Hi, my name is Mark and I live in Newcastle upon Tyne.

 

Having grown up in Manchester, worked in London and Birmingham

I settled here shortly before my first daughter was born.

I now have four daughters and two grand daughters.

 

Being a parent has been a big part of my adult life and has given me

much pleasure and a few (!) difficult moments.
Parenting continues to help me learn and appreciate the value

of being caring, of sharing, being honest and present in all my relationships.

 

Working for myself for the first 20 years of my adult life,

I learned about creating spaces where the teams I worked with could

learn from and respect each other, where we shared a common aim of providing a

valuable service to others, while looking after ourselves

and contributing to our community.

 

Studying Environmental Science at Newcastle Uni in the mid 90s

as a mature student I learned about the ways that nature

manages and nutures the diverse ecosystems that we all depend upon.

 

Applying my respect for nature informs the ways I live, work,

and the choices I make in my personal and professional life.

​

After leaving university and working in Bangladesh and Greece... I worked with

many third sector organisations, schools, colleges, and universities

and this work led me to train as a coach in 2007.

​

Having always found ways to generate an income doing work

that I like is how I became a coach.

​

I always found support from generous and talented people

who offered me space to grow and encouraged me to develop my skills.

A couple of these people described themselves a coaches...

several more just offered what they felt worked using lots of skills

that they gained from their lived experience.

 

I wanted to offer this kind of support to others... as having that myself had been

so crucial for me in following my own dreams, aims and goals.

 

More recently I trained as a somatic coach as I feel this approach works

well for so many people in lots of situations... and taps into my

confidence in trusting nature as a guide to growth and self expression.

​

Community development for me happens all around us each and every day.

Some of this is visible and obvious, while much of this relies upon

small acts of human kindness and care that are often quiet and subtle. 

My feelings are that when each of us takes small steps towards becoming

more able to understand and care for ourselves and others well...

this benefits the whole community.

 

My life and work has been a process of taking action on these feelings

and practicing with ways of being present, self aware and kind.

​

I continue to practice on a daily basis and am nourished by this.

 

Taking pleasure from and within the relationships I have built around me...

while being open to new relationships and new ways to learn, continues to

bring joy and beauty into my life.

 

Thanks for reading this far, if you have any questions... or this raises any

resonance for you... I am always interested in sharing spaces and

conversations with others on their path towards

personal, professional and spiritual growth... so give me a nudge.  

 

 

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

        

                                                   

 
 

“The function of art is to do more than tell it like it is-it’s to imagine what is possible.” 

― bell hooks

​

"Somatic wisdom practice may help you expand your imagination towards new possibilities."

- Mark This.

​

Thanks for sharing your wisdom bell... I have gained so much from you. M.