The 4th Industrial Revolution with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics are replacing and redefining all forms of work. In a world where machines take care of the mundane and repetitive work, paid work as we have known will never be the same.
Amidst great upheaval and uncertainty, we are asked to fundamentally question the role and purpose of humans and their collective endeavours. As machines begin to outperform the human brain,
ultimately the only unique differentiator is our humanness: how we choose to rediscover ourselves and redefine our humanity will make all the difference.
Unlike our past endeavours of massive destruction of all life forms and unprecedented suffering, we can now choose A Gentler Way, a more humane way, a compassionate way.
A Gentler Way provides a safe container for individuals and organisations in uncertain times. We facilitate constructive dialogue for mutual re-imagining of purpose and rigorous human-centred practices that promote compassion for ourselves and others.
About Founder.
I am a registered Industrial Psychologist with the Health Practitioner Council of South Africa since 1992.
I have worked and consulted across 12 industries and over 40 organisations in South Africa and Namibia. Personally,
I think that my experience in the Mining Industry contributed most to my robust work experience, although extraordinary experiences in a Namibian Agricultural Co-op and
the City of Cape Town with its 17000 employees under the first ANC Mayor Normaindia Mfeketo and Andrew Boraine as CEO, left indelible impressions. Over the years,
I have specialised in Industrial Relations, Organisational Development and Change Management, Talent Management and Human Resource Development. More recently,
I gravitate towards Organisational Wellness and increasingly doing more coaching, counselling and therapy.
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For decades, I have invested much in my parallel interests of Spirituality and alternative healing modalities.
It is as if finally, there is an integration of the two seemingly opposing worlds of corporate and private life.
I love this phase of my life, where I have evolved from being driven and competitive to a place of feeling comfortable in my own skin, allowing a kinder,
more considerate self to navigate. I have graduated from a warrior forceful masculine energy to a flowing yielding river of the feminine energy.
It has been a long road of hard lessons to get to this place where I see value in both the masculine and the feminine, but I believe unequivocally that it is
The Feminine Energy – A Gentler Way – a compassionate way, from both males and females, that is needed for a sustainable future of all forms of life on this planet.
We live in a society where connectivity has reduced connection with ourselves and others, mindlessness has increased violence in the form of impatience, anger, fear, powerlessness and abuse, and busyness of mind has resulted in sleeplessness, restlessness, angst, anxiety, depression. Our programmes offer a sustainable practice of respite and renewal in order to live and work from a place of equanimity amidst our challenges. We offer introductory presentations and workshops on:
Creating Organisational Cultures of Hope
We come to a shared understanding of our collective suffering and its consequences in terms of our work and private lives. The concept of conscious choice and co-creation is explored practically. We explore a vision of Hope and qualities such as compassion, gratitude and kindness. More... »
Mindfulness @ Work
An introduction to practices that open us up to appreciating each moment as it is given and how to maximise this gift in service of the collective good whether in my personal life, at work or in the community.
Connection @ Work
An introduction to (re)connecting as human beings and address the personal, organisational and societal challenges we face together from a place of mutual consideration and compassion instead of fear or entitlement; collaboration and collective wellbeing instead of competition or survival of the fittest. More... »
Meditation @ Work
An introduction to meditation practice integral to my life and work in order to be a wholehearted individual taking responsibility for my own responses and actions; cultivating healthy relationships starting with compassion towards myself.
Working from a Still Centre
Combining MINDFULNESS, CONNECTION and MEDITATION practices at work as a way of radically transforming our own perceptions and the way we deal with life and work pressures and challenges.
Healing Workplace Abuse
We acknowledge a society where nobody is untouched by violence and everyone suffers from the trauma of violence at some level. We discuss the workplace consequences of a highly traumatised society and how trauma is healed. We address the roles of the abuser, victim and the rescuer respectively. We analyse how perpetual fear by both abuser and victim and maintaining the wall of silence continue to feed toxic organisational and societal violence. We discuss practical solutions to power-free connection and honest conversations as opposed to the wall of silence. More... »
Team Building
We tailor-make teambuilding interventions based on needs. Typical interventions include dialogue sessions, Enneagram and MBTI applications, strategic conversations, organisation cultural alignment and change management interventions.
Personal Growth Workshops
Gender Based Violence (Watch Video)
In a world promoting connectivity, we recognise how disconnected we have become from ourselves and others. We explore qualities such as wisdom, kindness, humility, compassion and gratitude as fundamental building blocks of living and working as connected human beings.
Coaching and counselling
Our coaching and counselling session cover topics such as
• Stress management
• Career guidance for all ages
• Life counselling across the various life passages of
adolescence, mid-life crises, retirement, palliative and end of life / death support
• Workplace abuse, sexual harassment, bullying and domestic violence counselling and support.
Depending on appropriateness and client permission, we utilise various therapeutic techniques such as NEURO-LINGISTICS, HYPNOSIS, BRAIN WORKING RECURRING THERAPY (BWRT), MEDITATION, MINDFULLNESS and CONNECTION facilitation.
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Personal Growth Workshops
• Learning to fall: We explore how to live the IMPERFECT LIFE. This workshop is for everyone who has suffered from life’s disappointments such as retrenchments,
relationships challenges, trauma, etc.
• Living and loving an ordinary life:
This workshop focuses on the questions of “enough”: “What is enough?”; “How am I enough?”
We look at being practical at making a living and living a life worth living.
• Living from a Still Centre: This retreat programme is an introduction to meditation as the practice of stilling the mind.
More... »
Retreats and Pilgrimages
• Silent Retreats: These retreats are for the more serious and/or experienced meditators who want to explore and/or already know the value of meditation practiced in committed collective silence.
• Pilgrimages: We combine traveling experiences with facilitated
processes which we could also call “soul journeys” or “inner journeys”. During these pilgrimages, we focus on themes that suit the geographical terrain of our traveling:
• Solitaire – a soul safari into Central Namibia: Exploring the wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers
• Hogsback – an inner journey into the Forest Beauty of the Ciskei in South Africa: Exploring what it means to dive deeply into Stillness – a silent retreat
• Temenos – visiting the artist village of McGregor in the Western Cape of South Africa: A journey of integrated body-mind-soul practices such as yoga, walking meditation, mindful eating, art-as-meditation
• Teniqua – traveling to a Retreat Farm near Sedgefield on the Wilderness Coast of South Africa: waking up the body as a deepening in mindfulness
• Moreson – traveling to Reivilo in the Norther Cape of South Africa: a long weekend of soulful celebration of what is meaningful and nurturing through poetry, music, art and healthy food
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We invite organisational opportunities to do research in the following fields of interest:
The ethics of compassionate organisations and countries
We explore the Ancient Wisdom Teachings and the Path of The Mystics to understand the deeper meaning of compassion and its application to meaningful collective practice and the service of humanity and the planet as a whole.
The re-invention of work
We exploring the redefinition of work. We ask
• What does compassionate work look like?
• What does a society look like when work is about the restoration of human dignity?
• How do organisations look that truly serve all planetary life forms?
• How does a country include compassion as GDP measurement?
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Presencing – Mindfulness, Connection, Meditation
We believe that traditional stress management practices are ineffective in dealing with the urgent need to radically redefine who we are and
how we live / relate / work. However, the ancient wisdom teachings, both East and West, teach us how to move beyond mind.
Perhaps in rediscovering these, we shall find the most sustainable answers.
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Workplace abuse, sexual harassments, bullying, domestic violence in relation to professionals
We are interested in contributing to the research regarding the much taboo and stereotyped subject of toxic work relationships which in truth is what reigns covertly in many organisations be it corporates, churches or politics. We want to contribute to breaking down the walls of silence in order that healthy connections form the can be the foundation of future non-violent, compassionate organisations and societies. More... »