Elena Marjanna Stevenson

WHY WORK WITH ME

Parenting is the most wonderful and rewarding experience in the world, but can also be the most challenging, and the stumbling blocks can feel utterly overwhelming. I am a coach, educator, guide, troubleshooter, and mentor. I am here, and I have a solid foundation of experience, know-how and skills to offer that allow me to give you inspiration, support and practical ideas to help you and your child through the difficulties you may encounter.

For example, when:

• You struggle with breastfeeding your baby.

• You want to start weaning your child and introducing solid food.

• You want to start the journey of toileting.

• Your child is a picky eater and brings a lot of stress to the family table.

• Your child will not sleep.

• You are tired of tantrums and struggles.

• Your child is starting or changing childcare/school.

• You are moving house.

• You have separated and need to develop new routines with your children.

• There are conflicts between your children.

• Your family and/or friends are criticizing your way of parenting.

Or you would like input on these types of topics:

• You are a parent to be, seeking support in how to prepare yourself/selves for welcoming a new baby into your life/lives.

• You are a parent or a couple looking for support in developing habits of self-nurturing while you care for your child or children.

• You'd like to create a more nourishing and safe home environment.

• You are a parent seeking support in deciding which kind of education you wish for your child or you maybe you are contemplating home education as an alternative to formal education.

I can support you in becoming the parent you want to be!

This can involve:

• Practical input and specific tools to put into practice with the situations you are dealing with.

• Support in recognizing the needs of your child better and developing more nourishing ways of connecting with him/her.

• Support in understanding the dynamics between your children better and how to skillfully create more harmony in the everyday life of the family. Helping you understand what gets in the way of connecting with your child/children.

• Helping create a more nourishing family life experience.

• Support in the separation process between the baby/child and the mother.

• Support in the transition between home and childcare/school. Support in dealing with life-changing events within the family: birth, moving house, changing job/school/childcare facility, separation between parents, loss of a friend or relative, major financial changes.

• Support in creating an age appropriate home environment, which nourishes your child in his/her growth and development.

WHAT I DO

I offer three things:

• coaching sessions for parents, online or in person

• in-person mentoring sessions with young children as part of a home-education set-up or who need extra support

• in-person group sessions with children of all ages in groups, outdoors and in a prepared indoors learning environment.

In all situations I draw on my extensive training in education, particularly in Montessori education, and having been a head teacher in two schools, as well as many decades of experience in and knowledge of child development. I also use my long-standing mindfulness practice and my own experiences in raising three sons.

When working with parents, I offer practical, simple, and doable solutions to the issues that are present.

When working with children, I practice mindfulness, ie inner stillness, when I apply my educational skills. This is to help the child unfold, and to discover and develop his/her own magic and the magic of the world. One could say I practice the original meaning of the word education, which comes from educare, ie to bring forth.

When working with you as a parent, I listen, I reflect, and I share what I hear/see from you. I try to establish what your needs are, and I share my knowledge and insights. I will offer many specific actions as to how you can help your child unfold, how to deal with any issues, obviously particularly the ones that may have prompted you to work with me. Together we formulate strategies and choose suitable tools to meet your needs and/or those of your family.

I like to conduct my sessions in mindfulness, so will at times use the bell, to invite you to go back to your breathing and the present moment. If you are unfamiliar with mindfulness practice, I can teach you simple mindfulness techniques that will help you establish well-being, and be in a better space to enjoy being a parent, and meet the challenges that come with it. I will offer you simple Montessori tools that may support you and your child.

I am not a therapist and I do not offer treatment. What I offer is dialogue, and sharing my knowledge, skills and experience in parenting in mindfulness. If needed, I may be able to point you in the direction of other types of support that might be helpful to you and your situation.

My vision of parenting and education differs greatly from what is common today. It places the well-being of the child and the parents at the heart of everything. The insight that children and parents inter-are is fundamental and runs through every step of what I do.

My in-person work with children comes from an inner stillness, offering my presence and adult awareness so the child is and feels safe. One of the key practices in Montessori is to prepare the space, and the adult, to give the child the space and tools to unfold and discover the world and themselves. Similar to mindfulness, Montessori proposed the activity of silence to children, the joy of stillness. The purpose is to nurture the child’s innate love for silence, and they enjoy it.

One on one mindful Montessori mentoring

Mindful Montessori in the woods...

WHO I AM

I was born in Scotland and grew up in Denmark in a bilingual family. I am the mother of three sons, now young adults, born in Denmark, Scotland, and France. My education includes a Kindergarten teaching qualification from Copenhagen, Denmark, a Masters in Public Administration Cand.Scient.Adm from Roskilde University Centre Denmark, and a SCVQ level 5 in Early years Montessori Education (0-6 years) from the Montessori Partnership Scotland.

In Denmark, I have been active as an Early Years educator, parent coach, project manager of community projects for families and children. In Scotland, I taught Out of School Care staff, and was the Directress and manager of the Netherton Montessori school, and the Lead Practitioner and manager of the Wild Sparks Outdoor Nursery.

I have been practicing mindfulness in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh since 2001, and ordained in his Order of Interbeing in 2010. I have been part of the global Mindfulness in Education network since 2002 and the International and Montessori Europe network since 2018. I work as a Montessori educator and mindful parenting coach, and I am currently in the process of setting up the Flower Fresh educational center, which combines mindfulness and Montessori.

I live close to Plum Village, the monastery of Thich Nhat Hanh in the south of France, with my Dutch husband. Our two youngest children, now young adults, still live with us. We are a tri-lingual and quadro-cultural family and have lived in three countries. During their childhood and adolescence, all our three sons have been in public and private schools, and have had extended periods of being home educated, primarily by me, but my husband was very involved too.

You can read more about me and my story here...

WHAT PARENTS SAY

“Elena, you are a star! You helped me discover ways for me to take care of myself and my baby at the same time. This was a revelation to me and not anything that I had found in all the pod casts and blogs, which I had been engaging with during my pregnancy. Thank you, thank you, thank you." - Tine

“Elena, you were a life-saver through my time of weaning my baby off the breast and onto eating solid foods. Your deep understanding of the emotional upheaval this (weaning) brought to me as a mother was reassuring and helpful each time we spoke. I don’t know what I would have done without you." - Catalina

“Working with Elena has been a game-changer for our family. I can highly recommend Elena to anyone feeling stuck in a negative rut as a mother with young children”. Ella

"Elena is like The Magic Porridge Pot, unlimited creativity and inspiration pours out of her when I voice my struggles a home educator for my two young children, aged 2 and 4. As a home educator, I have become more organised, confident, more curious about learning and in general a happier person. Our children are content and our living together as a family has become a more joyful experience for us all." - Josie

"My experience as a mother has become a journey of joy and I am so grateful to have met you, thank you.” - Sarah

“You see me and understand the parent and partner that I want to be. You helped me become just that. Our weekly conversations and sharing are a great resource of inspiration and practical support” - Vibeke

“During our time of working with you, our daily tantrums and stress for both my husband and I were transformed into connection and a more flowing transition for everyone”. Mary

“The terrible twos was a traumatic time for me with my first child. Having Elena’s support for our second child has been a literal dream come true." - Kalindi.

“Je me suis sentie vraiment écoutée et comprise dans mon rôle de parent ; elle sait accompagner de façon positive en tirant toujours le meilleur de la situation et en focalisant sur les ressources et les forces." - Candice

You can read more extensive feedback from parents here...

Book A Session

Contact me to book a session, or for more information, or to book a free, 15-minute try-out session (Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp or FaceTime), during which we can explore what your needs are and how I can meet them.