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Warren Hooley
Warren Hooley is a 33-year old man from the Syilx (Okanagan) Territory in Penticton, British Columbia. Having mixed roots of Okanagan, Irish and Ukrainian and growing up in both western and indigenous worlds, Warren brings experience from both sides of his lineage to his work as a facilitator. For the past 9 years, Warren has passionately chosen a career of facilitating groups and delivering workshops on the topics of Facilitation, Indigenous Allyship and Compassionate Communication. Today, living in Vancouver BC, Warren is passionate about creating a world where everyone can thrive and succeed to their own definition. “My work is focused on teaching the tangible skills for healthy, happy and sustainable relationships. I am committed to helping create environments where these skills and awareness can be developed”.
10 years ago, I couldn’t name a single body sensation, hadn’t cried in over 12 years and had built up a myriad of limiting beliefs about myself and world around me. This was what I unfortunately learned from my high school “education”. I climbed the social ladder, but at the cost of losing who I really was. Disconnected from my body and emotions and full of blind spots and twisted beliefs, I ran from the world. I became a hermit living on my native reserve in Penticton BC trapped in a cycle of addiction and escape.
After years of attempts to break free from my internal prison, I stumbled upon a personal development series called “beyond positive thinking”. It was this that initiated my journey into the world of myself and sparked my deepest desire…to grow. After this initiation came a series of learning chapters in my life, each one uncovering who I really was and the life I wanted to build.
The first chapter was connecting to my Okanagan Syilx roots. A journey I am still on and want to continue. This exploration helped me lift the shame and uncertainty of who I was and where I came from. I realized the beauty and brilliance of my Okanagan ancestry and I started to feel proud to be half indigenous. I feel deeply grateful for my experience going to the En’owkin center on my reserve, a cultural and arts empowerment school that really helped me spark my desire to learn my roots and strive for growth.
Next was my introduction to ‘Creative Facilitation’. A world where unlocking your creative confidence and facilitating magic was the name of the game. It was here I reclaimed my inner child and ability to express more authentically. I got to witness the power of community by participating and eventually leading summer youth camps and adult facilitation trainings. I faced a lot of my blind spots being the position of a lead facilitator and got to learn from some truly incredible senior facilitators from the ‘PYE Global’ and ‘IndigenEYEZ’ communities. Workshop Facilitator Warren Hooley Then came the world of Compassionate Communication. It’s here I learned how to listen to my emotions and connect to what’s most important to me. I spent years and years learning how to hold safe and warm space for others and more importantly…myself. Working with Sarah Peyton a relational neuroscience and trauma healing expert, I embarked on the journey of healing my childhood wounds and building an emotional support network. A journey I’m learning to embrace and continue to deepen for the rest of my life.
My latest main chapter in life was my dive into the idea of ‘decolonization’. I began looking at how the ‘consciousness of colonization’ has oppressed and continues to deeply affect every single person on the planet. From a lens of intersectionality and privilege I’ve come to realize that we must band together and face the problems that we’ve inherited as a united front. To move away from increased polarity, into deeper connection and understanding. I believe this might be the greatest test humanity will ever face. To overcome judgement of self and other is a mountainous task. Yet I believe it’s paramount that we learn to both take full responsibility for our own healing and also contribute to changing systems for others to access healing as well.
Now after a decade of rigorous personal growth, leading over 750 workshops and being mentored from masters of their own bodies of work, I’m ready to give back. A life goal of mine is to become a truly holistic man balanced in my spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health. To help create communities where every single person can thrive to their own definition. I want to offer my cultivated abilities as a professional ice breaker, emotional connection expert and communication skill builder. I believe these skills are crucial to the health of any community. I have chosen to walk the path of a facilitator, mentor and life-long student. To give myself to this work and offer my gifts to the world with respect, humility and love.
