Hi! I’m Alana Sheeren (pronounced Ah-LAW-nah SHEAR-en)
I’m a kick-ass listener, TEDx speaker and a terrible housekeeper. I’m a reformed “new ager” who can no longer tolerate the spiritual bypassing, gaslighting and lack of integrity rampant in that world. I work really hard to leave no personal bias unturned and to stand up against bullying, hate and the marginalization of any human being, while also knowing I’ve still – always – got more to learn.
I’ve been married almost twenty years (relationships are work!) and I’m mom to a teen who’s got more emotional intelligence in her pinky finger than I had until my thirties, plus her little brother Benjamin who was stillborn in 2010.
I believe in love that starts like the shock you get after you’ve scuffed your feet over mustard-colored shag carpet, then swells like the perfect body surfing wave (but turns you upside down a few times until you have water up your nose and sand in all the wrong places), and finally settles into the steady comfort of the threadbare joggers you put on every time you come home even if you have to pull them out of the dirty laundry, whether that love is for your favorite humans, your pet chinchilla, the oak tree you climbed as a teen on lazy summer days or the whole human race.
I believe in the magic that exists when a baby smiles at you for the first time (even if it is just gas), when your moody tween laces their fingers between yours after yelling “I hate you!” the day before, when the bright yellow of a dandelion growing through a crack in the sidewalk takes your breath away or when that classified ad you wrote to the universe turns into the perfect place to live.
I believe in the way humans can live through the most horrific experiences and come out the other side with the willingness to turn their pain into a courtroom victim statement that goes viral and makes other people feel seen, or start a food pantry in their garage to feed their neighbors, or just get out of bed fueled by the desire to be kind and the hope that today will be the kind of day that has more good in it than bad.
I believe we are here to make messes and learn as we clean them up. I’m interested in our inter-connectedness, our similarities and differences, and the ways we show up for ourselves and each other. I believe in accepting our ugly bits, our angry parts and our own lack of grace. I believe in the freedom we have to choose and the importance of taking responsibility. I believe in our inherent worth. I believe there can be gifts in the darkest moments (but we’re not required to find them) and that we are all deserving of joy.
More details if you want ’em…
In my past, I’ve worked as a dancer and actress, a Pilates instructor in Beverly Hills and a spokesperson for Porsche. I’ve tended bar, waited tables, scooped ice cream and sold clothes. I’ve taught kids to dance and choreographed high school musicals (Li’l Abner was a fave). Along the way, I got a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and a Master’s degree in clinical psychology with a specialization in applied community psychology from Antioch University, Los Angeles. I’ve trained as a grief specialist, a Soul Restoration practitioner and in different forms of energy work. I speak Canadian, American and French.
If there was one of my super-smart-ecology-professor brother’s camera traps in my backyard, you’d get questionable footage of me singing to the stars, listening to the plants, feeding the local crows, talking with my Ancestors, dancing like I forgot somebody was watching and snacking constantly. (Trader Joe’s organic corn dippers are officially my kryptonite.)
I’m madly in love with my husband and daughter and our snaggle-toothed rescue dog. I thrive on dark chocolate, sunsets, deep conversations and large bodies of water. I miss my son every day.
I live for heart-centered connection.
Email me at [email protected]
Find me on Facebook Pinterest and Instagram
Make my day with a handwritten love note: 2419 E. Harbor Blvd, #164, Ventura, CA 93001
Or use the form below: