Welcome to
The Third Layer

The Story of The Third Layer

The concept of “The Third Layer” sparked spontaneously on a beautiful summer evening. My son, who was twelve at the time, and I lived by the water, and we had just gone down for an evening swim. As we stood in the waves, watching the sun dip toward the horizon, he said: "Mom, I feel so happy in my third layer." I asked him what his "third layer" was. He looked at me as if it were the most obvious thing in the world and replied: "My first layer is my body, my second layer is my emotions, and my third layer is the part of me that gets happy when the sun's rays hit the water."

It is truly difficult to find words that define the Third Layer precisely, yet everyone who hears this story smiles; they recognize his experience within themselves. Today, the Third Layer has become a concept I have worked with for years. It beautifully encapsulates something indefinable—something that reaches deeper than the physical or the emotional.

There are many names for what my son called The Third Layer. Most people might use the word "soul," but you are welcome to use whichever term resonates most with you. I don't hold a fixed theological viewpoint; it is a conscious choice to build both my company and my practice on something that is simultaneously grounded in the physical and metaphorical—something everyone can recognize.

When we experience our Third Layer, it is often a wordless encounter, yet we know the feeling of connection, inner peace, and presence. The Third Layer is unique to every human being. Even though we are shaped by our ego, our history, and our experiences, the Third Layer exists as an underlying source. It is both personal (unique to the individual soul) and universal (part of a greater energy). In my experience, the power of being fully present in your Third Layer feels like love. Here, there is no judgment, only acceptance.

Flow is natural to the Third Layer. In my experience, we can achieve this feeling through both action and stillness. Flow can arrive spontaneously—like when we're in the car, singing at the top of our lungs, without having consciously done anything to feel good. But we can also experience flow through conscious practice, such as meditation. The paradox we all face is that the more we "chase" the Third Layer, the more elusive it becomes. Nevertheless, there are active steps we can take to train our capacity for presence and flow. (You can read more about this under the Therapy tab ).

Defining The Third Layer

To those who prefer clear definitions and might find this a bit "fluffy"—I would say: yes, it is. That is the nature of these concepts. We understand them deeply, yet we cannot pinpoint them with clinical precision. Think of concepts like love eller friendship; we know exactly what they are, yet there is always more to be explored and written about them.

With that in mind, here is my definition: The Third Layer is the soulful core of a human being and our bridge to a universal life force. It is a state of pure consciousness and "flow" that lies beneath the physical sensations of the body and the emotional fluctuations of the mind.