The Coaching Kool-Aid

What’s the difference between meditation and mindfulness? And are these practices really as harmless and user-friendly as we are told? In the first of this two-part episode on mindfulness, we’re joined by Dr Alex Norman of Western Sydney University. If you’re interested in where mindfulness comes from, what we’re doing with it now, and the potential dangers of utilising this ancient practice in a modern context, this is the episode for you. 

What could possibly be wrong with positivity? Come on ladies, you’re pushing it too far now. Perhaps, but we dare you to come inside and see what unfolds. In this episode, we cover emotional vocabulary, death, long-haul flights with multiple children, and the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Oh, and Mel learns why she needs to watch the end of Bambi.

What does it mean to be resilient? Is it working an 80 hour week, turning up when you’re sick or behaving as though a setback has not completely rocked your world? Or is it going to bed instead of answering emails or spending time with your family? Our modern world of work would have us believe that the only way to succeed is by being better, stronger, harder, and faster versions of ourselves; performing at our peak at all times. But is this possible? And is resilience something innate or is it something we can learn? In this episode, we interview Dr Michael Cavanagh, Deputy Director of the Coaching Psychology unit at Sydney University, in order to seek some answers to the question: who is responsible for resilience? 

The Internet is full of coaches advertising their services to help you find your ‘authentic self’ (maybe it’s just under the couch), or to ‘unlock its power’ (sounds risky, why was it imprisoned in the first place?). In this episode, we look at where this notion of an ‘authentic self’ came from, and why it actually fits more within a religious framework than a scientific one. As coaches, we also look at how we’d approach this Cartesian dilemma in our own practice.

Have you ever been told to “change your mindset”, only to feel baffled as to what this actually means? In Episode 1 of the Coaching Kool-Aid, we look at the myth of the ‘mindset switch’, where this idea came from, and how we might use it more effectively. You’ll also meet your hosts, Mel and Renee, who will tell you why they decided to take a magnifying glass to the glossy facade of the coaching industry.