Your participation in this training program indicates that you are attuned to the spiritual dimension of life. Our lessons and practice embrace a metaphysical foundation of coaching and healing. To effect real and lasting change in our clients’ lives, we must work at the causational level of experience. Some coaching students wrestle with if and how to integrate their spiritual beliefs into their coaching practice. They fear that they will appear “woo-woo” to their clients, or if they are integrating coaching skills into a traditional vocation such as medicine, law, psychotherapy, or teaching, their behavior will fall outside the lines in which professionals are expected to color. Others feel guilty if they do not stand for the spiritual beliefs they hold dear.
There does need to be any problem or conflict with integrating your spirituality into your coaching or professional practice. It is not a matter of if you can do it, and more of a matter of how you do it. Many of our graduates in mainstream professions have successfully infused their spiritual values into their vocation. Here are some tips on how to do this:
Use your profession’s vocabulary to express spiritual principles.
If you are clear and confident in your spiritual beliefs, you can find a vocabulary to express the truth you hold dear. If you read some of the most successful business books by world-renowned experts such as Stephen Covey and Ken Blanchard, you will recognize that their philosophy is founded in deep spiritual wisdom. (Blanchard has dubbed himself CSO of his business—Chief Spiritual Officer.)
Spirituality can be expressed in the language of business, science, medicine, and law. (Many of these professions have holistic organizations within the profession.) Explore ways to say what you want to say using the context of the profession, and you will find effective avenues without having to compromise who you are and what you believe.
Meet your client where he or she lives.
My mentor used to say, “A mystic meets on a point of agreement.” If your client is not attuned to spiritual lingo, find ways to say what you want to say in terms he will understand. This can be an exciting challenge, quite rewarding as you master it. If your client is religious, you can use religious terminology. If your client is spiritual or “new age,” speak in those terms. If your client is rational and scientific, there are many terms in that genre that reflect higher wisdom. Truth is universal, not confined to one religion or belief system. If you sincerely ask to be guided as to what to say to your clients so as to be truly helpful to them, you will know what to say, when, and how. (“I do not have to worry about what to say or what to do, for he who sent me will direct me.”)
Regard your clients as big enough to handle spiritual concepts.
The past 3-5 decades have moved spirituality into the mainstream. Books like Chicken Soup for the Soul, Conversations with God, and The Celestine Prophecy have topped the charts and sold hundreds of millions of copies. The Secret reached people who would otherwise never have discussed the Law of Attraction, positive thinking, or creative visualization. Celebrities like Oprah Winfrey have delivered phenomenal esoteric wisdom to the masses. Deepak Chopra and his peers have brought medicine to a new level of holistic awareness. Health food stores that once were little holes in the wall have blossomed into mega-corporations like Whole Foods Markets. Major cities have yoga studios on practically every street. The world is far more open to spiritual vision and belief than it used to be. As people are the barraged by media reports of bad news, they are moved to seek deeper answers about who we are and why we are here. Spirituality is in vogue. You might be pleasantly surprised to find how receptive your clients may be to spiritual ideas.
Have the courage to speak and live authentically.
One of the key skills you seek to inculcate in your clients is authenticity. The best way to teach authenticity is to model it. If you are hiding out or compromising, you are not coaching to your maximum potential. Trust that the more you express your authentic self, the more you will support your clients to do the same—and the more successful you will become.
Let the Law of Attraction deliver the clients who belong to you.
When you are clear on who you are, the beliefs you value, and who you want to coach, the Law of Attraction will join you with the clients who best match you. There are many, many clients who are open to a spiritual perspective. Invite them to be with you. If other clients do not match you, you don’t want them. They will be better served by other coaches more aligned with their belief system. There are enough clients for everyone! You might specify in your brochure or on your website what your beliefs and orientation are. When advertising this coach training program, I am very clear that the foundation or the program is holistic and metaphysical. That makes a clear statement that joins me with students who are a good match, and screens those who are not a match. At the end of the day everyone is in their right place.
Do not impose your values on your clients.
Never preach or try to influence your clients to see the universe from your perspective. Never argue with a client over beliefs. You can surely help people who do not agree with your philosophy. The most spiritual philosophy of all is kindness. As you value and validate your clients for who they are and where they are, they will grow and succeed no matter what both you and they hold as true.
The purpose of spirituality is to join, not separate. Let your spiritual beliefs join you with your clients, your Higher Power, and yourself. It may be a lot easier than you think.
Exercise:
1. Do you have any doubts, fears, or hesitations about expressing your spiritual or metaphysical beliefs in your coaching practice?
If so, what does the voice of doubt or fear say to you?
2. Do you have a desired population of clients with a particular spiritual or metaphysical orientation or belief system that you would prefer to work with?
If so, how would you describe this population?
3. How might you describe your philosophy or orientation in your website or on your brochure so you attract clients aligned with your intentions?
Affirm:
I successfully merge my spiritual beliefs with my coaching practice.
I attract clients aligned with my values and intentions.
Spiritual truth empowers me to create maximally rewarding results.
The material in this lesson © by Alan Cohen is proprietary for the education of students enrolled in
Life Coach Training Program by the Foundation for Holistic Life Coaching.
Using for any other purpose without permission is strictly prohibited.