Ever had that feeling of being surrounded by people yet somehow still feeling alone?

Or finished a conversation thinking, “We talked for an hour and I still don’t feel like they really know me”?

You exchanged words, maybe even laughed, but something was missing. That invisible thread that connects one human to another somehow never materialized

Such a sense of disconnect is quite common.

• In marriages where partners live parallel lives.
• In friendships that stay perpetually focused on surface-level commonalities or memories of days gone by.
• In workplaces full of people who barely know each other despite spending most of their waking hours together.

Authentic Relating is a collection of practices which create moments of genuine connection that can transform how you experience relationships across all areas of life.

While many other approaches to social skills focus on how to communicate or behave, Authentic Relating focuses more on how we actually relate to ourselves, each other and what is happening between us.

The list of possible benefits is long, and —true to its name— it tends to be a highly unique and individual journey for everyone. But in my experience, here are some things which apply for almost anyone:

Authentic Relating:

• …helps develop emotional intelligence and awareness
• …enhances communication skills in all relationship contexts
• …provides tools for navigating conflict and difference constructively
• …cultivates presence and mindfulness in interactions
• …creates opportunities for self-discovery through relationship
• …develops capacity for empathy and understanding different perspectives
• …helps identify and transform unconscious relational patterns

Imagine stepping into a room where, for once, you could drop the usual social masks—and simply be seen.

Initially, you may be surrounded by strangers. But over the course of a few hours, you share a series of interactions in the form of games and exercises which invite you to communicate differently than you might be used to.

…and before you know it, you feel like you’ve known each other for years.

But more than that, you also end up learning how to bring this degree of connection into your existing (or soon-to-exist) relationships.

Authentic Relating simultaneously draws on a rich history and is in a constant state of innovation.

The games and exercises got created all over the world by different people in different contexts. Though eventually it became a rather coherent modality (a lot of what I teach, I had the honor of learning from ART International and Authentic Revolution) to which each facilitator brings their own unique flavor.

A typical workshop might start with a moment of self-connection, followed by some icebreakers (connect-to-other), and a mix of games and exercises designed around a specific topic, skill or domain of awareness. Or it may contain longer sessions of “Circling”, a particularly deep and transformational version of the practice.

For me, the main challenge with describing Authentic Relating is that reading about it can make it look like a very different experience than it actually is.

It can be quite a magical practice, which is hard to capture through a testimonial (in fact, when I receive testimonials, they often say something like “It’s really hard to describe but everyone should experience it. Like a flavor you didn’t know you were unable to taste befre.”)

So perhaps the most compelling reason to try it might simply try it and see (for) yourself.

If you feel a desire to have (more of) this kind of connection in your life, you’re not alone. 

I currently offer 3 ways to get started with this practice:

1) Join one of the workshops on the events page. Many of them are free. And they are accessible to anyone—no experience required.

2) You can book a 1:1 session with me for private mentoring, tailored to your needs.

3) Sometimes I facilitate immersive cohorts which teach a variety of connection practices (including Authentic Relating) in a group setting.  If you want to stay informed about these, you can join the waiting list here.