CURRENT MISSION

I am on a journey of healing, uncovering my truth, and awakening through conscious community, adventure, plant medicine, tantra, and yoga.

ABOUT ME

I am nomadic this year and working remotely via Zoom. I am a Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist and a mindfulness teacher. I have recently started a new chapter of my life - having separated from my partner, moved out of my flat in Leeds, and put my belongings in storage. I just returned from a month working with Ayahuasca in Peru, which has led to profound healing and changes.

PHILOSOPHY

My overarching values are love and presence. And my core values are: compassion, creativity, courage, adventure, authenticity, and growth.

Life is to enjoy, appreciate and experience. I try to learn and experience as much as possible to expand my consciousness and understand reality. I try and live in harmony with myself, others, and the environment. I am far from perfect and still have a lot of work to do! (I wrote this bit 10 years ago and it still holds up)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I met loads of great people all over Latin America in 2010, through surfing with them but more so by meeting people for drinks in the cities and going to social events.

Whilst living in Leeds before and after this. I met up with various CSers for drinks and to show them around.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Surfing and socialising with CSers while travelling in Latin America in 2010-2011. Before that I was a member of Hospitality Club for several years and hosted several people, shown a fair few around town, and stayed with one. I've been inactive in the community for some time, having had a partner who wasn't keen to host and focussing my attention on study and changing careers.

Interests

I am passionate about relationships, personal development, spiritual practice. I've practiced Yoga for 18 years, mindfulness/insight meditation for 12 years, and tantra for 4 years. I am constantly growing and developing - this enables me to help my clients better, which in turn helps me to grow further.

I love to dance - ecstatic dance, Salsa, and Bachata are my favourites. I have spent a lot of time in Cuba and Colombia learning Salsa and until recently was teaching and DJing. I mostly now prefer conscious events and dance events rather than partying as such, but I still enjoy partying from time to time. I still love festivals!

I like to keep myself fit and healthy. I practice calisthenics, yoga, open water swimming, cycling. I am really interested in nutrition and (mostly) eat healthily.

I love travelling of course! This is my 4th gap year ;-) I have travelled SE Asia, Australia, Central and South America, and worked in a ski resort in France, and worked in Ios, Greece.

I used to participate a lot in the sustainable living movement. I have done a permaculture design course, volunteered for the permaculture association, and grew my own vegetables. I am keen to get back into this when opportunity presents.

• dancing
• environment
• cooking
• yoga
• running
• working out
• meditation
• partying
• drinking
• clubbing
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• surfing
• scuba diving
• volunteering
• tantra
• psychedelics
• plant medicine

Music, Movies, and Books

I like most types of music. A particular favourite at the moment is Downtempo. I also love Salsa, Bachata, and other Latino music. I like Psytrance and Techno for going out to. Reggae, dub, soul, funk for chilling a little.

I read some fiction but mainly read non-fiction books about philosophy, psychology, personal development, or whichever of my interests I'm learning more about. Favourite books are:

The Surrender Experiment - Michael Singer
11 Minutes and the Alchemist - Paulo Coehlo
Siddhartha and Steppenwolf - Herman Hesse
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Personal Development for Smart People - Steve Pavlina
Way of the Superior Man - David Deida

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I'm blessed to have had many peak experiences! Some that come to mind right now are : Climbing an erupting volcano in Guatemala, climbing a +6000m mountain in Bolivia, dancing Salsa in La Habana, Cuba, drinking Ayahuasca in the Peruvian Amazon, sky diving onto the beach in Australia, diving in Borneo...

Teach, Learn, Share

I am a Salsa and Bachata teacher so am very happy to teach this. As a psychotherapist I am happy to (consensually) share my knowledge of therapy, psychology, mental health, meditation, plant medicine, tantra.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'm happy to help out and support however I can.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Cambodia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Montenegro, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Cuba, France, United Kingdom

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