being me

Since I was a child, I’ve been fascinated by people and their stories. My mum told me that as a baby in my pram, I was determined to say hello to anyone passing by. That curiosity about people has never really left me.

I grew up in a close, loving family where care and connection were always present. But, like many of us, I also picked up ideas about how I should be: be good, be capable, be kind, get things right and appear strong. I learned to present a polished version of myself, while keeping some of the messier, more vulnerable parts hidden away.

For many years, I carried on being adventurous, curious and full of life. I travelled, lived in Australia and Malaysia and explored different ways of working and living. My career took me into sales before I eventually followed my creative instincts and founded Bodhi by Nas, a clothing design and manufacturing business.

Later, in 2004, I moved into food and health, setting up Detox in a Box, which later became MY Food. For 14 years, I ran a nationwide fresh food delivery business. I loved what I created and each business reflected a different part of who I was at the time.

Looking back, I can see that beneath all the ambition and enthusiasm was a belief I’d never really questioned: that success, achievement and being seen as capable would somehow validate me. I was good at making things happen, perhaps as a way of avoiding what was happening beneath the surface. But somewhere along the way, I began to realise that something was missing.

A Different Way of Seeing Life

In 2019, I sold my business and travelled to India in search of something I couldn't quite name. I was 52 and for the first time in a long while, I was stepping away from the familiar and allowing myself to explore what might come next.

India opened up a world that continues to shape my life today. I fell in love with yoga, Eastern philosophy, Buddhism and the opportunity to explore myself beyond the roles and identities I had become accustomed to.

One significant experience was a silent Buddhist retreat. There, I learned the idea that our suffering can deepen when we resist what we're feeling, judge it or try to push it away. I began to see how much energy I'd spent trying to keep certain emotions at bay, particularly the feelings that didn't fit with the person I thought I should be. I could see how over the years, I’d become so used to showing the “good” emotions that I’d disconnected from what was happening inside me.

What if, instead of trying to fix or control every uncomfortable feeling, I could allow myself to experience it? What if sadness, anger, uncertainty and vulnerability weren't things to overcome, but parts of being human that could be met with curiosity and compassion?

This was the beginning of a different relationship with myself.

I started to welcome the parts of me I'd spent years trying to keep in check. I worked on feeling my emotions, softening and being less concerned with having everything figured out.

I began to understand that vulnerability wasn't weakness and that connection deepens when we no longer feel we have to hide the parts of ourselves we fear might be too much.

For me, it felt like I was beginning to accept all parts of myself and that felt liberating.

Finding My Way to Counselling

When I returned from India, I wanted to bring some of what I'd discovered into my everyday life. One of the practices I'd fallen in love with was making malas and exploring Japa, a meditative practice involving the repetition of a mantra. I began running mala-making workshops and Japa meditation sessions, creating spaces where people could slow down, become absorbed in something creative and connect with themselves in a different way.

Around this time, an old school friend told me, “You can't keep bumming about.” It wasn't necessarily what I wanted to hear, but it did give me a nudge. I began to consider what it might mean to turn my longstanding curiosity about people and human behaviour into something more purposeful.

I started studying counselling.

I was drawn to the humanistic belief that, given the right conditions, we have the capacity to grow and develop. This resonated deeply with what I'd been discovering through my own experiences. My interest in Eastern philosophy and spirituality began to sit alongside my learning about Western therapeutic approaches, bringing together different perspectives on what it means to be human.

I also had to rethink what I believed counselling was.

At first, I imagined that a counsellor helped people solve their problems and told them what to do. Having spent years building businesses and finding solutions, I thought this was something I'd be good at.

I soon discovered that meaningful therapeutic work is quite different. It isn't about fixing someone, providing all the answers or trying to change them into a better version of themselves. It's about listening, being present and creating a space where someone can explore their experiences and discover what feels true for them.

I had to unlearn some of my instinct to solve things and learn to simply be with another person.

That shift has been one of the most valuable parts of my own development, both personally and professionally.

Why This Shapes the Way I Work

My own experiences have made me particularly interested in the ways we learn to relate to ourselves, the patterns we develop, and the feelings we may have learned to suppress or push aside.

I'm curious about the relationship between our thoughts, emotions and bodies and how much we can learn when we begin to pay attention to all three.

This is part of what draws me to somatic therapy. Sometimes, we can talk about our experiences and understand them intellectually, yet still feel caught in familiar responses. I’ve witnessed that no amount of logic can fully soothe an emotion. However, bringing gentle awareness to the body can offer another way of exploring what's happening within us.

My work brings together my training as a Humanistic Integrative Counsellor, my interest in somatic approaches and the influence of my own explorations into mindfulness and Eastern philosophy. I don't believe there is one way of being or one answer that fits everyone. Each person brings their own history, experiences and understanding of the world and I want to meet that with openness and respect.

Above all, I believe we don't need to fix ourselves to be worthy of care, connection or acceptance.

That doesn't mean change isn't possible, or that life suddenly becomes easy. For me, it means learning to meet ourselves with less judgement, becoming curious about the patterns we've developed and allowing ourselves to feel what we feel without deciding that something is wrong with us.

Where I Am Today

Today, I work with individuals through counselling and somatic therapy and host therapeutic retreats in the UK, Greece and India. I also continue to share my love of mala making and Japa meditation.

I've embraced a more flexible way of living, working online while travelling and spending time in different places. When I'm in the UK, I live in a small cabin in Dorset, surrounded by nature. I value the simplicity, the space to reflect and the reminder that life doesn't always need to be filled with doing.

I feel more connected to myself than I once did, although I don't see this as a finished journey. I'm still learning, questioning and discovering. The difference is that I no longer believe I need to have everything together to be okay.

Perhaps this is why the work I do matters so much to me. I know what it can be like to spend years trying to be the person you think you should be and how freeing it can feel to begin making room for the person you actually are.

Whether we meet in a counselling session or on a retreat, my intention is to offer a space where you can explore your experiences without needing to perform, have the right answers or be anything other than yourself.

Because, ultimately, I don't think life is about achieving perfection. I think it's about getting to know ourselves, embracing the parts we've hidden away and discovering that we can meet ourselves with a little more kindness along the way.

Perhaps being ourselves begins when we accept ourselves and realise we are perfect just as we are.

Nas x