My vision
To live a balanced and aligned life from an embodied place
Hello, my name is Shan Herron
I am forever a seeker of balance. Admittedly, it is not always an easy task and there is no end to this particular road, but the more I walk the path the more I see beauty along the way where once I saw struggle.
Breath has been an amazing and endlessly reliable companion on my journey. I keep on turning back to it when I go astray and so far it has never failed me.
As my biggest challenge is to quiet the harsh self-destructive and judging voices in my head, dropping down and into the body is my Saving Grace. Breath is the easiest accessible and most reliable way of connecting to my body and it has been the start of a a life long journey of awakening and personal growth that started 25 years ago.
Being raised in a family and culture of the Catholic Church, I have had my fair portion of conditioning. The “rights and wrongs” and “should’s and could’s” have been deeply ingrained in the cells of my body since I was a little boy and had to go to boarding school.
My early childhood experiences and upbringing had made me into a young man that was completely disconnected from his body, any kind of feeling or emotion, any purpose or direction, or any belief, worth or confidence in himself. I was ruled by the power of my mind and was living an inauthentic life.
Until I went to India and started living in the ashram of OSHO for a couple of years. That saved and radically changed my life.
“In Poona in India I had the first opportunity in my life to truly let go during a Breathwork session. It was the biggest relief of tears and grief I had ever experienced.”
That time in India with OSHO were the most exhilarating, freeing and alive years I had lived so far. I dove fully committed and dedicated into a field and a community of truth seekers and lived my days of doing therapy and encounter groups, practicing meditation every single day, and being part and in service of something so much bigger than I had ever experienced.
Then & there is also where my intimate relationship with Breathwork began. I remember the first session I had. Grief and tears were coming through after I tried to hold back because of two female facilitators. It was such a huge release. I felt grounded and had left go of a lot of frustration and feelings. It was my first opportunity in life to let go. You don’t get to do this in a yoga class I thought. “Where else are you going to find a space where you actually access emotions very quickly?”
I knew instantly that this was a tool I wanted to get to know as well as possible. At first mostly for the sake of my own well being, but later it turned out to become a passion to share this with other people. I work with the breath as a doorway back to what is essential, past what our mind believes to be possible and through old blockages in our heart and body.
Working with people in this way has been the most rewarding and humbling experience to me as it continues to show the wisdom and possibilities available to all of us that I, like many people, often doubt.
I am honoured to accompany others on this path of learning to breathe more fully and thereby learning to live more fully.
My values
In both living and working with people, I aspire to live by a couple of values that are highly important to me. I believe that the most primal and fundamental feeling of every human being is to feel safe. In my experience and perception there are a couple of qualities that I intend to embody to make myself and others around me feel safe.
Presence
I always intend to be as present as I possibly can be with myself or others. Presence to me means the felt sense of wakefulness, openness, and tenderness that arises when I am fully here and now with my experience. I can only truly listen, see and feel when I am fully present.
Humility
I will never try to sell you anything or convince you of anything. I don’t want to be placed on a pedestal. I don’t pretend to have all the answers. I know that I don’t know and that there exists a far greater intelligence than my limited mental intelligence. I try to get out of the way for truth and authenticity to surface.
Sensitivity
I have learned to welcome and embrace my level of sensitivity. I sense my environment very strongly and are receptive to take in and process information and feelings from other people. When fully present and as much out of the way as possible, I can guide what I sense and perceive in the way that creates the most expansion in the moment.
Care
When all the above mentioned qualities are present within me, I deeply care for myself, others and the world. I allow myself to be touched and from that heartfelt space, I intend to feel and spread loving kindness and compassion to all living beings.
My background
As for my background, I have been a passionate golfer since the age of 8. About 20 years ago I found myself simultaneously pursuing my love for this sport as a professional golf coach as well as embarking on an intense search for truth and meaning. My love for both of these seemingly different interests took me to India, Australia, Switzerland, Ireland, England and finally Spain, where I pursued them from many different angles and perspectives - from the physical to the psychological and to, most importantly, the spiritual. This time has taken me into discovering my personal blockages toward living life more fully and allowed me to keep on diving deeper into my place as a human being, as a man, as a partner and as a teacher. The path I have chosen keeps on humbling me and opening me up to the mystery and magic that life has to offer.
My current home and community
For the last 9 years of my life, I have lived and worked in a Conscious Community and Mystery School DIMA Mallorca. It was co-founded by my ex-partner and beloved friend Kanika Frings, and has the purpose of supporting ourselves and each other in living the truth of who we are. As a Mystery School it offers a curriculum to unlearn everything that is unreal and that we have accumulated throughout our lives that doesn’t serve us any longer. With a dedicated team, we love and choose to live our lives with people who share this deep longing for truth and are willing to do the “work”, both practically and spiritually in the School. I am forever grateful to call DIMA my home as it keeps on inviting me to show up every day and be the best man I can be.