Featured Contributor
Sandra Wallin
Mindset and Belief Change FB page: https://www.facebook.com/Sandra-Wallin-721612084596545
Sandra Wallin, BSc, BEd, MA, RCC
Founder of Chiron’s Way
Sandra grew up in the rainforests of British Columbia, riding bareback through ancient cedars and mountain streams. There with the horses, and in nature’s classroom, she learned another way to listen and to lead; a way she’s been teaching in schools and organizations for over 30 years.
As a lifelong learner, Sandra is currently working toward a doctorate in Ecopsychology. She has been a psychotherapist since 1996 and was a schoolteacher and counsellor for over twenty years, creating the first school-based Horse As Teacher program in Canada. Her extensive background in nature-based and equine guided wellness, expressive therapies, the transformation of trauma, and the science, psychology and spirit of change have inspired invitations to teach and lecture around the world.
Sandra became passionate about Belief Change Psychology after a riding accident left her unconscious and broken. Unable to get out to the horses, she began to use with herself, the processes she’d been sharing with clients. Her healing progressed exponentially; body, mind, and spirit. As a result, she now integrates these transformational processes in her Chiron’s Way programs, teaching students how to use their subconscious minds to become more horse conscious, and in turn, create and live the lives they’ve imagined, with their horses and beyond.
Sandra has worked with power companies including Microsoft and helped students who have been bullied become power-full. She has been featured at medical symposiums alongside Nobel Prize Winner – Candace Pert and thought leader scientist – David Suzuki. Most recently, at the request of friend and mentor Dr. Bruce Lipton, author of The Biology of Belief, Sandra has been teaching at a local prison, helping groups of men serving life sentences break free from the prison of their limiting beliefs.
Though she has worked and studied with many amazing people, Sandra says her most influential teachers have been horses, whom she credits for taking her, and the people she works with, to heightened levels of awareness and growth.
Today, Sandra and her four horses walk more than ride through the ancient cedars that grow on a little piece of heaven near Vancouver, Canada where she lives with her husband, two daughters, and two hundred and twenty pounds of drooling mastiff. What began as a childhood dream has turned into a dream come true – a dream she happily shares – living, loving and learning in the company of horses.
To join her in the field, go to www.chironsway.com
The Meaning of Chiron’s Way…
When I first began to think of a name for my business, I did all of the traditional story boarding, reading and researching but nothing felt quite right. I loved the idea of the centaur but my initial investigations uncovered information that was not in keeping with my vision for this “work”. I then attended a lecture by a woman who spoke of Chiron as the Wounded Healer. After a few introductory statements, the name Chiron’s Way popped into my head. As I continued to listen to his story, I knew I had found my name.
Greek mythology tells of a centaur who was a master philosopher, one of the first ecologists, a holistic healer and a mentor of heroes. His multidisciplinary teaching brought out the best in each individual, fostering their greatest talents in a way that integrated the mental, physical, spiritual and relational energies of each.
Chiron’s role is that of a bridge between our socially defined conditioned self and the awakening of our greatest potential. He becomes a model for synthesis, connecting us with our individual journey, melding the cultural split between instinct and intellect, and conveying new ideas which catalyze change for tomorrow while drawing from the established strength of today.
In a nutshell, Chiron teaches us to find strength in the wound, transmuting old pain so we can exemplify the mastery of a specific life lesson. By working through and finding these strengths, everyone whose life we touch benefits by example. This is true heroism and one of the wounded healer’s greatest gifts.