Often people ask me what this coaching is all about. One of my answers is: ‘to make more possible for those who choose to work with me’. A justified question then is how I do that when I don’t give advice, which is correct as I’m not an expert in so many fields. One central theme in my approach is to access the awareness/wisdom of the being.
Whether you believe it’s ‘inside of us’ or that it’s out there in some way and we can access it, the point is there’s more relevant information available to us than what our narrative holds at any given point in time. We are our beliefs as they say. Or according to the Buddha, we become what we think. And we’re taught to mostly use our left brain.
To access our being’s awareness or wisdom, you don’t need to do a lot. On the contrary: you just need to do nothing. And that of course is the hard part at the same time. We’re so programmed to be busy. We’re condemned to doing stuff and preferably all of the time, that doing nothing is regarded as a sin. As a waste of time. Many people I know tell me they feel really uncomfortable doing nothing. Especially if that lasts longer than a minute or so. Obviously, I get that as, me too, I’ve been schooled in the same system as most of you here. Doing nothing is no good. Hmmmm.
Of course, you can make a formal practice of ‘doing nothing’ by taking up some kind of meditation. And that may be very useful indeed but you can also do it in a much less formal way. Gazing out of the window, take a brief nap, go for a walk. Take a look at this 16 min Ted Talk by journalist Manoush Zomorodi. A lot goes on in our brains when we ‘zone out’ as she calls it. Most remarkable: new connections are being made. And ideas can pop up, seemingly out of nowhere and without being discarded by our belief system right away.
I heard the famous film director Steven Spielberg once say that you need to listen carefully to that special voice inside of you. That little, soft voice that informs you about stuff our intellectual mind can’t fully come to terms with. Perhaps it’s an upcoming decision, an important event in your career or in your life, or a situation you’re in and of which you’re not clear in what direction to move. You can only hear what it has to say by paying attention to it and by listening carefully because that voice speaks softly and never shouts at you.
Take about two minutes and look at this video. And then…. Just let it sink in, allow yourself a few moments to do nothing and notice what happens within you.
Geert Hofman 