the hummingbird way
a path of inner and outer transformation
There are lavender bushes outside my office window, and hummingbirds come to them. Like many of us, I marvel at them.
I have always loved hummingbirds, but my passion grew to a whole new level when I learned that in several Indigenous traditions, the hummingbird is a symbol of rapid, collective transformation. And rapid, collective transformation is what I want for us more than anything.
infinite good
For decades, I have been asking myself how I can help during these times of so much suffering and so much potential. What gradually came to me was a path based on the infinity symbol.
Years later, I learned that a hummingbird's wings trace the shape of the infinity symbol over and over again, so quickly that we can't see it. This made me love hummingbirds even more and helped me understand that they are a guide for us.
To me, one loop represents caring for ourselves, and the other caring for the world.
Put another way, one loop is about inner work, and the other is about outer work. Inner work includes everything from exercise to psychotherapy and spiritual practice, and outer work ranges from buying locally grown food to boycotting and voting.
When we embrace both loops, our path becomes good for us and good for the world. The Hummingbird Way is life-giving and helps us co-create a beautiful future.
a way of seeing, not a system
This way of thinking often shows up in the work I do with people—not as a system to adopt, and not as something you need to believe in. It simply informs how I listen and how I may support you, and it tends to surface organically rather than as a structured practice.
Many of the people who find me are already giving a great deal—to their families, their communities, their work, and the world. Some are close to empty.
The Hummingbird Way does not ask them to give more.
It invites us to discover that the giving and the being given to can be part of the same movement. That caring for ourselves can nourish our capacity to care for others, and that meaningful contribution can itself become a source of nourishment.
This way of thinking can find its way into psychotherapy naturally. Sometimes our work is primarily about healing and self-care. Sometimes it opens into questions of purpose, service, and how you want to participate in the world.
The hummingbird's wings keep moving in both directions.
So can we.