Health and Wellness Coach Tayyaba Jordan works alongside you to empower you to achieve balance, satisfaction, and health in life! Yogalife has a word with her.
What types of coaching do you do?
I really am a mix between a Life coach and Health coach. I want to know what challenges you are facing in your life and work towards optimising your health to deal with these issues. When it comes to health and wellness both your primary food and your secondary food must be in balance. There is no point in eating like a saint if you are overly stressed out. The physical manifestations are the same, both done badly lead to an increase in the risk of chronic disease. I don’t dwell on the why as much as the what can we do about it now. I deal with anything that stops my client from being their best self, whether that be how they look, looking at work life balance, relationships at home, finances, and work. Anything that causes them stress, anxiety, or unhappiness we deal with. If I feel that it needs more specialist intervention I will recommend a trusted practitioner or even find one for my client.
I always start with the three things that are having the most negative affect on my client’s life and work through them either one by one or make a start on all three if that seems appropriate. Never a dull moment – I love to call on the right method, advice, or nutritional program for each of their needs.
When the coach is confused or lost, where does he/she find a guide?
When I need help I ask. I have a great set of friends and a personal trainer that is my coach too really; our ethos is similar and there is sort of a short hand where we get to the bottom of what’s going on pretty quickly. I also have a brilliant set of close colleagues, other practitioners as well as other coaches. I make sure I am well supported and will lean upon whom I may need to when necessary. I am also a great believer in personal development. I had no idea what these two words even meant a few years ago and now it’s something I feel everyone should dive into way before they really ‘need’ it!
What must the person you are helping contribute?
The main thing that the person I am coaching needs to do is to be coachable. If they come with a genuine intention and they are coachable, heaven and earth can be moved by their own energy and a bit of coaching. However, if they are questioning everything or not sure why they have signed up, it just won’t work.
What motivates someone to work more efficiently?
There is nothing better to motivate someone than their own success. When the feel better, or see the pounds drop off or start to see the benefits of their actions they become self-motivated and that is really the ultimate goal. I am not here as an accountability friend but am here to facilitate your success with our judgement.
How do you work on the emotional plane?
Well the emotional plane is a very much an acknowledged part of how I coach. There are three very powerful emotional based tools that I work with a lot. These challenge the way you would normally respond to someone or something.
The first is lessening the significance of the voice in your head. Your biggest critic this powerful dialogue, is often far from reality. I work with clients on how to lessen its significance and therefore reducing mental exhaustion.
The second is heart think Vs head thinking, we need both but often use the wrong kind or default strongly to one. I work to highlight where one may be more relevant and this can often lead to many Aha! moments.
And thirdly not mixing up your hats. This one is so simple. Professionals often forget to take off their work hat when they get home, and this can cause miscommunication especially amongst couples.
Can positive thinking can be developed into a habit?
Yes absolutely. This is exactly what I do, and it is absolutely possible. It takes three weeks for a habit to form into a ritual. Our brain is a muscle and we just need to work out the happiness bit till it gets a bit stronger. I myself am living proof that positive practice can become a long-term way of being. I love to tell my clients to smile as much as possible. It’s free and actually even if we are not feeling happy just the mechanical movement fools our brain into thinking that we are, and endorphins are released. We can simulate happiness!
How do you define the concept commitment?
Well, to me the word commitment is huge and tantamount to self-love. It’s about having a respect for yourself your body and your life. When you make a commitment to yourself it’s like you are saying I care enough about myself to do this for me. I would always ask someone who could not commit to themselves or any program, what would it take for you to commit to making your life better? Not just for you but for your family, your loved ones? This is where the key is, would it take for you to be having a breakdown, or a serious illness before you commit to make you important. The same goes for committing to a program; any program; it’s about saying I care enough about this to be there, to be present. And if you can’t be committed it’s like saying I don’t care or it’s not important to me right now.
When you make a commitment it’s like you are making a decision and the following through of those decisions turn into little moments of achievement. These add up and start to develop into a bigger more substantial feeling success in every area. So, commitment is extremely important. If I feel a client is not ready to make this commitment I will perhaps suggest they wait a few weeks and think it over.
Is it necessary at times to reorient a person’s desires and expectations?
Normally it’s more the speed at which these issues can be resolved that needs to be managed. With weight loss – well who doesn’t want to reach their ideal body as quickly as possible!!!! But with weight I do not advocate quick fixes. I work much deeper around the issues which relate to the weight gain in the first place. Yes, I could give you some quick fixes, but my plan is always to give you the tools so that you have them for life.
Reordering people’s expectations is something I find myself doing. Once we have got to ‘a’ then we can think about addressing ‘b’. I would never ignore or nullify a client’s desire unless it really was dangerous or illegal!
What is usually the main obstacle your clients face?
Most of my clients like all of us struggle with consistency. This, a bit like commitment, is key to success. And this is where I come into my own. I want to get the best out of my client and I am not here to judge. So, if the consistency is an issue – I will ask what will it take for you to get committed? And we work on it. Simply by turning up they are showing a commitment to me and I congratulate them on that. I want to leave my client inspired to make the next positive move, or to take that next big step. And they do knowing I am right here whatever the outcome.
How do you know if a challenge is the right one for a person?
I am only working from the information that my clients give me. I will not push any challenges onto them. The only challenge they will face will be self-imposed, I will advise and guide but ultimately, it’s my clients decision.
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Tayyaba Jordan is a qualified health coach, firm advocate of healthy eating and mother of two. She runs a health and wellness course for private clients that include adults, children, and families. Her greatest passion is helping people rebalance their lives using practical, realistic approaches for both mind and body and break the cycle of stress from leading modern, busy lives. Tayyaba has a Diploma in Health Counselling from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in New York. For more information on Tayyaba please visit www.wellnesswithme.co.uk
Please read our May/June issue to know about Tayyaba’s coaching session.