To gain a sense of who I am I would like to share with you a little of my personal journey.
From a relatively young age and through adolescence which, like for many, had its troublesome times, I began the process of looking inward. I was always curious as to what was really going on for me. Exploring my internal world was to become the foundation of my way of being. I grew up in a very active family with my mother practising and teaching Yoga and my dad a very keen tennis player.
My career began in football at Aston Villa FC spending my time in serious physical and mental training before becoming aware that this was not meant to be my path.
Education and Professional Career
I decided to go back to education and embarked on a 4 year full time BEd Honours degree in Physical Education, Movement and Art, which I achieved a 2.1 upper class degree. I worked full-time teaching for four years and four years running a successful tennis and personal training business. Although I enjoyed these phases of my career I became more and more aware that something was still missing for me. I decided to embark on a personal journey, this involved me selling my house, all of my possessions, my tennis academy and personal training business to fund the trip, it was a big move but one I don't regret. The step into the unknown allowed me to go on an adventure to amazing places and an opportunity to spend time living and working in diverse cultural places with experienced teachers from around the world. This combination of teachers and places supported my personal transformation path in profound ways.
Below is a small taste of some of my experiences:-
Adventurous Experiences
Life has found me cycling top to bottom of France and Portugal, climbing Mount Fuji, Japan, Mount Sinai, Egypt, the Black Mountains in Wales, hiking the Pyrenees, trekking for a month in the Himalayas, Nepal, walking on the highest plains in the world, Tibet, a solo pilgrimage to Lourdes, France and a Journey to the sacred pilgrimage Adams Peak, Sri Lanka.
Living in Community
I spent six months at Esalen Institute California, two weeks at the Grange Isle of Wight, four months at the Osho International Meditation Resort in Puna, India, it is in the Osho Ashram I went through a process called Sannyas, which means committing a life to a personal spiritual path, the main part of the process is to take a name, I took 'Kina" as my name. I also spent three months at Tapoban, a Hindu Community in Nepal, 6 months on the Syclade Islands, Greece, three months on Ibiza Island workings as a personal coach, 6 months at Trails End Camp, Pensilvania, USA as a Camp Councillor, 6 months at St Bede's International Summer School as an activities leader, I participated in Zazen rituals during a month's stay at Bukkokuji Zen monastery, Japan, and experienced 12 days silent Vipassana meditation in Nepal. I found rituals and reflection in the Shivananda Yoga Ashram and at Sedona Forest Kabuts, Auroville, India. I also spent a month in retreat at The Hill That Breathes, Italy, 3 months on Baja Bio Sana, an organic farm and breathwork community, a month's stay on Maui investigating Tantra, dance and the power of nature, and a week's stay at the Findhorn Foundation, a community of 40 years in Scotland. My most resent experience was 12 months living and building the foundations of a Freedom Retreats which i was the founder, it was established with the legacy of a Creative and Healing Arts Community in Baja California Sur, Mexico.
These experiences were magical, leaving me with my richest learning...
"I experience personal transformation as an ongoing moment to moment learning process, with no end and is the journey of life."
What I am doing Today
Currently living in Pune in India at the Osho Ashram. I am committed to teaching from the bank of knowledge I have been so fortunate to acquire on my life journey.