not come with their values stamped upon them.” (Maltbie Davenport Babcock)

Questions For Coaches

  • How do you recognize and evaluate new opportunities in your life?
  • What criteria do you use to determine the value of an opportunity?
  • What role does intuition play in your decision-making process regarding opportunities?
  • If you knew there was an opportunity you hadn’t seen yet, what would that be?

Bonus Questions

  • How do your thoughts shape your perception of opportunities?
  • How do you address clients’ fears or doubts about pursuing uncertain opportunities?
  • How do your long-term goals and vision influence your perception and evaluation of opportunities?

About Jen Waller

Jen Waller

Jen Waller is a transformative coach dedicated to empowering individuals to get out of their own way and make a meaningful impact in the world. With an impactful, nurturing coaching style, Jen supports clients in unlocking their potential and achieving their goals. As an experienced coach and trainer, she guides clients from self-doubt to success.

Discover how Jen can support you to get out of your own way here.