Why this programme?
I always thought life coaching was for people who had a specific goal, but who didn't know how to get there. I didn't really have any particular aims for the future - all of my energy went into juggling the day-to-day chaos of being a busy, working mother of two. When Shana told me about the Personal Breakthrough Journey, and how it can help people gain clarity in their lives, I realised that a little bit of clarity could be just what was needed.
What's it all about?
The Personal Breakthrough Journey is an intensive 12-hour programme that calls on multiple life-coaching skills, such as neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), timeline therapy and visualisation, to help people take control of their lives. It is split into four sessions of three hours each, during which Shana coaches you through your past and present, so you can get a clearer idea of what you really want for, and from, your future.
What happened?
When talking to you, Shana uses NLP to bypass your conscious mind, and pose questions to your subconscious. It sounds strange, and at first you almost fight against it, second-guessing your subconscious's responses, but eventually it becomes obvious that your subconscious knows you better than you know yourself.
Shana also does guided visualisations, during which you close your eyes, imagine a scenario, and then describe what you can see, hear, smell and feel in that picture.
Shana's non-judgemental, pity-free manner means you soon feel very comfortable divulging personal thoughts and the three hours pass surprisingly quickly.
Did it really work?
Having absolutely no idea what to expect from life coaching, or from the Personal Breakthrough Journey, I was blown away by the impact of the sessions. One of the major lessons for me was about how to calm down and relax. I have bumbled through my adult life thinking chaos just followed me.
At university, when plans went a bit haywire, my friends would say it was ‘LRC', which stood for Louisa-Related Chaos. Within one session with Shana, I realised that chaos was not doing me any good, and that it was only in my life because I actually put it there. No arguments, no buts, no displacement of responsibility. This has probably been very obvious to everyone else but I have been blind to it.
Shana explained that, in the same way we have physical needs that need to be satisfied, we also have emotional needs. We may not be consciously aware of them, but we go out of our way, every day, to make sure they are met. When, as a child, we find a good way of satisfying our primary emotional need, we cling on to it and, over time, it becomes part of our personality. Subsequently, what we may think is our uniqueness (in my case, the chaos), may just be a way of fulfilling a need. Once you can be honest with yourself about your emotional needs, and which behaviours they create and feed, you can be more in control of them, rather than letting them be in control of you. At the end of the first session, I thanked Shana and said I couldn't believe how calm I felt, and how many plans I was now going to cancel. She said, "This was just the introduction! If you think this was life-changing, you haven't seen anything yet." And she wasn't wrong.
I would definitely recommend Shana's Personal Breakthrough Journey to anyone - no matter how settled you think you are. Guaranteed it will help release you from negative thoughts that you weigh yourself down with, and beat yourself up with, and you will emerge with the feeling that you know yourself - and the people around you - much better. Not only that, but you will know what it is that you truly want out of life, and how you can go about getting it.
The Personal Breakthrough Journey, costs Dh10,000, or Dh1,800 for the first (taster) session. Alternatively, treat a friend to a Beautiful Gift voucher for the festive season - Dh500 for a 90-minute session. Visit www.lifeeffectivecoaching.ae.
