Remembering Debbie Ford

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I first met Spiritual teacher, coach and writer Debbie Ford when I went on a retreat led by American Life Coach and author Cheryl Richardson in New Mexico in 2000. As part of her retreat programme Cheryl introduced us to an emerging spiritual teacher by the name of Debbie Ford who led the group through a spiritual process she called the Shadow Process. I remember the afternoon workshop as being intense and hard-hitting, which went against Ford’s stylish and almost model like demeanor.

It was not long before Debbie was a major teacher on the spiritual international teachers platforms. Sharing and headlining events with the likes of Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson and many other well established spiritual teachers. For years she was one of my must listen authors on Hay House radio. She was straight talking and possessed a no nonsense quality I appreciated perhaps influenced by her own journey of recovery from a drugs and alcohol addiction.

We met again almost ten years later when she came to speak at Alternatives in the UK for the first time about three years ago. I remember her as a warm and really open teacher who stayed behind until she had taken every photo and signed very book after a full on one-day workshop. This is not a quality or generosity we see in all of our speakers and her kindness stayed with me.

I was sad when I heard last year that she revealed on the Oprah OWN TV Super Soul Sunday series that she had been battling cancer for many over ten years and even sadder when I heard she had finally lost her battle and had passed away last month.

In her time she has done an amazing work from founding the Ford Institute For Transformational Learning where she trained people in the Shadow process to leaving behind an impressive body of work, which includes nine best-selling books.

My favourite Debbie Ford product was the Best Year Of Your Life card deck published by Hay House, that I still find extremely powerful and accurate every time I work with it even now.

None of us has the power to determine when our time is up and how we will depart. But we do have the power when we are alive to decide on the legacy and the impact we will leave behind us.

With the celebration of International Women’s day yesterday on March 8th I would like to remember and thank Debbie Ford for her TRANSFORMATIONAL work, for all the wisdom and healing she provided through her work on the Shadow process. Her work here may be done but her contribution and impact will not be forgotten. Her legacy I am sure will live on.

In remembrance of Debbie Ford (October 1^st 1955-February 17^th 2013).