A little peace of mind

private coaching

nicola bird

Over twenty years ago, at university, I started to experience anxiety and then panic attacks. I had no idea what started them off, all I knew was that I would suddenly find myself with a tight chest, sweaty palms and a racing heart for what seemed like no reason at all.

I have always pushed myself to be a massive over-achiever so I put it down to exam pressure as I studied for my Psychology Degree. I ended up being prescribed medication and needing my own examination room to get through the final exams.

But then they continued after I finished my studies. The gnawing sense of anxiety would vanish for months on end and then reappear when I was least expecting it.

I landed myself a corporate job but then after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US found myself unable to travel on trains or tubes. I was unable to get to work and often had to make up excuses and lies about why I couldn’t attend my Psychology Masters Degree lectures – they were in the centre of London and impossible for me to get to.

My world started to shrink in size.

Eventually, when I became pregnant with my first child, I found myself unable to even leave the house for weeks at a time. Not even to put the bins out at the end of the driveway.

I tried medication, seeing a psychiatrist, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, various other well-known methods, NLP, time-line therapy and tapping. I studied more psychology, got into personal development and trained as a coach – I just wanted my anxiety to be gone.

Nothing worked. I’d find myself back to ‘normal’ for a while, and then I’d go through months of feeling panicky all the time.

 

I still kept pushing myself, started my own business so I could work from the safety of my own home and took it from zero to seven figures in just under four years before I finally burned out, fully consumed with agoraphobia and migraines.

Then, in 2013, I stumbled across a completely new way of understanding how human beings create their experience of anxiety and how to dissolve it almost effortlessly.

A completely revolutionary approach that I had never come across before in all my years of training.

I have spent the last six years travelling all around the world (yes me, the agoraphobic!)  studying with the pioneers in this field to gain a deeper understanding of this thing that had completely transformed my life in a matter of just a few weeks.

And now my life’s work is to share what I’ve learned that made such a huge difference to me and the lives of the people I love.

Qualifications: BSc Psycholgy, MSc Psychology, Master Transformative Coach, author of the book A Little Peace of Mind and personally now completely free from anxiety.

advanced certified little peace of mind practitioner

laura white

A Little Peace of Mind Certified Practitioner

Laura experienced panic attacks and depression on and off for the last 15 years and as life has happened; infertility, losing jobs, numerous failed relationships, her symptoms worsened. 10 months ago, Laura found herself out of work and unable to leave the house as she was paralyzed with fear and anxiety.

That is when she came across A Little Peace Of Mind and the programs here and in her own words, is ‘amazed at how much my life has transformed!’

Laura finds herself living life fully with a successful job at LinkedIn, traveling to foreign countries, new friends and a new relationship all with the knowledge that even if these things had not happened, then she would still have peace of mind.

Laura works with clients that are stuck in their incessant thinking and believe life circumstances cause their anxiety. She offers hope by helping navigate through life much easier and she can point you to where clarity and peace of mind really resides. Laura can do that because she has been there too.
To find out more about working with Laura, please visit

certified little peace of mind practitioners

Nicola provides 1:1 coaching and the details of those packages can be found here.

In addition, we also have a small number of certified Little Peace of Mind Practitioners who have completed an intensive training program with Nicola and now support our Little Peace of Mind clients as independent coaches. Please find a short introduction to each of them below and contact them directly to find out more about their coaching arrangements and rates.

They all come highly recommended 🙂

Vicki Montague

A Little Peace of Mind Certified Practitioner

Vicki recalls being a worrier from an early age. During her time at University it got worse and led to a racing heart and insomnia that were managed with medication.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and other symptoms such as headaches, eczema and food intolerances followed.

She continued to live life fully but the self-doubt and worry that had plagued her life came back with vengeance.

There was nothing in her external life to cause anxiety or worry. She had created her own business, the Free From Fairy, and lived within the limits she had placed on herself in order to not become stressed and overwhelmed.

But something still felt wrong.

After many years of searching and studying (NLP and counselling) she finally came across the Three Principles.

Immediately she felt lighter, although she didn’t fully understand why for many months afterwards. Finally she realised that she no longer needed to take her thoughts seriously. Her life immediately became more peaceful

Since then she has trained with Nicola Bird and John El Mokadem to become a Three Principles Practitioner/coach. She works with children and adults who have restricted their lives, either physically or mentally, to reconnect them to their innate wisdom. This in turn allows people to live a life of freedom, love and peace.

To learn more about Vicki and her coaching, please click here.

julie cluley

A Little Peace of Mind Certified Practitioner

For most of her adult life Julie experienced the world as a very very busy place, full of things that “should” be done and “needed” to be done, usually with an underlying sense of urgency. 
As she reached her mid-thirties she was happily married with 2 gorgeous kids and a job she absolutely loved as a dog behaviour coach. 

To anyone who knew Julie then, they would think she had it all. However, for much of the time she was really struggling with feelings of being constantly busy, overwhelmed, and this ever present sense of urgency. It was awful and seemed to be getting progressively worse as she entered into peri-menopause. 

Julie would love to help you put the joy, fun and laughter back in your life.
Have you ever noticed how dogs live for now and never let anything get them down for long? This is what is on offer for all of us.  Exploring this understanding, perhaps with your dog to guide you, is truly the most magical of journeys. Julie is here to help you to live your life exactly the way you want to.

Julie tried everything from a variety of different supplements, improved diet, more exercise, a million different self help books and counselling sessions. All of these did help to some degree, but she still seemed to be on a downward spiral until she realised there was literally no joy left in her life. Julie was thinner, fitter and had pretty much everything she had ever aimed for, but still felt awful. Then the guilt kicked in; how could she have all those things and still be so miserable? She started to suffer from insomnia, panic attacks, paranoia that her friends no longer liked her, feelings that she was an awful mum, arguing with her husband and even the job she loved so much had started to become a chore.

Julie couldn’t understand what was ‘wrong’ with her and genuinely thought she was going mad.

In September 2018 she bumped into the ALPOM website and the 3 principles.  Julie’s experience of life changed almost overnight. She now lives life from a much calmer, relaxed and joyful place. The best thing for Julie is that nothing actually changed. She still has the same lovely husband, same gorgeous kids and the same amazing job helping clients improve their relationship with their dogs.

To find out more about working with Julie – please visit 

kathryn bonney

A Little Peace of Mind Certified Practitioner

Three years ago, Kathryn was done.

The baby that was supposed to magically fix it did not actually make her life better.Her family was on the verge of bankruptcy for a second time, and the move halfway across the country away from friends and family had only made things worse.

She had already called the divorce attorney and was ready to file paperwork. Certain that single parenting was the next chapter of the drama called her life.

The problem, as best she could tell, was her. And there was not anything she could to make it any better.

No matter what small glimpses of hope she had over the years, nothing ever really changed.

Not for a lack of trying- if there was an answer, she had done her best to find it.

Personal (CBT) therapy, EFT, NLP, group therapy, self help workshops, amanae, hypnosis, Feng Shui, jnana yoga, psychic readings, vipassana meditation, Buddhism, Maori healers, Imago therapy, oils, personal development training, A Course In Miracles, and basically every self help book ever published by Hay House- all directions she looked.

Every cure, fix, technique, tool, or explanation was explored, desperate in her efforts to make it okay.

Finally she decided that if her life was destined to be unhappy, if this was as good as it was going to get, then she might as well do it on her own. Being married was certainly not helping.

Motherhood had taken her lifelong semi-manageable anxiety and pushed her over the edge.

Isolated and depressed, the illusion of holding it together fell apart without friends and family to cover for her.

She struggled with the basic care of her children, drowning in her own mind, adrift in the negativity and helplessness.

Then, by sheer chance, she came across the understanding and a conversation about how life really works.

A weekend intensive pointed her in a new direction, with clarity and simplicity she had never felt before.

The insight simple- you are not broken.

Truth landed so completely that the impact was felt in every area.

Life started to change- the picture slowly improving.

Diving deep into the conversation, Kathryn spent 18 months studying with Michael Neill- seeing how to create the impossible and explore even more. The opportunity to train with Nicola Bird and join ALPOM a natural transition when coaching others became the next step in the journey.

The last twelve months have been the best year of Kathryn’s life. Sharing her grounding as a coach. Getting present to her three children and completely falling in love. Seeing her husband of 16 years transform before her very eyes (spoilers: it was never him). And having insights about her own experience of life. Getting off the sidelines and playing the game full out.

Drastic.

That was the word Kathryn’s husband uses to describe the changes he has seen in the last three years.

Happy.

How Kathryn describes it for herself.

The feeling of life has changed, the freedom to simply experience what is and enjoy the present moment is what she shares in her coaching. Getting curious and listening deeply is how she shows up. A mirror to see yourself clearly the offer.

Kathryn can be reached at

susana vilmer

A Little Peace of Mind Certified Practitioner

Susana was born in Mexico and moved to the US on her own after high school. Her studies took her to various places in the US  like Nevada, Texas, California, New Jersey and New York, where she received her bachelor’s in Social Work and master’s in Public Administration.  From an early age Susana pushed herself to be an overachiever and she suffered a great deal of anxiety as she advanced in her career. 

 

She spent a lot of time feeling worried, stressed and fearful about the future.  It just seemed that nothing ever satisfied her and it was difficult to stay grounded. She constantly felt self doubt and insecure thinking, which kept her stuck in her life for many years.

For years, Susana trained with many mentors and coaches in the spiritual and human development field to address her anxiety and gain a deeper understanding of the world of energy and spirituality.

She became a Certified Spiritual Practitioner and Energy Mindfulness Master Coach; and obtained several  other certifications throughout her  journey.

However, while these training programs  helped her a great deal, there was still that feeling of dissatisfaction that  kept her seeking for answers.

That’s when Susana came across the 3 Principles and was profoundly touched by working with Nicola Bird and other 3 Principles mentors.

Susana started to feel content in her life again  and her anxious and scary feelings started to dissipate.  These series of events inspired her to become A Little Peace of Mind Practitioner.

Susana knows how hard it is to move forward in life when you’re filled with worry, fear and uncertainty because she has had these same experiences.

Unfortunately, Susana  missed so many great opportunities in life because of her insecurities, which turned into a vicious cycle that kept her stuck.

That’s why Susana is so passionate about helping others who are scared about their life path and are unable to answer their true calling.

With her coaching programs, Susana guides women how to connect with their own wisdom in order to release fears that prevent them from living on purpose and have more confidence and success in life.

To learn more about working with Susana, please visit: 

Ruth Harris

A Little Peace of Mind Certified Practitioner

Ruth struggled for most of her life, with feelings of insecurity and anxiety;  never feeling good enough, constantly searching for ways to be a better version of herself and keeping herself small. 

Ruth had been holding on so tight to “controlling” all aspects of her life, being afraid of her experience, believing this to be the only way to get her through each single moment of the day.  
In fact, Ruth describes herself as a recovering control freak.. “If there was a control freaks anonymous, I would have certainly been one of their founding members!”.

Ruth created a world, so perfectly curated that those around her did not notice that inside, she was panicking! The physical signs would be; the heart palpitations, sleepless nights, continuous worrying, constant mood swings, which ultimately led to a more serious health diagnoses.

So Ruth went in search of an answer and having always been fascinated in how the mind works, graduated in Psychology and spent her corporate career focused on how the mind works and human behaviour.

That learning triggered Ruth’s continued curiosity in how life is experienced, eventually leading her to the work of Sydney Banks and the three principles. 

What Ruth discovered in that understanding is that she had “innocently” been making it all up!. What she saw was that her whole experience of life was like a fictional story, no more real than the storylines in Harry Potter.  

What Ruth now knows, is that there is an easier way to life;
One that allows us to grab hold of new opportunities, letting go of the need to feel in control. To not be afraid of our experience. To live with more ease and calm, more humour and loving relationships, more creativity and productivity and to know that no matter what the circumstances, no matter what life may throw at us, we will be alright. 

Ruth truly believes this understanding can change the world. Huge statement she knows, but if we all knew the true nature of thought and where our experience comes from, it would not make sense to look for the separation, not make sense to divide people based on past experiences or where they come from or what they believe. 

Ruth has actively searched out the leading practitioners in this field and trained under Nicola Bird to become an ALPOM practitioner. 

Renee Zulich

A Little Peace of Mind Certified Practitioner

I was there, too.

I never would have thought that I’d be in a position to help educate others on a cure for anxiety.  

Growing up, I was what they would call a “sensitive child”.  I had a “nervous stomach.”  I missed over a month of school in grade 6 due to stomach upset every morning.  I also had OCD tendencies.  

I knew, even then, that there was a mind-body element at work.  

I thought it was interesting that if I simply worried or thought about having an upset stomach, that it would happen!

Needless to say, for the next 35 years, I knew where all of the bathrooms were located on every route and if I didn’t, I was loaded with medication to paralyze my bowels.  I always had to drive everywhere, organized every outing to the finest detail and if things went off plan, I was not fun to be around.  

Two weeks after I quit my job as a busy office manager, I had my first panic attack! I was downtown in a big city, and hungover from celebrations the night before.  I felt a bang in my head, my hands clenched up like claws, and I had difficulty swallowing.  For pretty much every day after that, I endured tingling in my hands and face and light-headedness.

I used medication to sedate myself so that I could be relaxed leaving the house.  And I never left the house without my purse, which had all of my security measures, such as tissues, medication and my cell phone.

I did every program that I could get my hands on.  Every therapy, technique and practise.  I even sourced out the best self-help gurus in the world that I could find (Tony Robbins, Wayne Dyer and Louise Hay, to name a few).  I had the loving support of my husband and family, no matter what I needed.  One day, I came across a free audio by Nicola Bird on Facebook that changed my life.  I signed up for the 6-week course, and I never had another panic attack again.

The Three Principles taught me how my thoughts create my reality.  More importantly, that all of my thoughts are neutral— they do not mean anything about me, until I believe that they do!  Therefore, I can treat every thought as neutral, and don’t have to get attached to anything I think, specifically, those fearful thoughts.

How different would YOUR life be if fearful and negative thoughts had no more bearing on your life?  Who would you be? I now leave the house forgetting my purse entirely.  And I don’t decide to turn back to get it, because

I KNOW THAT I AM WELL.

Let me help you to SEE your innate wellbeing and that the answers are available within you right NOW. 

Deany judd

A Little Peace of Mind Certified Practitioner

When I had my children my head became a very busy place.

After all, there was a lot of danger out there and a lot to worry about – not just stories of danger, but stories of how I wanted the future to look for my children, stories of what success looked like and stories of the past too and what they meant.
 
All of them stories!
 
And of course believing that I was in control, I had to fix everything and cling on tight and manipulate and organise….it was exhausting!
 
Once I came across this understanding everything changed. I saw that they were all stories, movies playing in my head all day long. And I believed them all and thought they were all real.
 
Once I saw what was happening…well, everything changed.
 
The stories keep coming but when you know they’re stories you don’t take them seriously, they drop quickly and you have so much more space in your head to be creative and at peace.
 
I LOVE sharing this understanding with other people.
 
Teens see this understanding very quickly and parents of anxious teens (which I was) are desperate to find a solution and pick this up quickly too.
 
Click below and we can talk through the stories  holding you back.

Gerard Bradbury

A Little Peace of Mind Certified Practitioner

As a child I was heavily into sports, but I also was heavily into alcohol. I started drinking at the age of 11 and found I couldn’t function without it at the age of 14 along with starting to smoke during this time.

I started working and earning an income at the age of 14 which made it easier to feed my addiction to alcohol.

By 18 I had a major surgery due to my addiction. At the age of 23 I was anointed for death and given less than 5 percent chance of surviving. 

At the age of 40 I decided to try to quit smoking which I’m proud to say was successful and still smoke free till this day. During this time I took up running to fill the void of not smoking.

I have always lived with anxiety. In recent years it has increased, and really increased during COVID-19. It had gotten so bad that I found it hard to leave home to exercise, to attend any function, or to even take part in any social discussions. I lived in my head for so many years not understanding what was causing my anxiety.

I tried every method that was available to me to control my anxiety from CBT, to acupuncture, to Transcendental meditation, to hypnosis.

I have finally found relief from the crippling burden of anxiety and coming out from under the dark cloud that was always present.

I am now ready to share with you the way out of the fog of anxiety.

Click below and book a free consultation.