CHAPTER 4
Bedrock—Health Practices
Recently, one of us (Linda) was speaking about brain development to a gathering of coaches. In referring to age-related effects, she said, “For those of us who are getting older, we are concerned about possible cognitive decline.” She meant to make the point that there are certain practices, such as mindfulness, that could delay loss of cognitive function. However, someone in the audience paid attention to something different. “Is there anyone here,” he asked, “who is not getting older?”
The audience member’s point is well taken. It may be possible to ignore aging when we are young and even to fervently hope for it when we are very young, but we are all getting older. Our physical system may display large effects that accumulate over time from seemingly small inputs, such as poor nutrition or repetitive stress. Disease and accidents also trigger the question: What can we do to improve health and functioning? Over the centuries, various health practitioners have attempted to answer this question.
This bedrock chapter focuses on applications of research and theory in medicine and other health practices. Health is a resource that we often take for granted until we no longer have it. Today more attention is being paid to connections between mental and physical health, between mind and body, and between caring for ourselves and caring for others, yet in a real sense, our bodies remain an anchor to our overall well-being.
• If ontology helps us understand what it means to be a human being, what does it take to be a healthy human being?
• How can we use our bodies in concert with our minds to achieve optimal functioning of the whole?
• How can we strive for achievement and at the same time reduce stress?
• What practices and approaches are truly healthy and life-giving as opposed to passing fads, misguided advice, and even frauds?
• How can we develop our bodies to support achieving greater potential and higher performance?
As with ontological inquiry, none of these questions is new. In ancient and Asian traditions, community and preventive health practices and spiritual healing are integral to the study of medicine. Medical historian Henry Sigerist (1951) suggested that medicine has four goals:
1. Promotion of health
2. Prevention of illness
3. Restoration of health
4. Rehabilitation
Although these tasks overlap, Western medicine attends primarily to the third and fourth goals, with the first and second relegated to public health educators and governments, if they are considered at all. Furthermore, for Western medicine, restoration of health is mainly conceived as treating physical disease without taking mental health, social context, or even the whole body into account. This leaves the promotion of health, as well as a holistic conception of all the other tasks, to alternative health practitioners, media, and others on the outskirts of currently defined medical practice. Despite the impressive achievements of Western medicine, the expansion of holistic mind/body practices indicates that not all our health concerns are being met. Similar trends have contributed to the emergence of coaching at this time. If we take mind/body holism seriously, then brain health is part and parcel of body health, and vice versa.
It is important for coaches to understand the relationship between human physiology and stress, a relationship discovered by mainstream medicine. It is also necessary for coaches to judiciously support clients who wish to explore more preventive and holistic ways of achieving optimum health. This chapter covers several holistic health and wellness approaches that have direct applications to coaching. From a broad history and vast set of traditions, we have selected these topics:
• Western medicine
• Physiology
• Stress
• Wellness theory
• Health practices as bedrock for coaching
Alongside well-established alternative health practices such as yoga and acupuncture, there are some practices that are harmless but not health-promoting and others that are downright fraudulent and dangerous. There is also a growing media trend to distort and sensationalize legitimate research. To assist coaches in helping their clients to make informed choices, this chapter concludes by presenting principles for identifying unreasonable claims regarding health products and practices.
WESTERN MEDICINE
In introducing her medical history text, Lois Magner (1992) states:
One of our most appealing and persistent myths is that of the Golden Age, a time before the discovery of good and evil, when death and disease were unknown. But scientific evidence—meagre, fragmentary, and tantalizing though it often is—proves that disease is older than the human race. (p. 1)
In contrast to Magner’s claim, the founder of modern pathology, Rudolf Virchow (1962), stressed that it is human values that label something a disease: Invading organisms or malfunctions of body parts are simply various forms of life going through natural functions and changes. Human beings judge some changes to be undesirable, label them disease, and seek treatment in the form of a further change that reverses or relieves them. This process is a particularly human activity generally considered to fall in the domain of medicine.
Archaeological evidence—“meagre, fragmentary, and tantalizing” as it may be—shows that forms of medicine have been practiced for as long as humans have existed. Hunting and gathering societies, organized in small, mobile bands, left traces of ingesting medicinal herbs, of surgery to remove frozen fingers or toes, and of rituals that were likely intended to promote health or treat illness (Magner, 1992). In subsistence economies such as these, knowledgeable elders or shamans undoubtedly combined religious rituals, magical practices, and empirical knowledge to both promote health and treat disease (Sigerist, 1951).
When the practice of sedentary agricultural life began its global spread some 10,000 years ago, the picture of health and disease changed dramatically. Population density provided greater opportunity for the spread of infectious diseases, unsanitary conditions allowed for parasites and other illnesses, and wars to protect and extend agricultural land meant more battle injuries. Populations that depended on one or a few crops risked missing necessary nutrients or starvation in the case of crop failure (Magner, 1992). Thus, both the need for more specialized medical knowledge and care and the resources to provide them increased.
Everywhere that “civilizations” developed—first in the Near East, India, Asia, and Central and South America—populations were divided vertically into sedentary geographical territories and horizontally into classes. Privileged classes consisted of priests whose power was based on presumed ability to control forces of nature and rulers whose power came from military prowess. These classes had the resources to pursue health and avoid disease, to the extent that knowledge in their time permitted. Pursuing such knowledge was a priority, and achieving it bestowed privilege and power.
Among these early civilizations, Sigerist (1961) described Greek and Indian medicine as particularly advanced because of the emphasis on drawing conclusions from observations: “Both civilizations had forms of religious medicine, had magic, but on the basis of empiricism developed philosophical systems of medicine which looked beyond the sick man for universal laws.” Thus, Greek and Indian medicine became more effective, both in promoting health and in treating illness, “because the Greeks and the Indians acquired a much more profound knowledge of nature and of man within nature, in health and in illness” (p. 3).
Remember that medicine from a historical perspective does not separate treatment of illness from health promotion. For example, in common with the practice of other early civilizations, Greek and Indian medicine placed a high value on physical exercise: “Physical education, athletics, and sports were at all times powerful measures in the promotion of health, in the development of a concept of positive health as a joyful attitude toward life” (Sigerist, 1961, p. 9). Indian medicine never lost its ability to incorporate both health promotion and disease treatment. Western European medicine borrowed and built on Greek traditions but did not maintain that more well-rounded approach. It is only within the past few decades that Western medicine has returned to a holistic emphasis on physical exercise and other health-promoting practices and their mental and spiritual connections.
HISTORICAL INTERLUDE
Health Promotion versus Illness Prevention and Treatment
Roman civilization drew on Greek medical practices and added to them the resources to build public health infrastructure: baths, sanitation, and clean water supplies. Personal hygiene was part of daily ritual, and “purity” of the human body was of great concern—for the upper classes, that is. However, with the ascent of Christianity in the early centuries of the the first millennium, a very different attitude toward the human body was introduced: “The Christian conception was strictly dualistic; mind and body are in opposition, and what matters is the soul. Why, then, care for the body that is the earthly, sinful part of man?” (Sigerist, 1960, p. 20).
Holistic Greek and Roman attitudes and practices were seen as pagan, and Christian monks inherited the tradition of healing, but within the confines of religious practice: Healing the physical body became an opportunity to practice the suffering that Christ had modeled. Even though it was difficult to enforce, Christians were forbidden to seek the superior services of Jewish or Arabic physicians. Public hygiene practices all but disappeared. From 1131 on, edicts were passed forbidding priests and ministers to practice medicine, especially surgery, as it was seen as a worldly art (Sigerist, 1960). At the same time, folk traditions of medicine were labeled witchcraft, and practitioners were burned at the stake. Thus, both magical and empirical medical traditions were banned in favor of religious ones. As mentioned in the introduction to this book, consulting authoritative texts such as the Bible was the only acceptable “way of knowing,” and this applied to medical ways of knowing.
With the Renaissance, roughly spanning the 14th through the 17th centuries, came interest in Greek and Roman ideas, but only regarding developing mental qualities and rhetorical abilities; the interest in hygiene and a balanced life characteristic of upper-class Greek and Roman societies was not renewed. To the extent that positive hygiene or health measures existed, they tended to be decreed by absolutist rulers practicing noblesse oblige rather than as a response to human need. Books, in this case classical texts, remained the authoritative sources for knowledge. As a result, diseases and plagues were rampant in the 17th century, especially among children.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Contrat Social in 1762 rejected absolutist government and introduced the concept that human beings are naturally good and reasonable and can therefore help themselves become better. Thus, “hygiene from below” accompanied democratic political ideas such as were fought for in the American and French revolutions. This democratization also opened the possibility of accepting Galileo’s insistence on observing the solar system and Newton’s observations regarding gravity, not just as revealing bits of knowledge but as representing a new way of knowing. Thus, empirical science as we know it was born.
But the old authoritarian influence was not erased easily. A sort of uneasy truce was struck between the authority of the church and classical texts on one hand and scientific inquiry on the other. This truce relied on the dualism of mind and body, as elaborated on by René Descartes (1596-1650). The physical body was admitted to be part of the natural world, and thus available for scientific inquiry. But the church maintained its dominion over the mind, which was considered a different kind of “stuff,” spiritual and not material, the seat of thesoul. The scientific practice of medicine was limited to treating the physical body, not the immaterial mind.
The next development came in the 18th and 19th centuries with capitalism and industrial manufacturing. Driven by the profit motive, factory owners literally worked people—men, women, and children—to death. The life span of the average factory worker in England in the 18th century was 18 years (Labonté, 1983). In response, workers protested and formed labor unions, in turn stimulating employers, who were further motivated by a fear of killing off their workforce, to give in to some of the demands for shorter workdays and prohibitions on the worst practices of child labor. A public commission in England was appointed to study sanitary conditions, leading to the Public Health Act of 1848 and the spread of a new hygiene movement around the world. Governments took on the role of providing for sanitation and clean water and of regulating the worst of workplace practices.
We tend to point to scientific discoveries such as penicillin and technological inventions such as defibrillators as reasons for the astounding increase in life span between the 18th and 20th centuries, but public health and hygiene measures deserve most of the credit. As Sigerist (1961) concludes: “There can be no doubt that it was in the field of prevention of diseases that modern medicine attained its greatest achievements” (p. 16).
Thus, of the four concerns of medicine that Sigerist listed—promotion of health, prevention of disease, restoration of health, and rehabilitation—Western medicine narrowed its attention primarily to the restoration of health in the physical body, primarily by diagnosing and treating disease, and, to the extent that it was profitable, to rehabilitation after accident or disease. Government took on the task of prevention of disease through public hygiene measures and by working with medical researchers and pharmaceutical firms to develop and require vaccinations for common diseases.
Answers to “How can we be healthy?” were provided in the 20th century partly by religious and spiritual practices, many of them borrowed from Eastern traditions that had not separated mind and body. Alternative health practices, such as chiropractic, naturopathy, therapeutic massage, herbology, and acupuncture, bridged all four medical concerns but were not accepted in traditional medical circles.
In addition, toward the end of the 20th century, postmodern intellectual trends, theory in physics, global connections with societies that have maintained a more holistic outlook, and neuroscience findings brought into question the idea that mind and body can be treated as separate. Part of what has called forth coaching, with its whole-person approach, is this understanding of the necessary interaction of mind and body.
At the same time, formerly faraway places on the planet are becoming effectively closer. As Magner (1992) points out, in the history of medicine, there exist extremes of, on one hand, caring for the patient as a means of providing care to the patient and, on the other, assuming that following the gospel of specific etiology and understanding the underlying cause and mechanism of a specific disease will enable us to control it.
This view fails to take into account the complex social, ethical, economic, and geopolitical aspects of disease in a world drawn closer together by modern communications and transportation while simultaneously being torn apart by vast and growing differences between wealth and poverty. (p. xi)
Coaching is called to fill a gap that demands both a holistic and caring approach to clients and a very broad knowledge and experience base, especially when it comes to helping people change. Knowledge from health practices help coaches fill that gap.
PHYSIOLOGY
Physiology is the study of how living biological organisms function. Physiology differs from anatomy, which is the study of the form or structure of an organism. However, function and structure are clearly integrated.
Physiology has been intensely researched in Western societies since 17th century anatomist William Harvey (1578-1657) described blood circulation. It is a highly developed discipline with many applications including nutrition, exercise, and medicine.
Physiology provides a link between coaching and human health and well-being. Clients want coaches to help them excel in their lives and push their limits. Individuals who want to reach their potential need to be as physically healthy as possible so they can push their limits without compromising their health. A balanced diet, the right exercise program, enough sleep, and a manageable level of stress improve health and life expectancy.
Coaches who lack health training should not provide health-related advice. Instead, they may help clients identify their own goals and values for improved health, then help them find information about and live according to those goals. Keep in mind that many coaching clients are high achievers who may ignore the needs of their body and thereby undermine their ability to achieve their goals. Often, mindfulness exercises put us in touch with important messages from our body about how to keep healthy.
While coaches typically are not hired to improve clients’ diet or sleep patterns, issues such as these often come up in coaching. Coaches should therefore understand the basics of health and well-being and be willing to refer clients to health practitioners when issues beyond the coach’s expertise are identified.
Example: “How to Get It Together”
Consider the case of Lois, a high-level executive who could not focus on what she wanted. “I’m having a really lousy day. Nothing’s working. I can’t seem to figure out how to get it together.” Her coach listened to her description of a hectic workweek that included a heavy travel schedule, not enough sleep, and the fact that she was on a 1,200-calorie-a-day diet.
“Do you see any connections between your lack of sleep and restricted diet on one hand and your fatigue and confusion on the other?” the coach asked.
The ensuing conversation led to Lois’s commitment to build better physical self-care into her schedule.
The healthcare industry is massive, and the media often report research findings that are compelling but less than complete, particularly regarding diet and nutrition. Rather than being caught up in momentary fads, it is important that the coach focus on basic concepts that are tried and true. Keep in mind that even concepts that are statistically “proven” work differently for each individual (“no person is the same”), and a coach can help a client become aware of how a particular diet or exercise pattern works for that person.
Diet and Nutrition
A new “breakthrough finding” about diet and nutrition is reported almost every week in the media. Often these findings contradict one another. However, some basics do seem to stay the same. For example, a well-balanced diet that includes a variety of whole foods, especially fruits, vegetables, fiber, and quality protein, strengthens our minds and bodies and keeps our energy levels high. Avoiding sugary, highly processed and deep fried foods is also advised. As the Mayo Clinic literature (2006) states: “Research has shown and clinical experience has confirmed that what you eat directly affects your health” (p. 47).
A healthful diet can provide protection from chronic diseases such as cardiovascular, diabetes, and cancer: “The American Cancer Society and the American Institute for Cancer Research agree that diet contributes significantly to various types of cancer—30 percent to 40 percent of cancers are directly linked to dietary choices” (Mayo Clinic, 2006, p. 5).
Reduced food intake has a profound impact on mental abilities. One British study reported in The New York Times (O’Connor, 2006) examined 44 healthy adults who fasted overnight. Those who ate nothing in the morning scored lowest on memory tests and experienced the highest levels of fatigue four hours after waking.
A more extreme study conducted in the 1930s found that the psychological impact of hunger is profound and long-lasting (Keys et al., 1950). Forty adult male volunteers, who had been screened for exceptional physical and psychological health, were subjected to six months of semi starvation. During the study, four dropped out because they could not tolerate the hunger, three developed binge-eating, two began to steal food, one developed depression, and two were admitted to hospital with symptoms of psychosis. A follow-up study done 50 years later found that abnormal eating behaviors and food-related concerns persisted in all 25 volunteers who agreed to be interviewed (Crow & Eckert, 2000).
Sharing a healthy meal with friends and family not only provides nutritious benefits, it is a pleasure that traditional cultures cherish. A shared meal provides connection, which leads to enjoyment and an increased sense of well-being. Research has shown that social isolation can be almost twice as dangerous to health as smoking (Goleman, 1995).
Many coaching clients realize that their diet is inadequate for their needs. They may be seeking to gain more day-to-day energy or wanting to lose weight. In either case, it is advisable for coaches to refer their clients to dieticians. Encouraging clients to seek professional help in any health-related area is a wise principle to follow.
While encouraging clients to seek professional help, coaches can also provide these valuable health-related supports:
• Accountability—that is, having someone to report to
• Pacing—Helping clients take small steps and acknowledging their progress as they do so.
Water
Almost 80% of the human body is water, and we are constantly losing or excreting moisture. It is crucial that we drink enough to function properly. Dehydration can contribute to medical problems, including kidney stones, headaches, fatigue, and poor concentration. However, according to a recent review of research by doctors at the Renal, Electrolyte, and Hypertension Division of the University of Pennsylvania (Negoianu & Goldfarb, 2008), there is little support for claims of improved kidney and other organ function, reduced toxicity, management of obesity, prevention of headaches, and better skin tone from drinking water beyond what is guided by thirst. Clearly, under circumstances of extreme heat or exercise, proper hydration is a concern. But the idea that everyone must drink eight glasses of 8 ounces of liquid each day seems to be an urban myth.
Water plays an important role in how our bodies function. It “regulates body temperature, carries nutrients and oxygen to cells via the blood stream and helps carry away waste. Water also helps cushion joints and protects organs and tissues” (Mayo Clinic, 2006, p. 49 n.). Although “we obtain water through food, it is important to drink enough water or other liquids to keep our bodies functioning optimally” (Beers, 2004, pp. 927-929 n.).
Fortunately, our bodies have evolved so that we feel thirsty when we need water. However, it is possible to override or disregard that bodily signal, especially if we are concentrating on a goal or task. Coaches can help clients identify ways to make drinking enough water easier, or more “automatic.” For example, keeping a jug of water and a glass in the office or keeping a cup of herbal tea on the desk can prevent dehydration and make it easier to respond to thirst without interrupting a task.
Exercise
Exercise is part of any healthy lifestyle and can do wonders for our quality of life and well-being. Exercise can help us live longer, give us more energy, delay the effects of aging, help us sleep better, and even help combat depression. A German study (United Press International, 2001) reported that half of patients suffering from long-term depression felt substantial improvement after a 10-day exercise program. This compares well with the 50% improvement for patients treated with drugs (Vedantam, 2006). Duke University researchers found that the anti-depressive effects of exercise are long-lasting, preventing the return of depression for clients who have suffered for years (Duke University Medical Center, 2000). Exercise helps strengthen the immune system and is recommended to prevent or treat cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and osteoporosis.
Exercise is also linked to enhanced psychological well-being, greater self-confidence, and healthier self-esteem. Exercise releases mood-elevating hormones called endorphins, which help us to relax and feel better. Exercise also reduces stress. In The User’s Guide to the Brain (2003), John Ratey explores the finding that exercise helps our thoughts organize themselves. He says that the brain utilizes similar circuits for organizing thoughts as it does for moving, so physical movement can help us solve problems. Have you ever been stuck on a problem and had the solution pop into your head after you gave up and went for a walk?
Ideally, one should engage in some form of physical activity that elevates heart rate for at least 30 to 60 minutes each day. Walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, dancing, hiking, yoga, climbing stairs, gardening, or even doing chores such as cleaning and raking are some examples of recommended physical exercise.
Exercise can be a daunting assignment for many clients; for them, exercising just once or twice a week might be a breakthrough. It is important for a coach to encourage small steps in the knowledge that regular exercise takes effort and requires the development of habitual behaviors, ones that we engage in without having to tax our limited ability to pay attention. Helping our clients build on small gains is the essence of developing good habits.
Some clients find it is helpful to link their interest in improved health with their desire for more social contact. Exercising with a friend increases social interactions, making it more likely we will turn up for those early-morning runs. Taking up a team sport can provide even greater benefits. Our connectedness with others has a direct link to wellness, as we explain later in this book.
More to the point for a book on the brain, exercise helps build new brain cells. Salk Institute neuroscientist Fred Gage and his colleagues reported in 1998 that exercise contributes to the generation of new neurons in mice (Kempermann, Kuhn, & Gage, 1997). Subsequently, other researchers have confirmed that this finding applies to humans (Olson, Eadie, Ernst, & Christie, 2006). Coaches and their clients would be wise to take these results as seriously as the scientists do. As Columbia University neurologist Scott Small said, “I constantly get asked at cocktail parties what someone can do to protect their mental functioning. I tell them, ‘Put down that glass and go for a run’” (Reynolds, 2007).
Sleep
While scientists are not exactly sure why we need sleep, it is well established that a lack of sleep has a significant impact on the human mind and body. Think about the last time you missed a significant amount of sleep. Were you able to think clearly? Were you able to perform at your best, physically and mentally? Numerous scientific studies show that lack of sleep inhibits performance.
According to Dr. James B. Maas (2001), “[Sleep] restores, rejuvenates, and energizes the body and the brain. . . . [Sleep] has profound effects . . . in terms of alertness, energy, mood, body weight, perception, memory, thinking, reaction time, productivity, performance, communication skills, creativity, safety, and good health” (pp. 6-7 n.).
Not only does sleep help our nervous system perform properly; some experts even link a good night’s sleep to improved brain functioning because it gives our neurons a chance to rest and rejuvenate, which leads to optimal emotional, social, and physical functioning during awake hours (Marshall & Born, 2007). Sleep also provides the opportunity for our brains to consolidate new learning, as found by one study linking sleep to “restructuring new memory representations” which in turn “facilitates extraction of explicit knowledge and insightful behaviour” (Wagner et al., 2004, p. 355).
A lack of sleep can affect our mood, impair our memory, inhibit our physical performance, and decrease our ability to think clearly. Sleep is, in fact, so essential that a lack of sleep can kill a human being faster than a lack of food. Long-term studies of thousands of subjects indicate that lower mortality is associated with an average of seven hours of sleep per night (Hassed, 2008).
Although the average for adults is 7 to 8 hours per night of quality sleep, individuals require different amounts of sleep, and the amount needed also tends to vary throughout life. Albert Einstein required 10 hours of sleep a night to function well; President Coolidge required 11; President Clinton needed only 6; and Martha Stewart needs 4 to 5 (Maas, 2001, p. 3).
It is very common for clients to skimp on sleep or for their sleep quality to be poor. Millions of North Americans suffer from a lack of sleep. Travel, long hours of work, inactivity, and stress can all have an impact on sleep. “Sleep quality” is a function of the time we spend in different stages of sleep and the amount of time we spend sleeping without interruption. Older people may need 7 to 8 hours, with one period of deep sleep early in the night. After this period, they may wake easily and have trouble getting back to sleep. Therefore, if sleep is an issue in coaching, it is important to talk about how long, how well, and when the client sleeps.
Coaches can find useful resources about how to improve sleep in books and on the Internet. (See, e.g., Mercola, 2008.)
In summary, performance is not optimal if we skimp on sleep. Coaches can help clients identify their sleep needs and design their lives to obtain the right quality and quantity of sleep.
Balance
The term “homeostasis” is applied to the tendency of living organisms to maintain equilibrium. This process can be seen in the metabolism of a cell or physical body, and it has also been applied to group, social, and individual biological and psychological processes.
The human body is constantly working to maintain equilibrium in many different systems. Regardless of external temperature or climate, our internal temperature remains constant. Whether lying, standing, walking, or running, the healthy person’s blood pressure and heart rate are continually adjusted to maintain optimal functions. In addition, the quantity of minerals and electrolytes in our bloodstreams is continually monitored and adjusted.
Using an elaborate and complex feedback system, the body attempts to balance the need to respond to changing circumstances with the need to maintain stability. The tension between change and stability creates mental and physical rhythms or patterns that repeat in various forms.
These patterns can be observed if we pay attention to them. There is the rapid rhythm of our heart beating and the slower rhythm of our breathing. There are rhythms of exertion and rest, of hunger and digestion. There are “ultradian” (meaning more than once a day) rhythms of approximately 90 minutes that alternate between an active focus on external stimuli and a more passive, internal focus on one’s own thoughts and feelings (Rossi, 1991). These 90-minute rhythms also apply to sleep cycles. Coaches learn to be sensitive to the increases and decreases in energy that occur during client sessions.
There are longer rhythms of sleeping and waking, of work versus holidays, and of concentrating on a project or career before retirement. During the waking day, some people exhibit a pattern of being better able to focus on work first thing in the morning, others in the evening. Many people work harder when they are younger and slow down as they age. A big expenditure of energy on a project usually requires some downtime afterward in order to bring various systems into balance. An intense workweek may require a deeply quiet weekend to reduce demands and let the mind recover.
It is only when we notice a pattern that we are able to interact with it consciously. Noticing that we do our best work at the start of the day or year or season might allow us to schedule a writing project for this time rather than later. Noticing that we think more clearly after exercise can help us to improve output by scheduling demanding work more appropriately.
Research shows that the brain makes unexpected connections, “aha!” moments, when we take a break from a problem to do other things (see Rock, 2006). Taking this into account, we may be more effective if we work on a difficult mental task for 45 minutes of each hour and do something else for the other 15.
Building on a recurring theme in this chapter, balance is not only about taking time off work. Balance can be achieved by noticing how we operate and reorganizing our efforts to maximize output. Many good books are available to help identify more effective habits (e.g., D. Allen, 2001). They cover issues such as when to schedule difficult work, how to organize and tackle complex projects, how not to spend all day on e-mail, and so forth.
The human brain has a significantly larger prefrontal cortex than other animals have. This part of the brain is believed to be involved in “executive functions,” or the ability to monitor and manage activities. These functions include goal setting, planning, and pattern recognition. From this perspective, having a coach is like adding an extra prefrontal cortex onto your brain. In other words, the coach’s brain supports the client’s brain to plan, set goals, notice patterns, and better manage overall functioning.
Having use of the coach’s brain enables us to step out of the details of everyday experience and observe how we function from a meta-level, or a higher perspective. Being outside the client’s individual system, the coach can observe and discern patterns that the client is too close to see.
Mind-Body Connection
Despite popular views to the contrary, science has thoroughly discredited the dualistic view that mind and body are separate and made of different “stuff” (Rose, 2005). When we are preoccupied, stressed, depressed, or consumed with fear or anxiety, our bodies will suffer, and we run the risk of physical ailments (Beers, 2004, p. 7 n.). When we are physically sick, it is difficult to concentrate or think clearly. Our general mood and outlook (optimism or pessimism) also affect our overall health and longevity, and this realization has strengthened the shift away from separating mind and body.
Strong social ties are known to increase health and resilience. Schwartzer and Leppin (1992) analyzed 80 studies that together included over 70,000 subjects. They found that as social support and quality of social connections increase, incidents of illness decrease and life expectancy improves.
In a related study, Gatchel and his colleagues (Gatchel, Polantin, & Mayer, 1995) found that in 91% of the cases, psychological factors predicted which back pain patients would recover from an injury and which would go on to become disabled. Another study found that psychological variables alone predicted delayed recovery in 76% of back pain cases (Burton et al., 1996). Steven Sanders (2000) provides an overview of research on risk factors for disability from back pain that extends these findings.
These studies show that our state of mind has a dramatic impact on our physical well-being, which in turn impacts our ability to think, make decisions, and perform at our peak. It is a circular feedback system: an improvement or difficulty in either mind or body affects and is affected by the system as a whole. It has become more and more clear that our minds and bodies, including our brains, are part of a whole system rather than being in separate categories of “stuff,” as assumed by dualism. Neuroscience is beginning to uncover the actual mechanisms that link mind and body.
Linking Physiology to Coaching
Coaches should be on the lookout for how clients can improve their performance through nurturing their physical health. Because bodies and minds are dynamically linked, improving the functioning of one tends to improve the functioning of the other.
The human body is a complex system; therefore, a small change can have a big impact.
Encouraging clients to exercise just twice a week or make other health-related changes might dramatically improve their energy and work performance.
Example: “Maybe I’m Just Losing It”
Harold noticed that his memory for details was slipping, and he was sure that he might as well not be in the office between 3 and 5 P.M., for all he was able to accomplish. He was the chief executive officer of a large-market media company and was well respected because of his accomplishments during 30 years in the business. “Maybe I’m just getting old. I’ve been reading about age-related cognitive decline. Maybe I’m just losing it.”
Harold’s coach asked about eating and sleeping patterns and discovered that his problems had started about the same time as he and his wife moved into a new condominium. He was not sleeping as well in their new bedroom, and after further discussion it became clear that the early-morning sun flooding into their east-facing windows woke Harold earlier than he was accustomed to. After installing blackout curtains that made the bedroom darker, Harold found he was able to get a full night’s rest. Within a few weeks, his memory and performance at work improved dramatically.
Coaches can help clients notice the patterns that their performance reveals. As a result, coaching may involve helping a client:
• Manage a daily schedule—for example, planning what time of day to do certain types of work
• Manage a weekly, monthly, or annual schedule—for example, setting time for big projects to coincide with high-energy periods
• Balance work with leisure—for example, choosing a daily schedule that allows for rest or exercise or taking shorter annual holidays in order to have more three-day weekends during the year
• Think about longer-term patterns—for example, taking a longer sabbatical after an intense period of work or planning for retirement
Every individual has unique needs when it comes to the rhythms of life. Coaches can help clients improve their performance by generating awareness of their needs and improving their ability to manage their own rhythms to create a more healthful balance.
While coaches should not provide specific health advice, an awareness of the importance of diet, water intake, exercise, and sleep patterns can be highly beneficial for clients.
Cultivating a referral network of trusted health specialists is advisable, as is developing lists of information resources that can be recommended to clients. However, the most important resource is a client’s awareness of his or her own unique body signals.
STRESS
Stress in this context is what causes bodily or mental tension. Stress is related to physical, chemical, or emotional factors and may contribute to illness.
We tend to think of stress as negative. However, Hans Selye (1907-1982), the researcher who brought the term “stress” into our everyday vocabulary, divided stress into two categories: positive stress, called “Eustress,” and negative stress, called “Distress” (1956, 1974). Eustress gets us out of bed in the morning, helps us meet deadlines, and reminds us to pay the mortgage. Without this positive stress, we might never even attempt to fulfill our potential. Distress, however, is damaging or pathological.
Coaching clients tend to be high achievers who deal with large amounts of both types of stress. Coaches can help helping clients find their optimal levels of stress. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1991) refers to this as “flow” and says that this enjoyable state occurs when demands are just beyond what people believe they can attain:
[A] piece of music that is too simple relative to one’s listening skills will be boring, while music that is too complex will be frustrating. Enjoyment appears at the boundary between boredom and anxiety, when the challenges are just balanced with the person’s capacity to act. (p. 52)
Coaches would do well to inquire about the amount of stress their clients are under and to find out how it is being dealt with. Too much stress, especially negative stress over a long period of time, is associated with physical and mental health problems, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, shortness of breath, tightened muscles, headaches, body aches, anxiety, and depression. Suzanne Segerstrom and Gregory Miller (2004) analyzed over 300 empirical studies showing that stress also affects our immune system: If we are experiencing too much stress, we may be more likely to develop a cold, flu, or other virus. Excessive stress can also contribute to allergies and autoimmune diseases.
Coaches should help clients stretch themselves in order to produce more personal growth, but not so much that it leads to undue stress. Prioritizing schedules, learning to say no to activities that do not contribute to overall goals, and including activities like exercising, yoga, and meditation are good ways to help clients manage their stress levels. These and other approaches can prevent stressful challenges from compromising health and well-being.
Boyatzis, Smith, and Blaise (2006) introduced some important links between coaching and stress in the paper “Developing Sustainable Leaders through Coaching and Compassion.” They describe the physical, mental, and emotional impact of what they call “power stress,” a type of stress that leaders in organizations experience. Power stress results from three major stress inducers:
1. Being seen by others
2. Dealing with ambiguity
3. Having to deliver results under pressure
As Boyatzis and his colleagues put it, “Leader sustainability is adversely affected by the psychological and physiological effects of chronic power stress associated with the performance of the leadership role” (2006, p. 8).
These collaborators also propose that coaching others is one way to reverse, not just halt, the damaging impact of long-term stress. Thus, they go beyond the concept of coaching as just a way to develop leaders, suggesting that “the process of coaching others may actually allow leaders to increase their own sustainability as a result of the physiological effects of experiencing compassion, which can serve as an antidote to stress” (Boyatzis et al., 2006, p. 12).
Linking Stress Theory to Coaching
• When it comes to dealing with stress, the role of the coach is not to be an expert but to encourage clients to develop greater awareness of their patterns and to pay more attention to their needs.
• Once a client has identified stress as a possible source of interference with goals, the coach provides support, accountability, and encouragement for the client to take actions that reduce stress to manageable levels.
• Many helpful resources—books, journals, and the Internet—deal with stress management.
• Many clients are functioning below their potential because of excess stress that can be mitigated with simple practices. Exercising a few times a week with friends might be all it takes to reduce stress significantly.
• Leaders experiencing “power stress” can ameliorate its effects by developing coaching skills and utilizing compassion in coaching others. The recent findings in neuroscience on the importance of social connection support this suggestion.
WELLNESS THEORY
As dualistic assumptions have eroded, holistic medicine has become more popular. Enter the phrase “wellness center” on any Internet search engine, and you will access hundreds of community agencies, hospitals, universities, and medical centers around the world. The Web site for the Wellness Center at Howard Community College in Maryland, states:
Wellness is a state of optimal well-being. It means achieving balance and harmony in all aspects of your life. Wellness is achieved through the integration of physical, social, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and environmental health. Wellness is a conscious commitment for continued growth and improvement. (Howard Community College, 2007)
Wellness theory addresses the “health promotion” aspect of Sigerist’s (1951) four goals of medicine, discussed earlier in the chapter. Today, wellness theory is applied in many health professions, including chiropractic and naturopathy. It has also become a field of study within social work, with special relevance to the needs of people living with disabilities. Wellness theory also provides a holistic approach to promoting well-being within corporations and communities.
Wellness theory encompasses the biological, psychological, social, and spiritual aspects of human functioning. It looks at the relationships among individuals and their families, communities, physical environment, and society. It is studied by social workers, sociologists, social psychologists, and medical and alternative health workers, all with the goal of improving health and well-being at all levels of society.
Wellness theory is strongly linked with positive psychology, which is examined in chapter 11 as one of the pillars of modern coaching. In both cases, the aim is to improve quality of life, going beyond the task of treating disease and dysfunction to the whole system rather than focusing on isolated aspects of the system.
Wellness practice includes nutrition, physical exercise, mental imagery, relaxation and stress management techniques, and even letter writing and journaling. Finding wellness experts can be difficult because formal research on wellness is limited and much of what passes for research is anecdotal. Part of the problem is the interdisciplinary nature of the field; different experts may be unfamiliar with one another’s research results and specialized language. Another problem is the bias toward funding research only on diseases that can be profitably treated with drugs and other medical interventions. A wellness practitioner may have trained as a chiropractor, naturopath, nutritionist, physical trainer, or counselor but practices as part social worker, part therapist, part health practitioner, and part coach.
Many coaching programs use assessments that draw on wellness theory as a base for developing goals and objectives. “Lifestyle assessments” and the “wheel of balance” help clients assess their intellectual, physical, financial, social, and spiritual health in order to identify strengths and areas needing development. Definitive research on the value and use of these assessments is not yet available, but growing interest will likely stimulate more research in wellness, as it has with coaching.
The next list summarizes some common indicators of wellness from a variety of Internet and print sources which the authors have compiled. Although it is neither definitive nor based on research, coaches and their clients may find it useful as an awareness tool:
• Social wellness is indicated when a person . . .
• relates and connects well with a variety of people.
• participates in community and social activities.
• develops and builds lasting friendships.
• experiences intimacy.
• cares for others and allows others to care in return.
• maintains meaningful relationships with family, friends, and coworkers.
• values diversity and treats others with respect.
• maintains the same values and beliefs when interacting with a single individual or with a group.
• Emotional wellness is indicated when a person . . .
• can manage strong emotions.
• can share feelings and talk about emotional concerns.
• can say no when appropriate without feeling guilty.
• feels happy much of the time.
• has people in life who care and who can be called on when needed.
• feels good about him- or herself.
• values time alone.
• perceives him- or herself as liked and respected by others.
• Intellectual wellness is indicated when a person . . .
• reads widely.
• enjoys thinking about ideas and discussing them with others.
• is open to new ideas and thinks critically.
• is creative and curious to learn.
• seeks new challenges.
• Environmental wellness is indicated when a person . . .
• has a conscious relationship with the natural world.
• is aware of the limits of natural resources.
• conserves energy (e.g., by shutting off unused lights).
• recycles paper, cans, and glass as much as possible.
• avoids polluting the environment.
• Occupational wellness is indicated when a person . . .
• engages in meaningful work.
• pursues hobbies/interests/activities that are pleasurable outside of work/academics.
• can accurately assess his or her strengths and weaknesses on the job.
• believes he or she has the qualities of a valuable and valued employee.
• is proceeding toward his or her life goals.
• Spiritual wellness is indicated when a person . . .
• has dreams and goals.
• takes time for spiritual growth and exploration.
• has a life philosophy.
• takes time to think about the meaning of experiences.
• has a moral code of right and wrong, and acts accordingly.
In the Introduction, we presented Figure I.3 as a model of optimal human functioning that incorporates discoveries from brain science. We invite you to compare these everyday indicators of wellness with the “Potentiating the Human System” categories supported by brain research.
Linking Wellness Theory to Coaching
• It is assumed that mind and body are connected.
• The client is assumed to know more about his or her situation than the practitioner.
• Practitioners are seen as having important skills, especially the ability to recognize patterns that the client may not see.
• Change occurs when the client alters his or her narrative from despair and helplessness to hope and empowerment.
• The client defines the problem and then client and practitioner collaborate to create the solution.
• Both coaches and wellness practitioners often participate in collaborative teams to enhance solutions.
Resource Section: How to Recognize and Avoid Unsupported Claims of Health Benefits
The mass media use hyperbole to attract readers and customers. Jason Daley wrote an article for Popular Science (April, 2007) that investigated the truth behind this newspaper headline: “Are You Drinking Enough Coffee? Get Health Up to Speed.” The article implied that scientists recommend drinking coffee to prevent Type 2 diabetes.
Daley looked up the original study and found that the preventive benefit came only after drinking the equivalent of six or seven cups of coffee. Side effects of ingesting this much coffee were not investigated. Taking this example as an illustration, Daley urged readers to rely on common sense: “overdosing on caffeine isn’t the best way to lower your diabetes risk” (p. 74).
Skepticism is a skill that coaches need to practice, as our training tends to focus on believing (as in believing in a client’s potential) rather than on doubting. Here are four “Skills of the Skeptic” to help you avoid misleading health and science claims:
1. Read more deeply. Track down the original scientific or medical report. The Internet is an invaluable resource for such research. If an original article is accessible only via an expensive online journal or database, look elsewhere. Copies may be available in more accessible publications or on the scientist’s own Web site or blog.
Note: In most scientific articles, the first few paragraphs summarize the results and may discuss past research and current controversies on the subject. The middle sections describe the methods and findings in great detail and often are so technical that only highly specialized scientists can understand them. The last section discusses the results and their implications. In order to avoid being overwhelmed by technical details, consider reading only the first and last sections. If you need to decipher the middle sections, you can always consult a local physician or science teacher.
2. Trust your instincts. Just because a scientist believes his or her own conclusions, it does not mean that you should. Do not be bamboozled by scientific jargon or the alphabet after a scientist’s name.
3. Check the dosage. Like the coffee example, think about how much we would have to consume of some “miracle food” to gain any benefit. Scientists often feed laboratory animals excessive amounts of foods or chemical compounds to test the limits of the effects. And there are many other considerations—what else is and is not being eaten or done—that could make all the difference.
4. Delay action. Before you throw out your vegetables and stock up on chocolate (after another headline in Daley’s article: “Chocolate’s Better than Broccoli”), remember that a single health claim is just that—one claim that must be retested and proven. Do what wise scientists do: Wait for the evidence to accumulate. By the way, the chocolate used in the chocolate research was not the garden-variety chocolate most of us eat. And there is no evidence that the flavonoids in chocolate are better at protecting our health than flavonoids found in other foods. High-cocoa-content dark chocolate may be beneficial in small amounts, but it cannot replace whole foods.
HEALTH PRACTICES AS BEDROCK FOR COACHING
Ambitious individuals can become so focused on their end goal that they ignore their well-being. They may skimp on the nutrition, sleep, exercise, and downtime they need to function best. Over time, such ill treatment can interfere with achieving the end goal.
Good coaches recognize that every individual is unique, with her or his own requirements for achieving maximum performance. One client might prefer to work 80-hour weeks, eight months a year, and take the other four months off for vacation or travel. Another might prefer to work 30 hours a week, most of the year, and take shorter vacations once a quarter. The important thing is to ask clients the right questions, without being attached to what answers might come, to get a sense of what works for specific clients, what sustains them, and what keeps their energy and motivation levels high.
Good coaches help their clients see their patterns and rhythms and identify their own needs. Unmet needs can create problems, such as poor health, mood swings, lack of focus, or other distractions, that prevent clients from achieving their goals. When clients become more aware of how well they are caring for themselves, they are more likely to achieve their ambitions without sacrificing their health.
Coaches help clients focus on their whole life—not just on their jobs or finances, but on every area of their life. Areas that are out of balance may show up as health issues. But people who are rewarded for being single-mindedly goal-oriented may ignore their body’s signals. Even becoming ill or being threatened with ill health may not be enough to motivate them to change, as Alan Deutschman (2006) and many smokers have discovered. Fortunately, coaches have resources that reach beyond facts, fear, and force to motivate change. We now turn to pillars that optimize performance.
..................Content has been hidden....................
You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.