The Seven Valleys: A Map I Didn't Know I Was Drawing
We rarely recognize the beginning of a journey while we're living it. Only later do we realize we were following a thread all along. I recorded this video a few years ago as the Seven Valleys model was beginning to take shape. Since then, the map has continued to unfold in ways I could never have imagined. What began as one way of understanding our human journey of transformation gradually became part of a much larger vision.
Over the past few years, that map has led me through Attar's Seven Valleys, Rumi's poetry, Ghazali's understanding of the heart, Ibn Arabi's vast ocean of imagination, Avicenna's medicine, modern neuroscience, psychospiritual care, storytelling, fabric art, and countless conversations with patients whose lives became some of my greatest teachers.
The deeper I explored, the less interested I became in creating something new. Instead, I found myself rediscovering an ancient way of seeing… one that understands the body, mind, heart, and soul not as separate domains, but as different expressions of one integrated reality.
If you’ve been following my posts, readings my books, or attending any of my workshops and retreats, you’ve already encountered pieces of this map:
The enchanted world.
The three companions.
The Four Birds.
The Body Whispers.
The stitched stories…
None of these were isolated ideas. They were quietly speaking to one another all along.
I'd love to invite you into that conversation.
We’ll explore our lives
Through stories.
Through art.
Through people we encounter.
Through experiences and feelings.
Through traditional wisdom.
Through science.
Through the ordinary moments that become extraordinary once we learn how to see.
The video here is where this particular journey began.
When I watch it now, I still recognize the little girl who grew up in the enchanted land of the Nile, believing that every story was trying to tell us something about ourselves.
I still don't know exactly where this path is leading.
And perhaps that’s part of the beauty of the journey.
What I do know is that I want to keep following the signs. As the Qur'an beautifully reminds us:
"We shall show them Our signs on the horizons and within their souls, until it becomes clear to them that this is the Truth." (41:53)
In many ways...
I'm still following those signs.
On the horizons.
And within my own soul.
Welcome to the Seven Valleys, a symbolic map of inner transformation… a journey of awakening, healing, meaning-making, and returning home to ourselves.
May this become not simply my journey, but yours as well.
I hope you'll walk it with me.
Over the past few years, that map has led me through Attar's Seven Valleys, Rumi's poetry, Ghazali's understanding of the heart, Ibn Arabi's vast ocean of imagination, Avicenna's medicine, modern neuroscience, psychospiritual care, storytelling, fabric art, and countless conversations with patients whose lives became some of my greatest teachers.
The deeper I explored, the less interested I became in creating something new. Instead, I found myself rediscovering an ancient way of seeing… one that understands the body, mind, heart, and soul not as separate domains, but as different expressions of one integrated reality.
If you’ve been following my posts, readings my books, or attending any of my workshops and retreats, you’ve already encountered pieces of this map:
The enchanted world.
The three companions.
The Four Birds.
The Body Whispers.
The stitched stories…
None of these were isolated ideas. They were quietly speaking to one another all along.
I'd love to invite you into that conversation.
We’ll explore our lives
Through stories.
Through art.
Through people we encounter.
Through experiences and feelings.
Through traditional wisdom.
Through science.
Through the ordinary moments that become extraordinary once we learn how to see.
The video here is where this particular journey began.
When I watch it now, I still recognize the little girl who grew up in the enchanted land of the Nile, believing that every story was trying to tell us something about ourselves.
I still don't know exactly where this path is leading.
And perhaps that’s part of the beauty of the journey.
What I do know is that I want to keep following the signs. As the Qur'an beautifully reminds us:
"We shall show them Our signs on the horizons and within their souls, until it becomes clear to them that this is the Truth." (41:53)
In many ways...
I'm still following those signs.
On the horizons.
And within my own soul.
Welcome to the Seven Valleys, a symbolic map of inner transformation… a journey of awakening, healing, meaning-making, and returning home to ourselves.
May this become not simply my journey, but yours as well.
I hope you'll walk it with me.