Being Joy

It’s beautiful, this witnessing of those I sit with finding aliveness, the natural flow of feelings, and what is underneath, the power & peace of a clear seeing of what is, &  in their ordinary lives & in what arises in the circles & sessions I have the privilege of facilitating. 

Whatever is -in the appearance-happening, the separate self’s hijacking of pure experience loses its hold and natural reality may be revealed. Secret Garden points towards your ‘journey’ of awakening into embodied realisation of non-duality, of one, not two, of what is beyond words. 

Community, connection, presence, being, peace, intimacy, vulnerability, love, are beautiful gifts in the unfolding human story…. these are the qualities ‘I’ value and enjoy in the playshop of my own life. My passion in Joyful Loving and Joyful Living events is an empowering of presence, awakeness, essence, from which comes natural power, joy, love and abundance. I love to see people shed the masks, armour & uniforms adopted in worldly activity or challenging relating, & come more & more to trust themselves, their feelings, their honest truth. That heals everything & then everything in the apparent story changes! 

Most of all, I love to share, (in Most Intimate events) with those who are interested in exploring freedom and unconditional love, the wonder of what is, that without cause, which cannot be sought, the wonder of being. 

There is no meeting point between ‘healing the story’ or being a certain way-accepting, forgiving, aligned with one’s ancestry – and the wonder of being. There can be great confusion in the ‘spiritual marketplace’ about this and in Secret Garden these delusions are gently dissolved. In the Most Intimate events, any sense of a separate self being able to do anything, or of prescriptive approaches, is cleanly absent. That is powerfully freeing in itself. In Joyful Loving and Essence events, it is acknowledged that the separate, conditioned self appears in the dream, and suffers. Deep exploration is facilitated so that the story is easier, more fulfilling, to live.

Since early childhood ‘I’ have experienced a series of spontaneous awakenings, in which the separate self dissolved, that have -in the apparent unfolding story that never was-lasted for longer & longer periods & radically transformed the experience of living on this beautiful planet into one of liberation, being.

The integration into ordinary life of this total surrender and the dissolution of the separate self took many years. I only discuss this if asked – ‘spiritual’ experiences are simply that, experiences. What is, here, now, is ever changing & new – the stories are not the essence. In that ‘story’ I have been drawn to mystical & spiritual teachings since early childhood & I am very grateful to have worked with extraordinary teachers, indigenous & western. During this period, the energetic sense of a separate self completely & absolutely dissolved, leaving simply the wonder of what is.

These explorations grounded what was ‘experienced’ & gave ways in which liberated being could be offered in a grounded way in this garden. Intending the fulfilment of human beingness. The approach is a sensing, feeling, seeing & listening to all that is apparently happening in the moment yet the mystery brings intuitive guidance & the intelligfence of life plays immaculately and sometimes surprisingly. Silence & non-doing rather than controlling what is happening with an agenda allows magic happening & revelation.

For 20 years, there has been profound pleasure in Secret Garden’s transformational weekend, day, week-long retreats, ongoing trainings & evening groups in Gloucestershire, Bristol, Bath, Somerset, Andalucia, Italy, the Greek islands & the Hawaiian islands, and one to one and couple sessions.

I work as a spiritual facilitator with groups, in ongoing trainings & in one to one & couple sessions, creating a space for celebration of being, for movement through stuckness, sharing clarity of reflection & approaches to self-inquiry which can facilitate a deeper realization of Love & Truth. I have a one to one & couples practice in Gloucestershire, Bristol & Bath where I use skills accumulated through years of study in Jungian psychotherapy, coaching, Huna shamanic healing, (Huna means hidden knowledge & includes ancient lineage healing (the ancient root of family constellations work), Circle Work, Self-Inquiry, Releasing, Time Line Therapy, astrology & NLP, combined with insights from deeply transformational life experiences & clear seeing of life, which began with childhood awakenings. I seem to be a much sought after speaker with people from all over the world, sharing that which cannot be spoken about. Life is unfolding sweeter and sweeter in the appearance, & yes life is very happy in a quiet way!

This work enables people to find a deep integration between body, heart & being.The more present we are, the more we can fully embrace insecurity, challenge, death, the darkness, as part of the human of life, as well as the light, the bliss & joy. The more we do this, mysteriously the more we find the magic, love and beauty in our lives that we might be conditioned to choose by preference!

  In Huna, a very balanced & powerfully healing modality, spirit is only ever realised through the unconscious, beyond the sense of self and the rational mind, through the depth of soul & its endless rediscovering -being our feelings, or those of another, being with what ACTUALLY is, is the path to the divine. It is the way to become deeply happy. Without our joy, tears, exuberance, tenderness & sexual passion we are less alive, less healthy, less available & less playful. To keep being here right now with whatever is touched in us or a partner or a colleague, however uncomfortable, however exquisite, is the only way freedom and happiness is tasted. Beingness cannot be sought, grasped, owned.

The day circles, retreats & above all ongoing groups, give you space, away from the demands & busy-ness of everyday life, time to strengthen connection with your being, let go – for good- of any baggage you might be carrying, embrace change & envision a heartfelt reality for the future, & to connect & get authentic reflection from others. Deep & lasting friendships very often happen too. And for those whose work is with people, it gives them a greater depth, ease & effectiveness in that. Joy has been called ‘the healers’ healer and the teachers’  teacher’.

These courses give approaches that are compassionate & honest & create spaces where trust, challenge, acceptance & an appreciation of the simple & sacred in life can be experienced, that help in the challenge to live awake & embodied, naturally.

The art of living happily is a surrendering to what is greater than or beyond our own individual demand or expectation or story. This, & this. Aloha – the recognition of the life & love in another & in existence – sounds simple & is an energetic shift as subtle as a butterfly’s wings, & yet in the worldly realm of cause & effect it can appear that such a shift becomes easier as a result of rigorous inner work, total responsibility & self-honesty.We then may choose to live our lives through presence, listening & seeing, what is, rather than by force & control. We learn to take back our projections, let go of blame, tread lightly on our abundant, generous & strained to the limit planet, to be more intimate with ourselves & others & recognize our ordinariness & our magnificence both. Whenever we focus on living & circumstance, stories, rather than life itself, we are confronted with paradox & there is always the freedom to let go & die to all we think we know so that we are released from the apparent opposites, duality, contradiction in the dream of life.

True spirituality is not about seeking a future enlightenment, nor about avoiding suffering. Doing a spiritual practice to attain anything in the future negates the very premise of God or Love or Truth  right now. We cannot control ourselves, others or the world in order to experience openness on demand, but at any moment we can simply allow a present moment revelation of openness to all there is. We are not here to transform the world & create love on earth. In truth, ‘we’ aren’t here. Though we appear to be limited, though we exist in the story in a world of duality, and experience all the wonder & pain of being human, we are that realised openness, living love.