Health Coaching, experimenting with what you can become

At the root, health coaching stems from the need to re-educate people about health and promote prevention. More and more people find themselves broken from stress, anxiety and unhealthy food choices. Health coaches help you in setting goals and implementing healthier routines. Nevertheless, health coaching offers more than healthy habits. It is a special self-development work for anyone who wants to better themselves and live in a more conscious way. With understanding of the self, you are dissolving barriers and opening the doors to becoming more “whole”. Ultimately, living your life more connected and with a more elevated vision of life.

To start with, lets get clear on what are the areas covered in health coaching. Many people relate health coaches with nutritionists. However, nutrition is only a small part of what we do. The food you eat has of course a direct impact on your body and wellbeing but it is what we consider “secondary food”. In fact, the primary “food” for your mind, body and soul are relationships, physical exercise, career and spirituality which are closely interconnected with your wellbeing. Think about it: how healthy can you be if you have a great diet but are working long hours in a job you hate and that lacks purpose? Or if you are in an abusive relationship for example? The power of these areas is immense and should not be overlooked.

Health coaching is then based on four simple concepts: listening, powerful questioning, setting goals and inspiring you to take action.

Like any other self-development work, health coaching will require you to look deeply into yourself and who you are: your thoughts, your feelings, your habits, your desires. This will be the baseline for a work towards an improved version of yourself. Because, how can you know where you are heading if you don’t know where you stand? Health coaching relies on the belief that each person holds the answers and knows what is best for them. Sometimes they just need to be shown support to have the courage to look at what they really want without any external influences. This is where powerful questions and real listening without judgement come into play.

Furthermore, health coaches act as “coaches from the side lines”. We might sense what is best for you but really, at the end of the day, willingness to change has to come from yourself. Nevertheless, we are here to help motivate you, guide you and keep you accountable for those changes you are desiring to make. Finally, we are of course able to give you loads of advice, tips or exercises that will help you be more healthy but we need to take into account that each person is different.

Bioindividuality is considered all along the process. What works for one might not work for the other. We have different bodies, different tastes and different motivators and this is why having someone close to you that advises you on the most adequate solution for YOU is so important. Hence, health coaching is a highly personalized work that requires the full understanding of the uniqueness of each individual.

What I believe holds the whole process together is “experimenting”. The curiosity and discipline of the client to experiment different solutions along the program is what will allow him to find new habits that they want to adopt in the long term. Might they be self care practices, coping methods, a new sport or new ingredients, they will only truly adopt them once they have experienced its positive outcomes. You naturally “crowd out” what is bad for you and adopt what is good, but sometimes you need to be shown the way. This is where health coaching becomes a beautiful journey in which you dismantle whatever limiting belief you hold about yourself. Through experimenting, you experience what you can become.

As your self-development journey begins, you will come to realize that health coaching does not teach you a set of techniques but a lifestyle. Because, being healthy and happy comes from consistent healthy habits but also from a mindset and perspective of life you adopt.