joojinta is a developmental field for adults who sense that something deeper is possible in how they live, lead and relate
coaching
for people wishing to more fully integrate what they do with who they are.
‘Human freedom involves our capacity to pause, to choose the one response toward which we wish to throw our weight.'
Rollo May
individual coaching
‘We arrive at a pause from whatever has come before... we leave having regained perspective and the capacity to move again’
Grace Coaching
team coaching
‘Sometimes you need to press pause to let everything sink in.’
Sebastian Vettel
walking pauses
Spending time in the company of a coach who knows how to hold space for and resource that kind of pause has, for each of our founders, been a vital part of our journey towards living in a way that we believe reflects who we are, and how we make sense of the world in which we live, work and spend time with those whom we love.
All of our joojinta coaches and collaborators are deeply committed to working in this way. Whether you wish to work with them for one session, for several years, or anywhere in between, they will bring to the conversation the level of attention and presence that will allow you to discover what you need to discover.
Individual coaching sessions are often, but not always, carried out online. Team coaching sessions are often, but not always, carried out face to face. Walking pauses, by their very nature, are carried out in the open air.
for leaders
who are learning to lead from presence
If leadership is the act of going beyond what is ... it begins by going beyond what is within ourselves.’
Kevin Cashman, The Pause Principle
One, two or three-day opportunities to reset priorities, relationships or thinking for small groups of senior leaders in an organisation. Each participant will have access to a dedicated personal coach
leaders’ retreats
‘Leaders don’t just shape culture through what they say or do, but also through the space they’re willing to hold.’
Brad Gaynor
Bespoke leadership programmes co-created with their sponsors to reflect the emerging strategic, systemic and individual needs of those taking part.
developmental programmes
‘The pause doesn't slow you down: it makes everything that follows more precise.’
Shamail Aijaz
An opportunity to see life at work from new perspectives, through different lenses and in other ways that invite re-enchantment with purpose and meaning.
creative pause days
Taking time to discover ourselves has been an essential part of the journey towards establishing joojinta, and the continual rediscovery and re-understanding of self within the context of our work is the bedrock from which we accompany leaders. This journey begins with pause: time to step out of habitual pace, reconnect with presence, and notice what might be emerging.
We work with leaders across organisations, NGOs, semi-state bodies and community initiatives, creating developmental spaces that are thoughtful, human and genuinely accessible.
Most of this work happens face to face, though online and hybrid forms can also be shaped around context and need.
who are discovering their own enoughness
for coaches
advanced diploma
for coaches seeking to deepen their presence, self-acceptance and ease in emergent practice.
A joint venture with Harthill Consulting, and accredited by the Association for Coaching (AC). Annual residentials in West Sussex, UK, and Chiang Mai. followed by 8 months of online workshops. Full details in the brochure.
supervision
where coaches pause to engage with life together, and to recharge in an atmosphere of mutual attunement and care.
A highly emergent in-the-moment exploration in which deep individual and communal development is, over time, embodied in intimate online community conversation.
companionship
offering radical acceptance to coaches in seasons of transition and becoming
A one-to-one accompanied exploration of what it means to be fully ourselves and fully enough as we edgewalk towards wholeness in our lives and our practices.
Supervision and Companionship offerings are delivered on a ‘pay what feels appropriate to you’ basis.
spaces of accompaniment, retreat, and shared reflection
for the soul
‘anam cara’ circles
‘Finding each other in the things that are eternal’
George Fox, Quaker founder
Reflective groups of 4-5 people from around the world, co-creating spiritual community together as a counterpoint to their busy professional day jobs.
spiritual accompaniment
‘We do not rush the soul, we walk with it.’
Deeper Talk, spiritual website
One-to-one relationships that allow for the emergence of a deeper understandingh of love, grace and beauty
‘in the shelter’ retreats
‘In the shelter of each other, the people live’
Irish proverb.
Annual 3-day agenda-less ‘pop-up community’ for coaches and others who wish to simply relax, deepen friendships and enjoy spacious conversations.
spiritual accompaniment and anam cara circle membership are funded on a ‘pay what you can’ basis. The annual retreat is offered as pay for room and board only
Those in spiritual accompaniment relationship have free access to an anam cara circle if desired.
experience yourself
beyond words
through art, music and movement.
about us
introducing joojinta
joojinta is a developmental field curated for adults who sense that something deeper is possible in how they live, love, and work.
The Somali word joojinta refers to the intentional practice of strategic pausing. We believe this practice enables people to move beyond reactivity and cultivate the presence and clarity required for truly transformative living.
We don’t work at the level of performance alone, and we’re not here to overlay complexity with more models or frameworks. Instead, we invite our clients to discover for themselves a way of living, loving and working that emerges from pause, integration, and mature presence.
As we learn to pause, we begin to listen more deeply, and in doing so, learn to integrate the sometimes conflicting parts of ourselves, and to evolve into the kind of presence today’s world may be asking of us.
Our founders, Ian Mitchell and Sian Lumsden, worked together for almost 12 years before co-creating joojinta - six as partners in Eighty20 Focus, and a further six as part of the core team at Harthill Consulting.
From this depth of relationship and mutual understanding has emerged a firm that celebrates friendship, loves life and invites others to become a meaningful part of our story.
We discuss that invitation more fully in our LinkedIn jamii
how it began
Martin Buber said it best in his book I and Thou (1923): ‘all real living is meeting’. This isn’t just a foundational element in joojinta’s coaching stance; it also captures how Siân and Ian began their working relationship, two months after meeting each other on a team coaching programme in early 2015.
‘Talking together, we discovered that we had both spent our early years in different parts of Africa, before leaving our parents to come back ‘home’ to be educated’, says Siân. ‘Discovering this created a mutual connection point that we’ve been able to build on over the years. It’s a theme we’re returning to in establishing joojinta’
‘We also discovered that we shared a zany sense of humour, similar values and a liking for decent red wine,’ adds Ian. ‘And from the beginning, we agreed that we’d build our business on the foundations of total transparency and a willingness to be vulnerable, both with each other and with our clients. The fact that we’ve never deviated from this agreement has been a significant element in evolving our work ’
joojinta is intentionally designed not as a conventional business, but as a relationally based commons, initially stewarded by its founders.
This affects every aspect of how we carry out our work, including how we interact with our clients, colleagues and collaborators, how we structure our financial arrangements, and our long-term commitment to ensuring that the firm remains a self-governing, non-tradeable entity.
We seek to embody this approach in the spirit of Ubuntu, a widely recognised Nguni Bantu philosophical term that embodies the spirit of stewardship, shared humanity, and collective responsibility; emphasising relational ownership and interconnectedness over a desire for individual accumulation
our structure
our founders
Sian Lumsden is an experienced individual and team coach, and highly creative leadership development practitioner.
In her spare time, Siân is an artist, world traveller and organic gardener
Ian Mitchell works predominantly as a developmental/spiritual companion and coach supervisor.
Ian loves obscure music, is a political junkie, and can find great coffee shops in most cities.
