Nourishment ‘Today, like every other day, We wake up empty and frightened. Don’t open the door to the study and begin reading Take down the musical instrument – Let the beauty you love be what you do. There are hundred of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.’ RUMI 2012 is a pivotal time. Whatever […]
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A Walk in the Park
Throughout this year Ian Mackenzie and I have been meeting with coaches and coach supervisors for a monthly lunch time hour of mindfulness in the Park. It has been a blessing that every single month the weather has given us the thumbs up with exceptionally attractive weather. I have really enjoyed coming back to the […]
Cultivating mindfulness is essential now
Cultivating mindfulness is essential now. Margaret Chapman writes: ‘Looking at the apparent speed by which mindfulness is crossing over from the clinical into the organisational field, it appears that being mindful is now the new yardstick by which pioneering organisations and their leaders are being judged. Today’s leaders not only have to be emotionally […]
The Heart of our Work
‘Who you are is how you coach’….yes, I know that you have heard this before! I know that because I keep bleating on about it. This sentence popped out of my mouth many years ago in conversation with my good friend and colleague, Aboodi Shabi. We were on our fourth cup of coffee and were […]
Living fields…….living spaces
In coaching, we are rightly concerned with our personal development, our self-observational skills and our in-the-moment monitoring of our body/mind/spirit as we work with others. Indeed, this practice is evidence that we have got beyond the early stages of professional development and the attachment to our models. We can now notice who and how we […]
Silences, mindful presence and pausing for breath
Right on cue, Amanda Ridings, CSA graduate, has sent in this piece. I hope that you find it useful and that it might whet your appetite to read ‘Pause for Breath’ her recent, excellent book on dialogue . Edna Murdoch ——————————————————————————————————————————————————— See how nature – trees, flowers, grass -grows in silence; See the stars, […]
The Bishop of London re-contracts.
It’s been so interesting this week to see the shift in the attitude of St Paul’s, to the demonstrators. This is the stuff of contracting and re-contracting. Full marks to the church for changing its position after dialogue with the demonstrators. Full marks too, not only for a key figure to get out of the […]
Mindfulness explored
There is much discussion in coaching, at the moment, about mindfulness. Fiona Adamson, who helped to establish CSA and currently supervises some of our students, writes the superb piece below. It sets out clearly, the benefits of a mindfulness approach in coaching. Although it is written for coach supervisors, it applies just as well to […]
A New Start
Last week, we (CSA) began the sixth annual training for coach supervisors. You can picture this new group – training team included! – eager to get going after much pre-course preparation. I am always fascinated by these first minutes/hours in a new situation, particularly one which brings together a group of very experienced coaches, many […]
Do you suffer from ‘Pathological Altruism’?
I am intrigued to discover that this autumn, OUP are publishing a scholarly volume of essays on the theme of Pathological Altruism. The NYT says that: ‘The book is the first comprehensive treatment of the idea that when ostensibly generous “how can I help you?” behavior is taken to extremes, misapplied or stridently rhapsodized, […]
