Begin Anywhere: Less Script, More Presence

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...

🎧 Episode 12 – “Why would you do that?” A genuinely asked question, a simple conversation. And tons of reflection and realizations. This is what this episode is about.  “Why would you do that?” can be a tricky question. It can also open a door to connecting across differences and meeting each other the way we are and where we are at. I reflect on the context of this question and what known and ne...

These three words – listening, depth, connection – characterized my last few weeks in painful and beautiful ways. I’m bringing them to episode 11 where I’m exploring insightful constraints, somatic wisdom, and the power of human listening and connection.  I invite you to join me in this reflection: 💭 What are you listening to right now?  💭 What is the tune, the song, the music that you can perce...

This episode is a personal reflection on the meaning of power. What it is, how it shows up, and how our relationship with it can evolve over time. Power has so many meanings. Our relationship to our own power is shaped by our own unique meaning-making of it and our experiences of it.  As I explore my own connection with power, I notice how it can feel both expansive and vulnerable. An ever-changin...

This episode is an exploration of identity in motion. The fluid, ever-changing sense of who we are. I found myself reflecting on how much we change, sometimes subtly and sometimes profoundly, and how easy it is to cling to past versions of ourselves. Who am I today? Who are you today? These questions can open space for awareness, compassion, and deeper truth about our essence and how it expresses...

In this episode, emotions come to show themselves. It felt tender and vulnerable to reflect on my own relationship with emotions: how it has evolved, deepened, and softened over time. This episode is a personal tribute to emotions and an invitation to feel our feelings to completion. When we allow emotions to move through us with awareness and permission, they become messengers informing, guiding,...

This episode felt more spacious. After days away from the day-to-day noise, it's silence that invited itself to the podcast. As the main character of these 18 minutes. Often avoided and labeled as unnecessary. it can be truly revealing and empowering. When we allow ourselves to pause, to truly listen, something deeper emerges. Silence can become a doorway, a mirror, a bridge to what’s most tr...

How does it feel to not know? And what does not knowing make possible?   It can feel unsettling, even uncomfortable to let go of the need to know. Beyond the discomfort lies a gift of possibility and creativity. In this episode of Begin Anywhere , I reflect on the stance of not knowing. The attitude that allows more and different knowing to emerge enriching our lives and our world.  Often, we rush...

This episode is about space. Ironically, it turned out to be the shortest one so far. And hopefully filled with enough spaciousness to explore and begin anywhere around the topic of space and choice related to it.  As always, no script and some surprising mentions. This time it was the Men's Volleyball Championship 2025 . The final match is on September 28, 2025.  I touch on space as somethin...