 Arcana Coaching - Our Influences
We believe in drawing on and using whatever piece of knowledge, technique or experience available that best fits the present and individual situation of each of our clients. We are not locked into the dogma of one particular system, set of techniques or whatever management speak may currently be in fashion. There is very little new out there – even if there are apparently endless ways of expressing similar things!
Power or Empowerment?
Many of us complain about being disempowered or that we have no control over our lives. We are passionate about empowerment – it is at the heart of everything we do. We believe that far too many things are done to or for people and communities when they would be better done by them. Our approach is about finding bespoke bottom-up solutions tailored to real-life situations rather than top-down or one-size-fits-all ones.
For us, empowerment is not about having power over others but power over our own decision-making and the direction we chose to take. It is impossible to control or plan for everything that might happen, but we can control and choose how we respond to events or changes in our lives. The resulting self-awareness and mastery maximises our ability to realise our full potential as human beings.
Communication, Communication, Communication…
The undisputed, chart-topping cause of problems in life, relationships, business or creative performance is poor communication. Putting aside the issue of literally speaking different languages (though even this can be overcome), the principal reason why people do not communicate well is stress.
High stress levels cause the body to tense, adrenalin to rise and attention to be focused on getting through or getting away from the stressful situation. This is no more than our natural, hard-wired 'fight or flight' response kicking-in to protect us from what our system perceives as harmful to our best interests. Without it our species would not have got beyond being lunch for woolly mammoths or sabre tooth tigers.
Stress can continue to build up for many years – even an entire lifetime – without being recognised for what it is. In the long-hours, 24-7 culture that many of us now live in, this can even be regarded as normal. However, if it carries on without the root causes being addressed, you may become ill, depressed, lose your creative edge, and life can appear to be meaningless – with potentially devastating results. It does not have to be like this.
Now, step back in time...
Language is very important, of course, and one of the modern popular coaching systems developed over the last 40 years or so that is based on how we use and are influenced by language is NLP. NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) draws on earlier work by notable names such as Milton Erickson - founder of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis - to provide tools and techniques which can be applied effectively to any situation. While we do not like the way NLP has been turned into techniques to sell people even more stuff they do not need ever more effectively, we nevertheless think some of the techniques are really useful.
In turn, we can trace the ideas behind NLP and other modern systems back to even older roots, one of which we particularly like being Huna. Huna is a Hawaiian word which refers to the ancient wisdom of Polynesia, which may be as much as 35,000 years old. It is usually translated as meaning ‘secret’, but may also be stated as ‘small’ or ‘difficult to see’ (it is not really secret but requires some effort to see and tune into it). Some of the popular publications of recent years claiming to have secret knowledge of how the world works can sound awfully similar.
The key concept in Huna philosophy is that we create our own experience of reality through our beliefs and actions. We are the co-creators of our universe and our reality belongs to us - not some secret code that can only be understood by fee paying initiates. Huna shows us how to create our reality consciously. It provides a way of increasing personal empowerment and energy without the need for any fixed belief system.
Above all though, we draw on actual life experience and successful methods and strategies we have experienced directly and through the people we work with. What matters is that you get where you want to go.
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