About

A quester and explorer of the human experience. We all have stories to share.

Growing up under the Zambian sun, in the abundance of Southern Africa, gifted me a childhood full of nourishment. Freedom. Planting very strong seeds around the clear relationship between our environment and our own healthful outlook. We grew all our own vegetables and fruit. My Mom would source bread from local bakers selling their fresh bread out of big bags (all very word of mouth!). And our milk came from friends who owned a dairy farm. We drank water that had been first boiled and then stored in glass bottles in the fridge. Acclimatised to a sunny, warm Christmas time. Surrounded by lots of friends over for braii (bbq) and swimming in the sunshine. A very natural nurturance. Even with a diagnosis of a rare and progressive form of nephritis, kidney inflammation, at the tender age of 4. Between 4 to 10, I thrived in my beloved Zambia. It remains deep in my heart. And always will. It grew me well and strong. Readying me for the shamanic rite of passage that was to come....

At 14, now a young teen, I went into kidney failure. Back in the UK, in a very different setting, colder climes, a very drug centric, westernised medical approach. The next 7 years would unfold, relying on thrice weekly long dialysis sessions. I continued at school, onto university. Never letting the restrictions hold me back.

And then a gift from Great Spirit. A new kidney. At 21 years old, I emerge from the surgery, with a new chapter ready to embrace ever more the wilderness of being alive. And more recently, a second kidney transplant (we can share the story of how that came about another time - perhaps over a cup of tea) in October 2019.

You'll understand how I simply had to answer the call of my heart in my early thirties. To study naturopathic nutrition and build upon what my body already knew. How could I drink and imbibe more to help the fellow curious souls sharing this earth walk with me? Yes. YOU!

This was during a hectic career in credit risk, banking. My childhood showed me powerfully, that a holistic approach to health matters. Hugely. And people were almost divorced from the wisdom of their own incredible bodies. And this continues doesn't it? And is perpetuated by misinformation. Smokes and mirrors that confuse us. Don't worry. It is all within us to come home to our inner physician. Truly.

Adding yoga into my toolkit in 2012, with these two modalities that have been so instrumental in my life, I spun myself out of the corporate wheel 10 years ago, setting up Wholly Aligned. I have never looked back. 

So how are you at the moment? Are you in a spin? Or a funk? Or maybe simmering in the glory of what it is to simply be alive? If we are in a human body, we will be exposed to thought. It's just what we signed up for. What matters is our response. We breathe, we move, we feel, we deeply enquire within. 

Let yourself be with whatever the answer is that bubbles from inside of you. Whatever that response is, let me remind you of this. You are beautiful. Wise. Wild. Full of possibility. We all need reminders. You have a beating heart that longs to sing to you. To guide you. 

Each person's sojourn is so unique into this inner awakening. The gentle tilling of your own fertile soil of experiences. Yoga and depth psychology (huge fan of Jung) help us to reorientate our inner lens. And widen it. Yoga ultimately means integration. The path towards wisdom and understanding has its bumps and ongoing course correction, doesn't it? We can digest and assimilate what has gone before. All we need is inside.

As a quester and seeker, I am a curious soul. Like you. Willing to follow that curiosity. No-one is just one thing. One diagnosis. One label. One job description. We are multi-faceted. Complex. I use many tools to help you in your own journey. Like a good builder that carries a resourceful and practical toolbox, the awakening asks that we recruit tools that resonate. Sometimes that's a sprinkle of tears to rinse something through, sometimes a deep somatic immersion with a teacher we know, love and trust. In every toolkit, there must live a connection to one's own breath. The life force. That is the great untapped resource. The one consistent relationship we have throughout our lives. Get to know it well.

In more recent years, I've dived into Peruvian curenderismo wisdom. Andean shamanism. Through a beloved teacher, don Oscar Miro Quesada. Such rich rituals and portals to take us into the labyrinth. To be held in the gossamer strands that connect each one of us to the All. Life really is not what we think. The thinking mind can only ever take you so far. To venture beyond, we need to saturate ourselves in imagination, creativity, belly laughs, open hearts. The medicine differs depending on the current chapter and circumstance you are in. Meet yourself where you're at. And I will do the same. Meet you where you're at. To listen. To support. To gently suggest. A soul to soul communication if you like.

Know that you are so welcome to reach out with musings or questions on how we can work together. Email: [email protected]