Health in Harmony: From Music Teacher to Health Coach

Discovering the World of Coaching

I was initially introduced to coaching by a trustee of Music Masters, the organisation I did my PGCE as a music teacher training through. What attracted me was the "don't jump in to help" approach, but "support them using their own lens and your own silence" method. I could see the permission for absolute freedom in that.

What changed primarily through my coaching studies was myself! I got to see deeper into my behaviours, beliefs and way of living. I softened where I was hard, I got strengthened over areas I needed encouragement, and I matured in practical ways especially when it came to my self-talk and understanding others without sticking to my ways of understanding the world.

An acquaintance of mine told me about The Coaching Academy who emphasised how flexible but substantial the courses were, even studying through the lockdowns.  I started the course 3 years ago when I was 26 and was still building my career. I had time to avail for studies, so I consider finding coaching so early in life a blessing.  

When I start courses that I choose to qualify on, I like to devote time and complete them properly and promptly. However, there have been times, because of work and life matters, where I had to create the time to progress my studies.  My peers as well as the inspiring webinars & accelerators fuelled me forward.  Working with other like-minded people was so rewarding. It just so happened that my practical coaching sessions were met through partnering mainly with other women on the course. Those women have uplifted me and collaborated with me in the most fruitful ways. The friendships are priceless to this day, and the discoveries we made together, invaluable.  The coaching session example videos on the platform were everything at the beginning of the course. Countless, meaningful books like “The Courage to be Disliked” by Ichiro Kishim and Fumitage Koga, inspired me the most. The breakout rooms during Peer-to-Peer sessions were always a joy, and all the practical hours to be completed were definitely very much appreciated when I finished the course: you get out to the real world with actual practical experience!

From Life Coaching to Health Coaching  

Coaching has become second nature, and so often I use everything that transformed me without realising. It's in the everyday micro-negotiations that I find myself being guided by what I can't unsee or unlearn now. In terms of work, I'm slowly building my business at this time.  During my Life Coaching Diploma my health was coincidentally reversed through the Keto and Carnivore Diets and life led me to Health Coaching along with what I call ‘Conscientious Becoming’ which, within the context of my personal business, emphasises prioritising ‘rest’ before ‘work’.  

My favourite coaching “tool” is actually a core coaching skill...listening! Listening truly, without expectations and detecting where the client is coming from so that my response to them makes all the sense in their own world! Another one is creative questions engaging the imagination; even though some people aren't fans of those and that's okay, I do find that if the imagination is engaged through the preferred learning method (visual, aural, kinesthetic, synesthetic etc.) of the client, most people find that they have an opportunity to be creative again!

People say that I build rapport quickly and that they feel they are offered space to think calmly. They feel free and comfortable in themselves because they know they aren't accepted and met where they are. They say that they are challenged in ways they can't forget because they have been impacted kindly, carefully, yet deeply.

Coaching Isn’t About Giving Advice

More and more people are calling themselves "coaches". Yet, these same people put themselves out there throwing buckets of advice that become a complex of confusing voices inside people who receive it. Even, if people admit they are not coaches in the traditional sense, I believe there's a lot of education to be delivered over how giving advice impersonally and untimely is simply wrong. People are born with free will and they know themselves better than anyone. My choice is to be one of those people who give permission to individuals to stand their ground and decide who they become through the chain of choices that is good for them.

If you really want it, don't rush it. Don't listen to the world telling you you're running out of time. You can afford some extra time. Slow down, find calm, pour yourself a cuppa and devote a little quality time when you can to learn from people ahead of you, qualify as a coach yourself and later research what works for you business-wise.   Also, allow yourself to be coached on the journey, pre- and post-qualification!   Often, we ‘workshop’ matters in our heads and we think we figured it all out or that we can't figure it out further, but then a coach asks an insightful question we couldn't "see" ourselves, we talk out loud, and we find ourselves in a destination we could had never bring ourselves to alone.

The Power of Health Coaching

Along with my life coaching qualification, I am also a Primal Health & Nutrition Expert. I would love to build my business through more of my own 1:1 clients.  At the same time, I'm naturally a team player and would love to try to be absorbed by companies, even within the medical system, as Health Coaching gains popularity and professionals start acknowledging the power of someone taking charge of their health through a knowledgeable and skilful coach.  

As a health coach who has worked on her own health in her own time and away from the spotlight, I would simply encourage individuals that, if your experiencing symptoms that are pain-pointers to you despite our conventional health systems telling you that it's natural to live with those, do your own research and don't hesitate to use a coach to help you through. And who knows, maybe you will find yourself coaching others in the future, too!

Thank you Alkistis for sharing your transformational and inspiring coaching journey story with us!