Simply put holding space means showing up for someone, being fully present and without judgment as you sit with that person through their difficult time. You listen fully. You allow yourself to feel their pain and negative emotions so that they don't have to do it alone.

Holding space means creating a safe container (we can think of the container as providing gentle boundaries) in which another person can truth-tell and express their most vulnerable, scary, darkest thoughts, feelings, physical experience without fear of rejection, shame, or judgment.

It is a sacred space held for someone to allow them to unfold into their true essence. In fact, the profoundness of this space does not only apply to one-on-one interactions. Indeed, you can hold space for more than one person, a group, a community, a country, planet Earth or even the entire cosmos.