Three practices that support your coaching.

Coaching doesn’t begin when the session starts. And it doesn’t end when the call does.

The practices you have around your coaching shape the quality of your presence in coaching — and just as importantly, they support your well-being.

Over time, I’ve noticed this clearly in my own practice and in observing hundreds of coaches:

Strong coaching isn’t just about what you do in the session. It’s about how you arrive. How you reset. And how you integrate what the coaching gives to you.

Here are three practices I encourage you to consider — not as rules, but as invitations.

1. Before Coaching: Prepare

Before the session begins, you have a choice.

Not What questions am I going to ask? But Who do I want to be?

This is the practice of settling into your authentic presence — creating the conditions for listening, curiosity, and trust.

Some reflective prompts:

• What helps you arrive fully into a coaching session and settle in?
• What do you need to release before this session begins?
• How do you remind yourself what you believe about coaching and the client?

This doesn’t have to be fancy. It might be a breath. A pause. A word on a sticky note.

Some coaches use a hat to signify they are stepping into their coaching presence. I personally use a brightly colored blazer that helps me step into who I want to be as the coach.

Bonus question: What is a physical object that could act as a symbol for who you want to be in your coaching session?

2. In Between Coaching: Pause

If you coach more than one session in a day, the space between sessions matters.

Without a reset, we carry energy forward — a story, an emotion, a problem that wasn’t ours to hold.

The practice here is transition.

Consider:

• What helps you clear one session before entering the next?
• How do you come back to center — curious rather than full?
• What restores your energy?

Sometimes this is movement. Sometimes silence. For me, I love using floral mists and ambience videos like this one.

If you're having back-to-back sessions, I strongly encourage you to reconsider. This pause gives so much to you, and back to your clients.

3. After Coaching: Process

After the session ends, the learning doesn’t.

Coaching changes us too — but only if we let it.

This practice is about reflection and integration, not critique.

You might ask:

• What did I notice in myself?
• Where did I feel most present?
• What is this session teaching me about my own growth as a coach?

This isn’t about evaluating performance. It’s about honoring the mutuality of the work.

Coaching is a practice. And so is the process of becoming the coach you want to be.

Reflection

Your coaching practice is held up by the practices that surround it.

How you prepare. How you pause. How you process.

These are not extras. They are foundational.

If you were to strengthen just one of these three areas this week — before, between, or after coaching — which one is asking for your attention?

That question alone is a practice.

Thank you for reading.

If you enjoyed this edition of The Coaching Practice, I invite you to check out The Coaching Letter which provides more in-depth mentorship and first access to coaching demos, tools, workshops, and exercises. https://hannahfinrow.kit.com