Coming Home1

I see you dear sister.

You are yearning to feel release - release from tension, release from perfectionism, release from always feeling like you are going to get it wrong, that you will never be enough.

What if I told you that you could feel joy, wonder, connection every day?

Coming Home gives you access to fresh ideas, new ways of being, a new way of life.

I know you have been looking for something that nurtures you in ways that are unique to you.

What if I told you that I have created a really beautiful space

where you can breathe, take stock, renew, and discover?

AND that you can do that through poetry and deeper connections with other women who accept you as you are, healing the sister wound and ultimately ALL of your key relationships.

I have such confidence in my offer. This is the fourth time I have taken women through this process and each time, their lives have opened up in these ways and ways they did not even expect.

As we move towards warmer, longer days Coming Home offers you a unique opportunity to:

Increase your presence and awareness, and shed anxiety and fear
find the essence, and increase the potency, of your message and leave behind the feeling of not being good enough once and for all
get breathing space and creative time for yourself, stimulation for your mind, body and spirit, freeing you from feeling drained and demotivated
be empowered, supported, inspired and loved - by working with other creative women in circle helping you to release your true voice, confidently and vibrantly.
discover new aspects of yourself, and new ways of seeing the world as a result

All of this from a poetry course???

Yes indeed.

Because this is a not a poetry course.

Yes, you will discover some incredible poets and write (and share) poems in circle.

That is guaranteed.

But what makes this different is my desire and my commitment

to 'Project You',

'Project Us'

and 'Project More Beautiful World'.

I want you to embrace the wonder of you,

to let go of the worn out old version of you.

So that you can feel safe, secure and confident.

So that you know with utter certainty that your life has a unique purpose

and you are doing it!

Frankly, it's time to get really intimate with yourself, and speak out with sisters who have your back.

To Come Home to ALL that you are.

Poetry.

Sisterhood.

Circle.

Me. You.

Module 1 (March) - Arriving in yourself

Poetry of Hope

How do we respond when things feel like they are collapsing? How do we see that a new way is being birthed from the death of the old? How do we slow down enough to see and retrieve the beauty of the world?

Exploring the work of contemporary UK poets Jean Sprackland, Linda France and Kathleen Jamie we can learn a new way of relating to the natural world, go beyond the limitations of time into deep time and emerge with a new poetics for this age.

Jean Sprackland 'Tilt' (2007)

Kathleen Jamie 'The Overhaul' (2012)

Linda France 'Startling' (2022)

Module 2 (April) - Awakening to all you are

Poetry as the making of new myths.

Twentieth Century American poets H.D (Hilda Dolittle), Marianne Moore, and Adrienne Rich all sought to transcend what was possible for women through their poetry. We will explore how revisiting some of their work can help us be more precise in our language, transform the ordinary into a vehicle for a wider message, and through exploration and story-making retrieve the submerged self.

H.D 'Sea Garden' (1916)

Marianne Moore 'Observations' (1924)

Adrienne Rich 'Diving into the Wreck' (1973)

Module 3 (May) - Actualising your full potential

Poetry as revelation

What is it to be a woman in this place and time? Through exploration of passionate poems of protest by Louise Erdrich, Audre Lorde and Ben Okri we learn how to transmute fear and rage into healing and renewal. We learn to tell the truth, and find the magic in the truth. We find our 'tiger spirit' and save the world through our love.

Audre Lorde 'The Black Unicorn' (1976)

Louise Erdrich 'Jacklight' (1996)

Ben Okri 'Tiger Work' (2023)

"What I know, I know through making poems" - Adrienne Rich

"Poems do not simply express. They make, they find, they sound...things undiscoverable by any other means." Jane Hirshfield

So how do you get to know yourself so well that you are excited about encountering the world with so much awareness and presence that you meet yourself in wonder and delight?

Over a period of my 63 years on the planet, including 37 years as a mother and teacher, I have discovered that 'now' is a moment of great potency, and we humans waste so much energy worrying and creating false narratives that take us into a false past and non existent future. I believe in the power of direct experience, and that earth is a school where we study an individual curriculum designed uniquely for us. Some lessons are easy, some extremely challenging.

I have always been a seeker and discoverer. But over the past five years I have had a series of powerful 'wake up calls' or 'initiations' which have taken me deeper into myself, teaching me the purpose of my life and the nature of reality - completely changing my life and my relationships. I have worked with a series of teachers and mentors who have helped me to navigate my way and see clearly the way forward.

I have been a poet and in love with poetry all of my life. I fell in love with language as a child listening in wonder to my father's made up stories. English was always my favourite subject at school because there was nothing I loved more than to listen to poetry read aloud by a great teacher. Later to write my own poems and stories felt to me like pure magic, but this began in one special moment when I was given permission to write, and a possible audience. My life began at 17 with that invitation to write a poem. Later I went on to teach poetry in schools and my own alternative education projects, specialising in using poetry to connect once anxious teenagers to their true selves. I have more recently studied poetry to Master's level and worked with some of the best English poets writing today.

What I now know is that poetry is the soul expressing itself. It's a place where you can find the perfect container to hold your truth, and in finding new ways to express this to then grow in confidence, take up the space in the world that is yours. Coming Home is to come home to yourself, to feel a sense of belonging, safety and confidence - to love yourself, and to feel unity with all of creation.

'When the student is ready the teacher appears'. We cannot do this alone. Well, we could, but this would not lead to knowing, and is actually the way of struggle.

I am dedicated to providing experiences which allow me to work my special magic blend of teaching, guiding, challenging, understanding and sensing so that others - and right now this is women like you - can find themselves and do things their way. This is where the fun and flow begins to be a main feature of your life and not a distant dream. It is my life's purpose to guide you to this place.

In 3 live poetry workshops a month (9 in all) we explore the work of 9 inspirational modern and contemporary poets to find inspiration and containers for your own truth to flow into and from.

One week in 4 will be a week to integrate the learnings, and work on drafts of poems.

The workshops will be on Tuesdays (first 3 of each month) from 5 pm to 7 pm GMT. Starting on 5th March.

One 1:1 session with me to be taken at any point during our 3 months together. Choose between

- a Poem Clinic, where we delve into one of your poems and tweak it for maximum impact

- OR a coaching session to help you get clarity on any issue that has arisen for you

A dedicated group to post work in progress and receive feedback.

Detailed feedback on your poems (optional).

Course 'workbook' consisting of 9 sets of slides, each with a bonus exercise - lifetime access.

Coming Home is one of the best things I've ever done - it has unlocked parts of me that I didn't know were there, brought inner healing and understanding.

I feel blown away by the poems that I have produced - almost as though someone else wrote them. I feel confident, inspired and motivated. I have learned that poetry is inside of me and is a wonderful way of expressing my own voice and deep inner and outer truths. I have found it to be a powerful portal for change and I am so inspired by this new gift - thank you Alison. I have learned that I have a strong voice - and that I have the ability to express myself clearly. I have a newfound confidence.

It has given me and my marriage a new lease of life!

Linda Hurr

YOU HAVE OPENED A DOOR FOR ME. IT’S REALLY OPENING MY HEART.

I want to thank you Alison from my deepest heart. The amazing work and the full heart you are pouring into it. I am just overwhelmed and so grateful. I don’t know what possessed me to click the register button, I never wrote a poem I my life. Though I love poetry I wasn’t even reading any poetry. I have so enjoyed being with all of you amazing women and the beautiful poems you are writing. It is bringing great comfort, thank you very very much Alison and each and every one of you for the love in this space.

Karin Huber, Women's Empowerment Practitioner

THE WRITING I PRODUCED CAME FROM A DEEPLY AUTHENTIC PLACE AND SUPPORTED ME TO HEAL WOUNDS AND GIVE REVERENCE TO MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.

The container Alison creates is fertile ground for your creativity. The poems chosen were diverse and inspirational. This empowered us all to create vulnerable, powerful work. Alison is an incredible teacher and the Sisters you will meet on this journey will lovingly witness your transformations. I was held, heard and seen, a gift that will stay with me far beyond this year!

Ellie Coakley Sigl, Council Facilitator, Oracle and Reiki Master

I'm grateful that this opportunity is altering and expanding my cosmic paradigm, and I am excited for what we'll be doing and creating, individually and collectively, too. This experience is taking me home to myself, but it's a me beyond any prior self concept.

I'm feeling more tied to myself and my creation of the reality I inhabit. Although I still have anxious moments I am becoming better able to navigate among these and the situations that have triggered them. I know I have more work.to do, but I feel, thanks to Alison's inspired direction, I am making some significant headway.

The combined creative energy in the group is like a dynamo. I felt so energized. It's way more than emotional support. I am heartened by that as well as inspired.

Jan Richards, Writer and Artist

At some point through this 3-month journey, I saw all at once, all the moments of suppressing my voice. Alison opens up whole new worlds for us all to explore through poetry – and it’s awe-inspiring, surprising, endlessly mind bogglingly fascinating. Working in this way together as a group of creative women is incredibly potent! I love, love, love it!

Coming home is always a delight and surprise. The pause before the creation.

Coming home allows me to express myself. I have no idea what will emerge as I am sat poised with pen and paper. It's a mystery.

I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Jo Durkin, Poet

I have found not just a new ‘voice’ but a new ‘me’ who is speaking from the heart.

I found very quickly that I was being gifted a whole new world, and a whole new way of ‘reading’ poems. Alison helped us to see, hear and interpret the poets’ words.

And then I was so delighted to be encouraged to feel my way into creating my own poems- gently and sensitively, Alison helped me express myself in ways I never knew I could grasp. I believe this was largely because of the carefully graded steps that we were introduced to. Steps of structure and technique that gave us tools to build a framework onto which we could hang our own emotional content. The structure that we could build easily by following examples, left our creative minds the freedom to be honest and open with our own personal content.

For me this has been a powerful journey of both a new field of creativity and a new period of self awareness and personal development.

Coming Home’ was so much more than I had hoped for.

Liz Doyle, Artist

I’m feeling connected, Inspired, liberated from my “I’m not good enough “ & "I’ve got too much going on" mode. The workshops have been like an anchor in a stormy sea. Feels like I’ve come home to myself again.

I realised that:

I don’t give myself enough credit for the poetry I write, that I still have worthiness issues.

That what I channel into my poetry is powerful!

That I don’t have to understand everything or know what to write- just be open to receive and write down what flows through me.

This is such a beautiful, uplifting, supportive, energising, inspiring and empowering space and circle - So very grateful to be part of this’

Tracy John, Artist and Teacher

I am Alison Smith, Radical Alignment Coach, Creative Consultant for visionary women and founder of the Women's School of Metamorphosis. As a qualified counsellor and coach I am dedicated to your inner process. I create the conditions for you to see yourself, know yourself, love yourself. And ultimately feel more fluent in your encounter with the world.

I believe that you already have the answers you are seeking, and they are waiting to be discovered. You are the expert, you are the Sovereign Queen and King of your life. You need a creative space where you are held unconditionally so that the unfettered, unfiltered truth can be revealed. I hold that space - where you are free to explore, experiment, envision with me as your guide, support and catalyser. Together we dance in the moment, exploring the light and the shade, creating a new reality for you step by step.

As a poet and teacher I am passionate about the power of creativity to transform how we interact with the world and express our deep truths. Poetry provides a container for your truth, making it clear, powerful and beautiful. Giving you the power to connect with others heart to heart.

Coming Home:

A 3-month journey to you,

using poetry as a portal of transformation.

This is for you if you want to :

All of this from a poetry course???

I want you to embrace the wonder of you,

The Modules

What you get

What women have said about Coming Home...