Zen Coaching

What is your sense of yourself in this moment? True self-knowledge is not a concept, or a memory. It is a direct experience - a felt sense in the present moment. A knowing which needs no words. It is beyond words. Who am I? We want to know it directly and intimately.

How do you sense yourself now?

The word Zen is from Japan, derived from 'Chan' in China, which has its roots from 'Dhyana' in Sanskrit. It means meditation, presence, deep concentration and absorption, insight, cultivating the mind - and much more.

Dhyana carries the sense of cultivation, like tending a garden.

Just like a garden, our minds need tending. A garden cannot be controlled into blooming. It can only be tended. The gardener waters, removes weeds, notices the seasons, creates space for sunlight — but growth itself remains its own force. It happens by itself.

In the same way, mindfulness is not about changing the mind. It's to notice the inner weather, nourish that which needs nourishment, and restrict nourishment to that which is not serving the whole. Creating space for silence and enjoyment.

And through this attentive presence, something begins to reorganise naturally.

Some patterns weaken because they are no longer fed unconsciously.

Some qualities grow because they are finally given space and light.

Patience grows. Clarity emerges. Compassion deepens.

Regardless of the state of the garden, each day we return.
We kneel in the soil again, and meet that which meets us.

Mindfulness is the gardener; the mind is the garden.

To be mindful is to be aware of all of life, and to nourish the positive seeds — the seeds of beauty, love, peace, joy - rather than the seeds of hatred, anger, and conflict.

It is simply to act in accordance with our heart. And how do we know our heart?

By sensing and resting in our own felt sense of being - over time cultivating this Essential Presence through continuous practice.

We can take many 30-second holidays from thinking throughout the day, and we can set aside time for longer contemplation and meditation.

Or we can just step aside and let the garden grow freely. Either way, Life finds a way.

You're in a conversation.

Someone is speaking, and you're already preparing your response in your mind. Already rehearsing what you'll say next.

You're not listening. You're preparing and performing.

Most of us do this all day. It doesn't mean we are rude, it's simply a deeply rooted habit.

The mind moves faster than the moment, and we miss to really hear and feel the conversation we're actually in.

Presence isn't an idea.
It's simply… being here. Fully, openly. Just here. With myself. With this person. In this exchange. Without already being somewhere else.

It sounds simple, and yet it changes everything.

Does this sound familiar?
When do you notice yourself doing this?

If you'd like to explore this theme more deeply, we have a full video on YouTube "The Art of Listening and the Zen Way of Coaching."
👇
www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2641sxsa9k&t=65s

In Zen Coaching, transformation doesn't only happen in the group.

Every Module 1 is supported by a team of experienced, certified Coaches from the Zen Coaching Network. In addition to the group process, every participant receives a personal one-on-one Zen Coaching session during the training.

It is an individual one-hour session with one of the coaches present during the training.

What makes these conversations unique is the coach's capacity to stay present with what is happening right now. It is the quality of presence the coach brings into the session.

Through that presence, inquiry, and deep listening, participants are invited to explore their experience in a way that often reveals something new. A fresh perspective. A deeper truth. A possibility that was difficult to see before.

Many participants describe these sessions as one of the most meaningful and transformative experiences of the whole week.

For some, it is their first experience of being coached in this way.

For others, it confirms something they have been searching for for years.

📸 This photo was taken during Module 1 at Ängsbacka in January 2026 by Sissel Bronée

💚 The next Module 1 begins January 3, 2027.

Zen Coaching – Module 1 has just come to completion.

Over 20 people and five days of shared experience.
What began as a group of strangers sitting together in a room became a shared field of listening, presence, and real human connection.

And now comes something equally important: the return.

You pack your bag. You take the train home.
The next morning, the same coffee. The same inbox.
The same people asking how your week was.

And something in you wants to say: it changed something in me.

But how do you carry that change into ordinary life?

This is the quiet art of integration.

Not necessarily adding more practices or techniques — just meeting the same moments with more spaciousness. With more curiosity and more honesty.
Greeting everyday life with a little more of what was discovered this past week.

To everyone who was at Ängsbacka this past week: thank you. We carry this with us. 💚

And for those who have ever returned home from an inner journey — what helped you stay connected, what helped you integrate? Share below.

Are you curious about living a life more deeply grounded in presence?

About meeting challenges in a way that helps you grow?
About inner transformation that is not only theoretical, but deeply lived?

These are some of the themes we explore on the Zen Coaching YouTube channel.

Over the years, Kåre Landfald and the Zen Coaching community have shared talks, teachings and guided explorations around topics such as:
– presence and awareness
– inquiry and self-observation
– emotional patterns and conditioning
– authentic relationships
– meditation beyond techniques
– transformation through everyday life
– living more from the heart

There are already many hours of material available freely for anyone who feels called to explore this work more deeply.

If you want practical tools, deeper perspectives and real-life explorations around presence, awareness and inner transformation, we warmly invite you to dive into the channel.

You can find the "Zen Coaching International" channel in YouTube here www.youtube.com/

What if presence is not about stepping away from life, but entering it more fully?

Sometimes people imagine presence as becoming detached from life. Like sitting silently somewhere far away from the world, trying to remain untouched by experience.

But in Zen Coaching, presence is not really about withdrawing from life.

We would say it’s the opposite. It can make life feel more vivid.
More alive.

You may notice more sensation in the body. More honesty in relationships. More sensitivity to what is true and what is not. More awareness of the ways you move through life.

Presence is not numbness or distance.
And it is not sensory deprivation.

It is a deeper contact with life as it is. There is simply less separation between ourselves and this moment.

This is something we explore together in Zen Coaching. Are you curious to hear more?

What if personal transformation and professional development did not need to be separate paths?

Many people come to Zen Coaching because they want to grow in what they do, and in how they meet themselves, other people and life itself.

Some join as therapists, coaches, leaders or facilitators wanting to deepen their presence and the way they work with others.

Others come because they are longing for more authenticity, clarity and connection in their everyday lives and relationships.

Zen Coaching combines deep inner work with practical training in awareness, inquiry, embodied presence and authentic human connection.

Module 1 is an open introduction to Zen Coaching and the first step in the full training pathway.

During the week we explore:
– inquiry and self-awareness
– meditation and presence
– deep listening and authentic connection
– embodied awareness
– how awareness shapes our relationships and everyday life

No previous experience is needed.

The training takes place at Ängsbacka in Sweden, surrounded by nature and an international community atmosphere that many people describe as deeply supportive and transformative.

Module 1 — The Zen Way of Coaching
2–7 June 2026 · Ängsbacka, Sweden

www.facebook.com/events/1845884879453283

You are warmly welcome to join.

For many years, Zen Coaching has existed mainly through trainings, retreats and local communities around the world.

Now something wider is beginning to take shape around it.

Living Presence is emerging as a growing international field of people, communities and gatherings connected through shared practice and shared values.

Inquiry
Meditation
Community
Love
Trust

An exploration of what becomes possible when we meet life more honestly together. A living network of people who care about truth, consciousness and how we live with one another.

Local Hubs.
Trainings and events.
Local communities.
Friendships.
Practice.

You can explore more at www.livingpresence.org and in instagram