The Dynamic of Art and Cultural Diversity in Coaching

Teksti ja kuvat: Devora Maché

The sheer joy of exploring the world, the desire to continuously evolve and to inspire people have been my drive. I have always believed in possibility and the power of personal transformation, which I was able to explore in my early career as a visual artist and now as a professional ICF Solution Focused Coach. 

Originally, I am from Munich Germany. I have spent extensive amounts of time in Germany and Peru, as well as in Asia (Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, India), and have spent the last 17 years in between the USA (New York) and Munich. When I was 23 years old, I moved to Taiwan to study Chinese philosophy and art history at the National Taiwan Normal University. 

Later I returned to Germany to study sculpture and painting at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. I was invited to attend the stage design program at Yale University in the USA. 

What did you do before you started to coach? 

I believe that my journey of transformation began when I was 12 years old. I started to draw and paint as a way to express myself. At this time, I discovered the science of sacred geometry and how it was portrayed in art and architecture in ancient civilizations around the globe. 

I followed my passion and pursued a visual arts career with over 100 exhibitions/events in museums, galleries and institutions around the world (including Melbourne Institute of Technology, New Zealand’s Tepapa Museum, Zhu Qizhan Art Museum in Shanghai, Taipei Museum of Fine Art in Taiwan, Museum Haus Kasuya in Japan, Harvard School of Education, Artothek Museum in Cologne Germany, as well as in a multitude of locations in New York and Italy.) 

I learned from it and understood that there is an inherent connection in all things and that geometry is the foundation in all life forms, from a cell to a pinecone, a flower, a fingerprint to the galaxies in the universe, in the micro and macro cosmos. They are called fractal patterns and they also make up our human energy field 

Studying the scientific aspect of neuroplasticity and meditation for a decade answered many of my open questions thereby shifting my awareness of space time. This led to a change in consciousness where I experienced the human being as a living temple and a work of art in progress as a masterpiece of one’s own life journey. 

This was the turning point at which I wanted to work more closely with people, seeing our potential as human beings and therefore our life as an artform of who we become during the progressing journey of our lives. 

How did you decide to become a coach? 

My passion has always been to inspire people to see beyond what they think they can BE, DO and HAVE and by doing so, tuning into their greatest potential.
I wanted to learn the fundamental pieces of a transformational communication structure and witness our capacity to change as well as transform as individuals and as a collective. 

The solution focused coach approach through transformational conversations fascinated me as a way to ”paint one’s own life”. It acts as a platform to step onto in order to become the person you want to be, to take action and to transform our lives into new possibilities raising the quality of our lives. This way we can experience and truly enjoy what we created. We are creative beings painting the portrait of who we want to become. We are all artists of our own lives.

My new art form became life itself (our human life) and how to be happier, with more authenticity. I see the human being as a living temple of art, a living sculpture in progress in our experiment of being alive, called life. I see our lives as an opportunity to be the creator of our futures, of our expression on a journey of transformation towards wholeness, love and true freedom. I strive to be happy independent from my circumstances and become resilient within myself. 

What also inspired me about coaching is that there are endless ways to explore and discover who we really are and tap into potentials beyond our wildest dreams that are unknown to us unless we experience them fully in the here and now.
I see coaching as a tool to ignite our body and soul into a living and breathing temple. That in itself is the gift of life that we have and the art of transforming wisely towards more joy and happiness within. 

That’s why my new art form became life itself through coaching. I see the human being as a living temple of art, a living sculpture in progress in our experiment of being alive. Solution Focused Coaching and its science of neuroplasticity which is embedded in it fascinated me. 

Detail of a sculptural artwork I created which was commissioned by a New York based company.
The work shows healing symbols from all over the world including all cultures symbolizing UNITY IN DIVERSITY.

In which frame do you coach? 

Having had the experience of living in different cultures opened my perception, flexibility and acceptance of different cultures and their ways of expressing their lives. 

The main goal is how to be happy independently from circumstances (becoming resilient within oneself) and seeing one’s life as an opportunity to be the creator of one’s expression on a journey of transformation towards wholeness and freedom, as we move as a collective towards more unity in diversity and professional love. 

I am a solution focused coach and Milton Erickson’s work inspired me to develop habits that bring acts of kindness to others. It helps one to move beyond difficulties. I honor the Five Principles of Milton Erickson and hold them deeply in my heart when I work with people. 

With these principles, we respect each individual that we work with as a resourceful and well- meaning human being: 

-People are okay
(human beings everywhere are basically okay) 

-People have the resources within them
(they have many more resources than they are aware of) 

-Every person has a positive intention
(even when a positive intention is hidden it can be found) 

-People do the best they can
(they make the best choices with what they know about life so far) 

-Change is inevitable
(no matter how difficult, we learn we grow, and we change towards the positive) 

I am holding the space for my clients so they can fully explore their potential towards their goal, knowing that they are capable of achieving their desired outcome.
Energy travels and the client will unconsciously pick up my attitude towards them. 

I meet the client in their world exploring metaphors, visual, auditory, kinesthetic explorations, NLP – trusting their brain plasticity to set new circuits to create their positive outcome. 

Robert Dilts Logical Levels along with the outcome frame are foundational pieces of a transformational coaching session. We explore states of BEING (identity, values), of DOING (capabilities) and of HAVING by honoring the logical levels along with the outcome frame. Understanding logical levels can help a person move beyond their limiting beliefs towards clearer thinking, increased awareness and unlimited possibilities. 

I am so grateful to have learned from inspiring teachers at Erickson Coaching International and the Erickson Foundation. 

How do you use art in coaching? 

I create customized artworks for my coaching clients (both individual and corporate) depending on what they are asking for: 

  1. I create an abstract version of their portrait through shapes and colors which portrays their wholeness, as I see them as a whole being in their true essence. 
  2. I create a symbolic painting to enhance the success of a project. 
  3. I inspire the clients to create their own future self-portrait or symbol through my signature coaching art program.

 

This artwork was commissioned by a client as a reminder and a reflection of their state of joy.

What kind of things do people need coaching for? 

By connecting to their deep values and truth people can get clarity on how to design their lives, how to move beyond limiting beliefs, how to empower themselves to go beyond obstacles or difficult circumstances and how to create outcomes for their dream projects. They can find balance in a specific area of their life: health, change, stress management, relationship, career, self – confidence and especially the exploration of concepts of love, such as self-love and how to connect to one’s own divine being, in order to gain energy to thrive in all areas of life. 

By connecting to their hearts and deepest values in the coaching session people find inspiration to create meaningful experiences in their lives, step by step on the journey to more confidence and fulfillment.

How do you see the impact of culture on coaching? 

Having been exposed to many cultures throughout my life, I gained a natural flexibility and a wide understanding of different backgrounds and their ways of living. I truly enjoy the rich
cultural diversity, which I now experience through my clients and people beyond. 

Developing this understanding takes practice, yet we have many opportunities to be curious and to become open to new experiences in this increasingly globalized world. We can take the best and enrich each other’s experiences. 

It inspires me to work with clients from all over the globe, enjoying the roots of different philosophies, all resulting in one desire to be accepted and heard for who they are. We all want to be connected and experience higher love though that connection. I meet the client where they are and in their world. 

As a global community of coaches, we inspire and live with the idea that we as humans are a world family, living in one mother country called earth.
We are respecting our individual values and heritage as we are respecting those of others honoring each living being and their vulnerabilities on this planet on the journey towards more love and oneness. Ideally, we are global citizens sharing a world family in our country called earth.

How do you see coaching in the future? 

We will be a global community of people who understand that values are what brings us closer to ourselves and to others. The closer we are connected to our authentic self the more we can experience self-acceptance which then radiates an energy of love to anyone we come in contact with. 

We as individuals shine that light onto others to give them permission to be themselves, embarking on a journey of being creative in awakening one’s potential through solution focused coaching. Our future will be less about our appearance, causing us to feel separate from others, and more so be guided by an intuitive knowing of who we feel drawn to, who we share values with and being connected through frequency. 

We are in the process of developing social intelligence to bring the best out in every person and in every culture as a collective. We are moving as a collective towards more unity in diversity. The science of neuroplasticity is an ever-expanding topic that fascinates me and is my current focus in my journey of being a lifelong learner.

Devora Maché

Professional ICF life and business coach
Member of the International Association of Counselors and Therapists
MFA (Master of Fine Arts)
Founder of Shine On Earth LLC
weshineonearth@gmail.com