Inquiry: What’s Beyond the First Answer

Sometimes I surprise myself by thinking (in my great wisdom 🙂 ) that I am pretty detached from having any agenda or fixed destination in mind when it comes to how I live my life. Then, going beyond my first thought, conclusion or idealization, I discover that I am far more attached than I first imagine. For example, I was sitting by the canal this morning after a light run, reflecting on how much joy I experience from this ritual…simply hanging out in nature feeling my heart beating. I thought “this is great…just doing this for pleasure…no strings attached.” Then I wondered “what else might be here?” I took a few deep breaths and inquired into this feeling of gratitude, curious to see what could also be present with the fresh memory of my recent health issues. I let my presence drop into the whole momentum of this and then an insight came: “I am attached to feeling young. This is partly what I’m getting out of running.” Isn’t that something? I am simply going for a run and unconsciously I’m pushing off death!

I have had the great fortune of engaging in this form of inquiry for over 15 years in my spiritual practice and it has made my life and my experience of coaching and leading coaching circles so much richer. The spirit of inquiry is something we cultivate every time we meet as a coaching circle. It’s a practice of going beyond the first answer and discovering what new light can be put on what we know to be true. It’s not always comfortable because it disturbs our habits of thinking, feeling and sensing our inner world and the world around us. It puts into question who we take ourselves to be. This can be scary or a wonderful opportunity to tap into the mystery of who we are becoming.

Join us at www.coachingcircles.ca to learn more. Training as a facilitator-coach will immerse you fully into this topic and the many other moving parts of this wonderful process.