Nicolle Kopping-Pavars

Family lawyer, fertility law expert, meditation and mindfulness trainer

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Nicolle Kopping-Pavars is a family lawyer and fertility law expert based in Toronto, Canada.​ She is also a trained meditation and mindfulness teacher.

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We talk about her professional and spiritual journey as she reinvented herself after moving from South Africa to Canada, how she developed her family and fertility law practice and how she now is a guide for her clients as they undergo transformations in their lives and their families.

 

We touch on the meaning of family, why it's so important to all of us and how valuing and nurturing family at the nuclear level is crucial so we can learn to recognise and embrace the entire human race as one family.

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Bio

Show notes

Links

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Bio:

Nicolle Kopping-Pavars became a lawyer in SouthAfrica in 1996 and in 2008 she established herself as a lawyer and mediator in Canada.

 

Nicolle has been a meditation and mindfulness practitioner since 2009. She runs Lotus Law, which provides meditation and mindfulness workshops and training. She completed mindfulness teacher training in Canada and then furthered her training when she went to Thailand to study with monks in the Northern part of Thailand.

Today Nicolle conducts workshops and retreats on Mindfulness and Emotional Intelligence both in North America and South Africa and continues to host meditation clinics for colleagues within Toronto.

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She is also the principal of Transformational Law, a Family Law practice dedicated to helping families in transition. Their focus is Collaborative Family Law, Family Mediation and Fertility Law (Surrogacy, Egg Donation; Embryo Donation and Sperm Donation).

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Show notes:

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• [1:57] Nicolle relates how she became interested in mindfulness, after finding she and many of her colleagues were unable to achieve 'work-life' balance and were suffering.

• [6:18] Nicolle became aware of The Secret and the Law of Attraction, and began her personal self-development journey. However, she needed a more spiritual solution, so began training in Buddhist meditation.

• [8:59] According to Nicolle, mindfulness stills the mind and gives us power over our responses so we can create more responsibly.

• [11:12] In 2020, Nicolle rebranded her law practice to focus on transformation. She brings her whole self - her interest in crystals, oracle cards and spirituality in general - into her dealings with clients.   

• [16:17] Being herself allows her to move past imposter syndrome and be authentic and unashamed of herself.

• [17:46] Nicolle is clear about choosing the clients whom she acts for. Having made the sacrifice and effort to requalify as a lawyer in Canada after moving there from South Africa, she promised herself she would be true to herself.    

• [21:37] Nicolle had always been interested in surrogacy and relates her personal experience being asked to act as a surrogate. From there, she was motivated to help as many families as possible to deal with fertility issues and start families of their own.

• [27:59] We talk about the importance of family and why protecting the family as a unit is important for humans. It preserves community and helps children feel safe and at home wherever they are.

• [32:32] As Nicolle says, divorce doesn't have to mean the end of family and children can feel like they have multiple homes.

• [35:55] Nicolle discusses her plans for continuing to advocate for mental wellness for lawyers. 

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Links:

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The Transformational Lawyer, Nicolle's family and fertility law practice: transformationallaw.com 

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Lotus Law, Nicolle's mindfulness and meditation business: lotus-law.com 

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The Secret, the 2006 film and bestselling book that states that we control reality through our thoughts and attract outcomes to ourselves through the Law of Attraction.

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The Proctor Gallagher Institute, founded by Bob Proctor, a Canadian self-help author who wrote You Were Born to Be Rich.

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Green Gulch Farm, a place for practice of Zen Buddhism operated by the San Francisco Zen Center 

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An explanation of Zen Buddhism by Zen teacher Norman Fischer.

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An explanation of Theravada Buddhism from the Buddhist Society.