I believe that:
I. You are on a spiritual journey, whether you are conscious of it or not.
In her book Life’s Companion, author Christina Baldwin says, “The Spiritual Journey is what the soul is up to while we attend to daily living.”
Regardless of whether you have ties to a specific religion, consider yourself “spiritual but not religious”, or identify as agnostic or even atheist, you have a spirit, and are therefore on a spiritual journey. Your spirit is defined as the part of you that goes beyond your body / mind and connects you to the unifying force in the universe.
Often, if you experienced any sort of trauma in your life –and we ALL have these days … we are collectively living during a time of mass extinction on the planet, and our media is constantly blasting our minds with trauma of all varieties– your body / mind split off from your spirit. Your spirit is closely connected to your vitality, or your “joie de vivre,” which in turn is closely connected to your heart. Your heart rate is influenced by your emotions, and when you attempt to numb yourself off from feeling pain, anger, or fear and anxiety, you also deaden yourself to joy, awe, compassion and other healing emotions.
I believe your spirit (or Soul) is timeless and wise. I believe she wants to show you your interconnectedness with all of life and help you reintegrate, body / mind / spirit together so you can live into your best self. In my practice, I connect you with Nature, guide you in soul craft, and teach mindfulness and “heartfulness” tools based on neuroscience, physiology and psychology that designed to help you ground deeply into your Soul’s wisdom so that SHE can be your guide as you integrate your body, mind and spirit, create a road map for a life that allows you to experience wholeness, and relax into the freedom of loving yourself clear down to your bones.
I believe that seeking and discovering your own spiritual truth is more important and better for you than aligning with a specific religion. I also believe the Divine is seeking you out and wants you to have personal Spiritual experiences, not just read about those of other people.
That said, my own blend of beliefs stem from Celtic Spirituality, Catholicism, Zen practices, Toltec & Shamanic practices, and a deep connection with Nature. However, I am always learning and being guided by my soul. And of course, my “truths” don’t have to be your truths.
II. You don’t need to know exactly where you’re going, or how you will get there.
You simply need to show up, connect to your heart and start walking.
When I was in grad school, I read a book called Building the Bridge as You Walk On It. Its premise was about leadership in our times, and how the world is shifting so quickly it’s difficult to stay on top of all the change. I remember feeling an intense YES as I realized that the title defined my expertise … I have a gift of intuitively feeling my way forward, uncertain exactly where I am going, steering my life by listening deeply to my soul’s wisdom as well as my general knowledge and expertise. Learning from others, but definitely following my own path.
As poet David Whyte says, “what you can PLAN is too small for you to live.”
III. You are not broken and you don’t need to be fixed.
No matter what experiences have made up your life, you are not “broken.” Rather, in our society today, sadness and depression are normal. Much of the world is crying out in pain that most of us can feel at some level. You are NOT alone in your pain. However, you may be disconnected from yourself, from others, and / or from a sense of awe and reverence or purpose for your life.
I’ve found that a sense of overwhelm, restlessness, lack of clarity or confidence, anxiety, discomfort and –often– disease are usually a result of being out of alignment with your gifts, your values & your Soul.
The pervasive symptoms of dis-ease – depression, anxiety, and addictions – are an invitation to deeper inquiry into who you really are. When you find the courage to look closely and inhabit your whole self … meaning, joy and a connection to your highest purpose become abundantly available.
I believe that this wholeness comes from the reintegration, reintroduction, and reclaiming the broken off parts of your Soul, and the acknowledgement and conscious awareness that you don’t need to separate your spiritual journey from your ordinary daily life. I give you tools to reconnect with your Soul, and to define and create a vision for your spiritual journey in order to bring consciousness to this often invisible part of your life.
In the process, we help you reclaim all your lost parts, and truly begin to love yourself clear down to your bones!
IV. You might not need to UPLEVEL your life … maybe you need to DOWN-LEVEL instead!
It seems like the coaching industry as a whole is out there talking about how they can help you uplevel this and uplevel that.
I’m not that coach. Sure, I teach you tools that help you achieve your goals, but the whole point of your sessions with me are to give you some tools and space to connect with yourself. Your REAL self. Not the persona you’ve been wearing for the past umpteen years. I want you to find out what makes your heart sing. To know your core values. To quiet your mind and listen to what your heart desires more than anything else. Sometimes it’s hard to even know what you really desire when you’re “shoulding” all over yourself, and your mind is busy chasing itself around and around and around like a puppy chasing its tail.
When you work with me, the first thing I do is teach you to slow down … even if it’s just for three minutes each day.
And in that slowness, you start to see.
We tend to think that we believe what we see. But really, we see what we believe. That’s right. There’s science around this.
So even if you only quiet your mind for three minutes once a day for two weeks, your beliefs will start to shift. And as that happens … and it will … you might discover that instead of that promotion at work, what you REALLY want is to simplify your life and become a stay at home mom. Or a yoga teacher. Or write a book. Or travel the world. Or, if you already ARE a stay at home mom, maybe you NEED a job or career in order to feel complete.
Don’t write those things off just because right this instant you don’t know how they’ll happen. The how doesn’t matter. Really. We’ll just start with the “what”, and start walking the path. Your Soul will help you unfold which of the five million possible “hows” is best.
I love this quote by Joseph Campbell: “If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it’s not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That’s why it’s your path.” 💖
V.) Nature is our best teacher.
Humans, after all, weren’t placed on Earth. We emerged out of the Earth. Earth is part of our collective unconscious. As Thomas Berry says in Dream of the Earth, “… the earth carries the psychic structure as well as the physical form of every living being upon the planet.” Getting outside in Nature is important, and can bring you plenty of benefits. But awakening to Earth-consciousness is understanding that Earth’s landscapes are not just “out there” but are also woven into the core of your being. Four billion years of Earth wisdom are embedded in your cells.*
*This passage excerpted from Mary Reynolds Thompson’s introduction to her book Reclaiming the Wild Soul.
VI.) You are creative.
I don’t care what your art teacher or music teacher told you in grade school. You. Are. Creative.
(Well, really I DO care. A LOT. What right does anyone else have to tell you that your art is “wrong.” In grade school??!!)
So believe it. You are creative. If you say you’re not, you simply need to figure out how your creativity manifests itself.
Creativity is defined as making new connections between ideas. I know you do that somewhere in your life, so we are going to figure out where, and help you do more of THAT.
Why? Because your life is a piece of art, and unless you are actively creating, you are actively dying. So I am going to guide you to create the beautiful piece of art that is YOUR LIFE. I call this Soul Craft because the way you express yourself in the world is linked to your soul.
VII.) YOU have the power to change the world.
Culture is not static. It is ever-changing, just like nature. And YOU have the power to influence it; in fact, you do, by the choices you make every day. You can choose to be kind … or not. You can choose where to spend your money, your time, your energy, your attention.
You can choose to buy into the marketing that says that self-worth comes from a certain type of clothing, a particular income range, a certain mainstream spiritual teacher, a nutritional cleanse, or the current trending food and exercise regime.
Or, you can realize that self-worth comes from the inside. You can learn to love yourself clear down to your bones.
I can teach you how.