A bit more about me…
I am a Doctor of Clinical Psychology, specialising in working with adults with complex trauma, a yoga teacher and teacher trainer, a founding director of the Bristol Yoga Roots Project and a nature-based facilitator, hosting transformational workshops & retreats.
As well as my core professional trainings in clinical psychology and yoga, my offerings are infused by my studies and interests in ecopsychology, indigenous ways of knowing, mystical experiences and the magic that science reveals.
The space I hold is strong and steady with a dose of mystery and mischief mixed in!
I am particularly interested in how we can dismantle the kyriarchy, champion diversity and connection, and remember ourselves as nature to support the reciprocal healing and growth of all. This means I have spent much time with peers, mentors and on trainings exploring my position in this world, where oppression acts against me and how I can dance with that, and where I can bring awareness to my power and privilege to do my best to use them for good and take responsibility for harm. It is a nuanced and ever-evolving enquiry, particularly when facing the hypocrisies of living a modern lifestyle whilst being committed to being in right relationship to this planet.
I am keen to move away from stories of good and bad, wrong and right, victim and perpetrator, and towards the uncomfortable and often radical place of the non-dual, the both/and, the liminal space. I also know that there is power in polarity, in dancing with the dual and the apparent ‘other’, on the way to the space beyond.
My life experiences have of course hugely impacted my world view and I share a little about them to give context to what I am leaning into to create the spaces I offer.
I grew up at the tip of Cornwall, not realising how lucky I was to have the sea, the moors, the cliffs and the hidden wild spots as my holding space. I am indebted to this land for the bitter-wind fierce and warm-sand soft lessons.
After some challenging childhood experiences, and a move to London, my body and mind began to cry for help in various ways that persisted over the years, leading to many dark times and some deep shame. Despite ultimately rejecting the religion of my grandfather – a priest in whose church I spent much time as a young child - I stayed deeply intrigued (and at times tortured) by the bigger questions, struggling to find ways to understand the pain of living in a world with so much injustice.
I got lost, as many of us do, through my teens and early 20s, in a tangled mess. But I found some vibrant connections through counter-culture scenes, a diverse group of friends and a host of experiences that formed me the way a furnace fires the clay. I also found yoga, hands-on-healing, meditation and shamanic practices with guidance from some wonderful, witchy women I was lucky enough to be taken under the wing of from age 15 - tools that reminded me of our innate power and beauty, and our capacity to flourish even through or perhaps because of pain.
Later in life I spent several years travelling on and off, staying in Colombia for a few months to work with displaced communities, and finding solace getting lost (and bitten to death by mosquitos!) in wild places. After moving around the UK and Ireland, it wasn’t until I landed in Bristol that I truly started to feel a sense of home, of rooting. The creativity, passion and community spirit that beats through the veins of this city is a tonic.
My wish is to share some of the lifelines that have allowed me to re-find my sanity, my wholeness and my purpose in this messy and beautiful dance of life.
(If you’re curious, you can read more about my professional training, clinical experience, and published research)