I was privileged to be able to support the team at Forest Holme Hospice in Poole with the development of Mindfulness skills to help give them extra support for the incredible work they deliver day in day out.
I am proud to have been featured in their summer magazine, and on the front cover now less! I share a transcript of the article interview below so you can learn more about how I supported them and how face to face, carefully structured, tuition of mindfulness might offer key benefits for you and your organisation.
If you would like to find out more about the amazing work the Forest Holme Hospice does or you would like to support them, here is a link to their website: Forest Holme Hospice Charity
Tell us a bit about yourself and what being a Corporate and Professional Wellbeing Coach involve?
I spent 20 years working in Financial Services and whilst I was professionally successful, I was personally very dissatisfied with my life. It was ultimately this dissatisfaction and the prospect of a further 30 years in employment that drove me to change careers really with the sole intention of “at least having tried something else”.
It isn’t a noble or altruistic start to the story I am afraid…
But opening one door led to so many new possibilities and opportunities which I never imagined when I started this next phase of my life. I became a personal trainer and ended up supporting the elderly and infirm with quality-of-life physical movement and activities, working with them in their homes and in care homes and ultimately working with some of them up until the last few days of their life. This really opened my eyes to human connection and suffering and lead me to explore the world of mental health in addition to my physical health qualifications.
I became a certified coach, supporting people with physical and mental wellbeing, focusing on strategies such as mindfulness, transformational coaching, neurolinguistic programming and hypnotherapy to support my clients with their goals.
I support people from a wide range of backgrounds and circumstances in finding solutions to improve their sense of wellbeing. Sometime that involves helping them to work to change the circumstances in their lives that are not working well for them and sometimes it involves helping to improve their relationship with circumstances that are not so easy to change.
It is a dynamic, problem-solving role that requires curiosity, compassion and empathy.
How did working with Forest Holme come about?
I have long held great respect and admiration for people focusing on quality of care at end of life and supporting the families dealing with this. I know a number of people who have used Forest Holme’s services and I wanted to be able to give something back. I contacted you and offered to help and you were kind enough to let me come and show some mindfulness programmes to your team.
Can you explain what’s involved in the staff wellbeing sessions?
We work through the structure of my 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Programme which is a step by step programme to help bring mindfulness strategies and approaches to aspects of our life which are most difficult. It is a mix of guided mindfulness practices, practical psychology and simple but effective home practice invitations. Together we seek to cultivate a sense of curiosity, kindness and compassion to the thoughts of our mind that so often colour our experience.
What has been the impact and has the feedback been positive?
The feedback from the team has been so wonderful. From simply realising you are not the only one dealing with a particular thought pattern or habitual behaviour, to cultivating a better sense of kindness for their own struggles and needs. Mindfulness helps improve the relationship we have with our thoughts, which can improve all aspects of our lives, reducing stress, improving our relationships and helping us to sleep better.
Have you noticed an increase in demand since the pandemic?
Absolutely! The pandemic has really reinforced the need for people to take more note of their mental strength and resilience. It can feel like we are permanently in a threat environment and so we need to take deliberate action to nourish our minds so that we don’t become overwhelmed.
What advice would you give to anyone who may be considering wellbeing coaching?
I am clearly somewhat biased as this is my profession but please take your wellbeing seriously. It is not a weakness to seek support, it takes amazing courage to reach out.
We are so often too ready to sacrifice ourselves but we fail to realise that if we don’t care for ourselves we cannot effectively care for those we love. When we are stressed for too long we can easily become overwhelmed, anxious, angry or depressed and all these have a hugely negative impact on our quality of experience and the lives of those we care most about.
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