Personal development for individuals and groups seeking positive change
Team-building and training for organisations seeking a more heart-centred approach Gentle guidance and encouragement for vulnerable client groups
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” ― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
Have you ever marvelled at the way some people rise above adversity and seem to become greater human beings as a result?
Well-known examples include Helen Keller, late US author, human rights activist and the first blinddeaf person to achieve a Bachelor of Arts degree; Nelson Mandela, who endured 27 years in solitary confinement and emerged to lead South Africa to new horizons, Viktor Frankl, the late Austrian psychiatrist, Auschwitz survivor and author of post-camp best-seller "Mans Search for Meaning" and the myriad other survivors of concentration camps, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and other atrocities throughout history. Of Course there are countless stories of "ordianary people" that never reach the media but are just as inspiring.
The capacity of the human spirit to overcome adversity is unlimited, and the good news is that we all possess that capacity . We are all survivors and we can all be heroes.
Although most of us may not have experienced the extreme circumstances that catalyse its full arousal, there is, within every one of us, a miraculous potential to transcend and evolve whatever life may throw at us.
In a mission to learn what motivates those who have experienced the greatest hardships, I have spent time talking with many individuals and communities including combat veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, survivors of childhood abuse, bereavement, addictions, homelessness and physical and emotional distress and the Hibakusha of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (survivors of the atomic bombings). I have found common threads linking those who have most effectively transcended adversity, and it is my goal to bring their lessons to as many people as possible via Hope in the Heart's workshops and images.
Most of us have had moments when we did not know how we could carry on. And yet we did. When the heart is shocked or defeated, the spirit takes over (though often not immediately). How marvelous to realise that we each have such an ally, waiting to catch us when we fall.
But isn’t it a waste if we only connect with it in times of crisis?
By identifying what it is in us that “kicks in” in times of trouble and releasing that image to the wider world, we can activate this powerful inner director and draw upon it every day.
Hope in the Heart's workshops use creativity and self-discovery to help individuals recognise their unique interpretation of hope and welcome it into their daily lives, getting to know and consolidate it via a series of exercises that are illuminating, fascinating and fun.
They are then guided in creating an image of “What Hope Looks Like” that will become part of the project's travelling global collection. These images, offered from the heart, transcend race, language and personal identity to inspire and encourage fellow human beings who are struggling to connect with their own rescuing spirit.
Participants have reported that discovering their image in a loving and compassionate environment, sharing it with the group and, with unconditional generosity, anonymously releasing it to benefit unknown others (retaining a photographic representation for themselves) has had a profound and lasting positive effect on their lives, their personal and work relationships and their place in the wider world. (Recent studies by Michegan University and elsewhere have shown that such positive gestures increase the giver's energy, sense of mastery and self-esteem. They can even strengthen and enhance the immune system and increase life expectancy! http://www.grandtimes.com/Secret_Benefits.html)
How will the workshops work for You? The workshops are generally bespoke and take place over one, two or three days, depending on how deeply embedded you would like the effects to be. Please contact me to discuss how the workshop can be tailored to be of greatest benefit to your group.
What makes the training exceptional? Hope in the Heart is in the process of becoming not-for-profit Community Interest Company. It aims to create a heart-centred global community of healing, inspiration, encouragement and support, transcending barriers, nurturing and illuminating the common humanity that unites us all.
As a workshop participant, you will be guided to recall times of challenge in your life and track the pivotal experiences that roused your spirit to carry you through. Group members will support and encourage each other in identifying the individual strengths that have been generated by this process (there are likely to be more than you realise!) and the means for bringing these more fully into everyday life to increase fulfillment, performance and clarity in all areas.
Participants will create an image representing “What Hope Looks Like”, thus manifesting a personal resource that will remain available to them in that tangible form. The act of generosity in unconditionally offering the original image for the benefit of the global community cannot be underestimated in its benefits to the donor. All participants will receive a photograph of their image and be encouraged to creatively reproduce it (or a variation) following the workshop if they wish.
Tam will lead the training, usually with an experienced co-facilitator. She will use skills developed over 20+ years of experience in group facilitation, transpersonal therapies, teaching and training in the private, public, voluntary and community sectors (where she has worked in a number of roles; see “Tam” on menu). Her qualifications include diplomas in transpersonal counselling and transpersonal hypnotherapy, certificates in group facilitation and teaching adults. In addition she has trained and practised in a wide range of personal development, spiritual and therapeutic disciplines.