Naomi Katz
1-1 Mentoring
Realigning with the elements
How do we nourish our hearts in these crazy times?
Wanting deeper intimacy, longing for more authenticity, feeling out of sync with the rhythms of your body and the natural world — these human struggles define our times. If you are feeling any of these, please know that you are not alone.
Slowly but surely, humans behave more and more like machines, seemingly operating independently of others and the natural world.
You’ve tried different workshops, yoga, meditation, conscious movement, ice baths, journaling, therapy. In moments, you have probably experienced deep connection, felt the presence of the sacred in a beautiful sunset or a shared meal, but that feeling seems to disappear as soon as daily life demands your attention again.
Western culture teaches us that coping with grief, transitions, challenges is an individual task - my traumas, my difficulties, my therapeutic journey.
In this model, the emphasis is on the broken individual. Yet in actuality, it is our culture that is broken.
Since time immemorial, humans have healed and transformed, together, in collaboration with one another and with the natural world, in reverence and gratitude for the cycles which are the basis of all life.
Returning our attention
Returning our attention to our relations with the cycles that define our life realigns us with our natural wisdom.
When we can return to an awareness of our interconnectedness, we are ongoingly witnessed and witnessing, and we open the possibility for collective healing, in collaboration with the magic that lives everywhere around us, and within us. In doing so, we are able to step into a more authentic version of ourselves.
We remember what it is to be human upon the earth.
We can remember through:
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careful, loving attention - to ourselves, to life, to relations
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gratitude - deep recognition of what is
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reciprocity - giving offerings, listening to nature and receiving the wisdom in the world around us
We are the body of the universe.
Once these ideals are integrated into your consciousness, it is so much easier to rest and receive from the ever present support of the earth, the air, the fire, the water.
If what I am saying resonates with you, please reach out.
You will determine the intentions of our work.
These might include:
Loving yourself
Stepping into authenticity
Coming home to your body
Cultivating intimacy
Deepening vitality and pleasure
Discovering and sharing your gifts
Receiving decisions through embodied listening
Setting and honoring boundaries
Grieving loss
Grounding your vision
Leading gracefully and lovingly
Reclaiming joy
Feeling more
Exploration of these and other intentions is always grounded in remembering and uncovering your innate wisdom. I am in service to you, guiding as you listen and deepen your own self understanding.
In this process, we follow the ancient map of the medicine wheel, drawing on the energetic teachings of the 7 directions.
We attune our awareness to the resonance of these elements in the body and the mind.
This journey is grounded in intimacy and trust. Through mentorship you uncover the wisdom within. Together, we will develop personalized practices for your well being and vitality, setting a path for sustainable transformation.
“In your guidance I feel safe, I feel seen and I feel interconnected with something greater.
Your ability to give feedback and use words is thrilling to me and has given me new and very valuable insights about myself and life. Thanks for the inspiration.”
-Rikke Libak, 49
We return to listen to the air, the water, the earth, the fire.
In this journey we will...
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Set specific intentions which allow you to be clear about your purpose in simple and complex life endeavors
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Develop personal exercises and practices to focus our attention on the waters of our body to allow for deeper presence
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Embrace embodied listening as a tool to receive decisions (as opposed to making decisions) with ease and grace
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Deepen your relation with natural cycles in order to better align our actions with body’s rhythms and the rhythms of the natural world
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Cultivate empathy, particularly as a gateway to self-compassion
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Recognize and appreciate your gifts thus deepening your self love as well as your ability to share your gifts generously
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Embody an attitude of gratitude which can ground you into balance
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Define and express clear boundaries which will support you to create safety for yourself and others, particularly in relationships
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Reclaim your attention so that you can invest your energy into what is actually important and nourishing for you
“Your presence allows me to remember the gift with which I came to this world. Through expression of and connection to my gift I am able to celebrate my existence, and appreciate the ones who surround me. Presence like this is not easily found these days. Your words are filled with loving kindness and guidance.”
-Tal Milecki, 27
My own journey back to a consciousness of gratitude has shown me how simple and also how challenging it is to recognize and transform patterns that are not nourishing well being.
Since 1997, I have been holding healing spaces for young people and adults. In this time, I have witnessed hundreds of people reclaim their authentic voices and embody their power. I have integrated this work into public and private schools, outdoor education centers, trainings for educators, summer camps, women’s and girls’ circles, conscious movement spaces, primitive skills gatherings, permaculture courses and many different workshops. I have amplified the impact of this work by writing curriculum and training other leaders and educators in transformative mentoring.
Since 2010, I have been apprenticed to Carmen Vicente, a medicine woman and spiritual leader from the high Andes. With her blessing, I hold traditional healing ceremonies and share these ancient altars around the world.
I am a dancer, and for me the body is my channel to spirit, and to any kind of deep relation with life. All of my work integrates embodied practice. I have been deeply moved by the teachings of Gabrielle Roth and a number of her students, with whom I have been walking for nearly a decade.
I am passionate about helping those who wish to emerge from the loneliness imposed upon us by a culture of individualism and division to return to an awareness of our relation with the earth, the air, the fire, the water - our source.
Is this for me?
What is mentoring, actually?
My approach is based on the understanding that humans have always healed and transformed, together, in collaboration with one another and with the natural world, in reverence for the cycles which are the basis of all life, in gratitude.
Turning our attention back to our essential relations with the cycles that define our life realigns us with our natural wisdom.
The central arrow of our journey together is to support you to lean into the relations with life which nourish us all and to uncover your innate wisdom through attuned listening.
This is a work in which I hold a space for you to uncover and integrate your innate wisdom. I listen with all of my senses to you and to the space between and around us and guide your exploration.
What happens in a session?
Sessions are 1 hour and 15 minutes and can take place in person or over zoom, depending on where you are located.
We usually begin our session with a grounding practice, breathing and landing in the body and in our shared space and time.
In our first session, we will spend some time getting to know one another by going over the questions you answered in advance, and you are, of course, welcome to add anything else you want to share in our conversation.
As we talk, we listen together to the wisdom coming through our words as well as through the silence and the movement in our bodies. We employ practices to direct our attention and listen with the totality of our senses. These practices might include breathing techniques, movement or voice activation.
Often, we finish a session by taking on a practice which will allow us to integrate the work we have done over time, until our next session.
What if I want to leave the process?
You are welcome to end our journey at any time.
What if I need to contact you between sessions?
If you wish to share something or ask a question, you are welcome to email me and I will respond as soon as I can. If you are feeling an urgent need for support you are welcome to contact me by phone and I will do my best to schedule a session with you as soon as possible.
How does payment work?
In order to maintain clarity in our relationship and ground our commitment to one another, I ask that you pay for ⅓ of the journey in advance of beginning and the remaining ⅔ over monthly payments. If this is challenging for you, feel free to let me know and we can try to find a payment plan that works for you.
How do I start?
All options for new clients start with a free discovery call. If we feel that we want to work together, we start.
I offer a first steps package. This might be an integration process after an in-person experience, or a stand-alone journey which could be driven by a specific purpose or question.
This package includes 4 sessions which you schedule at your own pace, over a maximum period of 3 months for $470.
After that, if you’re ready to jump in and work together longer term, I offer a 7- month package consisting of 13 sessions. You schedule at your own pace, over a maximum period of 7 months, for $1470
This work could be for you if:
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You are seeking deeper intimacy.
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You are longing for more authenticity.
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You are feeling overwhelmed and seek balance.
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You are struggling to feel joy.
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You are feeling out of sync with the rhythms of your body and the natural world.
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You are carrying grief - for a loved one, for something you lost in life, the universal loss of wildness and wild spaces or simply for our human culture.
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You long to feel more at home in your body.
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You yearn to feel the presence of the sacred every day.
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You hold space for others and want to refine your leadership.
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You are in a moment of transition in your life and are seeking support and witnessing.
Working with me will be fulfilling for you if:
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you are open to recognize the interconnectedness of all of life
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you seek and appreciate authenticity
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you want to listen to the wisdom that lives within you
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you aspire to reclaim your attention
“Your guidance returned me to my body, to be good to my body and to do what feels right. My body is grateful.”
-Dafna Zamir, 31