Visualisations That Enhance Coaching Outcomes

VISUALISATIONS ENHANCING OUTCOMES

By Dr Judy Hinwood

Hello fellow coaches,

Visualisation is my most used and valued tool in coaching, and I have been using it for a very long time – I know its’ power and potential for changing the lives of my clients.

Coaches may or may not use visualization with their clients. Perhaps I can reinforce or remind you of YOUR fantastic potential to lift and help shape your clients’ lives through using this medium in your coaching.

Let’s say I’m in a COACHING SESSION WITH A CLIENT. I’m setting the scene and explaining how visualisation will support them.

“Bill…

We are thinking beings. We think all day long, and then through the night our brain thinks to sort and file our day.

Our brains process and cogitate for seven seconds before we make a decision consciously, and then we speak or act based on that decision. A key thought, is that we process and cogitate based on information we have stored away in our subconscious minds – our memories, our beliefs, our values and habits.

What if we are aware enough to recognize that we have made decisions that in hindsight have made us less than happy and healthy? Like you did last week?

Because we are intelligent people we can then choose to:

: First, delete the ‘messy bits’ in our subconscious that were behind our decisions. (through good Life Coaching)

: Install great new ideas and pictures in our subconscious mind so we can make decisions and take actions that we clearly want and that we know will create our better lives.

How does this work?

How? Our consciousness affects the behavior of miniscule subatomic particles.

Way inside each cell of our bodies tiny particles of energy are affected by every thought, every picture we shape in our minds – every one.

So, practically, how do we reshape and recreate our lives? As this topic is Visualisation, I’ll restrict myself to that.

There is a tool you may have heard of, Visualisation or Mental Imaging – have you heard of it?

Using this tool is how you will install/insert/put live pictures of the life you want into your subconscious mind, consciously, deliberately, to create the outcome you want.

Please close your eyes and I will guide you through this for a couple of minutes?

Imagine yourself creating a peaceful relationship with your husband (happier workplace/ better health/ happier family/ your goals etc.) and you have started the process of changing your life for the better (made your wishes clear to the Universe, set your Intention etc.), which becomes your reality.”

ALTERNATE LANGUAGE YOU MAY WISH TO USE

Visualisations and Imagery – What are they?

We like to think of visualisations or imageries as ‘games’ we play with our mind, though they are very real. Thoughts are real forces and they can make our lives ‘heaven’ or ‘hell’.

The pictures or movies we imagine or replay from the past in our thoughts are real energy, and they create our lives. What does that mean for us? Every thought matters, for example, if we replay the tough times of our lives and focus on those, we create more of those sorts of energies, and vice versa. When we imagine good times, we bring those to us.

It is ‘The Sowing and Reaping Law’. The thoughts that we plant, water, nurture and expect do grow and come back to us. It’s like a magnetic field. So, let’s give our mind some new and useful instructions for creating something more brilliant for ourselves.

Einstein knew we have huge resources in our minds that we can activate. These are our birthright to call on and use if we wish to, and we can learn skills to make that happen. Creating imagery in our minds is like opening a door into our future.

What we create in pictures or think strongly about is forming as we do these exercises. Holding the image strongly and adding emotions like excitement and enthusiasm about the vision, brings the picture into our lives much faster and is healing, as it is so calming. It is a highly motivating experience that moves us forward.

And we do it with our own conscious minds. Use the exercises below to prove to yourself that you can do this – as well as to bring about better health and a more peaceful and abundant life. And the more we practice, the more we create.

When we are in the middle of stress it can all look, huge and fill our minds so we can’t see how anything else can be coped with, or how we can climb over the mountain of problems. Let’s cut this stress down to size with visualizations and imageries.” From www.stresstostrength.com “9 Keys to Living Stress-Less”

My best results happen in coaching when I am very clear about the clients’ ongoing goals and wanted outcomes, and use future visualisations, to bring those to life in the sessions. In the moment having the client visualise a new version of a situation, then design simple action steps to achieve that, is hugely rewarding as the results are there. A minute or ten minutes is up to you. The clients’ relief and excitement carries them forward.

Some wonderful references to expand on these concepts are in the work of Dr Candice Pert, Dr Caroline Leaf and Dr Deepak Chopra.

This quote summarises the ‘how’:

“The body is actually a process. Every thought, feeling and emotion creates a molecule known as a neuropeptide, Neuropeptides travel through the body and hook onto receptor sites of cells and neurons (nerve cells).

Your brain takes in the information, converts it into chemicals, and lets your whole body know if there is trouble or cause for celebration. Your body is directly influenced as these molecules course through the bloodstream, delivering the energetic effect of whatever your brain is thinking and feeling”.

Harness Your Mind’s Power to Heal and Transform by Deepak Chopra, MD

There are two visualisations on our website about creating calm & healing and a future visualisation.

Do feel free to use them.

www.stresstostrength.com/free-gifts

I offer a couple of visualisations from our website for you if they aren’t already in your toolbox.

The Big Green Garbage Bag

Now, for a minute, for an hour, for a day, take all those worries off your shoulders, back and wherever else you may be storing them.

Imagine you have a big green garbage bag in front of you and you put all that stuff into it.

It’s so worth the time to check through your mind and all your body to ‘catch’ the stress and be rid of it.

You might see it, feel it, imagine it or just know where it is – whatever your gifts and talents in your mind are, use them and go for it. With no judgments; allow all this to just be fine.

TOSS THE BAG AWAY.

Then relax, do something you LOVE like painting, playing with a dog or cat, walking in nature, hiking, and do it full on and focused, so your mind can switch off and reboot itself.

Or you could find an object like a flower or an animal or piece of art that you love. Look at it, enjoy it and focus on whatever you like about it; the beauty, the sounds, the texture, the colours, and the perfume. Breathe more slowly than usual, and more deeply, for at least a few minutes. If your mind wanders, just come back to focusing on your appreciation of the special object.

Yes, you too can achieve a stress-less life.

Note: Some stressing of the body, like doing good exercise and working towards goals, is necessary, so we never suggest aiming for a ‘stress-free’ life, only a ‘stress-less’ life.

The ‘Shrink That Stress’ Tool

Best to sit straight but comfortably in a chair. Breathe deeply and low into your belly.

Remember a situation or person who is making you worried, anxious or afraid. Get into the feelings; don’t allow yourself to be afraid, as you are about to let the feelings go.

See, imagine and think of the situation or person; the place, other people involved.

I suggest that you take time to see it in colour, up close, with the sounds, smells and tastes you remember.

Make your pictures as large as you can.

However, you do this is perfect. If you start to feel alarmed, simply keep the picture small so you manage that and carry on.

“Take all those worries off your shoulders.”

Now imagine the whole picture getting smaller and smaller until it fits on the palm of your outstretched hand.

The sounds, smells and tastes get softer, the colours dimmer and the emotions you felt are drifting away into the distance.

Let it shrink further till it is just a tiny speck in your palm and it either disappears or you toss it right away. Keep breathing for a few minutes and enjoy the calm you feel.

We expect you will feel much stronger and lighter after this exercise.

By all means, repeat any of the exercises as often as you need if the emotions or situation appear again.

If you would like to add another dimension to your world, you may wish to enroll in the Certificate IV in Stress Management Practitioner or the Certificate in Stress Management Facilitator courses which are the only VET approved stress management courses in Australia.

www.stresstostrength.com/stress-management-institute-practitioner-training

Judy Hinwood is insightful and thorough and will not allow you to get away with using less than the magnificent potential she sees in you. Working with Judy is life changing and she will take you to levels you never thought possible.

As global leader in stress management Judy is committed to sharing how to embrace stress as it takes a shocking toll on people's lives, businesses and health.

Learn from this very talented and highly experienced coach and facilitator how to tap into energy resources that renew the body, mind and spirit to relieve the effects of damaging stress. judy@stresstostrength.com