One of the foundations of coaching is the principle that the client contains the answers they need within them and is therefore always the most knowledgeable "expert in their own life". As such, the coach's role is to act not as the advisor, but instead, as a facilitator in assisting the client to access their own answers and insights. The challenge is that most of us are so practised at asking for advice externally and discounting our own thoughts and instincts, we have forgotten how to "go within" and listen to ourselves for guidance. Being able to ask ourselves a question and come up with our own answer or solution is ultimately much more empowering for us then accepting (well intentioned) advice from external sources, because our own unconscious contains all of the context, emotions and history around our individual lives and situations to make the best informed judgement and decisions. There are lots of really great ways of helping people re-establish their connection to their own unconscious guidance systems, but one of my favourites that I use often with my clients when they seem really stuck or in need of guidance is an effective visualization technique called "The Library of Deeper Knowledge and Answers". When introducing this to my clients, I do it as a guided visualization, but once they know how it goes, it is a technique they can use as often as they like on their own for any kind of question they are wanting insight into. Types of situations this technique can be useful for range from ways to to deal with a troubling work situation, what steps are needed in working towards a plan or goal or more emotionally based questions such as what might be missing in one's life or ways to heal or resolve difficult and upsetting situations.
If you would like to try using a technique like this for a question or situation you are finding challenging, it goes like this:
First, develop your question - open ended questions are best and could be phrased in ways such as:
- "What do I currently need to understand about.....?"
- "What are the first steps I need to take in order to...?"
- "What are some ways that I can start to....?"
- "What are the things holding me back from...?
When you are ready, start to see and/or feel yourself walking down a path or road in a peaceful setting - this could be a relaxing place you have been to in reality or somewhere new designed by your imagination.
As you continue to walk, off in the distance you start to see the form of a building or structure emerge. (Spending some time developing the scenery in detail and making it as salient as possible serves the purpose of relaxing the mind further and bringing you into a deeper more imaginative state).
As you get close to this structure, you see that it is some type of library.
Continue to walk towards it, and let yourself go inside, knowing that inside you will find a very special book that has the answer to the question(s) you designed. State the question to yourself and allow your imagination to start to guide you.
As you stand inside the entrance to this library, you see that there are thousands and thousands of books, but allow yourself to feel certain that you will somehow know how to find exactly the book you need for your particular question.
As you start to move through the library, let your instincts guide you to where you feel it is right to go and know that the book will present itself to you in some way. You might be guided to a particular shelf where one book looks bigger than the rest or seems to be illuminated in some way. Some of my clients are drawn to one book sitting alone on a table or a book might draw your attention by falling off a shelf in front of you - the way it presents itself will be different for everyone and is up to your imagination.
Once you have found the book you feel you are meant to look at, take a moment to notice how it appears or feels in your hands. I have had clients come up with some extraordinary insights based on just the physical appearance of their books alone so it's important to remember there are no "wrong" impressions. Allow yourself to notice things like:
- What does it look like - is it old and weathered or new and modern?
- Is it a textbook? A picture book? A chapter book? Etc.
- If there is a picture on the front, what does that picture mean to you?
- Does the book remind you of something or someone?
- What colour is the cover and what does that colour mean to you?
- Does the book have a title and if so what is it?
- Is the book heavy or light or big or small and what might that signify in terms of your question?
Now open the book and allow the full answer to your question to present itself to you. There might be pages with lots of writing or just one single word. There might be pictures or diagrams. There might be sounds or symbols that jump out at you - whatever you see or notice about the book is the answer to your question. If you feel as though you aren't getting, understanding or seeing the information, not to worry, just ask yourself some questions of clarification to help bridge the gap between your conscious and unconscious mind e.g. "What might this mean to me?" "What does the colour/word/feeling remind me of?" "How can the concept of ____help me right now?"
Be patient with yourself as you get used to this kind of non-linear thinking. Our unconscious speaks to us in abstracts, riddles and symbols and so often the information we get might not appear concretely at first. I remember one of my clients becoming extremely frustrated during this process because the book she was being shown was completely full of blank pages. She thought that she was making a mistake and "doing this all wrong", however, when I asked why the concept of "blank pages" might be meaningful to her in her particular situation, she suddenly had an important insight into the need to clean her emotional slate, rid herself of toxic anger she was holding onto and free herself from a negative interpersonal relationship that was distracting her and getting in the way of her true focus - now who would guess you could get all that from a simple blank page!
Another client, who was experiencing problems implementing some small business goals was not able to turn the pages past the Table of Contents where "Chapter One" was highlighted at the top of the page. When he asked for what he was supposed to understand from that, he had a realization that he had missed some important formative market research steps while putting together his business plan and needed to revisit those "chapter one" issues in order to then move forward. The point is that however the book is appearing or not appearing to you will contain valuable symbolic information, just be patient, trust your unconscious and ask for clarity if what you are being shown seems confusing at first.
Over the years I have truly enjoyed introducing this technique to my clients, as I am constantly inspired and intrigued by all the different books and forms of insight that they come up with in answer to their questions - and all from their very own minds. I invite you to give this a try and hope that you will be intrigued and inspired by your own inner library in this way too.
