What is coaching?

A series of purposeful conversations between client and coach.

Curiosity, exploration and discovery about big stories and small stories.

Provocative questions, heartfelt listening, and compassionate rigor catalyzing movement.

An opportunity for aliveness in the face of uncertainty.

“We can try to control the uncontrollable by looking for security and predictability, always hoping to be comfortable and safe. But the truth is that we can never avoid uncertainty. This not knowing is part of the adventure, and it’s also what makes us afraid…The central question of a warrior’s training is not how we avoid uncertainty and fear but how we relate to discomfort.”

Pema Chodron—The Places That Scare You

One client’s story

A client came to me in a panic. She was an artist and wanted very much to show her work. To do so meant making lots of “scary” phone calls, creating several new pieces of work, structuring her time, and asking “strangers” for help. Her palms began to sweat at the thought. We began work in the spring. Where coaching provided the structure and support, her desire for the show provided the urgency. Together it was just the boost she needed to have those “scary” conversations, to discipline herself to a schedule and to produce new art. As she hung her pictures that fall, she celebrated--her emergence as an artist and as a human being.