- I am a certified Integrative Coach with The Ford Institute in San Diego.
- I am one of two Spiritual Divorce Coaches in South Africa.
- I am one of 100 coaches worldwide personally trained by Debbie Ford in Leadership.
- I am part of a worldwide network of coaches, dedicated to bringing this work out into the world.
- I have coached people in Lebanon,London, Philadelphia, Denmark, Australia and in South Africa.
- I am a non practicing lawyer and founder of the first all female firm of attorneys in South Africa.
- I am an exhibited artist.
It is said that the longest journey you can take is from your head to your heart.
I got there, but I took a somewhat circuitous route ! Beginning with activities centered in the left side of my brain, the centre of logic, reason and rationality, I studied and qualified as a lawyer in the early eighties at the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg, South Africa, and then practiced at a prestigious firm of attorneys. When my children were born, I left the firm, but later formed my own all female firm of attorneys, the first of its kind in the country at that time. During this period I also studied the Origins of Mankind and did a fair amount of public interest work, such as representing emergency regulation detainees and preparing sexually abused children for cross examination and court. The main focus of my practice was property, litigation and matrimonial work especially divorce.
In the mid nineties, I left active practice to pursue my childhood passion for art. This became a fascinating exploration of my ability to think laterally, conceptually and creatively. I was now centered in the right side of my brain, but not yet in my heart! My artwork is conceptual , and integrates ideas from my legal practice and comments on current social and economic issues in my country and this culminated in my first solo exhibition at Art Space in 2oo8, reported on in both online and newspaper publications in English and French and resulting in several radio interviews.
At the same time that I explored my art, a new passion was awakened in me , when I was exposed to the teachings of Deepak Chopra and Dennis Prager at a Young President’s Organization (‘Y P O’) University in India in 1996. I was battling to accept the death of my father and deal with other problems in my family that refused to yield to conventional healing methodologies and this began an epic journey in search of a deeper truth, that continues to this day. I have had the privilege over the past fifteen years, of having been exposed to the ideas of some of the greatest hearts and minds in the field of personal transformation and esoteric philosophy. My hard won realizations from this exploration, as well as the experiences I have had as a result of my spirituality and the difficulties I have faced and overcome in my life, have all contributed to who I am today and the sort of relationship I have with myself and the world.
Keen to be able to share the riches of the wisdom I have accessed with other people, I decided to become trained as an Integrative Coach with the Ford Institute in San Diego. Integrative coaching is not the same as life coaching. As the name suggests , it is about integrating all aspects of the psyche (even those parts that we resist and push away) in order to become ‘whole’. Wholeness means empowerment, freedom and authenticity. Debbie Ford is the New York Times bestselling author of several books in the field of personal transformation and I chose her because of the sheer brilliance, logic and depth of her approach to this field of work. I believe I have trained with a living master at the ‘Harvard’ of Coaching Institutes in the world and I believe this work is at the forefront of the work that will evolve our collective consciousness. Moreover it enables me to guide people to experience the wisdom of the ages as an embodied experience, rather than an inspirational idea that fades in the face of a harsh reality and remains just that.. an idea.
Finally, I am doing heart-centered work, by far the most powerful in my experience than anything else I have ever done. I now see it as my work, to humbly share what I have literally gone to the ends of the earth to access, with those who are genuinely willing to begin their own process of transformation and ‘coming home’ to their authentic self.
My short -term aim is to bring this work to South Africa and to contribute my unique puzzle piece to help shift collective consciousness.
Hi Philippa – just leaving a note to let you know I was here…very interesting work. I’d love to meet for coffee sometime. Warmest regards, Lexi Kriel.
Would also love to meet and hear all about your next trip to India. I am so dying to go again!
Hello Philippa,
I have just read the above and am most impressed. I wish you every success and look forward to seeing you and talking to you again when Im next i Jhb. Love to all and my love and very best wishes to you. Lucille (Ernst)
Thanks L.. great to hear from you..
Phil
You are beautiful inside and out!
Much love
I also think Debbie Mankowitz is an inspiration~!