Mentoring
Mentoring
“Whether they are raised in indigenous or modern culture, there are two things that people crave: the full realization of their innate gifts, and to have these gifts approved, acknowledged, and confirmed. There are countless people in the West whose efforts are sadly wasted because they have no means of expressing their unique genius. In the psyches of such people there is an inner power and authority that fails to shine because the world around them is blind to it.”
― Malidoma Patrice Somé, The Healing Wisdom of Africa: Finding Life Purpose Through Nature, Ritual, and Community
Mentoring is a unique way of working. It is a relationship formed to support a person to develop and grow in a specific area of their life.
The purpose of mentoring is to receive strong support, guidance, recognition, and acknowledgment, as well as someone who challenges you when needed.
Your mentor is not a ‘yes-person’, but more often a ‘well-done, incredible, let’s celebrate, and let’s-look-at-it-from-all-angles’ person. A mentor is often a person who is further than you on a certain road and is strongly at your back while you make your own steps.
Mentoring can focus on personal or professional development, or even both. The professional aspect always touches on the personal experience. When working with this aspect, though, we give our attention to establishing the ground for tools and practices that support our professional path. At the same time, areas where we evolve professionally can always be linked to our personal conscious and unconscious stories and patterns. That is why we often reach for therapeutic tools if we meet an obstacle on the way.
“Success is failure turned inside out.”
-Rudyard Kipling
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THERAPY AND MENTORING
While the therapy’s main focus presents exploration and healing the parts of our psyche from the past, mentoring means focusing on the present and future.
It is about supporting practical aspects and integrating concrete steps for a specific inner or outer project in our life.
HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR PROJECT?
Having a mentor does not mean you will be working together only on one subject. During our sessions, we will be focusing on different areas of your life that are in wider connection to the project you bring. It is with the help of your mentor that you decide your focus, your measure of success, and your desired outcome. After that, we set a timeline for the process and revisit the initial focus along the way.
HOW LONG DOES THIS RELATIONSHIP LAST?
The relationship with your mentor lasts as long as you want it to last.
There are periods in our life when we are creating something, periods when we rest in what we have already have, enjoying the fruits of our work, and periods when the inner process reawakens and wants us to take another step.
At any of these times, you are welcome to ask for support.
As you grow and change, so do your projects. Having one person that is familiar with your journey can be an incredible asset to have.
‘Kaya has been my mentor for 3 years. She has been an incredibly valuable guide - I can’t imagine my life without her!
My relationship to my own emotions has changed so much since I began working with Kaya. I have more stability to handle what I feel, more acceptance of myself and understanding why I see the world the way I do. There has been a big shift in me from unconsciously disowning parts of myself as broken or unlovable, to feeling myself as worthy and human with massive potential to expand and grow.
Kaya has helped me step into power and shed light on past experiences holding me back. As I meet new challenges, it’s a valuable sense of security to know I can always reach out to her for warm, honest support. I love her wise insight, grit and humor! She brings a potent combination of formal training in different techniques and personal experience with life’s trials to the table. She seamlessly weaves conversation, visualization and movement into our sessions, allowing me to understand where my experiences live physically. The way she brings everything back to the body is helping me continually gain ground in being at home in myself.’
-Meredith
’I came to Kaya for a mentoring session because I felt stuck and foggy between my deep longings and their manifestation. It was beautiful to feel the passion, knowledge, and groundedness Kaya was guiding me with and, at the same time, with so much ease through the steps to my inner answers.
Working with Kaya helped me see and structure the richness and resources that I already have within me. Through the assignments she gave me, I got clarity on what I can and wish to do with them.’
-G.L.