SPIRITUALMichael
MICHAEL THE MINDFULNESS COACH
Michael offers One-on-One Coaching of Others as a Mindulness Coach and Spiritual Companion
HERE, WE CREATE THE SPACE FOR COMPASSIONATE LISTENING, LOVING SPEECH, AND WATERING BENEFICIAL SEEDS
HERE, WE ENGAGE SPIRITUALITY, CULTURE, TRADITION, ECOLOGY, AND LORE THROUGH THE LENS OF PERSONAL STORY
HERE, MIŠHKO MÍCHEÁL OFFERS MINDFULNESS PRACTICES AND GUIDED MEDITATION AS INVITATIONS TO PRESENCE
HERE, WE EXPLORE, REFLECT, AND GROW, LISTENING FOR THE INNER TEACHER – OUR TRUE GUIDE
HERE, WE TURN TO MINDFULNESS – “THE PURE AWARENESS OF NOWNESS” – AS OUR UNRELENTING ASPIRATION
“Of all the communities available to us, there is not one I would want to devote myself to except for the society of the true searchers, which has very few living members at any one time.” – Albert Einstein
“Mindfulness is the foundation of a happy life…When we are mindful, touching deeply the present moment, the fruits are always understanding, acceptance, love, and the desire to relieve suffering and bring joy.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
Read below to learn more about Michael’s work as a MINDFULNESS COACH. CONTACT US for info on prices and availability.
MINDFULNESS COACH: Two Words
COACH: I don’t often speak in sports analogies, but as a high school and jr. high football player, I had some great coaches. My great coaches held some things in common – (1) chief among them was a great love for the game; (2) They all also had a playfulness – a sense of humor – they laughed or smiled easily; (3) They also had focus, an intentionality, an “eye for detail;” They knew stuff and they had a sense of the next thing that was needed for a particular play or player; (4) The best coaches also recognized that there was a bigger game than the one we were playing, the one we were focused on; They cared deeply about the game we were playing, but they understood that our little game was taking place within a bigger game and, yet, our little game was somehow part of that bigger game; They cared about us; (I’m now in my mid-50’s; I haven’t played football since my senior year at age 17. Still, little worthy pieces and beautiful fragments of those coaches, and their work and care, continue to show up and unfold in my life.); (6) Finally, those coaches were all far from perfect and they knew it. They made mistakes – sometimes shrugging their shoulders and carrying on, sometimes cursing at themselves in frustration – but, given a little time, they would be able to smile again and laugh at themselves; That humor and playfulness mentioned earlier served as a worthy check on their egos.
MINDFULNESS: The word mindfulness has become a buzz word and I’m not usually fond of buzz words. It is, however, also, a word in the title of one of Thich Nhat Hanh’s earliest books, The Miracle of Mindfulness. Nhat Hanh (aka Thay) is a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk whose seminal work in Engaged Buddhism has helped bring this concept of mindfulness into everyday parlance. Mindfulness is, as one Tibetan teacher explains, “the pure awareness of nowness.” To experience mindfulness is to experience “a thorough grounded contentment” in the present moment; it is to experience “enough-ness.”
Thay writes that to be mindful is to be alert, yet with “a calm heart.” He continues, “Mindfulness…is the life of awareness…Mindfulness…makes it possible to live fully each minute of life. Mindfulness enables us to live.” I have attended Mindfulness Retreats led by Thich Nhat Hanh going back to the 1990s and, in 2009, my wife Ali and I founded an emergent church, The Buddhist Christian Mother-Earth Church, grounded by Thay’s teachings and Five Mindfulness Trainings.
I am a MINDFULNESS COACH. I offer my services one-on-one either in person (in the Columbus, Ohio area) or online. If you would like info about prices and availability, please CONTACT US.
WHY MINDFULNESS COACHING?
MY GOAL AS A MINDFULNESS COACH is to help create the space for authentic sharing, compassionate listening, and loving speech to manifest. My aspiration is to invite us into presence – awareness of this moment, this space where we are truly alive. As a listener, my aim includes attending to your stories, your narrative, your journey, your aspirations. What stories are you telling about yourself and others? What stories bring wholeness or healing? In this sense, my work falls under the heading of Spiritual Direction – though it is always you, not me, who is choosing the direction. This is crucial.
Together with listening compassionately and attending to story, I am always ready – as a Mindfulness Coach – to offer mindfulness practices and lead you in guided meditation in ways that have served me well over the decades. One Tibetan teacher has said that meditation is the greatest gift we can give ourselves in this lifetime. Thich Nhat Hanh draws no line between meditation and mindfulness. He speaks of the value of this presence, as repeated from the heading above, “Mindfulness is the foundation of a happy life…When we are mindful, touching deeply the present moment, the fruits are always understanding, acceptance, love, and the desire to relieve suffering and bring joy.”
Along with mindfulness training and meditation practices, if you look through this website, you will see that I am fortunate for having had many teachers and teachings on spirituality, culture, tradition, ecology, and lore made available to me over the years. I am always glad to share little thoughts, perspectives, or stories that may be of service – but, again, my over-arching goal is to be a worthy listener – to listen to you and with you – for that Inner Voice of understanding, awakening, and inspiration that certainly dwells within you (though often the first step is just creating enough silence to allow us to believe that such a voice may possibly be present).
My aspiration in all this is to “water beneficial seeds” in you, so that you may water beneficial seeds in yourself and others. The work is always for us to create the space for you to awaken to your own Inner Voice, your own Inner Truth, so that you may add benefit to yourself, others, and the greater world. I hold to spiritual traditions that presume your Inner Wisdom and presume your True Desire to Add to the Good in our World. Our work is to create the quietude that allows for that wisdom to manifest, that allows for that Inner Voice to be heard. As a Mindfulness Coach, I am deeply committed to “this present moment,” – to glimpses of “the pure awareness of nowness,” to a sense of “enoughness” that is born each time we open ourselves to a “thorough grounded contentment” in this moment right now.
I am neither a therapist nor a counselor. I am neither a psychologist nor a psychiatrist. I am not a mental health professional. I have neither the training nor the license to offer such services. If you require the help of a mental health professional, please seek their services.
What I can offer is deep listening, a sprinkling from various wisdom traditions,
an appreciation of the importance of story, guidance for the practice of mindfulness and meditation, and an unrelenting confidence in the value of “the pure awareness of nowness.”
As a MINDFULNESS COACH. I offer my services one-on-one either in person (in the Columbus, Ohio area) or online. To schedule an initial consultation or to inquire about fees and my services as a MINDFULNESS COACH, please CONTACT US.