Coaching with NLP For Dummies®

Getting in Tune with Flow States

The most productive coaching sessions happen when client and coach can access the client's flow state, where the client recognises how he can operate at his best. Until you tap into that flow state, your time with a client is purely task-focused and logical, lacking the creative dialogue between coach and client essential for real transformation to begin for the client.

In a flow state, people connect with what they really care about – their passions and ultimately their purpose (see the following section ‘Recognising Your Life Purpose’). Being in a flow state is as if your body is on auto-pilot, unconsciously knowing exactly where it's going and not having to think or worry about anything; you just take off and get on with life in the moment. Think of Tom Hanks in the film Forrest Gump when he begins to run and then keeps on running right across America with grace and ease. Just as long-distance runners gets into a state of flow, the experience of flow brings a sense of easy movement right through your body and mind. You feel engaged, supple, quick and flexible.

Often you can detect a client's flow state by its absence rather than its presence. When a client isn't in a flow state, something is interfering. This interference may be linked to skills; when some people face challenges that that they don't feel competent to handle, they experience anxiety, ...