Dr Sarah Nicholson & Transformative Practice for Women
the big picture
I’m interested in exploring being human, human potential, flourishing, and “the good life”. And I’m particularly interested in what that looks like from the perspective of being a woman.
In my experience, meditation, psychoanalysis, deep reading, reflective thought, gratitude practices and following your bliss are good places to start and this website is a testament to those themes.
Writing
Initially, my PhD was inspired by the work of Joseph Campbell on the hero’s journey. I was driven by a sense of wonder and awe about the experience of life, alongside a curiousity and discomfort with how I fit into the picture as a woman.
My research began as an exploration of women in mythology and religion and became an exploration of the development of feminist spirituality from within the context of Integral theory and human evolutionary development, following the figure of woman as heroine from the ancient Archaic stage of human history to the burgeoning Integral stage
My Phd research has returned to its cocoon and I’m excited to be working on its transformation. My research will reincarnate later this year as on online experiential and theoretical program of ‘best practice’ for women’s development.
Curating
In Sydney, Australia, I run Transformative Practice: a curated program of talks and workshops focused on the joyful expansion of soul, the development of subtle awareness of embodiment, connection to spirit, the healthy integration of psyche and the cultivation of capacity for deep interpersonal connections.
Spiritual practice
My spiritual practice is of central importance in my life. Prominent among diverse practices and experiences has been my study and extensive practice in the traditions of Vipassana, Insight and Zen buddhism for over last fifteen years. I very happy to be extending on this at present as a member of the Insight meditation school’s Dharma Facilitators Programme.
Academic life
In my academic life, I’ve published and presented research nationally and internationally (including on a Greek Island). I have been a Visiting Scholar at York University in Canada and the Australian National University.
Presently, I am an honorary Postdoctoral Research Associate of Sydney University’s Department of Studies in Religion. Upcoming from SUNY Press is an anthology I have co-edited with Vanessa Fisher on Integral studies of sex, gender and sexuality.
Teaching
I teach religious and gender studies, meditation practice, spiritual, therapeutic and academic writing practice, at universities, local venues and on retreat. You can read more about my Women’s Integral Retreats by following the links above.
Integral theory
Not so long ago, in the Integral world, I worked with Integral Institute to present their first Women’s Integral Life Practice seminar at the Omega Institute in New York state alongside Zen teacher Diane Hamilton and yogini Sofia Diaz. I’ve been a presenter and an invited speaker on the topic Integral Feminism at the two Integral Theory Conferences hosted at John F Kennedy University in California.
Poetry
In a past incarnation I was a published and performing poet. I read poetry at festivals and, as the Ian Potter Cultural Trust Fellow for Literature in 2004 I studied poetry at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado.