If you've been coaching for a while, and you didn't get your training through Awaken Coach Institute, you might have a very yucky problem on your hands, through no fault of your own.

This isn't my favorite kind of blog to write, because I hate even THINKING about admin and paperwork. But I hate to see you struggling with it even more, so I'm willing to put in the effort. You can thank me later. ;-)

Let's say you love coaching. You've taken the training, you have the skills, and you're ready to…

Coach Certification Training: The Complete Guide

When you first feel the pull toward coaching, that sense that you're meant to hold space for others' transformation, the path forward can feel overwhelmingly complex. Do you need certification? Which credentials matter? How do you choose among hundreds of training programs? And how much will this cost, both in money and in time?

I've spent years training hundreds of coaches and guiding them through the credentialing process. I personally intervi…

Awaken Coach Institute participants walking the labyrinth they built together during our Spain retreat, experiencing the meanders of transformational coach training

The red earth of Kenya, called murram, has a way of grounding me before my head even realizes I've moved. I remember standing at the entrance of the 7-circuit Chartres labyrinth at the Mwangaza Jesuit Spirituality Centre, under an acacia tree, the sun dappled on my shoulders, and the silence of the retreat grounds humming aroun…

Creating transformational group coaching experiences requires more than gathering people together. The most powerful group programs are built on five essential elements that create the conditions for lasting change. Whether you're facilitating your first group or deepening your existing practice, this framework will help you create experiences where transformation multiplies through connection.

I've loved group dynamics and observing how people connect since I first studied it back in my univer…

Before I started coach training, I was terrified to begin. I thought of myself as a complete basket case and didn’t want to waste money on myself to study coaching. Whoa - it’s odd to recall how true that felt at the time. 

It’s not that I wasn’t successful, as I had been called the "Rising Star" or the "Stealth Bomber" in my high-powered career in press relations and lobbying in the world of nuclear energy. It’s that I didn’t know how to be kind to myself in a deeper way, recognizing the spiri…

Some people think coaching is about doing more. Setting sharper goals, pushing harder, keeping clients on track, and measuring progress at every turn. That kind of coaching can look productive on the surface, and I certainly found it exciting back when I first started coaching in 2009. I remember being stunned by how quickly people could reach their goals in just a few sessions.

But in an AI-driven world, where apps and algorithms can already remind us of our goals and track our steps, that kin…

Why Rest, Stillness, and Silence Are Foundational to Transformational Coaching

For me, the most serendipitous moments of insight and inspiration often arrive not when I'm NOT working hard to make something happen, but when I'm doing nothing at all.

That quiet state of being fully alert to myself, the client, and the Great Love that holds us both. The “lounging with intention” that allows us to notice subtle shifts in our clients, is often where real transformation begins.

Some people, especia…

“Feel the fear and do it anyway” has been a rallying cry for personal growth for decades. I myself subscribed to it for longer than was healthy, living in a constant state of pushing and anxiety.

It sounds bold, brave, and empowering, and, like most things, there's some truth to it. But I'd like to invite you to a gentler, more sustainable approach.

If you’re overriding your fearful instincts and pushing forward, chances are it’s not your deepest SELF that’s leading. More likely, it's a "push …

I quietly went off to Kenya last month to hole up and write my memoir. With glorious views of coconut palms from my dear friend Joan LeTeipa's house on the Indian Ocean, a project I expected to take more than six months of hibernation poured out of me in just a few weeks. What a wild ride! I guess it was time. You can already expect to read it next spring. 

The memoir is a book about Love, but especially all the things I didn't know about Love, which made my life so much more difficult.

Here's…

When I first started coaching, the whole coaching philosophy was night and day from what I had learned in the School of Life. I had spent years in a world of certainty, right and wrong, reward and punishment, and looking to others as authorities in my life.

In coaching, I began to experience something entirely different. I leaned into choice, agency, imagination, and possibility. That shift changed my life.

Yet as I continued growing, I realised that my early coach training was still built on …