Meet Life Coach, Grandmother, and Expedition Leader, Lynne Whitesides

Lynne is a Salt Lake City-based life coach who specializes in personal growth,  interpersonal relationships, and spiritual development. She works with women, men, children, couples and also those from the LBGT Community.  

Long interested in how the human mind works, Lynne, at age 24, started a period of self-education, reading about Jung and Freud.  Over the years, she has studied extensively in the fields of psychology, spirituality, nutrition, and the brain.   She’s inspired by the works and lives of people like Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller, Rumi, Anne Lamott, Buddha, Madame Curie, and Martin Luther King Jr. 

In 1993, Lynne started working with a therapist, and was invited to join a group called Social Group Work Processing.  She is now a certified Social Group Work Facilitator, and has participated in this weekly training for the past thirteen years.
Last year, she became an expedition leader for Choice Humanitarian and is leading a group to Guatemala.  Says Lynne of Choice, “I love their philosophy. They don’t go into a village thinking they are there to save the villagers. What they do is an actual exchange of ideas and sharing of experience between the expeditioners and the villagers. This volunteer work is a win-win situation and our groups often learn more from them then they do from us.” Recently, she has been to both to Peru and Costa Rica on personal spiritual retreats.  In addition to all of this,  Lynne is the mother of three grown children and three granddaughters.  Says Lynne, "They are all really, amazing, bright, funny people. I am grateful for everyone I have met, the paths I took and my life as it is. The work I do here with my clients makes each day rich and joyful.”

Lynne's upcoming Vision Board Workshop takes place in Salt Lake City on December 8.  More details about it here.

1.  Are you in a tight place?  If so, what are you trying to do about it?

I'm not in a tight place, but I am thinking about making some changes in my life.  What I'm thinking about doing is simplifying, mostly because I want to travel more.  I'm thinking about selling my house, for one thing.  I want to go to Peru a little more often.  I do down there and do ceremonies, and I work with a shaman when I'm there.  I'm leading a trip to Peru on the 19th of January.  I'll take about 15 people down and we'll spend two weeks.  A woman who I met 12 years ago is doing a reforestation project there.  This will be my third year going and it's changed my life so much.  It's really fun. It's the way life ought to be.  It's totally relaxed, plus someone else is doing all the cooking.

2.  What do you want to get done this year?

I don't know how much I can get done by the end of this year, but for the long term, I have a lot of plans. When I turned 60 last January, I realized that I had started the last part of my life and I decided to have as many adventures as I could possibly have.  Helen Keller said, "Life is an adventure, or nothing at all."  I want to hike Machu Picchu, for one thing.  I want to do some travelling with my grandkids who are a little young right now.  I sing a lot of ceremony songs to them.  I'd also really like to meet someone and have a partner again. 

3.  What inspires you?

One of my biggest inspirations is Rumi.  I'm also reading Hafiz.  They're Sufi poets.  They inspire me.  Being on the earth takes a lot of courage and everyone should have a gold star just for showing up.  People finding their hearts really inspires me, those who step out of bigotry and into acceptance.  Those kinds of things really inspire me and show me how to change my life for the better.

4.  What's your favorite legwear?

I like to wear patterened leggings.  Whole Foods has a whole new line of them.  One of goals this weekend is to find a new pair of leggings.   My ideal outfit is leggings, sweaters, and boots.