What Slowing Down Opens

Article
Written By Andrea Henning
 

I signed up for the Pajama Party for the Soul because I know what it feels like to slow down.

Not rest. Not relaxation. The kind of slowing down that opens something in you. The part that doesn't speak in words, that doesn't fit in a calendar, that refuses to be productive.

I wanted that. And I was afraid of it.

Because I know myself. When I go deep, I sometimes stay there. And coming back. To rhythm, to focus, to the world that asks things of me. That takes effort. So I arrived with desire and resistance in equal measure. Delicious. Disorienting. Both true.

My intention surfaced somewhere in the first hours. It named itself: legacy, the question underneath everything I do.

What I harvested surprised me, or maybe it didn't. What I'm here to do moves between two worlds. The masculine and the feminine. The structured and the wild. The knowing and the not-knowing. the black and the white. I’ve been working with this polarity for decades. This weekend I lived it. Not as theory. As practice.
And something in that landed differently.

I spoke my truth. Not because I prepared it. Not because the room was safe enough. Because it came from somewhere free. From love. That was moving. Genuinely moving.
It was easy because love was in everything surrounding us. In the food. In the guidance of Andrea, Franciska, Marjolein, and Petra. In the warmth of sleeping in someone's home, that particular intimacy of being a guest, of being held.

What I'm most grateful for: being seen. And seeing. The safety to look at myself without flinching. To witness others without managing them.

This weekend feeds my mission, fuels my curiosity, and deepens my exploration of how masculine and feminine can work together instead of against each other. When to lead with structure. When to surrender to the flow. How to move between them without losing myself.

I left with more curiosity and connection than I arrived with.

That's enough. That's everything.

 
 

About the Author

Marja Godvliet is a transformational coach and video documentarian based in the Netherlands. She works with conscious professionals who carry more wisdom than they dare to show. Her mission: to make their signal congruent and unmistakable. She is the founder of LiefdeVoorLeven, a movement for leaders in care and transformation who are ready to stop prescribing and start living their truth.

 
 
Andrea Henning

It is Andrea Henning’s vision that when people discover their authenticity and dare to follow their bliss they are happier and more successful in their lives while serving as an inspiration to their communities.

Andrea helps people and organizations clarify what is essential to them, then challenges them to get “all hands on deck” to produce the kind of results that make them want to jump out of bed in the morning. She gets right to the heart of matters, is enthusiastic about what she is doing and builds a long-term partnerships with her clients. She completely invests herself in the transformation process with her clients, guiding them to recognize their own power. She also has quite a bit of fun along the way.

Andrea’s foundational coaching principles include achieving tangible results, growing consciousness and taking personal responsibility. She knows to create an atmosphere of trust where transformation and growth can actually happen.

Andrea is a certified trainer and coach and holds various licenses for team coaching. She is educated in the enneagram, Otto Scharmer’s Theory-U Presencing Process, dialogue and systemic work. She is one of the global leaders for Tiara International LLC and founder of wezenlijk werken training and coaching.

Over the years she has worked with companies as Unilever, Econcern, ABN, NIBC, SNS Reaal, Fortis Mees Pierson, Hasbro, Price Waterhouse Coopers, LogicaCMG, ETC Leusden, Alterra Wageningen, Wageningen International, Royal Haskoning, ANWB, HAN, Sanofi Aventis, ROC Da Vinci college, ROC Landstede, ROC Frieslandlandcollege, Zeeman textiel supers, KPMG and Police Department Amsterdam.

Follow Andrea on social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrea.henning.520

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreahenning

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ahenning_tiara

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