What we’re up to

The unexpected delight of opening up Sister Stories to a group of facilitators is the way it has become the beating heart of the entire thing. I didn’t expect to have my heart filled so much by walking alongside others doing this work in the world. I didn’t realise how the simple act of holding space could require being held in turn by a community of other women. I didn’t realise how much we’d all grow together. ⁣ ⁣ I’ve just got off a call with the group and couldn’t be happier.⁣ ⁣ This weekend is the last chance to apply to join the new batch of facilitators who are gathering together in March to learn to lead circle and enter into this growing, supportive community. DM me or check the link in my bio for details 💖 📷: @sarashakeel
The new face of Friday nights ✌🏼
If you have ever thought about introversion and extroversion or a combination thereof, you have probably heard of or read “Quiet” by Susan Cain. It’s excellent and when I first read it, it really made me make sense of myself and others in new ways. I’m popping up here to tell you she has done a really fabulous podcast with @timferriss that is beautifully wide ranging: fear of public speaking (and fear in general), how to wrestle with the process of writing a book amongst many others. I recommend.
The myth of going it alone. ⁣ ⁣ There is a narrative bubbling away that it is somehow better, more impressive, more satisfying, more fun, to leave traditional ways of working behind and to fly solo. Whilst I’m all for boldness, creativity, doing your right work in the world and having the autonomy and flexibility you crave, there is another side to the story.⁣ ⁣ Last year, for the first time since I’d started work, I spent 8 months working alone. I had amazing collaborators and mentors, but the contact with them was brief. I’d imagined this way of working would suit my quieter, more reflective side and be more nourishing than bustling teams and deadlines. It felt like a crucial experiment and of course, the reality of it was nothing like I’d imagined. ⁣ ⁣ I had no idea how much I’d miss working as part of a team and having a “place to go” every day. How the joys of my career so far have come through creating TOGETHER, not simply creating. When I landed back in a team at the end of 2019 with a clear project to deliver together and the structure and support of a collective container, I started to have more energy, drive and productivity. I fell in LOVE with going into an office again. ⁣ ⁣ I have been in many conversations recently with people who have chosen the solo freelance or entrepreneurial life and are carrying a loneliness, a yearning for structure and connection and togetherness. There is no time to exhale and no safety net. It can be exhausting. ⁣ ⁣ There is, of course, no right or wrong way. And for many, going it alone is absolutely the path. But I’m holding a curiosity around how more honest stories of solo working can be told, and how the ever evolving working world can value collaboration and community as much as the image of the “successful” solopreneur. ⁣ ⁣ I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences on this: I’m in the musing phase and these thoughts are by no means fully formed. Opinions, disagreements, reflections are all very welcome ☺️⁣ 📷: @slightlyoblivious (I love this image so much 👌🏼)
Perhaps you have felt the call to try something new, to open your heart and mind in a new way.⁣ ⁣ Perhaps you have felt to connect more, to feel more, to serve more, to receive more.⁣ ⁣ I issued an invitation a few weeks ago for women to join me on the 2019 Sister Stories facilitation programme and many have stepped forward from all corners of the U.K. as well as some intrepid travellers from overseas. ⁣ ⁣ There are a couple of places left and if you feel a curious pull to explore whether it might be for you, please contact me.⁣ ⁣ We will gather 15th-17th March 2019 in London to train together, bond together and begin what is a year long journey of developing our individual and collective power, our ability to hold space and setting up circles in our local communities. ⁣ ⁣ Here is what @glowwithpriya said after the experience:⁣ ⁣ “A week later and I feel wonderful. I’m not sure what has happened this past week, all I know is that something shifted. I truly want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I feel as if I’ve stepped into a part of my power that I never knew I had and it feels beautiful.”⁣ ⁣ If you’re not sure, or shy, or overwhelmed, or tired, or worried you’re not able to take anything else on, or excited beyond belief but haven’t been to a circle yet and don’t know what it involves, contact me.⁣ ⁣ My DMs are open and there’s a link in my bio to more information x x x x⁣
An unexpected topic I’ve become a student of: how to breathe.⁣ ⁣ When people talked in yoga class of using the breath, I thought I had it, thought I understood how I could use it as a tool to expand and calm. Then somewhere in the wilds of 2018, a little posse of mentors and teachers came into the picture and letting me see what the breath could really unlock and how little I was using it. I was existing, as @carlfaure put it, from the “emergency tank”, little shallow gasps from the top half of my body. We all do it. It is to me the epitome of “London mode” and dashing around. ⁣ ⁣ This breathing lark remains a lesson I’m learning, so if you catch me taking a little gasp, it’s part of my reminder to, quite literally, take a breath. ⁣ ⁣ To all of the people who have guided me through using my breath in new ways, thank you: @nishamoodley @erintelford__ @carlfaure and many others.⁣ ⁣ 📷: @edfreemanphoto
Last year on a sunny balcony in LA, this book set my body alight with joy and possibility and excitement. Everything I think and feel about why it’s important to come together in the flesh but couldn’t quite articulate is in here.⁣ ⁣ Reading it again in freezing London and just as thrilled by the ideas. Highly recommended. Thank you @priyaparker for bringing this book into the world 💫
Each time I issue an invitation relating to Sister Stories I get a case of the “who am i’s?”⁣ ⁣ Who am I to offer this work? Who am I to invite other women into it? This is ancient! This is precious! This must be guarded so delicately!⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ And then something clicks and I recall: we are all guardians of these traditions. For those of us who say “yes” to the call to step into the work, we must remember that we are holding precious flames that must be gently kindled, avoiding piling firewood upon it so feverishly it is snuffed out.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ In case you missed my post a few weeks ago: I’m leading another set of women through Sister Stories Facilitation training where we learn the gentle form of leadership that is holding circle. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ I know that there will be many of you experiencing a similar case of the “who am i’s” and I invite you to enter the exploration with me of whether this is for you; feeling this way is a sign of care and honouring the work, a precious indicator it might just be for you.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ The dates have changed by a month: we’ll be gathering in London from 15-17th March because many who wanted to join our Feb dates could not.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ This time round, there are many women getting in touch who haven’t experienced a Sister Stories circle and might not even understand intellectually what it is, but have had the curious pull towards it. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ If it speak to you in any way, DM me or find out more at the link in my profile.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ 📸: via @sonjalockyer