Heart's Voyage Log: 5 Minutes of Listening to the Voice of Change - What Sae-san's Journey Gently Illuminated

I'm Naho, a life coach who wants to be like the spring sunshine.

In the midst of a journey of peeling away, returning, and budding anew.
Cherishing the rhythm of returning to a floating state after sparkling.
When you feel cramped, gently roll toward a place where you feel more free.

In this note, I'd like to share a mini-interview where Sae-san, who has been coaching with me continuously, shares a bit of her 'journey of change'.

📻 For those who want to listen via audio
If you prefer to listen in a quiet moment, please click here.
A gentle summary of the same interview is available on stand.fm.

📹 For those who want to watch via video
The same interview is available on YouTube.

▽ Please see below
https://youtu.be/xVTXaKlKxN8

🌷 Introduction to Sae Negishi (Client)
This is Sae-san, who has had 11 sessions with me so far, including the trial session (as of December 2025).

I proposed this mini-interview, and she kindly accepted.
Huge thanks!

What kind of place is Naho's coaching for you, Sae-san?

🌱 A place where organization and new insights sprout, and a sense of comfort

Coaching with Naho-san is, for me, a place to really organize things and a place where I can gain new insights.

In terms of sensation, it's not a surprise, but what I feel most comfortable with is when Naho-san thinks along with me, or waits for me while I'm thinking; I feel a great sense of comfort in those moments.

Silence is not something to be feared. It's something comfortable—

Before, when I was talking or having a conversation with someone, I used to be really afraid of silence and thought, 'I have to get rid of the silence.'
But after talking with Naho-san and receiving coaching, I've come to feel, 'Oh, silence can be this comfortable.'

It's not just about 'enduring the silence' or anything like that.

She thinks along with me while I'm thinking, and when I'm going, 'Hmm... that's, hmm...', she waits for me.

It's not even like she has a stance of just waiting; it's a very calm way of waiting, and she allows me to think.

I feel very 'accepted,' so for me, that is what makes the coaching time with Naho-san what it is.

It's okay if you don't have anything decided to talk about; a time where excitement increases by continuing

Before we start, I think, 'What should I talk about today?'

But even if I talk about something I've already thought about myself, there's always a new insight, so it's a time where the level of excitement really increases with each session.

What discoveries or insights have you had through coaching?

💓 Being able to give myself permission

Thinking back on what we've talked about, I really feel that I had feelings of not being able to forgive myself, and that I hadn't been 'giving myself permission.'

My standards for myself had become strict...

If someone else were telling me the same story, I would say, 'You're working so hard, that's amazing, good job!'
But I really feel that I haven't been able to feel that same level of kindness toward myself.

—Realization through 'putting it into words' yourself

But by 'talking' about it, I think it's huge that I'm able to realize it for myself.

—Naho's way of 'accepting things as they are'

Naho-san's stance isn't about immediately agreeing with what I say, but rather,

"Oh, I see. So that's what this was about."
"For you, Sae-san, this is what it meant."

She takes what I say and, how should I put it, validates it just as it is, or rather, organizes it and places it right there in front of me.

—A time for Sae-san to listen closely to her own voice and gain awareness

It's like she's laying it all out on the table in front of me.

And then, as I look at it, I realize, "Oh, I've been being really hard on myself," and it's a space where I can come to that realization on my own.

I think it's easy for someone to say, "Aren't you being too hard on yourself? You should praise yourself more."

But I'm used to being told that, and I'd just respond, "You're right. Okay, I'll do that. The end."

And it ends up being something I "can't actually do."

Gaining awareness on your own through "inquiry" and Naho's "reflective feedback"

Instead, by receiving my words and asking questions when necessary,

Naho-san breaks it down in her own mind, saying,
"Oh, so that's what that means. For you, Sae-san, it has this significance, or you perceive it this way," and by carefully breaking it down and laying it out on the table before me, I am able to recognize and realize it myself. I think that is a very important point.

A message for anyone who will receive coaching in the future

Starting from "What is coaching?"

First of all, I had never properly received coaching before, so I started from the place of "What exactly is coaching?"
For those who have never experienced it, I want to tell them, "I really want you to try it at least once."

The meaning of the coaching space changes for everyone

Plus, I think the positioning of coaching—what kind of space it becomes—really changes depending on the person.

I'm sure it also depends on the way Naho-san conducts her coaching,

but since it's also about how to expand on what comes from within yourself and how to gain different perspectives, I feel that what you yourself want to do becomes a very big part of it.

So, because I think it will become something truly necessary for that person,
"Please, just try it once!" is what I want to say.

🌷🌷🌷

As Sae-san's words suggest,
the space of coaching holds a different "meaning" and "form" for each individual.
Depending on that person's pace and wishes, entirely different scenery grows.

That is why it is always a quiet joy to walk alongside someone's journey like this and be allowed to share in it.

Thank you for receiving Sae-san's words this far.
May the time spent gently peeking into the continuation of someone's journey serve as a guidepost for your own path.

If, somewhere in Sae-san's story,
a small light within you flickered,
I will quietly leave a guidepost that connects to the continuation.

🌸 About Naho's Coaching Sessions

Information page for "Returning to Your Own Life" Life Coaching

🌸 Self-Introduction

🌸 Summary of Current Work

Thank you very much.
May your day be healthy and warm.