Coaching Modalities

Hawaiian healers believe that illness is caused by breaking spiritual laws. Ho’oponopono is believed to allow the reconciliation and release of accumulated karma. The word Ho’oponopono translates as ‘correction’. Historically, the Hawaiian Ho’oponopono healing system was delivered alongside a senior family member or priest to guide the healing process.

Healer Morrnah Nalamaku Simeona adapted this traditional Ho’oponopono practice of family mutual forgiveness. This meant that the transformational process no longer required the presence of a trained practitioner and could be conducted alone.  For this contribution, she was recognized in 1983 as a living treasure of Hawaii.

Therapist Dr. Hew Len was an avid student of Morrnah’s adapted technique until her passing in 1992. He was convinced by the healing of his daughter’s decade-long suffering from shingles. So much so, that he subsequently used it in 1984 with inmates at a high-security psychiatric facility. The use of the adapted Ho’opononopono was so successful that the inmates were moved to lower security alternatives and the facility was closed.

Success seems to be about making your time count. It is not necessarily about squeezing more into the time you have. This means you do not have to be stressed out and time-pressured to make great progress. You just need a great goal and great steps.

Begin by effectively defining your overall goal. You need to have a sense of what you don’t know and what is realistic. In other words, you can definitively identify the gap between where you are now and where you want to go: With an understanding that you cannot become a world-class athlete if you have never worked out.

Next, you need to be motivated to engage. Your plan should include opportunities to put what you are learning into practice and get some kind of feedback that allows you to adapt. This is where the steps you identify are critical.

The space of uncertainty is magical because it contains the seeds of creation. Not Knowing is OK, but it often doesn’t feel that way. When we don’t know, it can be uncomfortable because we have no framework from which to plan our activities in the external world. However, this is a time for internal rather than external movement. A process that is driven by much questioning and reflection and the opportunity to connect to our intuition and higher-self more deeply. Moreover, it is well documented as a critical stage in the developmental cycle. In other words, it is absolutely a part of the human process.

One of these models is Frederick Hudson’s Cycle of Renewal which has four phases.

The Wheel of Life is a very powerful coaching tool because it prompts a conscious examination of your experience of life. You can repeatedly apply this tool over time as a prompt to refining your life.

However, to get the absolute most out of this coaching tool you have to be open to change.

Often our mindset can impede our ability to fully engage if we think things are set as they are. This includes our ability to change ourselves and our capabilities as well as our ability to change things in our environment and circumstance. In other words, our belief that our internal attributes or our external situation is fixed can prevent us from taking action to make small changes.

So, start by setting the intention to be wide open to any adaptations you might need to make and then engage in the Wheel of Life introspection.