Begin Anywhere: Less Script, More Presence

It’s September and the month of the year that marks school start to me. In an endless appreciation for learning, I’m sharing some of my reflection related to school and what I associate with it. Along with the invitation to reflect on what learning means to you, how you approach and what it makes possible in our world.  As always, my hope is that this short and open sharing will invite and spark m...

It’s been 363 days since I launched this podcast. What a time it has been!  In this episode, I reflect on a few themes arising from the last 12 months and 36 recorded and published episodes.  As always, my hope is that this short and open sharing will invite and spark more of your own reflections.  I’d love to hear from you. Reach out at irina@irinapashina.com, on LinkedIn , or visit irinapashina....

I’ve been sitting with completions and the emotions related to them more deeply in the last 6-12 months. It took me a while to be able to hold space for this part of a process that feels tender and challenging in different ways. I’m reflecting on completions as a celebration, also as a source of sadness, maybe even anger and a complex mix of human emotions.  My invitation to you is to reflect on:...

Doesn’t every journey change us in ways known and unknown? In episode 34, I’m reflecting on the journey and perceptions around coming back after a vacation or simply time away - no matter how short – and how it can bring different angles and ways of seeing to our living environment, habits, relationships, life.  My invitation is for you to reflect on a recent trip or exploration of a topic and how...

Episode 33 is a reflection on the intensity of life flowing and the role of support. The month of July 2026 that made me acutely aware of how intensity and support connect or not. How a period can feel so full and so empty. And how I showed up with my own tendencies in a phase of inner growth.  As always, my hope is that this short and open sharing will invite and spark more of your own reflection...

How would our lives and our world be if we brought more of what we wish for to them? In a period of time of so much – in us and around us – what is the role of dreams and fears in our becoming? This is a short reflection on dreams and how they inform us – explicitly and implicitly. And an invitation to reflect: how can we bring more of our wishes and aspirations for the future in our here and now?...

I’ve been sitting with more emotions than usual in the last days and weeks. And noticing that the theme of close connections and how they shape our becoming has been present for me and many of my supervision and coaching clients in a parallel process. I’m bringing emotions to this episode. Not to lecture about them. Not to convey a message about them. But simply to shine a light on them as a landm...

This episode is a reflection on taking steps, and on the capacity to be with what is as we do (or don’t). Celebrating the courage to be in the present moment and to trust one’s next step. Celebrating the uniqueness of each of us as human beings and practitioners.  It’s also an invitation to reflect on all the steps that you have been taking on your path of becoming. To take time to be with where t...

It’s July 1st, 2026. We have crossed the bridge into the second half of the year. My mid-year reflection in a hot period was shining a light on weight. The weight that we choose to carry – physically, mentally, emotionally. Inspired by my own experiences and my work with others as a coach, supervisor and mentor. By feeling into the heaviness and lightness of holding on and letting go. It’s an invi...

Most people in Europe share a common experience this week: intense heat. It inspired me to reflect on parallel process. The weather has become an essential part of conversations and planning. And a major factor to consider in decision-making. Going through this week has made me aware of how the heat outside can be a mirror to heat in our internal experience. For me, part of it is about visibility....

An episode that came to me through reflection on recent life experiences. And the image of doors in life. Doors opening and closing. Knocking at doors, being invited to enter or a door that is simply locked and doesn't budge. So many variations of how opportunities arise, how we go about them, how they materialize or not.  It's also an episode about feeling our human feelings and being o...

Different situations in the last weeks sparked anger in me – many of them seemingly insignificant and yet important – and one of them made its way into this episode. I’m sharing it with spaciousness, a hint at healthy expression of emotions, and the overarching invitation to each of us individually and all of us collectively to connect across differences. When was the last time you felt anger? Wha...

What is your relationship to celebration? What an unusual question, you may think. And one that has been on my mind for a long time. My relationship to celebrating – on big and small occasions – has been shifting over the years. I’m sharing reflections about what it meant, how I see it now, and invite to step into your own reflective space for the sake of more aliveness and participation in life. ...

A pattern of avoiding wants to be seen. I’m speaking about the pattern of avoiding rest in this short episode. It knocked on my door again and I felt it in my bones. By bringing it here, I hope to invite you to see how avoiding is showing up in your life, what is its intelligence, and how you can see it more for deeper awareness and choice.  I’d love to hear from you. Reach out at irina@irinapashi...

What a mysterious episode title :-) Episode 23 comes rolling out a red carpet for reflection on and around relationships. What are they? Who are we in them? What is our relationship landscape or garden? Listen in and join the reflective mood around relationships as a web of life.  I’d love to hear from you. Reach out at irina@irinapashina.com, on LinkedIn , or visit irinapashina.com to learn more...

This episode was inspired by a brief and seemingly insignificant moment earlier today.  My view this morning - as I was writing, and reviewing supervision materials - became a metaphor. A metaphor of seeing in our lives and our world, of how and how much we get to perceive, what could be in the way, and what becomes possible when more of the picture becomes visible for us.  At some point - deep in...

Friction showed up as a door opener for me today. And I used it as such to record another episode and explore how events - small and big - can reveal so much in us and for us. What happens in us when things don't go to plan, when we have no answers, when what we do doesn't seem to yield the results we hoped for? How can we meet the moment as it is and be with it? It was intriguing to bri...

This episode was inspired by my cup of coffee… When I looked at it this morning, I saw so much:   - the beauty of ritual   - the energy of a gentle and powerful momentum  - the scratches of a table experienced thousands of dinners and board games  - a cup with a history and lineage, persevering  - moments of togetherness and aloneness  - the appreciation of being alive  - the imperfection of showi...

This is probably the most imperfect episode I’ve recorded so far! Part of me feels the urge to record it again, part of me is amused, yet another part reminds me that my intention was to show up as authentically imperfect as I am. The theme of appreciation (while not planned) fits perfectly (!) to what I’m sensing: the fear of not been seen as a capable contributor. A fear that many of us (in perc...

This episode is about the No’s in our lives. Not the most pleasant topic perhaps. Or maybe it is? I would argue it’s just as significant as a Yes. It can be a re-direction, a point of re-orientation. A gift that may disappoint at first and reveal its beauty soon or much later after.  It was a good experience to make space for this reflection. And to let it unfold as a landscape and a path.  How ha...

This episode is about storms. Storms in life. Stoms in nature. Storms in our emotions. Real storms. Imaginary storms. And how the energy and metaphor of a storm lives through us and in us.  And here, as always, is an invitation to reflect:  What storms are alive in you now? What are they bringing to your attention?  I’d love to hear from you. Reach out at irina@irinapashina.com, on LinkedIn , or v...

This episode comes with a personal story of a forced pause in the middle of completion in the larger arc of becoming. When the body speaks, we need to listen and the wisdom it holds and shares with us (sometimes through in challenging signals) is precious.  I’m sharing my reflections on evolution and becoming here and now in February 2026 and inviting you to look at your present moment in life: Wh...

Happy New Year! Here’s episode 1 in 2026, and 15th since the start of the podcast in September 2025. I could easily write “time flies!” and I just did, but this episode is not about speed or time. It’s a short reflection on what is moving me at the beginning of a new calendar year. Intriguing how misalignment, depth, sustainability, and growth emerged naturally.  What is moving you as you navigate...

“Where is the script?” is a question that has been with me in the last months of 2025. Asked by a voice of one of the learning systems I have been part of it did express what was on the mind of many people this year. Don’t we all crave structure and certainty, especially in times of change and conscious incompleteness that’s a natural part of the learning process? And the truth is a script can be...

🎧 Episode 13 – Transitions, transitions I keep catching myself writing November dates in my journal. 😮 But it’s December now… so here’s an episode on transitions.    Clearly there’s something from last month I’m still holding on to — maybe the slowing down through virus infections… the scheduling challenges… the deepening of my work with emotions… the courage to practice newly learned approaches...