What is soulswells?
Soulswells is a mind, body and soul coaching program that incorporates paddle boarding as a way to connect. It is healing journey back to you. It is founded on the basis that everyone needs someone/something to turn that is there for them no matter what. Developing a relationship with God, however he, she or it feels to you, is something that can empower us to show up and tell our truth in the knowledge that we are always loved and supported. We help you figure out what is YOUR truth and YOUR path. Engaging all parts of ourselves - our mind through talking, our body through physical activity, and our soul through connection and faith in our own spirituality, leads us back to that congruency. In turn we find that when we do all this, our capacity to reach our dreams and overcome our fears is limitless.
What is the difference between the group and private sessions?
Our group sessions are with residential treatment centers throughout Southern California. We take the clients out as part of the treatment program and we talk about spirituality and how that can help in clients’ lives and recovery.
Phoebe’s private practice includes both working on the Spirituality connection and paddle boarding, as well as coaching. It is specific to those wanting to recover from eating disorders and struggling with other addictions and behavioral issues and is usually at twice a week. The program can include meal support, food challenges, help around getting a job, going back to school and liaising with family, therapists, dietitians and doctors. This is a very “post residential and partial day treatment” focused plan to help clients truly cement their recovery while building the life that is authentic to the client.
What is a 'trek'?
A trek is a 90-120 minute session out on the water. We go out onto the water on our paddle-boards, using our bodies and connecting to them. The 'paddle' part of the trek can be physically demanding and is designed to engage the body and get our natural endorphins working. We then sit down and discuss where we are at with our own spirituality, if anywhere at all. We talk a lot about faith and the mystery of spirituality. It is a space where one can speak their truth, without judgment.
Is this therapy?
No. This is not therapy. This is Spiritual Direction. Spiritual Direction is acting as a witness to someone else's relationship with their higher power. We act as a witness to your journey back to you by listening and guiding you out on to the water, free from ego and free from outside noise. We do, however, see our service as a compliment to therapy and we work with many recovery centers and therapists.
Why should I trust soulswells?
One of our favorite quotes is from the West Wing, and answers this question beautifully.
"This guy's walking down the street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can't get out.
A doctor passes by and the guy shouts up, 'Hey you. Can you help me out?' The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down the hole and moves on.
Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts up, 'Father, I'm down in this hole can you help me out?' The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down the hole and moves on.
Then a friend walks by, 'Hey, Joe, it's me can you help me out?' And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, 'Why did you do that? Now we're both down here.' The friend says, 'Yeah, but I've been down here before and I know the way out.'" -
Sometimes we are in a hole and even though we are the ones who ultimately must pull ourselves out, we still need help from someone who can understand where we are. The philosophy of soulswells is based on what we at soulswells learned through our own struggles to be who we are, not who we thought we were supposed to be. Now we share how we recovered ourselves with others.
Who is soulswells for?
We have a strong emphasis on working with people struggling with eating disorders and addiction as well as adolescents struggling with being at peace with themselves. We also work with many treatments centers throughout Southern California.
What if I can't Stand Up Paddle-board?
We will teach you.
Do I need to bring anything?
Just your swimsuit, sunscreen and a towel. A hat is optional but highly recommended. We can provide rash guards but strongly recommend you don't wear a wetsuit as it gets too hot. This is not like surfing as you are on top of your board. Please contact us for further details. If you like wearing sunglasses, we recommend a cheap pair you would be prepared to part with to the ocean! We provide the boards.
You talk about spirituality, I just want to have fun!
Make no mistake, we have fun! Some treks are more serious than others. Every single trek is different in its own unique way. We tailor them to fitness capabilities and what your own wants for the trek are. Our treks are about YOU connecting to YOU and exploring YOUR spirituality and/or YOUR future and our job is to meet you where you are at.
Is this physically demanding?
Yes. Physical exertion is a huge part of soulswells. You will engage your abs, legs, arms and glutes and truly get an all over body work-out. One of the beautiful things about the ocean and the wind is that they truly force us to concentrate on connecting with mother nature and our bodies in order to get where we need to go.