A Journey to the Centre
The greatest calamity is the loss of the centre and the abandonment of the soul to the caprices of the periphery. To be a man is to be at the centre.
Frithjoff Schuon (1992). Philosopher, Poet, Artist
Individual and group Coaching has always been an invaluable tool to help ourselves and others achieve meaningful results in life. Of course, there are many types of coaching ranging from what I think of as ‘transactional coaching’ (designed to deal with a specific issue or concern) and ‘developmental coaching’ (designed to develop specific skills i.e. leadership).
While these are invaluable in many contexts, in today’s fast-paced world, adding additional skills and techniques to our already overladen ‘learning bucket’ seems insufficient. Transformational coaching then can play a vital role in helping leaders transcend the complexities of modern life by helping them develop a completely different view of themselves and the world. The term ‘Transformational coaching’ leads us to believe that through the coaching process, one is radically transformed from one state of being to another implying that something about us needs to be changed or added to in order that we may operate more effectively. My view of transformational coaching is a little different. All living systems have a point of balance, equilibrium, or homeostasis from which they function most effectively. Human Beings are no different. To be effective on a sustained level, one needs to connect with their ‘centre of balance’ – not as a point in the body but as as a way of being and observing that gives us greater energy, flexibility and resilience to deal with life more robustly.
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All living systems have a point of balance
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The notion of ‘the centre’ has been held as sacred by ancient cultures from all over the world. All human beings have a centre which, traditional thinking throughout the ages has always indicated is the heart. The association between the heart and the spiritual centre is not a new idea. Rooted deeply within our earliest history, the ancient Egyptians held the heart as sacred. During their mummification process, they removed every organ in the body with the exception of the heart. The heart, it was believed, was considered to be the seat of the soul and only one who was ‘light of heart’ could enter the afterlife. In Sufiism, described as a ‘science of the reparation of the heart’, Hazrat Inayat Khan, founder of the Sufi order in the West, proclaimed “Sufism as the religion of the heart’. In all Eastern and Western esoteric thinking, the heart is associated with the Heart Centre or Anahata Chakra which is the centre of emotions. Modern-day neuroscientific research conducted by the Heart Math Institute has introduced a scientific approach to the influence of the heart in generating coherence and restoring balance to the body.
A journey to the centre has occupied the minds of great storytellers throughout history. Regardless of culture, the ‘hero myths’ of the world describes the journey that an individual takes to overcome great adversity: Found in The Epic of Gilgamesh, Homers Odyssey and the Arthurian legends to mention a few we find stories of the mythical hero who leaves his homeland to journey outside the village to achieve an impossible task. The separation from all that is familiar was often brought about through necessity: the kingdom in question is perhaps a withering wasteland, or under siege from a ruthless tyrant, people were suffering and in dire need of a miracle to bring hope and restore balance.
During his journey, the hero is forced to undergo many trials and challenges often feeling isolated and alone while facing mortal danger. Along the way, he is aided by a companion or mysterious helper who come to his aid bearing information or practical gifts which assist him to overcome adversity by taking him back to his centre where he able to muster the resources to continue. It is only after he defeats the monster (a symbol for the ego) and rescues the princess from the tower (symbolic of the imprisoned soul) that he can journey back to his homeland as a hero: – stronger, balanced, centred and with a revitalised way of being that serves as a beacon of light for others. Operating from his centre, he is able to defeat the tyrant and makes the wasteland whole again allowing the people to once again to live full and prosperous lives. It’s what Joseph Campbell describes as the Monomyth: a separation from the centre and a coming back again with boons that benefit a whole community. The entire journey describes the process of the hero’s destruction and re-creation – a journey back to the centre of who he really is and what he might become.
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‘Furthermore, we have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have gone before us, the labyrinth is thoroughly known, we have only to follow the thread of the hero-path. And where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god; where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves; where we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the centre of our own existence;; and where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world’
Joseph Campbell – The Hero with a Thousand Faces
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What strikes me most in my work as an executive coach and facilitator is that Joseph Campbell Monomyth is archetypal and just as alive today as it was when the stories were written. I see it most frequently in my organisational work. Whilst there is a vast amount of diversity in the industry sector, the nature of the organisation, its people and their cultural backgrounds; the different stages of the hero’s path lie at the heart of the challenges and difficulties they face every day. A journey to the centre is the path that modern-day leader’s travel to find their inner strength, courage and ‘grit’ to overcome the myriad of challenges that life throws at them. The path that an individual leader undertakes to recognise the necessity for his/her own transformation in order to help transform a team, department or organisation – is perfectly aligned with Campbell’s hero’s journey roadmap.
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The path that an individual leader undertakes to recognise the necessity for his/her own transformation in order to help transform a team, department or organisation – is perfectly aligned with Campbell’s hero’s journey roadmap.
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To put this in perspective: If we can think of life as a circle or wheel, when we are born, we are at our centre. As we grow up as part of our normal psychological development, we leave the centre to journey towards the outer reaches, or periphery, which is spinning incredibly fast. By engaging with the world and the dramatic pace of life, we too also begin to spin equally as fast just so we can keep up. While this is tolerable for a while, spending too long on the periphery can become hazardous. It compels us to develop a ‘personality (ego) driven’ view of the world – typically a ‘you vs me’ opinion where we learn to compete, survive and separate ourselves from others. On the periphery, we learn to achieve our goals and ambitions’ through the sheer force of our will, determination and drive. Without frequent returns to the centre, we can start living and acting solely from the ego, placing IT at the centre thus believing that the world revolves around us. We judge others to be wrong and incorrect and hold ourselves to be right. From this place of survival, we can believe that we are constantly under attack and start living from the emotional spaces of anxiety, cynicism and resentment. As our emotions are predispositions for action, we can frequently find ourselves stressed out and uptight and constantly trapped in reactive responses. Caught in the rapid spin of the wheel we can find ourselves mired in the illusion of control and separateness from others which leads us to feel isolated and alone.
When we finally become aware of our position, a strange thing happens. Paradoxically, instead of taking steps to counteract the situation, we begin to cling even more fervently to the status quo as it’s the very fabric that holds our current reality together. We may have invested a lot to build our castle walls incredibly high. In our logical, rational Western mind, to let go of our fixed position seems tantamount to disaster. This is where the coach comes in. To make a return to the centre means letting go of the attachment to the outcome and our need for certainty while orienting ourselves towards a different future with the coach as an ardent companion. Leaving the centre seems relatively easy and natural when starting out, but going back is a perilous journey. There is no road map for us to follow nor a carefully crafted process with 12 easy steps. Like the great heroes of mythology, we have to fight against the forces, both inner and outer, that frequently conspire to derail us and usurp the inner equilibrium that we seek. The journey involves digging deep and finding a sense of meaning, not from the stance taken by the ego or personality, but from reconnecting to the authentic part of ourselves that existed before life got in the way. A coach who is already on the road to his own centre and a little way ahead of the individual is a valuable asset in these situations.
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Returning to the centre is NOT about transforming ourselves into something different
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The further we head towards the periphery the greater the degree of separateness. It’s where we place ourselves in our own ivory towers, holding onto our views and opinions about the world. It’s the place of clinging, constriction and chaos. The closer we move to the centre the greater the degree of fluidity, union and connection with ourselves and the environment. And here lies the rub. Returning to the centre is not about transforming ourselves into something different, instead it implies breaking down barriers and reconnecting with the authentic aspects of who we are. The great Sculptor, Michelangelo used to say that every block of marble had a great statue inside and all he needed to do was removed the unnecessary pieces of marble from the square block so that the figure could emerge. Finding our centre is a bit like that. It doesn’t involve standing in our ivory towers looking inwards while developing more strategies, tactics and actions to improve results, but instead, it involves exploring a way of being that allows us to reframe our disoriented worldview while becoming a different observer of ourselves and others. To regain our centre is to reconnect with the ‘still point of the turning world’ which TS Eliot refers to in his poem of the same name. It is symbolised in the myths and epic tales as an item of great value – a Golden Fleece, or magical elixir. To be in the centre is to be in the dance of life, going with the current and not fighting against the grain. It is the point of poise, balance and the real locus of power and control where one feels a sense of connectedness with oneself and the environment.
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“At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
TS Eliot
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Ontological Coaching, developed by Dr. Fernando Flores, Rafael Echeverria and Julia Olla and others, is a powerful process to allow us to get back to the centre of our lives. Rooted in philosophy (the work of Martin Heidegger), anthropology, sociology, linguistics and the Biology of Cognition (Humberto Maturana), it seeks to ‘coach to the centre’ respectfully challenging the deeply held assumptions and beliefs that keep us mired in illusion. Issues relating to the centre are not just ‘touchy-feely’ issues that deal with the soft side of life. They get to the heart of how individuals, teams and organisations evolve, function and change. The coaching of people and organisations is the ‘dance’ that the coach and the leader/team take to help them rediscover their elixir and find their way back to the still point, the only part of the wheel that is hardly moving at all.
It is during the journey – the coaching or facilitation process, that the magic happens when an individual or team begins to recognise that what they thought to be the truth behind their fixed rhetoric, is usually nothing more than a ‘learned cultural narrative’, tightly woven into stories and rationale that comprises the fabric of an individual’s or organisations reality. When we can let go of the stories that keep us bound to the periphery, we can begin the journey to the still point and learn once again, to create a presence in the moment. Once at the centre, the place of the heart, one finds their natural rhythm or dance and all actions begin to be performed in a natural flow.
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It is during the journey that the magic happens
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Ontological coaching has also been referred to as ‘Coaching to the human soul’. (Alan Sieler) This concept of the soul can raise eyebrows in the minds of more ‘rational, linear’ individuals. It can sound elusive, esoteric, and very ‘touchy-feely’ and is often considered as something that is completely unrelated to the practicalities of the real world, particularly in the world of business. Yet to embrace the notion of the soul is also to embrace the notion of the centre. According to Thomas Moore, in his bestselling book The Care of the Soul; ‘Soul is not a thing, but a quality or a dimension of experiencing life and ourselves. It has to do with depth, value, relatedness, heart and personal substance’.
Soul then, is about meaning. To relate to the soul or the centre is to relate to the quality of our existence and our desire to live a deeply meaningful and fulfilling life. Isn’t this what lies at the heart of all our endeavours? Perhaps then one way of referring to the centre is to think of it as ’interior energy’ which is the life force of our existence. This energy is physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. The extent to which we can connect with our centre shapes what sort of place the world is for us, how we participate in everyday life and experience a meaningful and satisfying existence.
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The idea of the centre has huge applicability in business
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The idea of the centre has huge applicability in business. People do not leave their souls or ‘way of being’ in the car park before coming to the office. Key issues of performance, productivity and profit cannot be divorced from how people are relating with themselves and each other in the workplace. From an organisational perspective, when our soul is nourished we are more creative and effective and the organisation benefits as a result. Richard Barrett, in his book Liberating the Corporate Soul, comments on working from a deep inner purpose, and experiencing an inner life that includes deep silence, unshakeable commitment and a frequent sense of joy and contentment. Ontological coaching has the capacity to touch the centre of individuals and teams and assist them to generate a more meaningful existence and bring about deep change, which not only benefits those around them but also the organisations in which they work.
To speak of the soul then, is to speak of the heart of our being. Soul is about feeling deep within ourselves that we are living a life of meaning and fulfilment which emanates from the relationships we are able to develop and cultivate, not only with people but also with ideas, and our physical environment. And I for one want a lot of that
Related Sources:
- The Rebellion of the Soul – Caroline Ravenall
- International Journal of Coaching in Organisations – 2009
- The Hero with a Thousand Faces – Joseph Campbell
- Coaching to the Human Soul Volumes 1 – 3 – Alan Sieler
