Julian Russell

Online psychotherapy with embodied awareness; personal and executive coaching; a face-to-face practice in Totnes Devon; and workshops in several countries.

I grew up in the shadow of post-war trauma. Those difficult early years cracked me open in ways that, paradoxically, have slowly let the light in. Through my own healing journey, I have discovered that our wounds aren't obstacles to awakening—they're doorways. Every place we've been broken becomes a place where compassion can enter, first for ourselves, then for others walking similar paths. At fifteen, I realised that a better life might be possible. This early awakening led me through rich contemplative landscapes: Taoism, Zen, Tibetan Buddhism, mystical Christianity, and eventually to what I now practice and teach, embodied awareness. In parallel, I explored many types of psychotherapy as well as coaching modalities such as NLP, Generative Coaching and Creative Mind. I see coaching and psychotherapy as having three depths: cognitive understanding of your life-story; emotional healing; and bringing loving presence to somatic contraction and suffering.

The Heart of My Approach: Where Infinite Presence Meets Our Tender Wounds

Over the past decades, practitioners across disciplines—psychotherapists, meditation teachers, somatic healers—have been discovering the same truth: true healing happens when we unite body, mind, and awareness. We're discovering that true freedom comes not from fixing ourselves, but from a revolutionary act of presence.

My work rests on a simple yet transformative understanding: when we bring spacious awareness to the places where we hurt, a subtle magic can happen. This isn't about transcending our humanity—it's about embracing it fully.

Picture two movements happening simultaneously. First, we open to the vast mystery of being itself—that direct, visceral knowing that we are part of something infinitely larger than our personal stories. We taste this not through concepts but through our lived, breathing experience. Second, we turn toward the tender places within us—those old griefs and traumas our bodies have been faithfully holding, often for decades.

Here's where the alchemy occurs: When these two meet—when infinite awareness touches our finite pain with genuine curiosity and care, time and time again —something loosens. The armouring softens. The breath deepens. We stop fighting ourselves and start coming home.

This creates a beautiful paradox. As we offer our wounds the gift of unconditional presence, they begin releasing their grip on us. And as that old pain dissolves, we naturally open to experience more of life's inherent magnificence. The joy that seemed so distant becomes accessible —not because we've perfected ourselves, but because we've stopped demanding perfection.

My practice honours both the psychological and the spiritual, recognising them as dance partners rather than opposites. Real transformation happens when we embrace our full humanity while remembering our essential nature—when we honour both the need to heal and the truth that, at our core, we were never broken.

I have walked this path for over five decades: everything I offer has been tested in the fire of my own experience and continues to be tested – that is the glorious nature of being human.

My journey has been blessed by remarkable teachers. Decades of Aikido taught me presence in action; Five Rhythms dance taught me how to decongest my emotions; years as a close student of a Vajrayana Buddhist master familiarised me with bliss-emptiness. As a psychotherapist and executive coach, I've witnessed transformation in boardrooms and therapy rooms in Europe, America and Asia. Each encounter, whether with a board member in crisis or someone navigating profound loss, has deepened my trust in our innate capacity to heal and grow. Colin and Fanny held space for my unfolding with such presence, patience and love that these qualities of holding have become the foundation of everything I offer. Before he died, Colin made a simple request: pass on what you've received.

If you'd like to explore embodied awareness through individual work, please feel welcome to get in touch. http://www.lifetalent.com/