Photos of Danielle Robin by Kelly Gre Segre & Inna Shnayder
This week, we (virtually) chatted with conscious relationship coach Danielle Robin! Danielle believes that there can be a new model for relationships: a wave carrying our generation into a new realm of possibility for love partnership. Find out more below, and check out her virtual learning event on Friday, April 17th.
Tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m originally from San Francisco, and have lived in New York for almost 14 years! Some of my favorite places in the world are Nosara, Costa Rica, and Black Rock City, Nevada. My spirit animal is an Ocelot. I have Type 1 Diabetes and love to create super healthy and nourishing treats! I recently started a fictional food line for all of my quarantine cuisine creations called ‘The Salty Babe’ (you can see them all on my IG!). My secret talent is that I’m really good at doing hair. Any photo of me with an updo or 100 braids is actually my own handiwork. I currently live in Beacon, just upstate of New York.
How did you come to the work of relationship coaching?
It was definitely a perfect marriage of all of my interests. I studied psychology in college and became more active in the NYC sex-positive community in my 20s. I was fascinated with the psychology and also practice of love and relationships, and became a hobbyist relationship anthropologist, attending events and interviewing couples on what worked for them. In my late 20s, I decided to go back to school to get my Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy. At the same time, I found Layla Martin’s Tantric School of Integrated Sexuality and became a certified relationship coach through her program, which was much more aligned with my spirituality and my heart. Now I have an online practice where I coach couples and individuals on all matters related to relationships. I specialize in helping couples create long term sustainable partnerships that last. I also specialize in working with women who experience extreme relationship anxiety.
What advice do you have for couples right now? And what is one of the most frequently worked through problems?
My top advice for couples right now is to put your own mask on first. You can’t show up for each other unless you are fully showing up for yourselves. And, if you feel a little (or a lot) disconnected, that’s totally okay. It’s okay to not feel perfect. It’s okay to want to take lots of space. Take full responsibility and care for your own human before lending or asking for support from each other.
Typically in my practice, I work mostly with couples in long term relationships. Some of the most frequent skills that we work to strengthen together are stronger and more responsible communication, different approaches to intimacy, and dealing with ‘relationship flatline’- when things just don’t feel as exciting as they used to and you can’t figure out why. I’ll actually be addressing this in the workshop on Friday- the two main causes or relationship flatline and how to counter them!
What’s one of your favorite classes to teach?
Definitely my Connection Hour for Couples, which is what I’m teaching Friday, because it’s a perfect entry point for partners who aren’t super familiar with conscious relationship tools and practices, and it teaches active giving and receiving which is one of the best things you can start doing in a long term relationship. I also love teaching Nonviolent Communication workshops because they have such a direct impact on a couple’s experience.
Is there a class or certification that you’ve loved the most in your journey and education?
I’m passionate about Nonviolent Communication, so last year I took an advanced NVC course that has helped me so much both personally and professionally. I don’t think there is a single day or session I don’t bring up NVC. It changes the way you think about and approach every human interaction.
Bonus Question:
What are your Sun, Moon, Rising signs?
Sun = Scorpio
Moon= Capricorn
Rising – Leo