When Daniel Sharp was just a boy, he pretended to be a Native American healer, talking to tree and animal spirits and making herbal concoctions for his friends. As an adult Sharp acquired a degree in art therapy, became a massage therapist and studied Reiki and crystal healing to expand his offerings as a healer. Eventually he combined these modalities and trained to become a soul coach, establishing Boston Soul Coaching, in Brookline, last year. Natural Awakenings wanted to know more about what a soul coach does.

How is soul coaching different from life coaching?

The biggest difference is that soul coaching connects you with your own spiritual abilities and pulls your inner creativity forth to help you create the changes you want to create. Soul coaches incorporate a lot of feng shui, guided meditation and positive affirmations, so there’s a lot of holistic healing in addition to the typical coaching strategies employed by modern-day life coaches.

How do work with your clients?

I have a 28-day program that includes a booklet of processes that people do on their own for four weeks, along with several personalized coaching sessions. In those sessions, we do a lot of guided meditation about the client’s goals. For example, if someone wanted to be an artist, one of the first things I’d do is bring that person into a guided meditation and have them imagine themself as a successful artist. In that meditation, I’d help them call forth details that are unique to them, asking things like, “What color are you wearing at the gallery where you’re exhibiting your art?” If they answered “purple,” then their homework would be to add more purple to their wardrobe because they associate that color with being a successful artist. So I start to align their outer world with what their inner world is telling them.

Twenty-eight days seems like a short amount of time to establish major changes.

Yes, the program is designed to jump-start people into taking back a lot of their own personal power. After the 28 days are over, clients can keep using the booklet, tools and techniques whenever they need to. A lot of the guidance that I give clients is tailored to them, so they hold on to what resonates with them and they don’t need me. I want them to get to a place where they know they can do anything they want to do and they don’t need to keep seeing me because they’re reclaimed their own power.

How is the practice of feng shui used in soul coaching?

A big part of the 28-day program is having people clear their homes and office spaces of clutter. I consider clutter-clearing to be a kind of modern-day alchemy. I always encourage people to do it when they feel stuck, to get rid of things that they don’t use or love and release them to make room for better things to enter their lives. We also work to create an environment that feels nurturing and uplifting and supports their intention for the program. So if someone’s coming to work with me because they want to feel healthier, I’m going to help them to create a home that feels healthy. If someone wants to be more creative, we make his or her living space feel more creative. The goal is to make home a place that inspires you to be whatever you intend to be.

We also work to clear mental and emotional clutter through the guided meditations, taking time each day to just sit, empty the mind and disconnect from the chaos of the fast-paced world and really tune in to what it is you do want to hold and what you want to let go of. Positive affirmations help this process, too, by shifting our thinking so we’re less self-critical and not sabotaging our best efforts. Soul collages and life timelines are some other tools I use to help people release baggage and move toward what they want.

 

Daniel Sharp is a certified soul coach who practices at Boston Soul Coaching, 1 Harvard St., Brookline. For more information, call 781-763-7685 or visit BostonSoulCoaching.com.