It’s been a snow free winter so far in New York City and I’m feeling my way into the great unknown in quiet, watching to see what arises.

Once we pass the winter solstice, I feel a quickening, a lightness. As the earth moves toward the solstice and the days become shorter, the nights longer, I feel a heaviness. When the solstice passes and the days begin to lengthen, I feel lighter and lighter.

The ground is frozen, the trees are leafless skeletons against the often gray sky. Seems like nothing is happening. While the surface freezes, below the surface, the ground is still warm and life is happening.  Trees may appear dead, but they are merely dormant, growing at a much slower rate.

In coaching there can be moments, minutes of silence. As a coach, I embrace these moments as they indicate to me that my coaching has caused my client to explore herself in greater depth so there’s a pause of silence. It’s a wonderful thing.

As the coach, I’m not in a rush to fill in the silence, to fill it up with words or another question. I respect the yin/yang of silence and speaking in the coaching conversation. And this perspective, the perspective from the East, informs my coaching practice in this essential manner.