The people that most resonate with this work tend to be intuitive, empathic, highly sensitive, healers, transformational change agents, social justice warriors or simply feel their feels pretty deeply and would love for this to be an asset rather than a liability. My people yearn for a rich connection with themselves, their community and crave real intimacy. These are the the huge-hearted variety of folk that come to me reporting a habit of mismanaging their care for others to the point that they end up in burn-out and their self-care flies out the window. They show up because they are seeking profound personal growth and want to live from a place of purpose but find they get held back by fears of “doing it wrong” or really owning their gifts. They wonder “How am I supposed to show up? Is there a place for me? Who am I to do this? Am I competent or capable enough? Do I belong?”

These folk long to make a positive difference with their life and sense they are capable of far. greater. impact.

Even though they feel the quiet whisper of their magic (or the loud roar of their power) they still sometimes believe they are alone and worry people won’t understand, accept or value their skills or appreciate who they really are. In those moments when they are most tired, overwhelmed, and under-supported, they can find themselves feeling mistrustful, anxious, insecure and uncertain. Many have shared they used to wonder if there was something “wrong” with them. Make no mistake, if this is familiar to you, it is NOT proof of your unique psychological disorder. This is mental health oppression, colonialism and patriarchy 101. This is the byproduct of living in a culture that centers whiteness, maleness, heteronormativity, and ability to the exclusion of magic, wonder, ancient wisdom, earth based traditions and practices that honor elder-wisdom and female power.

It’s no wonder they feel this way. The dominant culture has barraged us all with messages that we are both “too much” and “not enough.” So much of the work-hustle-consume-produce-conform culture has championed the intellect as tantamount to all other ways of knowing including intuition, clairvoyance, somatic perception, and body based awareness. Our bodies are sooooo wise and so much of the cultural conditioning tells us to dominate, control, perfect, repress, sculpt and manage our bodies at the cost of that wisdom. Our mental health industry has a long history of pathologizing trauma, neuro-divergence and treating collective sociological issues as if they are individual psychological problems. Much of the empowerment and coaching profession focuses on the individual while ignoring the role that our cultural and institutional systems play in inhibiting our access to healing, growth, resources and freedom.

Trust me, it’s not just you. This is a symptom of the forces of oppression that impact us all. There is as much a need for cultural and systemic transformation as there is a need for individual transformation. I am here to show up for both. Our work together is to interrupt that conditioning, dispossess the prison of shame, calibrate your internal compass and abide your inner authority so that you are more resourced in your work towards creating a more equitable world.

You have a calling that only you can fill. There is great need for you to own the courage to speak with power, honesty and integrity and live your life as an unapologetic expression of your values. Your voice is vital. The real magic happens when you confidently harness all that incredible you-ness in service to the greater good.

It’s time to answer that call. 

• have access to your “fuck yes!” and your honest no and can deliver both with unapologetic confidence.

• find the freedom to slow down, find inner ground and  p a u s e  when you’re in a highly charged environment or experiencing particularly intense internal sensations. Find the inner space to stay with the moment, get internally resourced and then speak from grounded, centered, calm even when it’s hard. 

• choose when you are performing emotional labor and give from a sense of joy, not from duty or obligation (and have easeful access to your “no” in those cases.)

• use your body as a grounding rod and resource more of the time rather than disassociating, attacking yourself (or others) or withdrawing in your interpersonal relationships. This might look like having the ability to ask for a moment of pause, being able to notice you are revving up and knowing how to effectively down regulate your nervous  system.

• create a personalized plan and commitment to non-negotiable self care that includes movement, creative expression, rest and play each week.

• powerfully contribute to the world in a way that sparks your sense of fulfillment and aliveness and profoundly connects you to your heart song and your chosen community – be that thru activism, service, a passion project or work.

• sense your feelings and needs and communicate them with clarity and gain comfort making requests.

• differentiate between judgments vs. observations and requests vs. demands.

• cultivate a consciousness that can translate the challenging judgments, blame and shame that get hurled your way into empathic listening that can sense the unmet or unspoken feelings or needs underneath the painful messages, without taking on those messages. Basically, have greater nonviolent communication consciousness and the ability to speak and listen from this consciousness.