My first question to a new client is usually: “How can I help?” So I thought I’d start an occasional series that answers the question: “How can coaching help me?”
The broad answer is: pretty much anything that’s bothering you about your life, except if you’re suffering from trauma, addiction, eating disorders, grief or depression, in which case you need therapy or counselling.
The type of coaching I practise – human potential coaching – is a holistic approach that works on every level of your being. So I’ll break it down into manageable chunks and start with the physical level.
Sometimes we know we’re not meeting all of our physical needs, sometimes we don’t. The best way to find out is by doing a physical needs audit, which will bring any issues to light.
There are nine recognised physical needs, as follows:
1. Diet and supplementation
2. Personal hygiene
3. Physical activity
4. Sleep
5. Rest
6. Relaxation
7. Optimal breathing
8. Mental aerobics
9. Healthy environment
Most people say they know what a healthy diet looks like but whether they’re actually eating well is another matter. Sometimes supplements are necessary; sometimes not.
Again, most people don’t think they need to be told how to maintain personal hygiene but this isn’t just about having a bath and flossing your teeth – it’s about getting regular health screenings, regular appointments with a dental hygienist and so on.
For some, physical activity is second nature; for others getting fit and keeping fit can be a huge struggle. However, with a bit of knowledge, motivation and planning, that struggle can turn into a good habit.
If the idea of pounding the treadmill, cycling or swimming fills you with dread then get creative and think of all the different ways in which you can be active; ways that are enjoyable to you. You won’t achieve wellbeing by punishing yourself.
Sleep deprivation is a big problem in this country. About 40 per cent of us get less than seven hours’ sleep on weekdays. A chronic lack of restorative sleep puts you at a higher risk of developing heart disease and cancer and has been shown to promote weight gain, trigger depression and anxiety, reduce immune function and increase the likelihood of accidents, so it’s vital to address if insomnia or lifestyle choices (such as consumption of drugs or alcohol) have restricted your hours of shut-eye.
Rest is an alien concept to anyone who lives by the Protestant work ethic. Rest means not doing anything. At all. It’s about scheduling “empty” periods, ideally on a daily basis, in which you can just be and reconnect with the stillness and creative impulse within.
Unlike rest, relaxation is an active process designed to trigger the physiological mechanism known as the relaxation response. By doing so your heart rate slows down, muscles relax, blood pressure and metabolism decrease and your breathing slows and deepens.
Learning how to trigger this response allows accumulated tension to dissolve.
Regular relaxation helps you manage stress, reduce pain and discomfort, increase healing and even allows you access to greater creativity.
Regular relaxation helps you manage stress, reduce pain and discomfort, increase healing and even allows you access to greater creativity.
We take breathing for granted but few of us engage in optimal breathing. This is a way of training ourselves to break bad breathing habits so that it becomes free and full, helping the body to relax, increasing energy levels, managing stress and putting you in touch with your feelings.
There is a multi-million-pound physical fitness industry in this country but very little time or money is spent on keeping mentally fit. However, mental aerobics are as important as a gym workout. Brain training is known to strengthen neural pathways and stimulate the growth of new brain cells.
It will come as no surprise to learn than a healthy environment is an important factor in improving your wellbeing. For example, being outside in nature for just 20 minutes a day can significantly boost your vitality. If it’s a sunny day, the effect will be more pronounced, as spending as little as 10 minutes a day in natural sunlight triggers the creation of vitamin D in our bodies.
My role as a coach is to get my clients to complete a physical needs audit and suggest ways in which they can improve their health and wellbeing in all nine areas. I’m not a doctor, so I don’t give medical advice – but I did my coach training with a qualified doctor (integrated medicine expert Dr Mark Atkinson), so I have access to his knowledge and wisdom.
There is quite often a physical problem underlying an emotional one, and vice versa. So a physical needs audit can give a coach plenty of information about not only a client’s physical state, but also their emotions, self-limiting beliefs and counter-productive habits.
Look out for #2 in the series – emotional needs.
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