About Me
Coming home to yourself
I'm Claire, a contemplative Gene Keys Guide and meditation teacher. I accompany people who feel drawn to explore themselves more deeply, bringing together the Gene Keys, meditative presence and the warmth of shared enquiry.
I'm interested in the places where we still don't feel free.
The familiar reactions.
The relationships that touch an old wound.
The distance between what we understand and how we actually feel as we move through our day.
My own life has brought me to these questions, again and again.
How I arrived
here
I spent my twenties in corporate life, moving between cities and countries, working almost constantly. Just before my thirtieth birthday, I stepped away from a successful career and set off around the world on the back of a truck, beginning with an overland journey from London to Singapore.
That adventure eventually brought me to Vancouver.
When I arrived, I had an unmistakable feeling of being in the right place.
Here, I built a very different life: raising a family and running a dog daycare and boarding business from our home. Our children grew up finding their way through rooms full of dogs. Alongside all of this, I've remained a passionate lover of music, especially live music and the pleasure of discovering something new.
Years later, a financial crisis shook the sense of security I'd worked so hard to create. Looking for a way to meet the fear, I joined a beginner's meditation course with a Buddhist nun in a rather grey strip mall.
Something in those first classes felt like remembering. I began to feel a connection with my body that I hadn't known was missing. Soon afterwards, I went on my first ten-day silent retreat.
That was the beginning of a much deeper enquiry into my inner life.
The quiet work of unwinding
Over years of meditation, I became very familiar with my recurring thoughts and feelings. I could recognize them, describe them, even welcome them in. Yet some of the same painful patterns kept returning.
The Gene Keys came into my life while I was training to volunteer in a hospice. Opening the book, I felt an extraordinary recognition. Here was language for things I'd carried for years, including things I'd scarcely admitted to myself.
Through contemplation, I began to feel some of those patterns loosen. I became more curious about my reactions, more willing to listen to my feelings, and kinder towards the parts of myself I'd struggled to accept.
The Venus Sequence has a particularly tender place in my heart. Exploring love and relationships through this work helped me soften towards my parents. I began to see how deeply I wanted their acceptance, and how much I was still asking them to be different. Over time, more love became possible between us. It also helped me be present with my mother at the end of her life.
The self-love I discovered felt like a pilot light inside me. I hadn't known it was there.
I'm still learning. I still get caught in familiar reactions. Increasingly, I find my way back with more gentleness, and there is more room for quiet joy.
Rejuvenation for Body & Mind
Walking this path together
Somatic Listening
Inner Clarity
Gentle Integration
What I bring to our time together
My practice has been shaped by a two-year teacher training with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach, training as a Teacher of Presence with Eckhart Tolle, and the teachings of Ram Dass. Repeated retreats with Shipibo-Konibo practitioners in the Peruvian Amazon, followed by long periods of integration at home, have also been an important part of my path.
These experiences continue to inform how I listen, how I sit with uncertainty, and how I meet the person in front of me.
In one-to-one guidance and contemplative groups, we use the Gene Keys as a map for exploring your own experience. We make room for what is happening in your thoughts, emotions, body and relationships, allowing understanding to unfold at your pace.
I feel particularly drawn to people who have already walked some way on an inner journey and are curious about the places where familiar patterns remain. You may be new to the Gene Keys and still bring a lifetime of wisdom to our conversations.
Community matters deeply to me. Some of my own most meaningful experiences have come through feeling a sense of belonging with others. There is something precious about being able to bring our unfinished, ordinary selves into company and discover that we can be met there.
What draws me to share this work is the quiet joy it has brought into my life, and the possibility of a gentler, more loving relationship with ourselves and each other.
If something in my story feels familiar, I'd love to meet you.
Let's have a conversastion.
What others are saying
"Working with Claire has been an absolute gift"
"For one thing, I could feel her wholehearted acceptance, I felt seen and heard. Her extensive experience in Spiritual studies, especially Gene Keys, and her ability to blend deep wisdom with genuine, loving presence, knows no limit. She creates a safe space that allows for profound breakthroughs. I am thrilled to be part of her upcoming Sage Venus Sequence, and cannot recommend her services highly enough."
—Jennifer Hall RN
"Sometimes all we need is a gentle witness holding space for our self-discovery"
"Whether you're a seasoned seeker or brand new to the Gene Keys as I was, sometimes the journey asks for fellow travelers and a guide who has traversed the hills and valleys before. Sometimes all we need is a gentle witness holding space for our self-discovery; other times, a quiet nudge opens a door to a completely different perspective of ourselves. Claire leads with what my Sage Line calls 'Non-Interference' not boldly claiming authority, but holding the container so beautifully that the work unfolds on its own. If you're considering joining Claire's Venus Sequence circle and want another's perspective, my answer is a wholehearted yes. I'm truly looking forward to this next chapter."
—Rossandra W, CA
- Sarah L.
