The Coach’s Guide: How to Stop Self-Sabotage Using Breathwork

Do you ever feel like you’re working hard towards your coaching goals, only to be sabotaged by your own thoughts and beliefs?

If so, you’re not alone. This is a common experience for many coaches, especially those who are just starting out. That’s why I wanted to write this blog post and share some insights that have been incredibly helpful for me over the past 14 years.

In this post, I’m going to be speaking specifically to people who are just stepping into coaching or who aspire to be coaches. We’ll dive deep into the topic of self-sabotage – I’ll talk about why it happens, what it looks like, and how it can hold us back from pursuing our passions.

But most importantly, I’ll share with you a powerful technique that has helped me time and time again to overcome self-sabotage: breathwork. This technique is so simple yet so effective, and it’s something that I use regularly to stay on track toward my goals.

So take a deep breath, and let’s dive into this important topic and learn how to overcome self-sabotage using breathwork!

Self-Sabotage meaning:

Do you ever feel like you’re holding yourself back from the very things that you desire? That’s what we call self-sabotage. It happens when our own thoughts and behaviors get in the way of our success.

I’ve experienced this firsthand, whether it was in relationships, finances, career, health, or any other area of my life. It can be frustrating and confusing to feel like you’re almost hitting your goals, only to find that you’re holding yourself back.

It’s like you almost hit a limit where things are going too well, and then you think, “Oh no, it’s too good. Let me get back down to my crappy familiar place again.”

What does self-sabotage look like? Here are some examples that you might be able to relate to as a coach:

• Procrastination: putting off tasks that are necessary for success
• Negative self-talk: discouraging oneself from taking risks or attempting new challenges
• Fear of success: avoiding taking steps towards goals due to a fear of what might happen if they succeed
• Imposter syndrome: feeling like a fraud or like one’s success is unearned
• Overthinking: getting lost in analysis-paralysis and never taking action
• Lack of self-care: neglecting one’s own physical, emotional, or mental well-being in the pursuit of coaching success
• Perfectionism: setting impossibly high standards and feeling like a failure if they’re not met
• People-pleasing: sacrificing one’s own needs and goals to satisfy the needs of others (especially your clients)
• Distraction: getting sidetracked by non-essential tasks or activities instead of focusing on important goals
• Lack of focus: not setting clear goals or priorities, leading to a lack of direction and progress
• Comparison: constantly comparing oneself to others, leading to feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem
• Self-limiting beliefs: beliefs that hold oneself back from reaching their full potential, such as “I’m not good enough” or “I don’t deserve success”
• Resistance to change: avoiding necessary changes or adaptations that could lead to growth or success
• Financial mismanagement: mishandling money or not being mindful about spending, leading to financial instability and stress
• Burnout: pushing oneself too hard or taking on too much, leading to exhaustion and reduced productivity
• Negative attitude: having a consistently negative or defeatist attitude towards oneself or one’s goals.

These are just a few examples, but self-sabotage can take many forms and can often be subtle or unconscious. As a coach, it’s important to be aware of the ways in which you might be holding yourself back so that you can overcome them and reach your full potential.

What causes self-sabotage? Here are the reasons…

Self-sabotage can be frustrating, but it’s actually very normal human behavior. We all have internal belief systems that are constantly running in the background, shaping our thoughts and behaviors. When we change our external reality, but our internal system isn’t congruent with it, or we don’t feel safe having what we desire, then we can often find ourselves falling back into old patterns of thinking and behavior that bring us back to a familiar but unfulfilling place.

Think of your brain and body like a giant computer – our internal programs and beliefs are always running in the background, creating our reality and actions. When we want to shift the direction of our lives, we have to shift our internal programming as well. Otherwise, our mind will find a way to bring us back to our familiar reality or what we think we are worthy and deserving of.

I’ll give you a classic example… think of all the studies that have been done on lottery winners. They get soooo excited thinking their life is gonna change… and what happens? More often than not, they lose it all and end up in a worse financial situation than before. Why? Because their internal programming was not aligned with the sudden influx of wealth, and they went into self-sabotage.

If you catch yourself doing stuff like this… you’re not alone. I’ve done it a million times too, and still continue to. But the difference is I’m aware of it now and can catch myself and work through it before self-sabotage has a chance to take hold and do serious damage to my life.

The good news is that you have this ability too. When we are aware of our internal programming and how it affects our behavior, it puts us in a better position to overcome self-sabotage.

Ready to learn how to do this? Lemme share with you my favorite practice to overcome self-sabotage!

Why breathwork works to stop self-sabotage

The universe actually wants us to have abundance in all forms – love, money, success, you name it. But as we now know, it’s our limiting beliefs and self-sabotage that block the flow and prevent us from receiving what we truly desire.

So how can we increase our receptivity to the good stuff? Enter breathwork. Breathwork helps release self-sabotage in two primary ways:

1) Breathwork helps us create space from the mind and overthinking. The part of us that says we can’t have that, it’s too much, I’m not good enough, yada yada yada. All those doubts and fears live in the mind. They are trapped there. And when we do breathwork, we create spaciousness from them. They don’t go away, but instead, we are able to see the thought, become aware of it, and then no longer identify as it or make it true. It creates space so we can let it go.

2) Breathwork helps us drop deeper into our bodies. When we’re in our bodies, we can feel into the parts of us that don’t feel safe to have what we want or feel worthy enough. We can connect to the beliefs and parts that aren’t allowing us to have our desires. Breathwork gives us this intel. We can clearly see the limiting belief and release it so we can change our consciousness to align with our visions.

All this is why breathwork is great for self-sabotage. It helps us become aware of what’s getting in the way of attracting that hot person, making the money, building the coaching business, or buying that perfect lake house (or whatever it is for you).

And with that awareness, we can start to shift our internal programming from self-sabotage to alignment and receptivity. Now THAT’S worth getting excited about!

How to use breathwork to stop self-sabotage

As I mentioned, self-sabotage still comes up for me, even after 14 years of doing this. There are just new levels of it. Every time I want to step it up a notch or I desire something bigger, you better believe I gotta work through my own limiting beliefs and get my body and consciousness online with my new goal.

I’ll give you an example…

If a huge opportunity comes my way, and I get an email from someone who would be SO COOL to work with, and I get an offer to teach breathwork on a massive stage, I can viscerally feel myself avoiding my email and not responding… even though it’s EXACTLY the type of opportunity I want. All I gotta do is hit reply… it’s right there. But something within me is holding me back. So what do I do?…

A simple breathwork and visualization practice

Here’s how to do it:

1. Visualize yourself receiving what you desire and see it working out perfectly. (Example: I visualize myself receiving hitting reply to that email, and it works out perfectly. The deal comes together, and I get to teach breathwork on that stage. I can see all the people whose lives are positively impacted because I had the courage to say yes).
2. Use the Tri-Active Breath – inhale into your belly, up into your chest, and exhale out through your mouth. Keep the breath moving in and out of your body perfectly for about three minutes.
3. Take a deep breath in through your nose and hold it at the top.
4. Release the breath and bring back the visualization of yourself receiving what you desire and everything working out perfectly.
5. Let your body know that it is okay and safe to open up and receive what you desire in all forms, such as money, opportunity, love, connection, or anything else.

As a coach, you can use this practice in so many different scenarios, like when clients want to pay you craploads of money for your services or when a great opportunity comes. When you get asked to go on that podcast, or you get that book deal. All of that can definitely trigger self-sabotage, but if it’s exactly what you want, but you’re holding yourself back, then use this practice to get your body and mind on board so you can upgrade your system and start to receive now.

How to Help Your Clients Overcome Self-Sabotage

Are you ready to start teaching breathwork for self-sabotage? Let’s do this!

By using breathwork, you can help your clients break through their internal blocks and align with the life they desire. You have the power to be a part of someone’s transformation, guiding them from stuckness to getting exactly what they want.

Get started right away with our FREE Training: Get Lasting Results for Your Coaching Clients. 

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Thanks for reading, and I hope this gave you the tools to stop self-sabotage and create a life that aligns with what you truly desire.