My vision
May All Human Beings
May all human beings, children and adults, have the freedom to feel and express themselves truthfully.
May all human beings act from love.
May all human beings restore their living connection to nature and their creativity.
May all human beings feel the joy of being who they are.
May everybody working for this goal be blessed.
May we create a culture that aligns with these intentions.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
This vision I received in my meditation. It provides the guiding principles and values for the work. First and foremost, the work is guided by the universal principle of being of service.
The work supports healing the relationship to oneself and to God. The prayer addresses the right for everyone to step onto this path, no matter their background. Nobody is excluded. Everybody is invited. Everyone is a valuable part of the whole.
Our feelings drive our actions and tell us what is valuable in life. They warn us when something is not good for us. Emotional freedom is a human right and need, as is the ability to express ourselves. When our emotions or expressions are suppressed, it causes us to feel sad, ashamed, and frustrated. Our spirit closes down, and we lose motivation and inspiration. Our life feels meaningless, and we lose hope for a better future. Every human being needs to find their own unique way of expressing themselves. Everyone is invited to bring their part to the whole and share their creative gifts. Artistic expression is an important way of knowing ourselves and receiving inner messages from our souls. Creating your soul story is a very rewarding creative activity that activates your expressive power.
Many of us have closed our hearts because of emotional wounding and trauma. We have isolated ourselves from others and projected our wounds onto the outside world. We have closed our ability to love. Healing our hearts is the most important thing to focus on so that our actions stem from love and worthiness, not from fear and unworthiness.
We are nature. It teaches us about life and inspires our creativity. Nature’s intelligence helps us find our own creative genius and make it serve humanity and the world.
To feel the joy of being who we are, we need to know ourselves. We need to go within to find our true selves and our soul's purpose. Joy is a recognition of love. This is a journey to find love inside yourself. When you love yourself and the work you do, you flourish.
Aligning with the principles of the prayer requires that we are awake and willing to stay in our truth and express it. We need to create time for going within and sharing with others. We learn and practice these skills in the Soul Story Creation Process, the Joy of Being You program, and the Purifying Grief programs, as well as in the interactions among members and facilitators. These principles are embedded in all activities so that they can become a living, embodied culture.
My story
Sharing my story is a conscious choice. I believe everyone deserves to be seen in their life stories, and that we can learn from each other's experiences. I am blessed with people who have shared their stories with me, and in that sharing, I always feel close to the mystery and gifts of life. My life story and the wisdom it brings are now my true assets, not my education or other merits. My education is mentioned in my story. This text was initiated by Katarina Ekström, and I continued her inspiring text.
1966-1992: Between Two Cultures and Worldviews
I grew up in the countryside in Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia, Finland. Life was simple and close to nature. I left to be an au pair in Germany before starting my studies at Åbo Akademi University. I graduated in 1992 with a Master's degree in International Marketing. A particularly significant time was when I spent 6 months in Jakarta, Indonesia, as an AIESEC trainee, working both at the university with students and in a department store. I had to cope with a culture that was fundamentally different from mine. I wrote my master's thesis on cultural differences in business relationships and realized through my research that the underlying beliefs and values shape the social systems we create in society—families, politics, education, religion, economy, social welfare, etc. This experience shaped me much more deeply than I understood at the time.
1993-2004: Finding the Passion for Learning in Myself
I found myself in a teaching role due to the economic recession in Finland. The soul has its own ways of placing us where we are meant to be. I studied to become a teacher in vocational education and got a job at the newly established University of Applied Sciences. I had an inspirational team of colleagues, where we learned together and developed our teaching in new ways. I ended up leading a transformational journey from teacher-led education to a student-centered, collaborative learning community in the International Business program. It was a powerful time, spanning 13 years in total, during which I witnessed the inner growth of both teachers and students. We studied in small groups and did practical projects with companies. This was the first inner transformation I experienced, and it gave me the necessary skills to cope with the life crises that awaited me. Little did I know as a working mother with two children how my life would challenge me. I just followed my conditioning—until...
2004-2010: Change Starts from Hitting the Wall
My journey to find my true self began after hitting the wall very hard at the age of 38. I experienced burnout, depression, and numerous health issues. I heard an inner voice say, *“Change or die.”* It felt very confusing, but I chose life, and healing began. The right courses and people started to come to me after that choice.
I left my job as a senior lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences in 2008 and began studies to become a group leader in Emotional Dynamics, an Empowerment Coach, and a Co-Creative Process Inquiry facilitator. I focused on increasing my self-knowledge, learning emotional intelligence, and improving my relationships at home and in work life. My guiding question became: *How do I learn about myself, and how do I create a healthy life?*
Thanks to the pedagogical skills I developed in the learner-centered community, I understood that I had a challenge to face and overcome. The love in our learning community enabled me to be open about my burnout, even sharing it on television, trusting that my inner knowing would guide me. At some point, I also realized that the *“threat of dying”* was not only about me. I could feel the growing threat to humanity from climate change, loss of biodiversity, and over-exploitation. I decided I wanted to be part of the solution, though I didn’t know how.
2010-2012: Coaching, Healing, and Exploring
I opened my coaching and healing practice in Helsinki, guiding individuals, creatives, small groups, teacher communities, leaders, and business owners in self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and empowerment. I explored feminine embodied wisdom with teachers like Chameli Ardagh and conscious evolution with Barbara Marx Hubbard.
I co-created a model to explain the inner healing journey of self-awareness and group awareness, applying an embodied way of feeling resonance in the body. I also realized that small groups are the cornerstones of healing and evolution, as they provide a safe container for self-inquiry and truthful expression. The group dynamics offer a rich space for new insights. The human condition is a relationship. The whole idea of the separated individual is false. Life is a relationship, and in relationships, we get hurt and we heal.
2012-2016: Second Deep Life Crisis
I faced my second deep life crisis when both of my parents died unexpectedly in a very short time. I managed to keep going, but I had to dive deeper into my childhood to understand ancestral intergenerational trauma and how it affects future generations. The war trauma in my family is very strong, and I was the one who was able to heal it. Thanks to my ability to feel my true feelings and grief, I was able to continue my life and work. However, shock trauma leaves a deep mark in the psyche, and its effects linger for a long time. Being present with death and a dying parent gave me a profound experience of life. Facing my own fear of death liberated more of my courage and determination to create a life that feels true and right for me.
2016: Idea and Experimentation
I had the idea to offer online programs for learning emotional intelligence based on collaborative learning. I met Lorenz and Natasha Sell in the ULab community, who were creating an online platform for transformational teaching called Sutra. Together, we experimented with creative journaling, and our shared inspirational field supported me in unleashing more of my creativity. I created meditations to inspire journaling and tested my prototype with two small groups. At the same time, my marriage was about to fall apart, but I surrendered once again into not knowing and not controlling the outcome, which allowed my husband to make a choice based on unconditional love and acceptance, helping turn the relationship around. I am forever grateful to him for his courage. I began to explore what a healthy relationship truly means and what love is really about. Love invited me to be honest and real. Did I know how to be authentic and true?
2017-2018: Own Podcast and More Inner Work
The first program, *Joy of Being You*, was born. Lorenz challenged me to start creating the *Joy of Being* podcast. I felt deep joy doing them, allowing my creative expression to flow freely in the moment. By 2024, there have been about 10,500 listens and more than 70 episodes.
I had seen the power of combining meditation and creative journaling, but the execution of the programs was still not fully in place. I realized I was now ready to fully focus on my own inner work. Inner blocks were stopping me from embodying my potential and creative gifts. I left my work for a while to dive deeper into my personal process and trauma. The core beliefs I developed in early childhood about how I see myself in the world came up for transformation. During this time, my art performance was born in the most unexpected way. I had published my book about self-knowledge in three languages, and at the release party in an art gallery, I had an epiphany. I saw the elements of my art performance: the golden dress and shoes, the black blob, and the child. I did my first performance there, and I still hear from people how powerful it was. I allowed my creative expression to flow freely, despite many inner critical voices trying to stop me. Thankfully, I didn't care about them, as this "work" has given me so much joy and inspiration.
2019-2020 Process with a Partner and Expansion
I co-initiated a special group for new female leaders, where we joined the ULab process for Societal Transformation. I also gave an open lecture at Hanken, the Swedish School of Economics, on Sacred Feminine Leadership. All of these experiences forced me to grow and expand in very powerful ways.
One morning, I woke up with the vision of sharing the journaling process with a partner. Two test groups and my own personal processes confirmed that this way of doing inner work was very effective.
Katarina and Joonas Ekström participated in the Joy of Being You process and fell in love with the work. They began helping me with business, marketing, and the development of the programs. By the end of the year, my friend also joined the work. This friend shared the same interests—dancing, personal development, and healing from CPTSD (Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)—with me for several years. The team enjoyed working with the principles of creating a culture where everyone can find their joy of being in what they do.
I created my second program, Purifying Grief. I completed my own programs with four different partners. In the shared Joy of Being field, I felt fully seen and heard by another in an equal way, with unconditional love. It is possible to create this experience online if you guide the process well. I gained a deep understanding of the power of grief in self-healing. I found true empowerment and joy in fully trusting the inner process and being authentic with others. My existential anxiety, caused by early childhood trauma, could finally be liberated, step by step. A major support in this transformational phase was the 10-month course Art as Medicine with Alexis Cohen. I learned the power of art in healing and self-discovery.
2021-2024 Third Deep Life Crisis
The pandemic changed the lives of many people, causing loss of work and financial security. It did the same for both me and my friend in the Joy of Being team. The friend started to withdraw from others, and despite several attempts to coach and guide, we were led astray, and the friend ended his/her life completely unexpectedly. I was the one who found him/her. The shock was tremendous, but thanks to our team’s ability to be present with the truth and all feelings, I received very valuable support. I found the strength to seek more support, and a three-year self-care and therapy process began. I understood that creative journaling about self-love had imprinted new beliefs into my subconscious mind. I gave myself all the time and self-care needed. It was a powerful feeling to fully prioritize my own well-being.
I choose to be honest about this very sad and devastating experience here because it made me more humble and provided me with a deep, deep understanding of what is needed for healing. Katarina and Joonas, too, found new, wiser ways in life.
I painted a lot, read a lot, and wrote my own texts. My soul was communicating loud and clear. I was again invited to share my experience of healing from trauma on television. It seems that giving a public voice to hardships is part of my soul’s purpose. I left client work for three years, focusing on deep presence and intimacy in my own small groups of evolutionary women. One special group formed with two Joy of Being You pairs, and we have now met once a week for three years online. We’ve also arranged three two-week retreats together to explore the power of co-creation and heal the feminine wound in a very intimate space. There, the power of love has shown us what is truly possible when we dare to be authentic in a safe space. To heal the mother wound, the feminine wound, you need a group of dedicated women.
During this time, the Soul Story Creation Process was finalized and tested with my closest evolutionary friends and collaborators. The Blob and Choose Love dolls came alive in new designs, and the real understanding of the power and need for reconciliation in life emerged. I realized that nothing new can be received before the old feelings and hurts are worked through with the power of forgiving yourself and others. I learned that reconciliation is the strongest force in the universe. It is pursued through love. You just need to choose it, time and again.
During these years, my relationship with God deepened, becoming a true, strong foundation in my life. Now is the time to share my creations with the world. I feel wiser, but humbled in the face of life. I gave the process the time it needed—no pushing or forcing, but inner listening to the innate feminine intelligence of life and my soul. When the flower is ready to bloom, it can bloom. Not sooner, not later. Life knows. I give thanks to life, my Creator, and to all the people who have stayed with me, and that I am still alive. The birth of my little granddaughter in 2023 gave me even more reason to continue my work. I now create a conscious relationship with her, and it is magical.
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