Tag: sketchnoting

A NOTE FROM CHRISTINA

Hello from the west coast of Canada in rainy March. No real snow this winter; however, the rain is stubbornly consistent, as is customary for a temperate rain forest this time of year. When I go for walks, it’s dramatic, even gothic. Dripping in moody moss and stark sculptural branches. Atmospheric like the British novels… Read more »


GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT: DAVID TIEJIE

david tiejie, Visual Coach standing in front of Arizona's redstones.

I came to Christina’s work via her alliance with Anneke Lucas in Shifting the Power. That program was intense. At first, I didn’t think I was in the right place. However, as I stayed with it, my eyes really opened to power dynamics and trauma. Not only power dynamics in our world overall, but also… Read more »


A NOTE FROM CHRISTINA

Christina Merkley in a gray sweater with puppy Presley on her lap smiles at the camera with her drawing tablet and course group on the computer in the background.

It’s been a busy time. Anneke Lucas and I, with an amazing international cohort, just wrapped a 10-Week Processing Group. We worked right through the holidays, even on Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Offering community to Survivors through a period of time that is traditionally difficult. Tomorrow, we move into our Level 2 of Shifting… Read more »


GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT: ANNA ENGSTROM

Anna and I first met in 2012 through my collaboration with Ask Theo. Helping Sheila Gillette (the pioneering medium who coined the term “5D”) and her family team make the shift from an old-school travelling schedule to working online (back in the tele-meeting days before Zoom… yes, I’m that old). While Sheila was the star… Read more »


GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT: SARAH HERD

Certified Visual Coach graduate spotlight on Sarah Herd from the UK. Sarah smiles at the camera in a blue sweater against an oyster colored background of original art.

As an HR Executive and a Digital leader, Sarah is well-versed in large system change. In her corporate leadership role, she’s responsible for large digital transformation projects across HR … sometimes several at the same time! It was my sacred task in Visual Coach Certification to hold space for her. Give her the room, resources,… Read more »


A NOTE FROM CHRISTINA

A Note From Christina, August 2025 Banner has a whimsical fallen cross-section of a log with a smiling face. Surrounded by bright green leaves.

A nice respite. Enjoying the West Coast summer. Cheers! I celebrated my moon child birthday. I am conveniently bad with time, so they are amorphously blending into one another nowadays. My friends, even the doggedly left-brain ones, know not to remind me which one I’m on! I had a lovely time in Parksville on Vancouver… Read more »


A NOTE FROM CHRISTINA

Sliding into summer in the Pacific Northwest. Our backyard bank of St. John’s wort has erupted into a sea of yellow. Watching the first bloom emerge, then the winnowing down to the last. Such a wave of exuberant beauty that I delight in each year! The so-called little things in life that summon immense pleasure.… Read more »


GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT: JAN RICHARDS

Visual Coach Certification Graduate Spotlight banner with Jan Richards smiling at the camera. She is in white with auburn hair and against a backdrop of blurred fall foilage.

Today’s grad, Jan Richards, is located in Silicon Valley (where I was based in the 90s). A longtime business consultant and former National Baldridge Examiner, she’s a Grove Consultants aficionado (my former employer back in the heady dot-com days). Jan knows the efficient practicality of ‘working visually’, having successfully used the Grove’s Strategic Visioning and… Read more »


LUXURY TO TALK

Sit with Christina: YouTube cover shows Christina Merkley with Ana and a visual map blue artword in the background. Luxury to Talk episode

[Non-Dual Self Inquiry] Luxury to Talk – Ana Sits with Christina Merkley Video: ? Visual Map: Luxury to Talk – Early Years Summary: We begin with what is – meeting Ana’s current relationship to motherhood. Sadness connected to her own desire and ambivalence, and a series of contradictions and polarities with her own mother. The… Read more »


A NOTE FROM CHRISTINA

A Note from Christina June 2025 banner shows vibrant closeup of hot pink rhododendrun flowers in Victoria British Columbia

Oh my. These are intense and shifting times, are they not?! As The SHIFT-IT Coach, I continue to shift too. In my personal life, I continue to support my parents to age in place. For privacy reasons, I won’t go into details, but suffice to say, this context adds a bittersweet component. One of the… Read more »