ABOUT
More about my journey, my background & my credentials…
MY JOURNEY
I’m Bonny - a soulful leadership coach, psycho-spiritual guide & spoken word artist… What brought me to soul work was a desperate sense of alienation. I spent so much of my life feeling unseen and misunderstood, struggling to fit in and to feel inspired and fulfilled by following conventional notions of ‘success’.
I desperately yearned for more depth and intimacy in my life, but I didn’t know how to create it, or even to name what was missing. I distracted myself from the pain of disconnection by numbing out with drugs and alcohol, and sunk deeper into existential despair. I had to spend years trying to escape life before I was willing to embrace it.
The thing that kept me going - even in my darkest moments - was Art. Art offered me a lifeline - a way to connect with what it means to be human. I took refuge in the study of creativity and spirituality where I felt at home among ‘alternative’ thinkers who seemed to share my sentiment that the pursuit of truth, beauty, freedom and love should be the priorities in a life.
When I discovered psychosynthesis, and then soul work, everything started to make sense to me. I realised that alienation I had been feeling wasn’t because there was anything ‘wrong’ with me, it was because I was denying the deep longings of my soul in favour of trying to make my survival personality feel safe by ‘fitting in’.
The painful irony became clear: I felt unseen precisely because I wasn't expressing enough of my true self for people to really know me. Thanks to many years of radical self-encounter through study, therapy, ceremony and initiation, I have deepened my connection with my soulful essence and cultivated the courage to live and lead from this place.
The more of my essence I reveal, the more I feel I belong.
This is the power of soul work - that in inhabiting your true nature, you find your place in the web of interbeing.
PROFESSIONAL BIO
In my coaching work with individuals and groups, I focus on connection to and expression of soul essence, drawing on a range of wisdom and techniques to help people answer the questions, ‘Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going?’ in a way that is dynamic and creative.
My background in the creative industries - where I was a creative producer, art director and cultural curator - informs my rich and imaginative approach to self-enquiry and initiation.
I am passionate about the transformational power of creativity; the synthesis of spiritual exploration with psychological understanding; and the meeting place of personal and social transformation.
I have hundreds of hours of experience helping people to navigate change and challenge, and am on the faculty at the Psychosynthesis Coaching Academy, where I have acted as course tutor and co-facilitator.
As a spoken word artist, I explore deep existential terrain with boldness and humour. My debut spoken word album - Welcome the Dark - is now available on Spotify.
FRIENDS & COLLABORATORS
CREDENTIALS
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING & ACCREDITATION:
EMCC Accredited Senior Practitioner Leadership Coach, professionally supervised, with hundreds of hours of 1-1 experience
MA in Psychosynthesis Leadership Coaching
(thesis on Soulful Leadership)Embodied Supervision Training
(accreditation in progress)Team Coaching & Group Dynamics Training
OTHER LEARNING & EXPERIENCE:
16 Years of practice of Vedic meditation & study of Vedic philosophy
Shamanic training with The Sacred Trust & The Lyceum
International School of Temple Arts Training, Levels 1 & 2
MA in Applied Imagination (project on the relationship between play & personal transformation)
BA in History of Art & Visual Cultures
(dissertation on freestyle & flow states)
“Meaning, purpose and identity are not holy tablets that can be discovered & conquered once and for all… They are living, pulsing, breathing enquiries, and they respond to the light of our awareness & the nourishment of our love.”
-Bonny Tydeman
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