Tell us about you.

I was born and raised in Sri Lanka until I decided to immigrate to the UK to pursue my master’s in teaching. There, I found a passion for Early Years Education and completed another Postgraduate in Early Years Teaching. When I discovered Life Coaching as a profession, I decided to leave my 20-year career in Education to help people achieve their goals. In the process, I discovered that some limiting beliefs are deeper and coaching in itself does not reach the depth of those beliefs. So, I decided to explore a more holistic approach to coaching and in that journey trained as an NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) practitioner. What helped me make quantum leaps in my growth was the knowledge of energy psychology and I use all these approaches in helping people achieve balance in all aspects of their lives.

How would you describe the culture of your business?

There are three fundamental principles in my business that I always value and adhere to. Intuition, growth and freedom are the principles that I apply in my life as well as in my business. I have the privilege to work with people’s deepest fears / sabotaging beliefs and help them make immense growth. I do this by applying these 3 principles when I work with them. I believe in challenging taboos, opening up difficult conversations and accepting every human being and their circumstances with compassion.

What are the biggest challenges in the next 5 years?

I believe in the flow of things. I am in the process of writing textbooks to support children to learn essential life skills such as resilience, grit, confidence etc. and I am looking forward to getting them published. In parallel to that, I am developing a training programme for teachers on how to inculcate these skills amongst children. I believe that our children are capable of achieving their highest potential if we support them from a young age. I am also in the process of writing a book on Conscious Parenting. Finishing the books and getting them published are my next main goals. Where the goals are firmly set, I see challenges as opportunities to learn and grow.

What are the skills and competencies that a Coach must have in order to be effective?

Intuition, knowledge and the ability to trust that the clients are keys. I am a Coach, Complementary Therapist as well as an Educator so I bring a lot of wisdom and experience to the table. Listening, confidence in challenging the clients whilst maintaining the rapport and trust are vital in this journey. Maintaining professional boundaries whilst making the clients feel comfortable are two things, I believe I offer to every client that seeks my support. I have worked extensively with people from different cultures. The knowledge in understanding and respecting other people’s cultures even when it doesn’t represent my values is essential when striving to offer fair and a non-discriminative service.

What is your Philosophy?

I don’t believe in caging myself in theories and philosophies. Life is an experience to be had. Compassion, love and connectedness make our lives a joyful experience. Life throws curve balls at us and our ability to face them with love and compassion enable us to feel empowered and as a result we can thrive. Joy and love are not options that we can choose. They are a state of being. My mission is to support every individual to enable themselves to get these states.

Nisanka Wickramarachchi: linkedin.com/in/nisanka-wickramarachchi-043358177