Like bees in a beehive, like the cells of our body, like the waves of the ocean …
During a hot weekend in July and a relaxing walk in the suggestive medieval village of Ricetto di Candelo, in the province of Biella in the North of Italy, I met a bee breeder.
The old portal was open, showing an ancient shelter of well-preserved wine barrels and tools, as if time had never passed. The beehive products caught my attention, the hot afternoon and my curiosity did the rest. In the alleys of the shelter, the shadow of the ancient stone walls offered me some relief from the summer heat.
The beekeeper’s eyes lit up when they saw my interest in his business. I started asking questions to explore a world I don’t know. The beekeeper, following the thread of my questions, led me to admire an unknown world that amazed me. I learned that to give an explanation as basic as possible of how a hive works, you have to think more or less about what happens to a cell.
When the time comes, a cell forms two nuclei and then it breaks through a process named mitosis, which it represents its reproductive mechanism. Similarly, when a bee family becomes too large, it forms another queen and the bee family splits in two (they swarm), each one with its queen. After a winter during which the family fed on the honey accumulated in the previous summer, the queen begins to lay eggs again inside the wax cells in the nest.
I learned what I did not know, I replaced an ‘old belief’ with a new, more pleasant one: when bees swarm they do not sting therefore they are not dangerous, before leaving their old hive they gorge themselves with honey as they have to stay even for days without eating and they must also have enough energy to build new combs in their new natural nest. The honey with which they are filled also acts as a sedative, which is why they do not attack humans or animals.
It is like a perfect Universe, a Whole that works for the good of each individual and for the good of the Whole itself.
Interesting … but what does all this have to do with coaching?
To illustrate where I want to go with my thoughts, I share a quote by Albert Einstein: “A human being is part of a whole called the Universe. He experiences his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest: a kind of optical illusion of consciousness. This illusion is a kind of prison. Our task must be to free ourselves from this, to the point of including all living creatures and the entirety of nature in its beauty “.
Like bees in a hive, like the cells of our body, like the waves of the ocean, we human beings are also an integral part of a whole. Each bee, each cell, each wave exists in the Whole. It knows this and does not fight aainst this truth, it is harmoniously part of it. When we individuals accept and understand this truth, then we bring harmony back into our lives. Even the term ‘individual’ makes us reflect: in-dividual = in-divided = not divided. We are not divided, but we are the perfect cells of one single organism, the inhabitants of a single hive, the waves that belong to the ocean and at the same time constitute it.
During the coaching sessions, through the technique of evocative questions, the coach stimulates this awareness. The coach is our ally as we venture to see what beliefs support these values, with what behaviors we intend to bring what we believe into the world. All of this has an impact on others and on the Whole. The energy that vibrates in what we are, in our cells, in the nucleus of the atoms that constitute them, in our thoughts and emotions, expands and reaches others.
For this it is necessary that our goals are ecological, both internally and externally, as in the life of a beehive the behaviors of each individual inhabitant are acted with the aim of harmoniously supporting the life of the entire system. This means that what we desire, in order to be fully realized, must be in harmony with our conscious and subconscious parts. But that’s not enough. The results we wish to see in our life must be in harmony and for the good of the Whole, which bring benefit and prosperity.
Coaching, through its techniques, supports this centering, strengthens us in the harmonious development of our goals in all areas of our life. With coaching we can come into direct contact with our Life Purpose and take the path to become what we deeply are. We can do this to promote our well-being, and our well-being will positively affect the lives of the people we relate to, give them refreshment and benefit.
The result? It will be the Whole that will benefit from it and will evolve by enriching and making single cells, single individuals flourish. A cycle, a long journey, an adventurous crossing… to return home, inside each of us, and start the journey once more.
