Most people think mindfulness means downloading an app or sitting quietly for ten minutes. Serena Jain is here to respectfully challenge that assumption — and to show coaches and high performers what's actually possible when mindfulness is practiced with intention and depth.

In this episode of The Coaching Lab, host Dr. Brad Cooper sits down with mindfulness teacher and MBSR practitioner Serena Jain for a conversation that is equal parts science, application, and experience. Serena unpacks what Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction actually is, how it differs from general meditation practice, and why it's become one of the most evidence-backed tools available for addressing chronic stress, improving self-awareness, and creating lasting behavioral change.

For health coaches, this one goes beyond theory. Serena walks through how mindfulness can deepen the coaching process, practical ways to incorporate it into sessions while staying within scope of practice, and what to say to clients who are convinced they're simply "bad at meditation." And in a rare moment for a podcast episode, she guides listeners through a live mindfulness practice — so you don't just hear about it, you experience it.

Whether you're a seasoned coach looking to add a powerful tool to your practice, someone considering the coaching profession, or a high performer navigating a relentlessly demanding life, this conversation offers both the why and the how.

Topics covered: mindfulness-based stress reduction, MBSR, mindfulness for coaches, health coaching tools, stress management, chronic stress, mindfulness vs meditation, mindfulness in coaching practice, coach self-awareness, mindfulness for high performers, mindfulness for beginners, Serena Jain, how to start mindfulness practice, mindfulness exercise, coaching techniques, wellness coaching, performance coaching, mindfulness research, scope of practice, The Coaching Lab podcast, Catalyst Coaching 360

• Serena's Website: https://serenajain.com/
• Link to Serena's guided meditations: https://serenajain.com/mindfulness-programs/guided-audio-meditations/.  
• This guided audio can also be accessed on SoundCloud, which can be downloaded as an app onto a smartphone: https://soundcloud.com/user-869280929. 

Info re earning your health & wellness coaching certification, annual Rocky Mountain Coaching Retreat & Symposium & more via https://www.catalystcoachinginstitute.com/ 

Best-in-class coaching for Employers, EAPs & wellness providers https://catalystcoaching360.com/

Tap into the home of the (freely available) Not Done Yet! articles on unlocking life's 2nd half here.

YouTube Coaching Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/CoachingChannel

Contact us: [email protected]
Twitter: @Catalyst2Thrive
Website: CatalystCoaching360.com

If you are a current or future health & wellness coach, please check out our Health & Wellness Coaching Community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/278207545599218.  This is a wonderful group if you are looking for encouragement, ideas, resources and more. 

AI is transforming coaching, leadership, and the way we work—but how do you use it without losing what makes coaching powerful in the first place?

In this episode of The Coaching Lab, we sit down with Sara Parrode, AI Coach for Executives and Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach, to explore how coaches and leaders can build a thoughtful, responsible relationship with artificial intelligence.

Sara shares practical insights on how to integrate AI into your coaching practice and business, while staying grounded in human connection, ethics, and intentionality. We also explore how this moment mirrors endurance sport—requiring resilience, adaptability, and the ability to navigate uncertainty with clarity and confidence.

If you're a coach, executive, or leader wondering how to use AI effectively (without feeling overwhelmed or replaced), this conversation will give you a clear and grounded starting point.

In this episode, we cover:

•  How AI is changing coaching and leadership right now 
•  Practical ways to use AI in your coaching business 
•  The risks of over-reliance—and how to avoid them 
•  Building a responsible and ethical relationship with AI 

Whether you're AI-curious or already experimenting, this episode will help you move forward with intention—not just speed.

You can connect with Sara via her website here or connect with her on LinkedIn here.

Info re earning your health & wellness coaching certification, annual Rocky Mountain Coaching Retreat & Symposium & more via https://www.catalystcoachinginstitute.com/ 

Best-in-class coaching for Employers, EAPs & wellness providers https://catalystcoaching360.com/

Tap into the home of the (freely available) Not Done Yet! articles on unlocking life's 2nd half here.

YouTube Coaching Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/CoachingChannel

Contact us: [email protected]
Twitter: @Catalyst2Thrive
Website: CatalystCoaching360.com

If you are a current or future health & wellness coach, please check out our Health & Wellness Coaching Community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/278207545599218.  This is a wonderful group if you are looking for encouragement, ideas, resources and more. 

We’ve all heard that peak performance is ‘all in your head,’ but our guest today invested time mapping where that ‘headspace’ lives. Dr. Izzy Justice is a world-renowned sports neuroscientist who notes he has analyzed over 18,000 EEG brain scans to uncover a startling truth: there is a specific frequency—10 Hz—where elite performance becomes effortless.

He is the author of Life Explained: Chasing 10 Hz, and he’s here to show us that confidence isn't a feeling, it's an electrical state. Today, we’re diving into the ‘Neurohacks’ that allow you to downshift your brain from stress to success in seconds. 

Info re earning your health & wellness coaching certification, annual Rocky Mountain Coaching Retreat & Symposium & more via https://www.catalystcoachinginstitute.com/ 

Best-in-class coaching for Employers, EAPs & wellness providers https://catalystcoaching360.com/

Tap into the home of the (freely available) Not Done Yet! articles on unlocking life's 2nd half here.

YouTube Coaching Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/CoachingChannel

Contact us: [email protected]
Twitter: @Catalyst2Thrive
Website: CatalystCoaching360.com

If you are a current or future health & wellness coach, please check out our Health & Wellness Coaching Community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/278207545599218.  This is a wonderful group if you are looking for encouragement, ideas, resources and more. 

This is the final episode of our special 3-part series on the business of health & wellness coaching. 

Info re earning your health & wellness coaching certification, annual Rocky Mountain Coaching Retreat & Symposium & more via https://www.catalystcoachinginstitute.com/ 

Best-in-class coaching for Employers, EAPs & wellness providers https://catalystcoaching360.com/

Tap into the home of the (freely available) Not Done Yet! articles on unlocking life's 2nd half here.

YouTube Coaching Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/CoachingChannel

Contact us: [email protected]
Twitter: @Catalyst2Thrive
Website: CatalystCoaching360.com

If you are a current or future health & wellness coach, please check out our Health & Wellness Coaching Community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/278207545599218.  This is a wonderful group if you are looking for encouragement, ideas, resources and more. 

Do you believe in free will? Really? Our answer to that questions influences SO much of our journey ahead. 

Text version available here

Info re earning your health & wellness coaching certification, annual Rocky Mountain Coaching Retreat & Symposium & more via https://www.catalystcoachinginstitute.com/ 

Best-in-class coaching for Employers, EAPs & wellness providers https://catalystcoaching360.com/

Tap into the home of the (freely available) Not Done Yet! articles on unlocking life's 2nd half here.

YouTube Coaching Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/CoachingChannel

Contact us: [email protected]
Twitter: @Catalyst2Thrive
Website: CatalystCoaching360.com

If you are a current or future health & wellness coach, please check out our Health & Wellness Coaching Community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/278207545599218.  This is a wonderful group if you are looking for encouragement, ideas, resources and more. 

In a world of constant noise, endless distraction, and performative busyness, what does it mean to pursue true excellence? Not hustle-for-hustle’s-sake kind—but the kind rooted in values, meaning, and sustainable high performance. Today’s guest is one of the clearest voices on that question: Brad Stulberg—bestselling author, performance coach, and researcher on sustainable excellence. Brad is a rare returning guest to The Coaching Lab for good reason. His work regularly appears in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic, and he serves on faculty at the University of Michigan. His new book, The Way of Excellence, reframes excellence not as a finish line—but as a process of mastery, meaning, and becoming. Drawing on modern science, timeless philosophy, and real-world stories of elite performers, Brad shows us how to integrate mastery and mattering—so we can perform at our best without burning out or losing what truly matters. In this conversation, we explore:

·       Why excellence is not about outcomes—but about process

·       How to build real confidence through consistency

·       The difference between “pseudo-excellence” and the real thing

·       How focus, discipline, and values alignment create sustained performance

·       And how to pursue greatness without sacrificing well-being, relationships, or meaning

Whether you’re an athlete, coach, leader, entrepreneur, or simply someone who wants to live with greater intention, this episode delivers a clear, grounded roadmap for what it really means to be at your best—day after day.

Info re earning your health & wellness coaching certification, annual Rocky Mountain Coaching Retreat & Symposium & more via https://www.catalystcoachinginstitute.com/ 

Best-in-class coaching for Employers, EAPs & wellness providers https://catalystcoaching360.com/

Tap into the home of the (freely available) Not Done Yet! articles on unlocking life's 2nd half here.

YouTube Coaching Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/CoachingChannel

Contact us: [email protected]
Twitter: @Catalyst2Thrive
Website: CatalystCoaching360.com

If you are a current or future health & wellness coach, please check out our Health & Wellness Coaching Community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/278207545599218.  This is a wonderful group if you are looking for encouragement, ideas, resources and more. 

One of the most common questions among both new and established coaches is how to establish your pricing. In this episode, Leigh, Suzy and Brad provide a round-table discussion on a range of pricing-related topics ranging from how the market affects your pricing to how to land on "your" number, the role of packages and much more.

Info re earning your health & wellness coaching certification, annual Rocky Mountain Coaching Retreat & Symposium & more via https://www.catalystcoachinginstitute.com/ 

Best-in-class coaching for Employers, EAPs & wellness providers https://catalystcoaching360.com/

Tap into the home of the (freely available) Not Done Yet! articles on unlocking life's 2nd half here.

YouTube Coaching Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/CoachingChannel

Contact us: [email protected]
Twitter: @Catalyst2Thrive
Website: CatalystCoaching360.com

If you are a current or future health & wellness coach, please check out our Health & Wellness Coaching Community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/278207545599218.  This is a wonderful group if you are looking for encouragement, ideas, resources and more. 

What is a clear, personal vision? How does it overlap (or influence) goals? Why does it matter? What are the steps to discovering and clarifying a vision? What does this have to do with my life? Why not just set goals or resolutions?

In this special bonus episode, Dr. Cooper shares a range of insights and "how-to's" related to the powerful, life-shifting step of clarifying and creating a clear personal vision!

Accompanying notes utilized for this special episode, including examples, are available here.

Info re earning your health & wellness coaching certification, annual Rocky Mountain Coaching Retreat & Symposium & more via https://www.catalystcoachinginstitute.com/ 

Best-in-class coaching for Employers, EAPs & wellness providers https://catalystcoaching360.com/

Tap into the home of the (freely available) Not Done Yet! articles on unlocking life's 2nd half here.

YouTube Coaching Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/CoachingChannel

Contact us: [email protected]
Twitter: @Catalyst2Thrive
Website: CatalystCoaching360.com

If you are a current or future health & wellness coach, please check out our Health & Wellness Coaching Community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/278207545599218.  This is a wonderful group if you are looking for encouragement, ideas, resources and more. 

The use of saunas is exploding in popularity in the US, but they’ve been a standard part of life in other parts of the world. Finland is the best example, with more than one sauna for every 2 people! What is it about the health, wellbeing and high performance benefits that are driving such engagement? Is it a fad? Or is the trend driven by dependable evidence? What frequency, duration and temperature are recommended for better health & wellbeing? How about for athletic performance? What’s the difference between infrared and traditional saunas? Today’s guest, Dr. Daniel Gagnon is a thermal physiologist who has been studying the effects of heat exposure on human health & performance for over 2 decades! He is an associate professor at the University of Montreal and researcher at the Montreal Health Institute. If you’ve been curious about what the evidence is saying about saunas, you’ve come to the right place.

Here are the two studies Dr. Gagnon mentioned during the discussion: 

Meta-analysis 1

Meta-analysis 2

Info re earning your health & wellness coaching certification, annual Rocky Mountain Coaching Retreat & Symposium & more via https://www.catalystcoachinginstitute.com/ 

Best-in-class coaching for Employers, EAPs & wellness providers https://catalystcoaching360.com/

Tap into the home of the (freely available) Not Done Yet! articles on unlocking life's 2nd half here.

YouTube Coaching Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/CoachingChannel

Contact us: [email protected]
Twitter: @Catalyst2Thrive
Website: CatalystCoaching360.com

If you are a current or future health & wellness coach, please check out our Health & Wellness Coaching Community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/278207545599218.  This is a wonderful group if you are looking for encouragement, ideas, resources and more. 

This special episode, hosted by Leigh Baker, with nationally board certified health & wellness coach (and business owner) Suzy Destarac and Dr. Brad Cooper, takes a deep dive into the business side of coaching.

Info re earning your health & wellness coaching certification, annual Rocky Mountain Coaching Retreat & Symposium & more via https://www.catalystcoachinginstitute.com/ 

Best-in-class coaching for Employers, EAPs & wellness providers https://catalystcoaching360.com/

Tap into the home of the (freely available) Not Done Yet! articles on unlocking life's 2nd half here.

YouTube Coaching Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/CoachingChannel

Contact us: [email protected]
Twitter: @Catalyst2Thrive
Website: CatalystCoaching360.com

If you are a current or future health & wellness coach, please check out our Health & Wellness Coaching Community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/278207545599218.  This is a wonderful group if you are looking for encouragement, ideas, resources and more.