Hola, I'm María, and I would love to accompany you on your journey of self-discovery and a more embodied self-expression.
Let me tell you a secret. I used to be a shy, subdued, people-pleaser, and in constant need of validation. Now, after a long journey of healing, questioning, unlearning and relearning, I am a confident, unrestrained, clear-thinking, authentic speaker.
I am not here to give you a blueprint on how to be more grounded and authentic in your expression and communication. Only you can find your own voice. But I can provide you with exploratory tools to find your own path towards an embodied self-expression in any language (included your non-native ones) you want to express yourself in.
Authentic self-expression became very important in my life when I realised how performative my expression was, how much I was seeking to fit it and how unseen I felt.
Being authentic means that you act in ways that show your true self and how you feel. I had to learn who my true self actually was because my expression had been so influenced by the need to be a nice girl, quiet, never rocking the boat, pleasing and accommodating others that I really didn’t know who I was. I only knew there was a disconnection between who I felt I was and how I expressed myself.
As a result, the belonging that I was so desperately seeking was unfulfilled. People didn’t know who I really was so they couldn’t relate to me.
With time, therapy, coaching and other means, I discovered who I truly was and how to express it.
I discovered how to feel grounded and safe enough to express myself wholeheartedly.
Authenticity is a survival need. –Gabor Maté
I am a poetry therapy practitioner, writer and educator. My work centres around the therapeutic use of language and poetry for self-discovery and grounded and embodied self-expression.
My trauma-informed approach combines experiential learning (embodied cognition) with neuroeducation, mindfulness, creative writing and poetry therapy.
Embodied cognition advocates that understanding involves acting with a physical body in an environment in which that body is immersed. Embodied bilingual (multilingual) language proposes that the way the body interacts with its environment influences the way a person thinks or creates mental images.[1]
Neuroeducation studies the activities that occur in the brain when individuals learn and apply this knowledge to improve the learning process. [2] Many studies argue that mindfulness practises are beneficial in the learning context.
Creative writing, like poetry, has a significant impact on the emotional connection the student develops with the language itself and helps increase their vocabulary and understanding the language rhythm and intonation.
Metaphor is embodied in language. – Dennis Potter
how can I serve you?
I work with Spanish language learners, multilingual seekers and language educators. I offer 1:1 coaching, group sessions, retreats, self-paced language courses, training for language teachers…
Click here to have a look at the different ways we can work together.
who am I?
I am a deep thinker, language lover and very interested in how the mind works, including authentic self-expression and poetry.
I call Spain and Ireland home. Spanish is my mother tongue, and English is the language I currently express myself better in, but they don’t tell the whole story, and certainly, they don’t exist in different boxes.
I am an introverted, multi-passionate person, and I panic whenever I have to give my “elevator pitch”. I am a human, and as such, who I am and what I do, do not fit in a box nor are static. But for clarity and connection’s sake, I work with languages, mostly Spanish. I write multilingual poetry and essays. I love dancing, moving my body and being in nature.
relevant education
• Trauma-Informed Teaching, delivered by educational consultant Ryhan Nadji (2022).
• Intercultural Awareness, HSE, Ireland (2022).
• “Understanding trauma and supporting the needs of people fleeing war and/or persecution”, webinar delivered by Jennifer Hayes, Department of Psychology, HSE, Ireland (2022).
• Poetry Therapy Practitioner by iaPoetry (2023).
• Emotional learning based on thought training by Instituto Cervantes (2017).
• Transforming Business, Society and Self with u.Lab (Online, MIT X, 2016)
• DELE and SIELE examiner by Instituto Cervantes (2014, 2016)
• Diploma Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language by Instituto Cervantes (2011)
• MA. in Scenery Arts by Universidad de Burgos. (2008)
• BA. in Humanities (Applied Languages) by Universidad de Burgos (2005).
Informal research and training in embodied/experiential learning, integrational lingüistics, identity, multiculturalism and multilingualism, creative writing.
