I’ve been pondering resistance.

I happen to have a fair amount of it. I resist sleep (always have) until I’m over-tired. I resist being organized (even though I crave it). I resist setting up a creative space in my home because then I’d have to actually show up and paint (hello fear and judgment).

It hit me today, in a moment of blinding clarity, that I’ve started resisting some of the very things that grief taught me to soften into, and that I’d better return to those lessons before life hands me another kick in the pants. This was after I woke from a dream where I got a phone call that my daughter had been killed in a car accident at the age of 22. (She’s currently 5)

I talk often of life – and grief – being a spiral. We revisit situations, feeling their familiarity and the frustration of not having it all figured out (I thought I dealt with this already!). But we do it from a different vantage point on the spiral. We’ve changed. Life has changed. We’re ready to release, or learn, or heal on a deeper level.

Which brings me back to resistance.

What if, instead of judging ourselves (okay, myself) for feeling it, and trying to talk myself out of it (you KNOW you need more sleep Alana, what’s wrong with you?!) we fall head first into it. Why not feel the resistance fully, even if it means throwing a tantrum like a tired two-year old, and get to what’s underneath it?

I can figure it out, in my head, which does me little to no good. If I allow myself to feel the resistance in my body, to drink it like a camel at an oasis, to scream at the sky, my cluttered desk, my bed “I don’t want to!”, I wonder what I would discover.

How about you? What are you resisting right now? Are you willing to find what lies underneath? I’d love to know.

Wishing you an enjoyable + enlightening tantrum.
With love,
Alana

Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass…
It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.
– Vivian Greene

I was reminded this week of how, as individuals, our strengths and weaknesses are as individual as our fingerprints. The past two months I’ve been learning how to be an entrepreneur. Every day I am awed and amazed by the women in class with me. Even among those who have similar businesses there is love, support and encouragement. I laughed as I spoke with one of these women the other day. She’s built several six-figure businesses from the ground up but she has a hard time being vulnerable. I am an open book, and one of the places I’m most comfortable is holding space for other people’s emotional pain, but I break into a cold sweat at the mention of marketing, branding and business plans.

It’s perfect, isn’t it? There’s a place for everyone. Some of us climb mountains, some build empires and some of us dance in the rain.

*****

It was an absolute honor to speak with everyone who scheduled a Shift Session with me this week. Thank you, to all of you, for trusting me with your struggles and opening yourselves to change. I’m glad I decided to make it a random drawing, because there’s no way I could have chosen. I said a little prayer of gratitude for all of you before I picked a name.

The winner of the free spot in the Picking Up the Pieces tele-retreat is:

The Picking Up the Pieces tele-retreat starts Tuesday. If you’re ready to ease your pain, get tools and information that you will use for the rest of your life, and discover how to take the best care of you, please join us.

with love,
Alana

P.S. I’ve got room for a few free Shift Sessions on Monday if you’d like to talk with me before the tele-retreat starts.

P.P.S. I can’t recommend Erika Lyremark’s The Morning Whip highly enough. Her next class starts this Sunday September 9th. It’s one of the best business investments you’ll ever make. Check it out here.

I still have room in the next Picking Up the Pieces Tele-Retreat, starting Tuesday September 11th.  In honor of all those whose generosity has touched my life since Ben died, I’m giving away one of the remaining available spots.

How to win:

Sign up for a free 15-minute Shift Session* with me this week (Tuesday September 4 through Friday September 7) and your name will be entered in a drawing to participate in the tele-retreat for free.

That’s free + free!

Not only do you get to take my work for a test-drive, you’ll get your questions answered and walk away from our call with at least one solid action you can take to start feeling better, now.

The winner’s name will be drawn from a hat on Saturday September 8th and announced here. The winner will also be notified via email. If you want to reserve your spot with a payment this week, and your name is drawn, then your money will be refunded.

Click here for all the details on the tele-retreat. Be sure to check out the FAQ page too.

Click here to sign up for your 15-minute Shift Session. (Availability is limited. If there’s any part of your being saying Yes!, go register now).

With love,
Alana

*Please note: Shift Sessions are for new clients only.

Feel free to share this information with anyone you know who is living through the hard stuff of life right now.

Cancer. The “C” word. Big. Scary. Everywhere.

It has affected my family. Chances are it has affected yours.

A few weeks ago, on my Facebook feed, I saw Patti Digh post about her husband John and my heart stopped for a second. I do not know Patti personally. I asked her to be part of a project that fell apart when Ben died so we’ve exchanged a few emails. I recommend her book, Life is a Verb, in my guide and tele-retreat. Patti knows grief and her work has been deeply informed by it. Her father died when she was a teenager (here’s her new way of honoring him – in perfect Patti style). Her stepfather’s 37 days between diagnosis and death inspired Life is a Verb. She recently sat by the bedside of a beloved friend during her final days. Her new book on grief and loss went to the publisher the Friday before her husband’s diagnosis.

Patti is a fiercely devoted wife and mama, a writer, an artist and a social justice activist. She stands up, powerfully, for what she believes in. She changes lives with her work.

To quote Patti’s words:

While I believe that writing is my calling, it is not as secure a life choice as working in a job with benefits. And recently, that has meant not paying our $1400/month insurance premium–like so, so many other Americans. It is a broken, broken system. So John is uninsured for this journey.

An indiegogo campaign has been set up to help pay for John’s medical expenses and I’m offering 7 donation-based 1-hour individual coaching calls to help raise funds. You don’t need to be grieving a death to have grief in your life. If you’re in any kind of pain, we can make miracles together.

Here’s the deal:

*   Email me at [email protected] to let me know you want one of the spots.

*   Go to John’s indiegogo page or Patti’s Project 137 page and make a donation. Give what you can and what your heart tells you to.

*   Email me the confirmation of your donation. At that point I’ll send you the link to schedule your call with me.

Et voila. Simple. Profound. Life-changing.