Etymologically the English term “coach” descends from the Hungarian word kocsi, which means “carriage”, that was named after the village where it had been originally made.
 
The use of the term coaching, to mean an instructor or trainer, arose for the first time in the students’ slang of the Oxford University in 1830 in order to refer to a tutor who carried a student through an exam. Since then the term Coaching, which became a real method, has been used to describe the process used to transport people from where they are, to where they want to be.
 
The greatest tool the coach has is the question. The purpose of the questions, which are the core of the method, is to develop a higher awareness in the coachee, to make them become more conscious of themselves, their goals and the means/actions that they can use to achieve them in order to move from what it is called the current perception to the desired future.
 
When we talk about consciousness, we refer to the experience itself. When we are conscious, something, which does not occur when we are unconscious, takes place. Being aware means to know ourselves deeply and to realize what we really are. The majority of us is only aware of aspects of ourselves, of our thoughts and our emotions, but we do not really know the our being.

I advise you, whoever you are,
Oh you! who wish to explore the mysteries of nature,
if you do not find within yourself that which you seek,
neither shall you find it outside.
If you ignore the excellences of your own house,
how do you intend to find excellence elsewhere?
Within you is hidden the treasure of treasures.
Oh, man, know Thyself
and you shall know the Universe and the Gods!
Oracle of Delphi
 

The tool of the question is not used by the coach to change people’s life, but to develop a new vision in the coachee: “changing the questions” that the coachee maturates and asks themselves opens new possibilities, a new level of consciousness and knowledge of who they are and their potential.
Accordingly to recent studies, consciousness does not seem to be the transitory result of our complex biological mechanism that is our nervous system, but it is a physical property that lies in the potential of the “unified field” of the universe and that our brain has the ability to “activate”.
 
The unified field theory tells us that at the origin of all the laws of nature, of all the order that we find everywhere in the vastness and diversity of this universe, there is only one filed of consciousness which determines everything that occurs. Basic reality is not conceived as matter, but as energy which we study and describe as particles/waves. The consequence of this discovery is that the physical world is the result of defined frequencies, energy vibrations, specific energy fields, which manifest and create clear material forms. The solidity of the material world has been proved to be a mirage because everything around us is the result of a frequency.

"All matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration,
we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively."
Bill Hicks PHD in Physics

Connecting with this field means to connect with the pure consciousness that lies at the foundation of existence and to access the possibility of manifesting new levels of consciousness and reality, which exteriorizes our true potential. 
 

Our true self is our deep inner Self, our field of consciousness and subjectivity that is called the true Self that experiments. This is different from our belief system, from what we think we are, different from anything specific in our life. It is about the unspecific field of our pure subjectivity, who knows, understands, sees and that is beyond the intellects and the emotions, and that lies in our being.
We all have a consciousness; it is necessary for each experience. But consciousness itself cannot be experimented because consciousness is the one who experiments. Very rarely consciousness can experiment itself because it is always directed outward, towards an object, a person or a situation.

In order to access our true Self, the unified field, Spirit, and rise in consciousness it is fundamental to bring the attention inward in order to explore the deep levels of the self to allow consciousness to become aware of itself. The key of this process is to be in the present and in the body because the nature body is the only aspect of us that is always and constantly in the present. 
 

Our mind is always either in the past (memories) or the future (expectations), because the mind is continuously trapped in time: the past provides an identity, while somehow the future contains a promise of liberation taking away most of our energy is from what we are doing and, consequently, from our being.

“Past and future veil God from our sight; burn up both of them with fire” as Rumi, the great Sufi teacher and poet, declares.
 
“Intense presence is needed when certain situations trigger a reaction with a strong emotional charge, such as when your self-image is threatened, a challenge comes into your life that triggers fear, things "go wrong," or an emotional complex from the past is brought up. In those instances, the tendency is for you to become "unconscious." The reaction or emotion takes you over - you "become" it. You act it out. You justify, make wrong, attack, defend ... except that it isn't you, it's the reactive pattern, the mind in its habitual survival mode. Identification with the mind gives it more energy; observation of the mind withdraws energy from it. Identification with the mind creates more time; observation of the mind opens up the dimension of the timeless. The energy that is withdrawn from the mind turns into presence. Once you can feel what it means to be present, it becomes much easier to simply choose to step out of the time dimension whenever time is not needed for practical purposes and move more deeply into the Now. This does not impair your ability to use time - past or future - when you need to refer to it for practical matters. Nor does it impair your ability to use your mind. In fact, it enhances it. When you do use your mind, it will be sharper, more focused.” - Eckhart Tolle The Power of Now

Being in the body ground us in the here and now and offers the possibility to consciously perceive ourselves and orientate the attention inward instead of outward.
 

In this perspective a Spiritual coach, with their presence, awareness, centeredness and groundedness, has a decisive role in creating the internal and external spaciousness to make this happen. The coach’s conscious attention within and presence create the opening to the expanded consciousness which can reveal the most effective questions that allow the coachee to access a deeper level of consciousness and, therefore, “the unconscious processing resources”: “attention creates access to consciousness”, but “consciousness is needed to create access to unconscious processing resources”, and “... we can create access to any part of the brain using consciousness.” (Baars, B.J., In the theatre of consciousness: global workspace theory, a rigorous  scientific theory of consciousness, Journal of Consciousness Studies, 1997).
 
Spiritual coaching can support an individual in recognizing the purpose, in addressing our goals and understand the meaning behind their existence, to see that we are all part of a greater plan and each of us has a role in it; we just need to access our spiritual intelligence (IQ).
During a session Spirit is a constant presence, helping us realize that we know and have the answers within us, if we just start to listen to the inner guide. Spirit speaks to us in the silence, the silence of the mind, if we just become open to listen.