What I Love
Here are the values and principles that guide me in how I live and work...
I Love: Being Home
When I feel rooted, self-connected, regulated (balanced), trusting, open-hearted and safe, I feel at ‘Home’. I love being at Home because it is where I trust myself and know that even though I may need to reach beyond myself for guidance at times (we all do), I am already whole and integrated - I am enough. And when I am at Home, it is when I can connect deeply with my vision for the work that I offer (which is to remind you and guide you to come Home) and be present and available with all of those I engage with.
I Love: Science and Soul Equally (The Butterfly’s Wings)
And I love that the word Psyche (from Psychology) comes from Ancient Greek and means Butterfly and Soul.
Modern-day Psychology is defined as the Science of Mind and Behaviour.
Psyche – The Two Wings of the Butterfly: Science and Soul.
I love Science, especially what cutting-edge research from brain-science and associated fields (like Inter-Personal Neuro-Biology) tell us about how our brains and nervous systems function during times of distress, anxiety, over-whelm and trauma as well when we feel self-connected, attuned to, well-integrated and whole (‘at home’ 😊).
Equally, I love Soul and how wisdom traditions have reminded us for centuries to deeply connect with our inner experience and our very own Soul as a way to deeply resource ourselves, and to come Home. That it is from Home that we can deepen our relationships (with ourselves, our children, our partners etc., etc.,) and cultivate the potential to authentically thrive.
I love how these insights from Science and Wisdom translate into practical strategies that we can follow to find our way back home to ourselves, over and over again.
I Love: The Capacity we all have for Transformation
Just like the caterpillar’s transformation into a butterfly, I believe that we all have the potential to transform difficulty and suffering, grow from adversity and cultivate our innate wisdom and capacity to thrive in all dimensions of our lives.
I believe this because I have experienced it first-hand (when on my knees as a new parent) and I have had the honour to witness this process happen for many of the people I work with.
And what I love even more, as many of the wisdom traditions point to, is that the capacity we have for transformation and thriving doesn’t have to be born from adversity and suffering (although it typically does): it can happen now, by turning towards ourselves and coming Home.
How My Values Flow into my Work with You
I aim to orient from a heart-centred approach where vulnerabilities and boundaries are deeply honoured and the wisdom of the heart and soul flows into action through the offerings and an authentic connection. I care about the relationships forged with my clients, customers and partners and my intention is that they feel validated and respected. I aim to embrace change and be reflective, flexible and adaptive, with an intention of deepening the value of my offerings to meet the needs of those whom I serve.
I Love: Engaging from the Heart
I love the expression (that is often credited with coming from Zen Buddhism):
Strong Back. Open Heart
For me, the expression of Being at Home comes from this orientation of a Strong Back and an Open Heart:
The Strong Back represents the foundation we find through anchoring ourselves, as well as the alignment with ourselves that we find when we self-connect, self-regulate and trust our wisdom and authentic power. We trust ourselves because we are connected with our own wisdom - it has our back :)
The Open Heart represents how we can engage with the world from a heart-centred perspective: where we are present and compassionate and we are guided by the wisdom that flows from our sense of Home. We feel safe in engaging from the heart because we feel at Home, and we do not need to cut the heart off from the world precisely because we have a strong back.
We integrate our ‘head’ knowing with our ‘heart’ knowing and with our ‘gut’ knowing (neuro-science now acknowledges that we have three brains: head, heart and gut, something the wisdom traditions have pointed to for eons) and it flows into action through the heart.
Orienting and engaging from Open Hearted awareness allows us to thrive.
I Love: Honouring Vulnerability with Robust Boundaries
We all have vulnerabilities and when we validate them, we can know ourselves more – and come Home. To be human is to be vulnerable, and in this world it often takes courage to be vulnerable. I love that the word ‘courage’ comes from the French word ‘coeur’, which means heart. We can be OK with being vulnerable if we have a strong back, a foundation that we call Home.
Healthy, thriving relationships require safety. Safety is created by deep respect and boundaries that can arise when we feel self-connected and self-regulated. I love to orient from a space of honouring my own boundaries and those of others.
I Love: Learning and Growing
I’m passionate about learning and I see every difficulty as a possible growth-edge to deepen resilience and come Home, again and again.
With my love of Science, I’m always open to learning about the new scientific advances that have been made in the areas of well-being, safety, trauma and relationships and how these understandings can be applied to supporting people to heal, grow and thrive.
Equally, with my love of Soul, I’m always open to learning more about myself - my vulnerabilities and imperfections - and what the wisdom traditions point to in orienting us to go deeper into knowing ourselves from the inside out.
