MENTORING

Personal change doesn't come in a single shape or size. Yet we live in a culture that wants you to think healing and transformation can be found in the fast fix, the cure-it-all move which promises that if you buy this course, or sign up for this coaching package, after several long phone calls or watching a series of pre-recorded videos you'll be living the abundant and free life you've always wanted.

I'm imagining you're here because you know —
change doesn’t happen so easily.

I believe all deep change is relational. Like hardwood trees, it happens slowly. I believe that growth is also non-linear; that setbacks are part of the process and should not only be worked with but anticipated. That having a person who’s there to witness you with gentle, non-coercive and unconditional support is essential. I believe that the individual offering the personal support should also be in constant practice themselves in the spirit that the idea of teachers or gurus distracts from the process; that the only true relationship is one in which there’s equality and of vulnerability, collaboration and sharing.

But what I believe in more than anything is the importance of the willingness to explore deep, to go into all the frightening places most people don't want to go: our past wounds, the things we're ashamed about or that scare us — and to do so using our innate creative powers.

Because creative expression has immense
healing and transforming agency.

And because yours is unique in all the world.

I’m Hannah Lee Jones. Born to Korean immigrant parents who did their best but nonetheless left me with trauma, I moved through my early adult life trying to fill a deep void. I did it with money, relationships, achievements, drugs — the things people use to stuff their pain. The only problem was that for years I didn't even recognize what I was stuffing as pain.

By my late thirties, I'd gone through all the motions of adult life including a career and marriage, living a close-to-perfect life in a house in the country with a husband and house with a garden and a cat. It was at this time that I was ejected from life as I knew it. In the words of Joseph Campbell I was being called to an adventure where I’d be given a series of tests.

How do you know your adventure is waiting?
the first sign is that adventure isn't polite.
It doesn't knock. It enters the room and slams
its fist down on the table saying, DANCE.

For a long time I'd been drawn to nomadic travel. I bought an 11 x 5 tiny house on wheels and moved alone into the Utah desert. Whatever picture social media paints about the romances of van or camper life, there are fierce drawbacks. The wind, insects, rain. Crazy people. Things breaking. Trying to figure out where you're going to park for the night. Mice getting in your food (who carry the plague. And during COVID…as if one plague wasn't already enough).

I knew nothing about what I was in for and would never have gone out into the wilderness if I had. Doing it brought all the pain and unresolved trauma I'd been carrying into contact with the all-consuming fire of living. And it did it in a way that tested me to the core in my body and spirit and transformed me completely.

ADVENTURE (n.): the long-awaited arrival
of a notable event, person, or other thing.

Transformation is the most painful part of every journey. The hardest thing about it is that it doesn't happen all at once. It's not something you just "get out of the way." You're confronted with your demons in fits and starts, and because the entire world is a mirror for our unresolved wounds, you can only run so far from yourself. But over time, as I learned to welcome my demons and got to know them through my writing and somatic practice, I also got to know who I was before the world tried to recreate me in its image. Where I’d once been hard-edged, I was softened. Where I was closed, I became open and less afraid.

I cannot answer others when they ask me what journeys they're supposed to go on. My job as I see it is to help you listen to your inner voice, which holds all the wisdom you seek and could ever want. Speaking that voice into life is where the magic happens, and sometimes what we need is someone who will ask the right questions. What happened to you that made you close you off to yourself? What would it take to open?  What in your life needs to die in the fires of change so you can birth something new and beautiful from its ashes?

Let’s detox and shed everything
that wants to fall away.

AND let’s replace it with what’s alive. . .
. . .because your life wants you.

“I came to this work feeling extremely confused and scared and like there was no way through. Hannah helped me to look at my feelings and sit with my emotions so that I could better grasp how my past experiences were shaping my reactions in the present. If you are looking to discover your own definition of freedom and more deeply understand yourself, if you want to get more skilled at navigating the peaks and valleys of your life, Hannah is your guide.”

— kat (virginia, usa)

“I never thought I'd seek out spiritual guidance. But what Hannah offers is exactly what I've needed in my life — someone who would gently but firmly ask the tough questions and suggest new ways of looking at myself and my partner by examining the hidden beliefs that inform how we show up to our work and relationships. If you only want somebody who'll listen and agree with you, you won't get that with her. She's challenged me in ways nobody else has challenged me. As a result I feel stronger, more grounded, and more alive.”

— val (washington, usa)

"When I first met Hannah I'd been battling drug and alcohol addiction for years. There were many programs out there claiming to help with recovery without looking at what lives beneath all that suffering. hannah helped me confront the particularly icky bits I'd been avoiding though a diverse approach that included poetry, readings, time in wild nature — whatever felt appropriate to where I happened to find myself, which seemed like it was always changing. She helped me understand the language of my nightly dreams, even sang me songs that spoke straight to my soul and soothed my fears and anxieties. You begin to realize that healing can happen in so many ways. I've regained confidence in myself and found beauty and peace in my life."

— simon (northern ireland)

"Hannah helped me show up as I truly am, not as I think I’m supposed to be. By witnessing my past and meeting me where I was in the present she made me believe that I matter, that my story matters, and that all my pain and struggles are an essential part of something meaningful. Her journaling prompts helped me connect with that bigger story and gave me a space in which I could share those parts of myself. She always seems to know exactly what your heart needs and speaks truth over whatever you're working through. She's truly on the path of the seeker, knows the pain of what it’s like on a lonely and dark road. And she's an invaluable wealth of wisdom to anyone willing and ready to go on the frightening but beautiful journey back to their true selves."

JULIE / (california, usa)

"Hannah is an active listener and self-healer who's done a lot of inner work just living she way she lives. She's acquainted with modalities such as the Enneagram and shamanic practice and will point the way if you wish to take the work deeper on your own. There's also a magic to how she holds space: her words are soft but strong in the way they make you understand and retain her message. she's someone who will tell things to you straight while sharing about her own struggles knowing that we’re all on the path to freeing ourselves. My personal retreat time with her was a pivotal moment in my growth as a person. I've furthered my own inner process with tools she's given me, tools I'll be using for the rest of my life."

MARINA / (colorado, usa)