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Health Fitness Coaching Skill
We all hold aspirations for optimal health fitness. Whether these relate to health - womens health, meaningful work experiences, Spiritual, Financial Health And Wellness or satisfying and fulfilling Personal Relationships. After all, achievement of these personal life goals enables us to live more rounded, well-balanced and deeply satisfying lives.
Yet, few of us know how to go about achieving this level of health and fitness fulfillment in our lives. But just imagine if you knew how to tap into your own unique arsenal of health & fitness life coaching skills to create the life you truly deserve. It is not as far outside your reach as you might imagine!
I am going to share with you some health and fitness information on pre-requisite life coaching skills that you can start nurturing today to move you closer toward your fitness health - womens health and aspirational goalpost.
A paramount health fitness skill relate to communication. Two key elements of effective communication is firstly the ability to truely listen to yourself and secondly, the ability to effectively question yourself. By listening I mean 'active listening'. With self-coaching you must, first and foremost, have these skills in place so you can work toward developing a sound relationship of understanding with yourself.
Active listening refers to hearing both the verbal and non-verbal communications. It is a quality of listening that involve the use of your ears as well as your eyes.
In a professional coaching session, the life coach will use active listening skills to interpret the client's communications. That is, - what the client is saying as well as reading the client's non-verbal cues (body language) to see if they support or are at odds with what is being said.
By listening at this level, the life coach is able to understand the client's situation; how the client is experiencing that situation; and support the client in uncovering deep-seated information about what s/he truly want. It is this quality of information and understanding that is used to facilitate the client in actively working on creating that reality for him/herself.
Eliciting Health & Fitness Information
This is precisely what you will need to do for yourself in self- coaching. When you listen on this level, you rely on physical cues to enhance your understanding, thus enabling you to recognise and subsequently explore any personal contradictions or conflicts you experience between what you observe about yourself and what your inner voice is saying to you.
We have all experienced or witnessed such instances where someone is asked if they're happy about something. Their verbal response appears to be an emphatic 'yes', yet, on closer scrutiny of their body language, you see that they are really not happy or sure about what they're saying 'yes' to. This is called 'incongruence' - (when the verbal and non- verbal just don't marry).
To some extent, we all do this with ourselves too. Just as we talk ourselves into doing certain things we perhaps don't particularly want to do, we can also talk our way out of some of the things we need to do. This happens often when we feel challenged or are likely to be taken out of our comfort zone.
What Excuses Are you Making About Your Health - Womens Health And Fitness Goals?
Let's say for example you have a health, a womens health issue or a women's fitness goal. You tell yourself you are going to take positive action to attain that particular health fitness goal. On paper, you are 100% committed because you have written a clear fitness health goal - perhaps to 'start eating healthily'.
You also have a clearly written goal action plan, setting out the various smaller steps you will now take toward achieving your bigger goal. For example, you might want to obtain some additional health fitness information or you might plan on reading a well- written health and fitness article or, to make an appointment with the dietician/nutritionist.
But, something is preventing you from moving forward with one or more of these actions. You keep putting off that important step of making an appointment with the dietician for example. You might tell yourself 'I'll definately do it tomorrow' but tomorrow you make exactly the same excuse.
This is where your highly developed health fitness skill of actively listening to yourself can help you get to the bottom of what's wrong. Really listening will help you to acknowledge when your comfort zone feels threatened and why this might be so.
You might for instance be harbouring some embarrassment or fear about being judged on your weight at weigh-in; or of receiving official confirmation that you are obese; or you might even feel apprehensive or challenged by the prospect of starting a whole new healthy eating regime. Even though you may be fully committed to your goal, harbouring these kinds of fears can sabotage your efforts toward achieving it.
This is why it is so important that you use your journal to record all your goal-setting activities; the processes you are working through; for self-questioning/listening; and to chart the feedback you receive from your inner voice. When you read back your recordings be sure to listen actively. Are you able to see any inconsistencies between what you had told yourself you wanted and what your inner voice is now throwing up into your consciousness?
Your journaling activity will generate a better quality of self- questioning; answers to your womens fitness issue; as well as highlighting issues of concern that might have been deeply buried in your unconscious. You can learn more about what journaling is and how to journal, here.
The Relevance Of Communication And Your Women's Health Fitness Goals
When you can understand your own communications, you understand the nature of the health fitness barriers or any other women's fitness issues or challenges that are confronting you and your goals. This quality of health & fitness information enables you to address the issue of any incongruence you may be experiencing; for, as long as one part of you want your health & fitness goal and the other part of you is going in the opposite direction, you will not make progress.
This is why it is so important that you follow closely the 5-part activity goal setting guidance and use the suggested goal setting forms when setting any of your women fitness health goals.
The format will help you tap into your active listening skills, enabling you to identify any possible challenges or barriers that might get in the way of achieving your women's health fitness, weight loss diet or any other health goals for that matter.
When you learn how to effectively communicate with yourself, you'll communicate more effectively with others too.
"Seek not outside yourself, heaven is within". (Mary Lou Cook)
The information on this site is purely of educational value and is not intended to replace your seeking medical advice. You must consult your doctor over all your health concerns.
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