The essence of yourself is what I call «the great I AM.» It is Who You Are, shorn of any false precepts of your true nature. It is your ultimate beingness, the heart of your personality, the center of your soul. To experience yourself in this way is to touch what is most good, true, and beautiful about yourself.

For most people, experiencing themselves as I AM is a very rare if not fully elusive experience. It is not something that happens often in a lifetime, if ever, and yet when it does that moment is wholly transformative. Everything changes, and a whole new level of self identity has been established in the mind.

To know yourself as I AM is to experience yourself as whole and complete. This does not imply that you are at the end of your learning journey, or that you have no further growing to do. Rather it is glimpse of essential Self at this moment in time, and it is perfect to that degree.

One of the greatest gifts you can give to a person is to hold a space in which they can experience themselves in this way, as I AM; a moment so replete that there is nothing that needs to be added to it, nothing that needs to be done from there.

In Deep Coaching we are always holding out for this as a potential. This simply means, we are aware that the potential is always there, vibrating away, and with the right conditions in place the portal can open for someone to experience themselves in this way.

How beautiful a moment it is. The pains of life and struggles of growth just fall away. There is only the light of being, the light of the true Self and soul coming through. And you hold it, in sacred silence, for as long as it desires to be sustained. 

All nine Deep Coaching practices come together to foster forth this experience, yet it is Practice 8 (Attune to the emergence of what wants to happen) which brings it to a focus. It is your role as the deep coach to listen for the moment when there is a shift from the potential, which is always there in varying degrees depending on a person’s readiness, into the I AM experience. 

The moment can arise anytime someone in your conversation moves to a point of desiring to experience themselves as complete. It can be the full I AM experience, or an aspect of I AM, such as:

I AM good enough.

I AM worthy.

I AM lovable

I AM loving.

I AM deserving.

I AM abundant.

I AM unique.

Each of these states of the great I AM, and more, can be entered into and held in sacred silence. The intent is simply to bask in the sense of completion and wholeness, and to allow that to deeply penetrate into one’s conscious mind. This is pure inspiration for the transformational journey.

Coaching It

It is not something that you, the coach, will to happen (“I’m going to give you this experience now because I know it’s good for your soul” kind of thing.) You can coach a person for months and months and not have the readiness level arise to the point where a person signals a desire or willingness to enter in. However they will, when ready, signal to you their readiness. Your role is to listen for it and let it lead (Practice 6, Attune to your client’s deeper sense of self).

When you sense the moment is there, your role shifts from coach to facilitator.

Listen to Leon speak about this and other coaching considerations in this short podcast.

In leading a client into this experience, you must be fearless. Let go of any concern about “doing it right” or “making a mistake.” There is nothing to fear, for Spirit, the Infinite Life Force, is the real driver of this process. Trust all to Its guiding light.

You do have to be comfortable letting go of yourself here, to allow the boundaries of your own existence and self identity to fall away in the presence of another person, and to trust that all will be well (Practice 9, Cultivate trust in the process). All you need to do is hold the space, fill it with spiritual energy born of your heart and soul (Practice 1, Live your spiritual values) and allow yourself to experience the unifying and healing nature of the great I AM.

In that moment you are fostering an experience the ushers your client to the height of transformation. This is what it’s all in service of, the understanding of the purity of Self, cleansed of any false or limiting notions of self.

To have the ability to create the conditions in which other person can experience themselves as I AM is an extraordinary gift. Cherish this ability you are honing, because there are so few places in the world where people can go and experience themselves in this way.