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A Yogic Perspective on Wellness
Leadership Wellness & Stress Management:
How Avoiding Your Stress Restricts Your Growth, Effectiveness, Impact, and Wellbeing.
Various Mental and Emotional Challenges
Intrusive thoughts and overwhelming emotions determine so much of our lives, but only because we avoid them (and our tendency to continue to avoid them means that they will continue to prevent us from being free). These unwanted thoughts/emotions include self-criticism, insecurity, isolation, excessive worry and fear of failure, and difficulty coping with stressors and the various pressures of personal and professional life. As a result of spending energy avoiding our stressors and anxieties, we may experience reduced productivity, efficiency, and cognitive functioning (a lack of focus/concentration, impaired decision-making, learning, creativity and problem-solving, poor time management skills, etc.). Learning to sit with our anxiety will ensure that we don’t waste our life running from them. In this way, you may gain a sense of time freedom, perhaps even money freedom, and certainly the freedom to pursue what is most fulfilling.
An executive wellness coach (or any kind of executive coach) who does not include strategies for building resilience will not encourage the development of the kind of openness required for both improved performance and greater well-being. Executive wellness coaching is different from stress management coaching; managing stress is not simply stress relief (and neither stress management nor stress relief guarantee any kind of meaningful personal or professional growth). Wellness coaching should show you how your avoidance habits are reproducing challenging aspects of your inner (and, therefore, outer) life. An effective executive wellness (and/or any kind of executive coach) can never ignore painful thoughts/emotions.
Dysfunctional / Strained Relationships
Escaping our uncomfortable feelings and thoughts means escaping people and situations in our lives that produce these feelings and thoughts. And when we can’t avoid these people and situations (at home or at work), those who are closest to us are most victimized by our destructive habits, including the consequences of our unchecked self-interested motivations. Our own inability to deal with our inner life leads to conflict, poor communication, excessive irritability/anger, feelings of disconnection, and perhaps even being trapped in co-dependent relationships with people. Work life balance becomes near impossible, and so do effective networking, delegation, and management. And then these strained relationships with other people produce more stress than they alleviate. How might you improve your capacity for more fulfilling relationships? How might you let go of the relationships that leave you feeling unfree?
Executive wellness coaching (or almost every kind of executive coaching) that does not directly/indirectly address our relationships with other people often fail to produce meaningful personal growth (which leads to little/no wellness). Apart from being a non-optional dimension of our experience, relationships can be the source of our deepest fulfillment. Healthier relationships don’t result from leadership coaching (or communication coaching or emotional intelligence coaching or compassion coaching or team coaching, etc.) that doesn’t require understanding and addressing one’s instinctive self. Almost every coach—executive or otherwise—addresses relationships whether they know/like it or not.
A Lack of Meaning or Purpose
It’s difficult to pursue our most meaningful goals (and lives) if we aren’t connected with our deepest values and if you spend our lives avoiding whatever triggers pain—being pulled/pushed around by emotional overwhelm, perfectionism, insecurity, and self-criticism, etc.. Life becomes narrower and narrower (and our habitual self becomes more rigid). We feel more unfulfilled, unmotivated, and less connected to ourselves, other people, and to life/nature—we feel less present. Being connected to ourselves means being able to drown out all the noise in our lives (i.e., setting boundaries and gaining inner clarity and a sense of direction), so we can manage stress levels, manage anxiety, master skills and practices, and remain on a path of growth and impact as we address our personal challenges, reach our potential, and achieve our personal development goals. We feel a lack of time freedom, money freedom, and the freedom of having impact/purpose, the latter which can make life feel meaningless.
An effective executive wellness coach always remains focused on meaning and impact, which requires focus on the individual and their self-connection. Ultimately, any kind of coach (including any kind of executive coach, leadership coach, career coach, performance/strategy coach, etc.) should always remain focused on fulfilling and meaningful progress. Coaches who remain focused on the blind accomplishment of goals (or growth for the sake of growth) are likely to leave you feeling empty, frustrated (and more stressed). The most effective leadership wellness coaching will not ignore fulfillment.
Avoidance Behaviours
Doing what we know is aligned with our core values (which include addressing various kinds of personal and/or professional challenges) can feel overwhelming, and this overwhelm can lead to procrastination, missed opportunities, intense self-criticism, and self-sabotage. Advancement becomes nearly impossible and so our work becomes less fulfilling and we feel less appreciated and recognized by other people for our work and become more self-critical. Overreacting to stress responses produced by uncertainty and inner/material instability (including catastrophizing, rumination, and prematurely acting on unrealistic comparisons or expectations, etc.) are counter-productive: overwhelming emotions often reinforces self-sabotaging tendencies, causing us to attempt things (that we think will get us ‘unstuck’) that actually keep us trapped in (or even reinforce) old patterns, making growth (and stability) seem more out of reach. And so when we attempt to manage stress, the very attempt to reduce stress can actually prevent stress relief. In the end, we have less time freedom, money freedom, and unfulfilling relationships/careers. Time freedom can be retrieved by addressing our avoidant behaviours.
Executive wellbeing coaching should include strategies for dealing with avoidant habits and key behaviours that are preventing leaders from accomplishing the freedom to pursue their most meaningful goals and reaching their potential. An executive wellness coach should not provide (temporary) stress relief and leave you with no tools to confront future stress and handle this stress effectively. Coaches that do not address avoidance also do not contribute to growth beyond one’s existing silo (defined by existing avoidant habits). In executive wellness coaching, we focus on naturally changing these habits.
Declining Health or A Lack of Energy
Destructive physical health effects of all kinds of stress (including work stress) and anxiety abound, from health anxiety, headaches, reduced mobility, and fatigue, to sleep disturbances, chronic pain, obesity, weakened immunity, high blood pressure, cardiovascular issues, etc. (and the very arising of any of these personal issues can lead to burnout and often produces even more anxiety). Apart from physiological issues, it costs energy to continuously suppress our most overwhelming emotions and negative thoughts (including the effects of trauma) and try to micro-manage our inner/outer life (including how other people perceive of us). It costs energy to manage dysfunctional relationships. It costs energy to be the person your stressors and anxieties tell you that you need to be in order to succeed. It costs energy to not have resilience (and integrity). And all of this energy can be wasted, or put in the wrong places, or even repressed. Without effective strategies for allocating our energy, we can feel out of control, more anxious and overwhelmed, and less confident (which only exacerbate existing problems). This can even result in less time freedom, leaving us feeling incapable of addressing our finances, relationships with other people, and/or fulfillment.
Energy allotment is a core preventive health measure. Executive coaches should always address leaders’s energy allotment so that the leader achieving their goals (and reaching their potential) is energizing and not energy-consuming. An effective wellness/leadership coach understands that stress relief can create space for managing more meaningless stress. Wellness coaching that does not address vitality often only exacerbates burnout and doesn’t allow for the appreciation of one’s accomplishments and one’s self. Effective executive wellness coaching does not ignore energy allocation.
Lost Money and/or Time Freedom
Apart from the myriad financial costs associated with poor physical and/or mental health, strained relationships, poor productivity, missed opportunities (and ineffective life coaching or growth coaching and/or stress management programs, etc.), the habits we develop to manage the stress of overwhelming emotions and intrusive thoughts often end up being expensive (as do our attempts to stop sabotaging ourselves). These stress habits include “destructive” addictions (e.g., gambling, food, shopping, sex, social media, dysfunctional relationships, drugs/alcohol, attempting to “buy” connection/relief, etc.), but also addictions that we might not think to be destructive (e.g., spirituality, exercise, self-help or self-perfection, “helping” other people, attempting to “buy” connection/happiness, etc.). Our addictions and avoidant tendencies only frustrate our ability to develop both inner and outer skills and competencies (including emotional intelligence and improving our relationship with our own inner life). And with no time freedom, we feel stuck in our current ways of being, and earning more money even feels impossible.
Executive coaching must address self sabotaging behaviours in order to produce meaningful self-improvement and true wellness. Wellness coaches that do not address leaders’ self sabotage are likely only providing some stress relief (and thus functioning as more of stress relief coach). Coaches that do not address self-sabotage often produce little/no long-term impact in terms of accomplishing meaningful goals and reaching one’s potential. Any executive coach—wellness or otherwise—should show how self-sabotaging habits are affecting one’s confidence and development outside of one’s career. An effective wellness coach does not ignore wasted resources.
Executive Wellness via Meaningful Growth:
The Many Benefits of Confronting Your Stress
Greater Resilience
& Stability
Burnout/Stress Management & Greater Well-Being
Better Business Outcomes & Improved Performance
Enhanced Creativity & Innovation
Burnout/Stress Management & Greater Well-Being
Better Business Outcomes & Improved Performance
Greater Work-Life Balance
Burnout/Stress Management & Greater Well-Being
Better Business Outcomes & Improved Performance
Greater Emotional Intelligence & Regulation
Burnout/Stress Management & Greater Well-Being
Better Business Outcomes & Improved Performance
Better Decision-Making & Strategic Planning
Burnout/Stress Management & Greater Well-Being
Better Business Outcomes & Improved Performance
More Status & Recognition
Burnout/Stress Management & Greater Well-Being
Better Business Outcomes & Improved Performance
Executive Presence & Leadership Development
Burnout/Stress Management & Greater Well-Being
Better Business Outcomes & Improved Performance
Better Focus, Productivity, & Performance
Burnout/Stress Management & Greater Well-Being
Better Business Outcomes & Improved Performance
Greater Impact
& Personal Fulfillment
Burnout/Stress Management & Greater Well-Being
Better Business Outcomes & Improved Performance
Inner Clarity
& Sense of Direction
Burnout/Stress Management & Greater Well-Being
Better Business Outcomes & Improved Performance
More Energy & Better Physical/Mental Health
Burnout/Stress Management & Greater Well-Being
Better Business Outcomes & Improved Performance
Healthier Self-Confidence
& Self-Relationship
Burnout/Stress Management & Greater Well-Being
Better Business Outcomes & Improved Performance
Greater Self-Awareness & Introspection
Burnout/Stress Management & Greater Well-Being
Better Business Outcomes & Improved Performance
More Presence
& Self-Connection
Burnout/Stress Management & Greater Well-Being
Better Business Outcomes & Improved Performance
Improved Personal & Professional Relationships
Burnout/Stress Management & Greater Well-Being
Better Business Outcomes & Improved Performance
Achieving Mental and Emotional Clarity through Greater Self-Awareness
Your efforts to change/fix/solve yourself can actually reinforce the very habitual self from which you are seeking freedom. Focusing on your ‘self’ can cause you to remain firmly in the grip of your compulsions, anxieties, rumination, intrusive thoughts, overwhelming emotions, and self-sabotaging behaviour and/or thought patterns. On the contrary, focusing your efforts on making your implicit habits more explicit—gaining clarity about your unconscious, habitual self—will allow you to see how your fulfillment is tied up in the tangled emotions connected to the things you avoid.
A professional birth chart reading is a unique and rich source of self-awareness. Balrāj identifies and addresses the most significant ways in which your habits are sabotaging your own efforts to find a sense of freedom from limitations so you can connect with your true self (i.e., the ‘version’ of your self less ensnared by your habitual anxieties/compulsions) and act on your deepest values. Vision is important, and is why wellness coaching must provide more than just stress relief, because stress relief can leave a vacuum for different kinds of meaningless stress. You need to know where you’re going... but all too often vision is not based on self-connection.
A reading allows you to feel deeply seen and understood, and often provides a reality check and helps you to stop asking the wrong questions. You experience a more meaningful connection to your past and to your current situation, allowing you to make better sense of the moving parts in your life and experience a greater sense of choice and empowerment.
As a tool that provides direction and self-understanding (and therefore better relationships with other people), psychological astrology is an outstanding tool for any kind of coach that aims to produce transformational self-awareness (including for an executive wellness coach who offers wellness or leadership coaching).
Traditional Breathwork & Meditation Coaching
Traditional approaches to breathwork and meditation were focused on breathing re-education and self-awareness (not “fixing the self” or the mind in any way). Traditional yoga wasn’t concerned with solving the ego’s problems. Instead, it concerned with freeing awareness from the limitations imposed by the ego’s desire for permanent identity security (based on the ego’s feelings of inadequacy). Freed from these limitations, experiencing more clarity, calm, meaningful growth, and deeper connection (with yourself, with other people, and with life itself) is not optional. But this meant no longer avoiding parts of oneself that one was content to (continue to) avoid, especially those parts that motivate self-sabotaging behaviour. At balraj.yoga, this philosophy underlies everything that we do, including our private, half-day personal development workshops.
Even though these practices address various physical effects of both chronic stress and acute stress (in particular the nervous system, immune system, stress hormones, etc.), these practices are deeper than stress reduction techniques, relaxation techniques, or “anxiety hacks” (i.e., approaches that covertly promise tools for being able to “control” overwhelming emotions and/or stress). Traditional yogic practices are, first, about producing the attentional stability and resilience to become aware (without reactivity or judgement) of the internal forces running your life (which are perhaps the root cause of your stress). It is, in other words, a kind of mindset or leadership coaching that isn’t infected with desire (and thus mindset/leadership coaching that builds “true” or transformational self-awareness). An executive wellness coach (or any kind of executive coach) who can help cultivate inner stability provides the opportunity for re-habituation, to re-construct a self who is less inclined to be anxious and more inclined towards sustainable growth and openness (to ideas and other people). This is imperative for executive wellness and leadership wellbeing coaching.
Conversational
Hypnosis
When addressing some of your deepest personal challenges in your life, willpower and a purely intellectual understanding of your habits, problems, and behaviours aren’t always enough to produce change. Furthermore, we often tend to employ remedial measures that only help us further bypass or even reinforce our problem, thus making overcoming self sabotage seem impossible.
Conversational hypnosis allows us to harness the intelligence and resources of the unconscious to untie the knots that keep us stuck. It is remarkably useful for those who are struggling with self-sabotaging behaviour (and who are too unclear/overwhelmed to correct these behaviours using their conscious will).
And it isn’t magic. It is simply a method that allows us to directly confront our problems with some fierce compassion. Breakthroughs are not simply intellectual, but rather produce unexpected behavioural and perspectival changes. In other words, this is not empty coaching (wherein you “realize” certain things and proceed to experience little/no change).
No longer your own worst enemy, you experience less restriction when attempting to pursue the most important things that make your life more meaningful, including your personal and/or professional growth (e.g., how we relate to ourselves and to other people, etc.). This goes beyond correcting “limiting beliefs” or “erasing memories”, or trying “manifest” what (we think) is in our best interests (but could actually be reinforcing our self sabotaging habits). Instead, this unlocks your own resources trapped in your repressive behaviours. This makes all coaching more effective, and simultaneously addresses what would be addressed in executive wellness coaching (or leadership wellbeing) from a yogic perspective (i.e., meaning, via self-awareness and meaningful growth/freedom).
Beyond Stress Management Techniques: Executive Wellness Coaching For Greater Wellness and Improved Performance (& Work-Life Balance)
Results-Based Executive Wellness Coaching
Fully-Customized Coaching & Advisory Services
Private coaching and/or advisory services with an executive wellness coach specializing in helping business leaders leverage their stress to achieve higher-quality outcomes and greater work-life flexibility:
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for business leaders who feel trapped working in/by their roles rather than doing what they do best
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for business leaders who want the clarity to shape strategy, make sharper strategic decisions, and drive innovation
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for business leaders who want presence, authenticity, and emotional intelligence to empower their teams, establish trust, and build and stronger relationships (including with stakeholders)
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for business leaders looking for a more holistic perspective to growth that uses integrative techniques (and not the blind pursuit of external goals/status)
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for business leaders looking for sustainable growth (and a commitment to growth and innovation, not just restoring past performance)
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for business leaders who want adaptability and flexibility to be able to respond quickly to new opportunities and challenges
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for business leaders who value wisdom but also value knowledge of current concerns in leadership (e.g., remote/hybrid work, employee well-being, digital transformation, DEIJB and cultural sensitivity, sustainability and corporate social responsibility, leadership styles/approaches—transformational leadership, compassionate/authentic/trust-based leadership, situational leadership, etc.)
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for business leaders who want to focus on real-world results, strategies, and R.O.I.
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for business leaders who want a unique and holistic approach (and confidentiality) of an executive coach outside of the corporate (and traditional corporate wellness) world
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for business leaders who want to enhance their effectiveness and impact
Executive Wellness Coaching Includes Any/All of the Following:
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Wellness Coaching | Eliminate Meaningless Stress and Formulate Meaningful Vision
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Business Coaching | Find the Time (and Strategies) to Focus on High-Impact Activities
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Meditation Coaching | Experience Inner Balance/Stability, Mindfulness, and Presence
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Breath Re-Training/Coaching | A Rapid Path to Resilience
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Leadership Coaching | Empower Your Teams & Build Stronger Relationships
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Psychological Vedic Astrology | Build Self-Awareness & Address Self-Sabotage
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Conversational Hypnosis | Find Resources, Fearlessness, and Choice
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Unlimited Coaching Support and Robust Follow-Up
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100% Privacy & Confidentiality (We Don’t Request or Publish Testimonials)
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100% Private, Live, and Personalized Coaching (No Group Coaching or Video Training)