Facilitating our nature

In all of the work I've done, I have seen nothing as effective in creating spaces of healing and renewed purpose as group facilitation.

To understand and move the energy of a group is to allow for the conditions where a small number in the group can call forth an unspoken truth which will eventually serve to heal individuals while re-aligning the group with its shared mission.

It is experiential, it challenges core beliefs and it builds, above all else;

deeper connection

Having delivered workshops previously in office spaces, in dressing rooms and in packed TY halls, over the past five years I have seen firsthand the benefits of working with the natural elements. To sit in an air-conditioned room with the canteen close by is fine, but out there, out in nature, in the words of John Moriarty, is big medicine. To work in the wild, around the campfire, summoning lost skills and honest communication, we are free to be ourselves, we can let go of our judgements about what makes a good team player, how we should behave, what our roles are, what produces results and instead we can be real, we can speak with integrity, and we can facilitate;

deeper connection

to ourselves, to our place, to our shared mission, to our colleagues, our teammates, and to nature itself.

I work with groups in a sporting, corporate and social context. Any group seeking a deeper connection, where possible in an outdoor setting, I am open to a conversation with a view to creating an experience that is mutually beneficial.

I work with Sports Teams

Great teams in sport are the product of the era from which they come. But who leads the change?

As the novelty of sports psychology wears and the futility of trying to quantify the human mind emerges, where to next? Top teams (Dublin Football, Kerry Football and Irish Rugby in an Irish context) are turning to facilitators of human connection.

To supplement this I believe it is time to re-root ourselves in order to move forward, in to a more primal state where play and battle meet. Our sense of place runs deep. But how do we connect with it? Do we know it? Do we spend time in it? Do we know the great battles that took place? Our places of elemental power? What we produce? What our relationship is like with our landscape, our plants and our animals?

Do we actually know our area; what has happened, what is happening and ultimately what kind of place do we want it to become?

It is my belief that a deeper connection to the answers to these questions allows access to a source of energy you won't find under a bench press or in a meeting discussing KPI's. It is in knowing ourselves intimately, in realising that something as simple as going for a run in the streets of your town or village serves to give hope to the village, that you are running not for yourself but for your place, and herelies the source. Out of the pitch and back to the community.

I work with men

One of the great untapped potentials of modern society is the strength, drive and order that the masculine in its true power can exact on all around it

One of the great fallacies of the critique on men is that as guardians of the patriarchy they have overseen the imminent destruction of the biosphere while relegating women to the role of bystander.

As I see it, it is an oppression within the fabric of industrialisation that has led us to where we are.

Healthy masculinity is men in their power,

Willing to defend if necessary, but not consumed by attack.

Willing to learn on the journey rather than being preoccupied with the outcome.

Willing to appreciate beauty without feeling the necessity to covet it for themselves.

I run men only retreats and I am open to working with anyone who has a particular calling or curiosity in this area.

I work with young people

The lack of rites of passage, or initiations, is an integral part of why we have so many grown men that have yet to outgrow the shell of their younger selves.

I would like to bring groups of young men in to nature and through rediscovering the essence of play, through the practice of basic skills in nature, through strong but heart based communication, I want to see them take responsibility for their own emergence.

This year myself and Michael Ryan (yoga teacher to an tUachtarán, MIchael D Higgins) will run our first young mens retreat that will focus on guiding the next generation across the threshold in to their manhood.

If this is an area you would like to explore with a group, team or individual, send me a message and we will explore the possibilities.

Aireachas/Mindfulness

A deepened awareness of how we are, how we show up in the world, what our boundaries are like, how much of our vital energy we are sharing or wasting, are all crucial questions to ask ourselves as we attempt to direct our energy towards what is important to us and to our community.

Through short practices of meditation and connection with the breath we can attune ourselves effectively to our internal and external environment.

I use these practices with sports teams, trainee teachers, in talks and on retreats as it is an effective practice to align one's awareness to truly listen, feel and experience the world around them.

Mindfulness as Gaeilge is next level!

If you would like to introduce a practice of increased awareness and attunement get in touch to explore the potential benefits for your community.