ABOUT Us
Sambhava is focused on authentic living and embodied well being through holistic practices and plant guides. The origin of Sambhava is to be self born, and speaks to the path each individual takes. Like the lotus, buried beneath the deepest parts of ourselves, our journey emerges into our fullest expression.
We believe that everyone has a path that is in full alignment with their authentic self, and when we walk this path, life is a beautiful and deeply fulfilling journey.
For some of us this may mean small adjustments to get back in alignment, for some of us, it may be transformational shifts. Whatever the recalibration may look like for you, we are here to support with a holistic approach that integrates Eastern and Western wisdom traditions alongside plant guides to cultivate and embody your authentic self.
We are here to guide you with gentle strength and an open heart.
We are Alison AND Jennifer
Co founders of The Sambhava Path
AND Sisters
Growing up with a Celtic father and Chinese mother, we were exposed to both Eastern and Western traditions. Our lived multicultural experience gives us insight and a wide lens into cultural nuances and the seed of wisdom that connects them all. Our secular approach to wellness and spirituality is inclusive and guided by direct experience.
We had an unconventional upbringing, and both our parents have walked a spirited path. Our father traveled to Japan from Canada in the 70’s to take his vow at a Zen monastery. He was turned away, as the monastery did not accept gaijin (foreigners). Subsequently his life took a different path, and he found out the following year that the monastery had taken in their first gaijin. He was a year too early! His 4 decades long daily yoga practice instilled in us a dedication to the path. To this day, he still wakes to do his morning practice and recite the heart sutras. Our mother brought us up in the Tibetan Buddhism tradition, and our childhood was wrapped in incense, mantras, meditation, alters and white khata. She overcame liver cancer when we were children in what she says was sheer will from herself and prayer from monks in Tibet. We are forever humbled from witnessing this devotion and faith.
From our father we learned church is in the mountains and nature.
From our mother we learned healing is in our hands and resides within.
Since the late 80’s, we have babbled about life. Sharing insights, self discoveries, being each other’s sounding boards, and holding space for each other. To witness and support each other is one of the greatest privileges in this lifetime. We were born to bridge the worlds of the East and West, and guide and witness others in the path home to self. We now open and extend an invite for you to join our sangha (community).
Alison Cromie
Co-Founder
I have dedicated myself to creative and compassionate living.
I am lit up by connection - to self, to others, to spirit, and have always lived in the wonder and mystery. Being introduced to yoga and Tibetan Buddhism early in my childhood became the foundation of my personal practice, and I weave yoga, meditation, reiki, theta healing, sound, intuitive guidance and nature based practices to nurture connection.
My fascination with the collective human experience led me to a Social Science degree. Since then, I completed my Yoga Teacher Training, Yoga Nidra Teacher Training and Plant Medicine Immersion, Advanced Theta Healing, Reiki 1&2, The Way of Circle Facilitators Training and Mystery Mentorship.
I have been working with sacred mushrooms for many years and experienced firsthand the ally ship mushrooms has with support, alignment, and transformation. I also work with cacao, and am dedicated to creating the most nourishing medicinal organic chocolate with adaptogenic plants and mushrooms. Through my own experience of life’s adversities and grief, my continued relationship with sacred plants and mushrooms opened my field of awareness to be able to respond with insight and acceptance. As a HSP (highly sensitive person), I understand the overwhelm and effects that interpersonal relationships and environments can have, and have cultivated practices to support my sensitivities that I openly share.
Our journey is not linear, but meandering, and each point on the path may require our attention in a different capacity. My intention is to assist others to tap into the wellspring of innate wisdom to live a beautiful and meaningful life by offering tools and wellness modalities that will attune oneself to an inner compass.
I guide, whether a 1 hour session or retreat, with the same reverence for spirit and ceremony. To gather in ceremony is an invitation for presence, to drop into heart space, support an opening of subtler bodies, and a celebration and acknowledgement of our interconnected nature.
It is my honour to live and share an attunement to rhythms, cycles and seasons, and be in natural ways of relating, witnessing in reverence our individual expression on this collective journey.
JENNIFER Cromie
Co-Founder
Raised by a Buddhist and Chinese mother, I underestimated these philosophies deeply embedded in me from childhood until I started travelling the world and living abroad. While living in western Europe for 6 years, the return to my roots in eastern wisdoms grew stronger and stronger. Drawing inspiration in the Himalayas where I studied buddhism at Tushita centre, the teachings gave structure to my years of personal exploration for happiness and inward journey of awareness.
When I tried psychedelics for the first time over 5 years ago, I had a lot of fears on how it would damage me. Having struggled with severe mental health and suicide for over a decade in my teens and 20s, I was afraid to break the pieces that I had so carefully crafted back together. With the support of my partner, I jumped down the rabbit hole at a music festival rich with art, music, and nature.
To my relief, I did not break. What I found instead, was a beautiful alternate landscape, that had always existed inside me. This reality within my reach, and available to me anytime. Yes there were cracks, but like the ancient Japanese belief of Wabi Sabi, there was beauty in my imperfections. All it takes is one experience of an altered state of consciousness - through psychedelics, meditation or breathwork - to realise that your reality is not always what it seems, and that you have the power to awaken that beautiful alternate landscape anytime.
For the last ten years, I followed the current and worked the corporate 9 - 5, from the international brand of Burberry in London to a billion dollar Tech company IPO’ing in Berlin. Although rewarding and afforded my blessed lifestyle, I still searched for deeper meaning in my life. After a heart break and wake up call, I studied coaching under Alex Cabon, founder of Synapse France, driven to finally share my personal transformation and approach to life.
The personal musings of my inward journey have always remained private - floating through my thoughts, splashed across my journals, a brief moment on my lips to friends. Amused by my own mind, I lean into the experience and observe. Watching my fears in slow motion, do I have the choice to walk a different path? Yes. Yes to having gratitude and letting go of the fear that once served me, but now only blocks me. I bring awareness to make a conscious decision to take the new path that brings joy, love and compassion to myself and others.
Our values
-
Compassion
Lead with the heart and allow love to be the driving force in life. Explore how compassion can expand and make space to give and receive.
-
Curiosity
Bring curiosity into awareness by leaning into the experience, then take a step back and observe and ask questions with childlike wonder.
-
Respect
Hold a standard of integrity and accountability in all your actions. We recognize we each have an innate drive to exist, be seen and be valued for our true selves.
-
The Middle Way
Everything is impermanent. Live in the present moment without attachment or aversion to the outcome.
TESTIMONIALS