Sarah Marshank

ABOUT SARAH MARSHANK
My life is about exploration and transformation, devoted to sourcing the essential nature of what it means to be human while nurturing the unique potential in every individual.

I was born in 1963 in the heart of Motown, nine months before John F. Kennedy was assassinated. As a white, middle-class, Jewish kid growing up in Detroit, I was subconsciously impacted by racial tensions, class inequality, and religious prejudices. At home, I was raised to be kind and curious. While other kids were busy playing house, I was occupied with my four siblings playing teacher. As a young girl I excelled in art and math, curious about the way things worked. An introvert by nature, I searched for meaningful social contact and friendships.

At eighteen my career trajectory took shape. After attending a semester living with a cohort in nature as part of an alternative literature program at the University of Michigan, I decided to become a teacher. After earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Alternative Education from UC Santa Cruz in 1985, I taught early childhood and elementary students in a private school, and then middle and high school students at an alternative school. During those years I continued my own study at Wayne State University, culminating in a Master’s Degree in History and Philosophy of Education in 1990.

Though well trained and fully committed to my life purpose, I came face to face with the realization that my success as an educator was directly linked to my personal embodiment of the truth and integrity I hoped to evoke in my students. I acknowledged that I needed more time alone to grow my own moral compass and to cultivate authentic wisdom.

For the next ten years, I pursued a self-guided study of human wisdom teachings—learning, contemplating and practicing conventional and unconventional tools for transformation. I emerged from my retreat in 2004. Within a few years, I was back teaching again, working with individuals and groups in an integrative learning environment. Not only was I presenting a cognitive framework for the development of an authentic human life, I was also engaging experiential components within the somatic, psychological and spiritual domains. My wisdom, experience, and ongoing learning, inform the offerings and curriculum which make up Selfistry.

Selfistry is a unique, integrative, developmentally informed, learning environment for mastering the art of being your self. Selfistry supports you to find your best quality life, not your family’s, your peers’, or your community’s. Selfistry liberates you by bringing you the tools you require in order to express your unique self.

I’m convinced that embodied self knowledge is the best platform from which to contribute to the community of humans and all life. When engagement with others comes from wholeness and inner peace it has a particular impact. Authentic relationships are not a cry for love or validation, a play for power or manipulation, a “give” looking for a “take”. They are enlivening, empowering, and enriching for all.

Selfistry is a process of discovery. Through study and practice you’ll uncover your core authentic self and learn to evolve with it. Like everything in nature, your deepest self is not fixed in time and space. With mentorship and supportive friendships on the path, your self expression will continue to grow while your true sense of self will not waver. This is Selfistry. Knowing thyself.

I wrote the first draft of my memoir Being Selfish; My Journey from Escort, to Monk to Grandmother, in 2007. The act of writing has transformed me in ways only writing can. I’m proud to be an author and excited to continue developing myself as a writer. My second book, a Selfistry guide and handbook, is in the works. In the meantime you can read my blog at selfistry.com.

I live with my husband in the Pacific Northwest. As the founder of Selfistry, I teach and speak internationally, develop and facilitate on-line courses, and mentor individual clients. When not teaching or writing I love to make art and craft of all kinds, spend time with my granddaughters, eat locally-sourced delicious food, explore new ideas, and travel to visit other cultures. http://selfistry.com/