Living Mindfully: Discovering Authenticity through Mindfulness Coaching

Living Mindfully is a complete guide to increasing self–confidence, enhancing motivation and achieving an authentic life through the use of mindfulness and coaching. The author′s approach combines mindfulness techniques designed to explore an individual′s relationship to thoughts, values and emotions with coaching strategies that build the self–confidence and motivation required to pursue goals. The material is structured in two stages: first, the book provides a complete five–week mindfulness program, allowing readers to undertake a deeper study of mindfulness or overcome barriers to progress. and second, a complete mindfulness coaching program that allows individuals and trainers to address issues, generate motivation and create a personal plan for moving forward on an authentic path in life; By learning how to let go of preconditioned thought patterns and habitual responses, Living Mindfully enables readers to believe in their own abilities, and then use that belief to move forward with clarity and purpose.

Preface  vii Acknowledgements  x Introduction  1 Sarah  9 1 Mindfulness  10 2 Living Mindfully: A Five Week Programme  21 3 The Art of Orientation  30 4 The Inquiry Process  42 Owena  56 5 Moving Out of Automatic Pilot and Being More Aware of Our Bodies  57 Annaliese  73 6 Being Present in Mindfulness of the Breath and the Body in Movement  74 Sue  89 7 Staying Present and Dealing with Difficult Thoughts and Emotions  90 Catriona  101 8 Accepting and Letting Be  102 Amanda  109 9 Bringing it Together, Looking after Yourself, and Moving Forward  110 Angeline  127 10 Integrating Mindfulness and Coaching  128 Andrew  140 11 The TIME Programme: Development and Rationale  141 Maria  154 12 Authenticity and its Impact upon Confidence and Self Esteem  155 Stephen  166 13 Acceptance: Working with Negative Beliefs and Emotions  167 Melanie  179 14 Communication: Releasing Our Words to the Universe  180 Lynda  191 15 Planning the Way Forward: An Unfolding Journey  192 16 In Conclusion  202 Appendix 1  205 Appendix 2  207 Appendix 3: Further Reading  210 Appendix 4: Frequently Asked Questions  212 Index  217    

Gary Heads is the founding Director of Living Mindfully CIC, one of the leading organizations in the delivery of mindfulness and mindfulness–based coaching in the UK.  He has an MSc with distinction in mindfulness–based approaches and a personal meditation practice spanning 25 years. He has developed the Living Mindfully and TIME programs with clients, including the National Health Service, Public Health, and Jobcentreplus.