My name is Zeinab Benchakroun. I am an Associate Certified Coach (ACC™) from the International Coaching Federation (trained at University of California Davis), a certified Body-Oriented Coach (from The Somatic School in London), a certified Purpose Guide™ (from the Purpose Guides Institute), and a certified Facilitator (from the Work That Reconnects & from Good Grief Network).

I spent nearly all my half-century existence disconnected from my true self, as if I was inside a block of cement. One day, as I was in a sensuous communion with Nature, a tiny crack happened. An inner voice whispered that I was worthy living on Earth. It has been a long journey. The process of returning to my authentic self eventually started.

I lived most of my life in Morocco, in a culture where the intensity of the community has been as much a teaching as a hindrance. Gnawa healing music, a mix of Sufism and African animist rituals, played a crucial role in my spiritual awakening. My early personal and professional choices have been for a long time dictated by social constraints. After graduating with a Master’s degree in Engineering and a Master’s degree in Business Administration in France, I worked for years in corporate services, community organizing, and management of social projects.

After a couple of decades, I moved to the United States where I had to start from the very beginning. The following years often felt like crossing the desert. I went back to college. I became a board member of 350 Marin, a grassroots environmental organization in California. I learned how to facilitate workshops around climate change anxiety and paradigm shift. I trained in purpose guiding, coaching, and “Somatic” (the integration of the whole SOMA: body, mind & soul).

Mid-life crisis helped me learn to accept uncertainty, foster discomfort, listen to my wounds, apprehend the insights of my body, and follow the wisdom of my intuition. It allowed me to uncover my longing to sow seeds of transformation. It brought me back to my core value: “I Am Because We Are” (Ubuntu philosophy). It shed light on what feeds my soul: to attune to the other, the resistant other, the subtle other, the sensitive other, the vulnerable other, the magical other, and the whole other.

My inspiration stems from a variety of sources. To name a few: Rumi, Joanna Macy, Sherri Mitchell, Stephan Harding, and Bayo Akomolafe.

To learn about me, check this interview Here and this video Here.