ABOUT ME
Hello! I am Ava.
I love to make art, to connect deeply with others and to frolic in nature. I am in awe of the ways people can adapt, develop and grow despite challenging conditions and believe deeply in the power of a good boogie. I offer Integral Development Coaching and create collaborative textiles art. Although these two practices might seem distinct they actually share many values: Softness, welcome, self expression, care, community, beauty, creativity, courage and curiosity. In all aspects of my work these two practices inform and support one another. I am on-goingly exploring the ways in which they weave together.
I have always been a maker and artist and turned to craft and art as practices to support myself through difficult life transitions and to express myself. I have a need to regularly experiment with creativity and especially to explore textiles and fashion as a way of making sense of my world. My mother also paints, sews and knits and my grandmother before her also, and so this has been handed down to me as a way to creatively respond to the world. ​​​​​
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Integral Development Coaching is a holistic yet focused and deep methodology that welcomes us as whole beings, takes into account our bodies, minds, environments, relationships and more. It is client-lead and draws from many different wisdoms. It is not dogmatic and I have found it to be affirming, empowering and refreshing in its approach.​
For all of my adult life I have been working with and for organisations working to make the world a better place and I have experience with behaviour change charities, sustainable food cooperatives, local arts organisations, activist groups, radical publishing and nature based events alongside creating art and crafts for a huge range of settings and clients. I have been one of the core members of the Dark Mountain Project since 2015. We create two hardback anthologies of prose, poetry and artwork each year that creatively explore the multiple crises of our times and this work greatly informs my approach to coaching and making.
​In 2020 I certified to offer Integral Development Coaching with Thirdspace Coaching in London. Since certification I have worked with private clients and I have been continuing to study and embody my learning whilst learning more facilitation skills and deepening my own relationship with practice and self reflection. I am passionately committed to my own Integral Development and attend regular supervision. My current way of working is now also deeply informed by Internal Family Systems therepy Nonviolent Communication methodologies alongside my Coaching training. I am now offering coaching to those wishing to step into a life of creativity, curiosity, compassion and courage. ​
Alongside my coaching practice I have been deepening my understanding of the role of creativity and hand crafts as a response to the world's problems- not as a solution but as a means to process, explore and respond creatively. Here's an essay I wrote about that! I am on a journey to combine my creative and coaching practices to support others and myself to find joy, creativity, self expression, community and solidarity as we navigate modernity in all its troubles. It feels integrating and holistic for me to present both my coaching and creative practices here on this site together. I do hope you'll find something you like here and do please get in touch with me with the contact form below if you feel inspired or drawn to work with me in any way.
In 2018, whilst working with a coach myself I stepped into a growing certainty that one vital way to engage with the change that I feel is so needed to face the environmental, cultural and economic crises we are living in is for us to get to know ourselves better and to offer kindness and understanding towards ourselves. I believe this in turn, cannot help but ripple out into the world. I discovered a deep desire and capacity within myself to offer this kind of work to others and set about seeking a way to do so. When I discovered Integral Development Coaching, I felt I had found a methodology that really spoke to my integrity for the change I want to see, my endless curiosity for creativity, new learning and a strong invitation to remain curious, flexible and always in flux- not to aspire towards finished-ness, being an 'expert' or trying to 'fix' people.
"In my first session with Ava, I instantly felt comfortable and safe. Her gentle and very perceptive practice amazed me from the start, and many of the tools and techniques she introduced me to have become important parts of my daily life.
I can confidently say that with Ava’s help, I was able to find myself again, un-picking stubborn beliefs that stood in my way, and find the courage to take a big positive step forward.”
Lisa,
(Coaching Client 2020-2021)