My personal development journey as a 1.5 generation immigrant, former nonprofit leader, and late-comer mama taught me invaluable lessons that have molded my perspectives on coaching, energy work, and life outlook. Here’s what I realized and what has become the core principles of my coaching practice.

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• Energy is everything. Everything is energy.

​What happens in our outer, physical world is a manifestation of our inner world. We are constantly sending out signals to the Universe knowingly and unknowingly. Our thoughts influence our behaviors, our behaviors influences our actions, and our actions become our reality. We’ve all been given a unique opportunity in this lifetime to grow, learn, and transform. Yet too often, we ignore the many signs and messages that come our way that call us to heal deeply and expand. When we wake up to this self awareness, we have a tremendous ability to untap our innate wisdom and unlimited potential as Souls having a human experience. 

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• Investing in yourself is soul care

​Cultural norms from my upbringing, community, and workspaces reinforced, praised, and rewarded sacrifice, martyrdom, hustle, and busyness as badges of honor. Your value was based on how much you gave to others (even at your own expense) or how much output you could produce at the quickest pace (um hello, performance measures). Self-care was viewed as unnecessary and self-indulgent. Too often, I felt guilty for resting, pausing, slowing down, and simply doing the hobbies I enjoyed because there seemed to be something else more important that had to get done.  But, here's what I learned (the hard way). Caring for yourself is not selfish. It's actually "self-full". I could not be in service and nurture others to my fullest capacity when my well was bone dry. Not only was I harming myself but it was a disservice to others when I wasn't at my best and Highest self. I had to stop making my own needs optional while prioritizing everyone else’s. Self-care is at its core an act of self-love. It is about restoration and preservation. It is Soul care. It is liberation. It is reconnection. When you love yourself enough to say yes to your needs, desires, and wellness in all its forms, you are igniting a deeper level of healing, Soul nourishment, and a greater mind-body-spirit connection. You gain back your power. This higher awareness is key to radically accepting yourself and genuinely embracing this transformation process.

 

• Healing happens in community

​Too often we believe we are alone in this journey and too ashamed to tell our story. It doesn’t have to be that way. Our own healing from trauma, grief, and loss is deeply intertwined in the healing of our communities. Many of us are products of generations of colonization and occupation, violence, institutionalized discrimination, and displacement of our families and our people. Yet at the same time, we also have intergenerational wisdom and resiliency coursing through our blood and DNA. Let’s reconnect to that. It is through community that we can find solace, collective wisdom, and power. While we work inwardly to transform, it is not separate or in absence of our communities. You coming to wholeness is not only about healing yourself but also about healing the collective pain of your communities, your ancestors, and forging a healed path for your descendants. So lean in, release your fears and let go, and be willing to be held by others and that which is Greater than all of us. Be open and receptive to the unfolding. 

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• This is a process of self-discovery

​My evolution as a woman, spouse, parent, and leader is not finite. I believe that to truly have clarity of one’s vision that it all begins with self-awareness. The stories we were told as children, teenagers, and even as young adults shape our views of ourselves in profound ways. Sometimes they propel us forward but many times they hold us back, limit us, and make us feel stuck.  Without doing intense introspection to unpack our narratives, it becomes difficult to truly know what we value, desire, aspire to, and believe in what’s possible for our lives. So, be open to digging the layers of you. We are all in a perpetual process of unfolding and becoming our truest selves. Trust the process. 

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