I’ve always been curious and fascinated by people: Who are you? Who am I? What makes us think, feel and act the way we do? What are we here for, really? Where are we heading?

photo credit: Nuot Biveroni

My mother tells me that as a young girl, as soon as guests would leave our home, I would bombard her with questions such as: “Why did she say this…?” “What did he mean when he said that…?” “How come they did this?”

This inherent curiosity, combined with a deep awe and love of Life – isn’t it just the most amazing miracle, that we get to be here, on earth, with each other, in these human forms made of body, mind, soul and spirit?! – wove themselves like two threads in my consciousness into one burning quest: What is possible in and through this human life? How conscious can we become? How healthy? How loving, caring, kind and compassionate? How truthful and alive? How present and aware?

I remember noticing as a teenager that we often seem to live our lives at half-mast, limiting ourselves within 8-foot ceilinged rooms (glass ceilings, really), instead of filling a cathedral dome, or running outside and filling the starry night sky with our creativity and service. I yearned for that starry-night-sky-filled Life and the challenge, the invitation to realize that continues to this day.

In my early twenties I considered careers as a dancer, a singer or an actress – all three expressions and activities I loved dearly. But as much as I was tempted and presented with opportunity, I could never see myself immersed in just one of these (a side thread that continues to this day: my wish for about 10 parallel lives to explore all the wonderful things I’d love to learn and do). Studying Psychology presented itself as the solution to my dilemma: study the human being, immerse yourself in the glorious potential of healing, renewal and transformation. Then movement, music and theater can come along for the ride as colorful, enriching sidecars.

And so this is what my patchwork looked like for the next few years: A two-year dance training in expressive movement (Laban), performing in numerous choirs and theater ensembles, ongoing vocal training, graduating from the masters’ degree Psychology program at the university of Zurich, and pursuing my own inquiry on the meeting between Spirituality and Psychology (which was not taught at the university, but felt deeply relevant and necessary to me).

In 1990, at a spiritual retreat in France, I met the man who would change the assumed course of my life. Someone so different and yet more similar than anyone I had encountered before, a true kindred spirit: unconventional, visionary, and deeply interested in community and awakening, travelling from Canada on his way to India via Europe. A couple weeks later, standing on the side of the road, ready to hitchhike on, he asked me when we might next see each other again. I – the organized and diligent Swiss miss I was at that time – flipped open my agenda, looking for my next available 2-month chunk of time and responded, “July 1992, I could come to Canada then.” He looked at me in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding… in two years time?!”

Fast forward and yes, I did show up as predicted on his doorstep, (organized can be a good thing, see!) in the forests of British Columbia, after two years of letter writing. A month later we moved onto a large acreage and began living in community for the next decade.

I completed my master’s degree, and the ensuing decade ended up being the most effective and transformational practicum and preparation for becoming the counselor and coach I now am. Nothing like sharing daily life with 10-15 others to shed light on your shadows and reactive patterns, to practice conscious communication and conflict resolution skills, and to experience what becomes possible with creativity and collective intelligence!

During this time I also taught dance and singing in public school and homeschooling settings. We ran six-week educational programs for university students on sustainable community living. I started working in private practice as a therapeutic counsellor, and studied everything I could get my hands on about conscious parenting, including learning from some wonderfully inspiring families, and combining this with my deepening understanding of Integral Theory and Vision.

Following the birth of our daughter in 2003, I began putting into words our particular approach to parenting: Parenting as a Spiritual Practice, writing articles and, over the next few years, developing and teaching integral parenting workshops with my husband, and running week-long seminars on applying Integral Vision to Education, Community, Ecology and Leadership. In 2012 we launched our first 8-week online course for parents, which has now reached families in over 35 countries!

Counselling adults and couples, teaching and coaching parents, writing, and being a mother and wife… this combination is the closest I have come to so far, in bringing to Life and Service those seeds that were present in me long before I knew anything about psychology, spirituality, conscious relating, and integral vision – the seeds of loving people and this crazy human journey we are on, of caring and sensing my response-ability for this planet, and responding to the call my soul feels inclined toward as it listens to God.

I ground my approach in my daily practice and life-long exploration of tracking with curiosity and stubborn stamina myself and my relationships – what works, what doesn’t – listening for and attuning to the thread of truth and insight that guides like a lighthouse amidst the stormy waves of Life, sometimes just a quick glimpse of light here and there, other times a solid beam. Listening, softening, forgiving, not giving up (that stubborn streak), praying, meditating, reading, dancing, drawing, relating, body-awareness-scanning. And above all, staying curious. To that I add professional training and experience in psychology, dance, spirituality, integral theory and vision.

I love this work; and this work, methinks, loves me too. So together, we go out and love the world. Which makes me “soul & bone happy”, meaning: glad to the tips of my toes, to my heart of hearts and all the way to the inside of my cells. I am so honored to provide and dive into authentic space with my clients, with course participants around the world, with you.

Thank you for being you. Thank you for all you are and do, to discover and bring more Light to this world.

And now I’d love to hear from you! If you’re ready to be in touch, do tell me about yourself. Or if you prefer, spend some time perusing my offerings and blog first.

I look forward to getting to know you, and if you feel like what I offer would serve you at this time in your life, I would be delighted to journey with you. You can reach me here >