How did I become a life coach? Not a great story!

Most life coaches have stories in their websites. They talk about a trigger event which drove them to become a life coach, and then a sort of dramatic and amazing transformation which they have done to 'overcome their obstacles' and come out the other side. The hero journey!

Nope, not me. "But you're so intuitive- how did you learn it?" clients ask.

From a very young age, I have always been interested in knowing myself. And learning beyond the self, into the invisible; in learning about other worlds, and understanding the spiritual world. It was my way of understanding myself better. There was nothing extreme or tragic steering my curiosity, I haven't got a crazy enlightening story or an event that shifted my life forever. I have sort of built myself up, collecting experiences, like a jigsaw.

Art became my best friend when I was very young and I felt like a misfit- a place where the invisible could be made visible, and where darkness became light.

And then poetry, philosophy, psychology and self-help books followed naturally.

Being queer taught me from a young age to follow my heart with conviction and hear my own desires. Learning about acting at university was like having a four years masterclass on energy. And as soon as I finished Uni, I started travelling to seek further knowledge...

I went ahead and learnt reiki, how to align chakras, the names and properties of different stones, Tarot and the use of psychic powers. I developed great confidence in my intuition. I was introduced to Jung and Astrology. I was thirsty for knowledge. When I was in my twenties I said I didn't want to have children because I needed more time to read.

...And travel. Now, all of this makes me laugh.

I've lived abroad for twenty years. I lived in New York, in South America, in India, and in London. I travelled with a very small and light backpack. I learnt to let go and detach...

(some would say too much).

I learnt about Ayurveda, meditation, Yoga, Kahatakali, Candomble, and Capoeira. I met people who told me they lived off the energy of the sun and never ate, sadhus who lived off smoking ganja and meditation, activists who lived off grid in valleys of permaculture.

I spoke to religious and non religious people: I visited churches, mosques and temples and I've actively sought to speak to Deans, Imans, and Pujaris. I once met the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala. That was a highlight, I think!

I've crossed the Himalayas into Tibet, I've chanted mantras with Buddhists and learnt ragas with Hindus. And I loved singing hymns with Christians, in countries where Christians were a minority!

As the world has evolved, scientists too, became more interested in the invisible. Quantum mechanics and physics, neuroscience and positive psychology became key players in the cognitive understanding of the invisible and our knowledge of consciousness. As our consciousness has evolved, so have the range of disciplines concerned with the matter.

In a nutshell, this is how I came to life coaching, the world of self-help and self-care. And the beauty of life coaching is the integration of all the various disciplines. See the picture of the tree, and all the subjects involved with coaching. Isn't it brilliant?

A coaching session is a space of creation and connection, a space of healing and transformation, a space of language and metaphors, a platform where the body in space has its own dimension. In coaching we improvise, we don't use masks- we make the unconscious visible, and the invisible conscious.

Coaching is a great tool to bring about a shift in consciousness so we can evolve, connected to our greater purpose, ready to expand to our full potential. One of the greatest tools to become aware of our Ego and learn to go beyond our limitations; to be of greater service, and tap into a wider understanding of what our existence can be.

I haven't got a crazy story of how I got into life coaching. Life has been my coach and life brought me here.