When I met Mark two months ago, he was in the middle of a storm.
In the midst of a painful divorce, feeling resentment and inadequacy in his job, and questioning the direction of his life.
In our first conversations, he was visibly nervous. He’d say something, then immediately question it. You could feel how hard he was trying to get it right.
What he wanted was simple.
He wanted to be his best self and to move through life with clear direction.
In invited him to an in-person Coaching Magic Immersive Retreat here in Portugal, and he said yes.
We spent 2 ½ days together in Faro wandering cobblestone streets and courtyards lined with orange trees. We visited the bone chapel, walked the beach, and ordered far too much food at a Nepalese restaurant because we wanted everything on the menu.
(Mark is one of the few people I’ve met whose enthusiasm for food rivals mine.)
We talked. We explored. We enjoyed ourselves.
I chose experiences specifically for him. Creative exercises. Conversations in unexpected places. Even a tour in complete darkness to experience, briefly, what it’s like to navigate the world without sight.
It wasn’t intense or heavy. We didn’t talk about the past.
It was spacious. More about being than doing. It was real and alive.
And Mark transformed.
We reconnected yesterday to reflect on what had changed.
Mark said,
“I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life, which sounds crazy, given the divorce. It’s like I’m a different person. It’s so much easier being me, without the masks.”
Mark has accepted a new dream job. He’s dating. He’s making decisions without the usual spiral of overthinking and seeking external validation.
His circumstances didn’t magically resolve, but his relationship to himself did.
This is what most people don’t understand about deep change.
It doesn’t have to be dramatic or painful. We didn’t go searching for problems and shadows.
The simple exploration of who you really are and how your experience is created does all the heavy lifting.
Being you unlocks everything you desire. The satisfaction, the life direction, even money and relationships. It is both the path and the destination.
These immersives aren’t about fixing you. They’re about noticing what’s in the way of being you, and letting it fall away.
Mark’s experience reminded me how powerful it is to step out of your normal environment and devote a few days to this level of clarity and presence.
So I’m opening space for a small number of in-person immersives.
Portugal in the spring.
The United States in the summer or autumn.
If you feel a pull when you read this, hit reply and let me know. We’ll have a chat to explore if it’s a fit.
Sometimes a few days is all it takes to change the course of a lifetime.
Yours in love and play,
Steph 🐲❤️🔥
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