Everyone has inherent wisdom and good heart. It is our greatest resource. I act as a facilitator, guide, consultant, and spiritual friend, offering insights and techniques to help you discover, brighten, align with and utilize those deep resources in your own unique way for the issues that are important to you.
That process includes honestly and compassionately presencing and exploring the obstacles (personal, interpersonal, and collective) that block us from our own deep human potential.
Especially during these difficult times of COVID-19 pandemic and new collective awareness of racial inequities, I am honored to work with you to cultivate greater connection and presence for yourself, as well as with others, society and our world – while supporting you to face and transform that which obstructs it.
My approach synthesizes what I’ve learned from decades of Buddhist meditation practice, studying the mind, personal and professional problem-solving, and life experience. Depending on the need, the work can be very short-term or ongoing. Examples of issues people have addressed in the past through consultation with me include both personal and professional ones, such as:
- Personal: difficult relationships; stress and anxiety; political despair; health challenges; moving through life transitions; caring for the caregiver; developing or deepening spiritual practice; overcoming obstacles in spiritual life.
- Professional: editing and writing; conceptualizing projects; providing structure or support to bring a writing or creative project into reality; problem-solving a work or business situation; navigating work relationships; more skillfully listening or speaking.
I do coaching and consultation, not therapy. But the fact is that personal identity and unconscious habits of mind and heart are an important aspect of what can help or hinder our inherent potential. So I don’t shy away from bringing the light of awareness and love to our cognitive and emotional patterns at the personal and collective levels, because these patterns are what most often obscure our inmost resources. I especially stress the importance of connecting with an uplifting motivation or aspiration that will inspire and guide us to act with a deeper and more open-hearted perspective, or to more closely align outer actions with inner values.
To support those who wish to begin or enhance a regular spiritual practice, I offer instruction in introductory practices, as well as suggestions for spiritual teachers/traditions that may be a good match. I also offer individualized guided meditation audios in basic relaxation, concentration, and compassion techniques.
For individuals who are considering how to best prepare materially and spiritually for their own death or the death of loved ones, I offer guidance and support. Most of us procrastinate or avoid such planning: having a coach can be helpful in doing the paperwork and making the decisions that are necessary to feel at peace in light of the inevitability and uncertainty of death.
For everyone, I offer respect and compassion for the suffering and difficulties each of us has known, as well as confidence in each person’s ability to live more happily, wisely, kindly, and courageously.
Please get in touch at shana.l.klinger@gmail.com if you would like to explore the option of one-to-one or small group coaching or mentoring in person or remotely via phone or video conferencing. I purposely make my coaching affordable for all. Click HERE for info about a free initial consultation and coaching fees.
Reviews from people who have worked one-to-one with Shana:
Guidance, insight, listening deeply…
“Shana’s wisdom and guidance are invaluable as I develop a contemplative practice leading to correct action. She listens deeply– to what is said, and not said– and her questions have consistently provoked me to go deeper into myself. She does not impose a framework, or her own expectations, on the work we do together, but has been generous in her suggestions of what I might look into, and supportive of my own explorations. I feel grateful to be a beneficiary of her remarkable insight, experience, and teaching.” A. B., Providence, RI
Supporting values and activism…“I am tremendously grateful to Shana for her wise counsel the past 18 months. I reconnected with her because of my deep fear of what the November ’16 elections might bring, and how I would be able to function. I now find myself not only surviving, but thriving, and with my values and activism intact and stronger than ever. She listens and guides wisely, and, really — for me — magic happens. I can’t really explain how –she creates this space where I can both acknowledge what I am suffering with and simultaneously reach for my highest aspirations. Best of all, she has helped me develop a practical routine that seamlessly integrates with my existing spiritual practices.” —Rich S., Rhode Island
Skillful editing and project collaboration…”I hired Shana as an editorial collaborator to help me appraise, plan, and execute a large writing project. Her support was key to the project’s success. She conducted a thorough reading of all the materials, provided insightful suggestions for how to move forward, and offered strategic guidance that helped me get the job done. I am also particularly indebted to her for skillful editing of some of my more sensitive professional correspondence. The element of emotional intelligence she adds to my business dealings is career-saving!” —L. H., Providence
Effective short-term support...”Shana has an incredible gift for compassionate listening and shares a tremendous amount of wisdom from her life experiences and spiritual practice. In our work together, she has provided me with very effective short-term support that helped me identify and connect to longer term supportive services from others in my region.” –A. R., Washington, DC
Compassionate presence during difficult times…“Shana is beyond gifted. She is genuinely caring, intuitive, and fully grounded in loving compassion and our soul’s journey. I carry Shana’s words in my heart and her presence has helped me through the most difficult years of my life…” —Sandra P., Massachusetts