30 Distrikspos ALGEMEEN GENERAL 24  November  2016

Equipping people to empower themselves

I called Eva last week to make an appointment for the sake of the article, still hesitant on the idea of life coaching and what a session can do for me.

When I asked what I should bring formy session, she told me to come with a positive mindset. I was slightly taken aback as I cannot remember the last time I actively engaged with my “positive mind”. The mere fact that I had to think about bringing a positive mindset to the fore made me realise how fast-paced and derelict my life had become. With work and household demands, we often like to dwell on the negative.

Arriving at her home where she presents her sessions, she explained to me that a life coach is someone’s best friend with life skills, a concept that intrigued me.

I always thought a life coach was someone who followed you around, giving one advice on life. However, a life coach is less clinical, does not engage with you from a distance and tries to help you find the answers to your life.

A life coach befriends you and asks pertinent questions about your life X questions you can find the answers to by yourself after introspection. Days after my session with Robertson I still found myself trying to answer the questions she posed to me. “You do have the answers to your life, but you just have not asked the correct questions yet,” she explains.

This is part of a technique Robertsonwas trained in, called neuro-linguistic programming. It is an approach to communication and personal development. It was created by Americans Richard Bandler and John Grinder, as a means to change the way we programme our brain in how we think about ourselves.

In one session Robertson gave me theopportunity to think differently about myself and my life, and most importantly about my future. I was also able to ask myself questions about why I take part in so many activities in my life and why I react to certain situations in a certain way. The answers to these questions still linger in my mind.

Learning about oneself can be very daunting as it is a vulnerable place to be, a place that is often scary for many people.

But a life coach allows you feel comfortable with your vulnerability and inner feelings.

“Most people do not know how to express their feelings,” Robertson explained. “Life coaching helps you to

engage with how you feel and make yourself feel empowered.”

I took part also in an intervention session. The session gave me the space to search deep within myself and most comfortable spirit, a place I have not felt since childhood and could relive.

Robertson was in the physiotherapy industry for 40 years and sold her Johannesburg practice to move to Somerset West four years ago.

“Even though I am semi-retired, I chose to work because I love people and helping them develop,” she says.

Robertson decided to enter into the world of life coaching as she believed there are people who need help with empowering themselves and conquering problems such as stress management and enhancing concentration.

Contact her on 082 788 8702 if you’re interested in her services as a life coach.

Eva  Robertson  at  her  home  with  the  tranquil background  of  the  Helderberg  Mountains  in Somerset  West.  Photo:  Terzel  Rasmus

EVEN THOUGH I AM SEMIRETIRED, I CHOSE TO WORK BECAUSE I LOVE PEOPLE AND HELPING THEM DEVELOP

The first time I heard of a life coach was on a popular TV series when I was a teenager. I thought it was a weird concept back then and I still thought it was something silly to take part in. That was before I approached Somerset West life coach Eva Robertson. Terzel Rasmus reports on her experience.

Beste bonsai in die Boland te sienDie beste bonsai in die Boland gaan van Saterdag 26 tot Sondag 27 November in Stellenbosch te sien wees.

Bonsai is die antieke Japanese kuns om bome kunstig te ontwerp en klein te hou.

Die Bonsai-skou is gratis en oop vir die publiek. Dit open 09:00 en eindig 17:00. Sondag sal dit oop wees tot 16:00.

Dit is die hoogtepunt van die bonsai-seisoen in die Boland waar lede van die plaaslike klub hul beste bome kom uitstal. Die skou is op die eerste verdieping van die Ou Konservatorium op die botaniese tuin se terrein in die middel van Stellenbosch.

Besoekers kan ook gaan inloer by dieKatjiepiering-restaurant onder die groot bome en ook na die Wes-Kaapse Erfenis bonsai-versameling gaan kyk.

Navrae kan gerig word aan Marie-Louise du Plessis by 082 715 0856.

Een  van  die  bonsaimeesterstukke  wat  op Stellenbosch  te  siene  gaan  wees.    Foto:  willem Pretorius