I was already well into middle age when poetry awakened my soul.  Over the previous decade, in my work as a life coach, I had often given poems to clients, since the poem could speak to the heart of their issue far more precisely than anything I could say.  But rarely had I taken a poem into my own heart to till the soil of my own soul.  Then, in 2010, I read a book called Saved by a Poem.  The author, Kim Rosen, compellingly proposed that poetry could serve as a luminous path for spiritual growth.  “Poetry is the language of the soul,” she wrote.  “From below the surface of your life, the truth of who you are calls to you through the poems….”

I devoured the book in one sitting, struck by its insights, its eloquence, its invitation to radical authenticity. A sleeve in the back cover held a CD of Kim reciting poems by ancient and contemporary poets to music composed and played by cellist Jami Seiber.

As I slid the CD into the player, honey tones of cello filled the air, along with Kim’s voice reciting Rumi’s poem Listening. Wave after wave of shivers and tingles swept over me, unlike anything I had experienced before, even when listening to glorious classical music.  Released from any rational thought, emotions rose unbidden: my eyes filled with tears, rough sobs escaped my throat. Something deeper than thought was at work.  These spoken poems were slicing right through the armour of my defences, laying me bare.  I felt punctured and, at the same time, inexplicably nourished.  It seemed important to explore this new territory, the land where poetry meets and illuminates the soul.  Soon after, I enrolled in the Poetry Depths Mystery School, created by Kim at the urging of long-time followers in Britain and Ireland.  Kim became, and continues to be, my soul guide.  Supported by her fiercely honest and compassionate teaching, and with the help of other PDMS wayfarers, I committed to empowerment as a Bard, speaking poems from the heart; then as an Ally, using poetry as a transformational path with individuals; and finally as a Guide, incorporating poetry-driven transformational processes in group work.

A path opened up for me that dovetailed with my work as a coach and my love of poems.  I began to offer Poetry for Coaches workshops, launched a Poetry Troubadours’ Circle at a local library to share poems with others, gave poetry concerts and expanded my coaching services to include personal growth through walking with poems.

As I continue to follow this path, ‘progress’ seems less important than the intention to wholeheartedly meet each moment with all of my humanness – strengths and vulnerabilities. I want to listen deeply to whatever is unfolding in myself and others, and celebrate the fullness of being human.

Interested in working with me? I’d love to talk with you. Please contact me.