Why Half a Million Women Travel Solo With Amanda Black

Step into a deeply moving, paradigm shifting, and tenderly human conversation with Valeriya Hjertenaes, PhD, neurodiversity and sustainability leadership expert, global keynote speaker, author, coach, and award winning podcast host, on this episode of Intimate Conversations: Dark Night to Divine Light. Joining us from Norway at nearly midnight, Valeriya brings her lived experience, research, and heart to a conversation about what it means to be wired differently in a world built for someone else. Valeriya shares the moment everything changed. While working in Ukrainian orphanages and navigating her first adoption, she experienced her first intrusive thought amid exhaustion and cognitive overload. Without a framework to understand what was happening, she spent two years struggling in silence before seeking professional help. Then, just three months after walking the red carpet at Cannes as a sustainable fashion advocate, she checked herself into a mental health institution for four weeks. It was there, with limited phone access, that she discovered the term neurodiversity and found a new sense of purpose. She rebuilt her PhD around the subject, launched her podcast, and began transforming her personal experience into a mission to help others thrive. We also talk about: What neurodiversity means and how cognitive diversity contributes to human potential Valeriya's personal experience with OCD and her perspective on neurodivergent strengths How intrusive thoughts work and why having a thought does not define who you are The difference between masking and thriving as a neurodivergent person Why seeking mental health support can be an act of courage How to approach a neurodivergent child, partner, or colleague with curiosity instead of judgment The 5E ENABLERS Method: Empathize, Evolve, Evaluate, Enhance, and Empower How digital overload can affect focus, wellbeing, and cognitive performance The role of daily rituals, spaciousness, and self trust in supporting wellbeing Raising teenagers with openness about mental health How neurodiversity can reshape leadership, inclusion, and workplace culture Why collaboration, connection, and slowing down matter in an increasingly polarized world The difference between asking "How are you?" and genuinely wanting to know This episode is a reminder that being different does not mean being broken. Valeriya's story invites us to question old assumptions, recognize the strengths within cognitive diversity, and create environments where people can thrive without hiding who they are. Our darkest nights do not have to be the end of the story. Sometimes, they become the beginning of a new mission. ABOUT VALERIYA HJERTENAES Valeriya Hjertenaes, PhD, is a neurodiversity and sustainability leadership expert, global keynote speaker, author, mentor, coach, and award winning podcast host. Drawing on more than 15 years of international leadership experience across corporate, nonprofit, and human rights sectors, she helps organizations turn cognitive diversity into leadership effectiveness, resilience, innovation, and sustainable performance. She is the founder of the 5E ENABLERS Method™, a leadership framework built around Empathize, Evolve, Evaluate, Enhance, and Empower. As a neurodivergent leader with lived experience of OCD and an adoptive mother of two, Valeriya combines research, professional expertise, and personal insight to champion more inclusive and sustainable approaches to leadership. CONNECT WITH VALERIYA Website: https://bio.site/ValeriyaImpact.Global Instagram: @mrs.worldcongeniality Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vhjertenaes YouTube: @diversitygamechanger Valeriya Hjertenaes, Allana Pratt, Intimate Conversations, Dark Night to Divine Light, neurodiversity, OCD, intrusive thoughts, neurodivergent leadership, mental health awareness, cognitive diversity, 5E ENABLERS Method, sustainability leadership, neurodivergent strengths, masking and neurodiversity, mental health support, inclusive leadership, human performance, social sustainability, parenting and mental health #AllanaPratt #ValeriyaHjertenaes #Neurodiversity #MentalHealthAwareness ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Go deeper with me, inside The Intimate World ➡️ Visit: www.patreon.com/AllanaPratt 💫 Book Your Intimacy Breakthrough Experience with Allana: www.allanapratt.com/connect Scholarship Code: READYNOW 💖 Ready to stop searching for The One and finally become The One? Discover Allana's signature program: Become the One Introductory Program: www.allanapratt.com/becomeintro Use Code: BTO22 for over 40% off Stay Connected with me: Exclusive Video Newsletter: www.allanapratt.com/newsletter Instagram URL: @allanapratt    Facebook URL: coachallanapratt  

Step into a mind expanding, optimistic, and deeply practical conversation with Dr. Bryce Appelbaum, a pioneer in neuro optometry, founder of MyVisionFirst and ScreenFit, and an expert in the connection between our eyes, our brains, and how we show up in every area of life, on this episode of Intimate Conversations: Dark Night to Divine Light. From elite athletes to children with developmental delays to adults struggling with presence, focus, and connection, Dr. Bryce is on a mission to change the way the world understands vision. What he shares may change the way you understand yourself. Dr. Bryce opens up about his own experience growing up with sensory overload, an alternating eye turn, limited depth perception, and a nervous system often stuck in fight or flight. The vision work his parents pioneered helped transform him from a reluctant reader and struggling young athlete into a confident, high performing adult. Today, he helps others explore the potential of their own eye brain connection. What if some of our struggles with intimacy, eye contact, confidence, and connection are not simply character flaws? Could functional vision skills play a role in how we experience ourselves and relate to others? We also talk about: Why eyesight and functional vision are different, and why 20/20 eyesight is not the whole story How the brain processes visual information and influences attention, movement, and performance Why difficulty maintaining eye contact may involve visual processing as well as emotional or social factors How stress and fight or flight can affect tunnel vision and peripheral awareness The relationship between peripheral vision, spatial awareness, feeling safe, and being present How screens place demands on our visual system, focus, and attention What monovision contacts may mean for depth perception and spatial awareness The peripheral pointing exercise Dr. Bryce shares to explore peripheral awareness How vision performance training is used by athletes across the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and other sports What ScreenFit offers for people looking to build healthier visual habits during screen use How visual awareness may intersect with intimacy, emotional connection, and confidence Why individualized vision assessments matter when exploring functional vision concerns This conversation is a reminder that the way we see the world can influence how we experience it, including our confidence, our relationships, our capacity for intimacy, and our ability to be present with the people we love. When we understand the connection between our eyes and our brains, we open up new possibilities for personal growth, performance, and connection. ABOUT DR. BRYCE APPELBAUM Dr. Bryce Appelbaum is a pioneer in neuro optometry, an international TEDx speaker, and the founder and CEO of MyVisionFirst. He specializes in functional vision and human performance, helping people understand and train the connection between their eyes and their brains. He also created ScreenFit, an online vision training program designed to support healthier visual habits in a screen heavy world. Dr. Bryce has worked with thousands of patients and hundreds of professional athletes, as well as professional and collegiate sports teams. His work has been featured in USA Today, NBC, CBS, The Times, and The New York Times Sunday Magazine. He has also appeared on podcasts including The Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey, Feel Better, Live More with Dr. Rangan Chatterjee, and The Genius Life with Max Lugavere. SPECIAL OFFERS FOR INTIMATE CONVERSATIONS LISTENERS Save $200 on ScreenFit with code INTIMATE: https://screenfit.com/enroll Get 10% off selected digital performance lens products with code INTIMATE: https://shop.myvisionfirst.com Take a free vision assessment: https://myvisionfirst.com/quiz Episode on Dr. Bryce's Site: https://myvisionfirst.com/eye-contact-intimacy-vision/ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Go deeper with me, inside The Intimate World ➡️ Visit: www.patreon.com/AllanaPratt 💫 Book Your Intimacy Breakthrough Experience with Allana: www.allanapratt.com/connect Scholarship Code: READYNOW 💖 Ready to stop searching for The One and finally become The One? Discover Allana's signature program: Become the One Introductory Program: www.allanapratt.com/becomeintro Use Code: BTO22 for over 40% off Stay Connected with me: Exclusive Video Newsletter: www.allanapratt.com/newsletter Instagram URL: @allanapratt    Facebook URL: coachallanapratt  

Step into a warm, wandering, and surprisingly intimate conversation with Amanda Black, entrepreneur, community builder, and founder of The Solo Female Traveler Network, the largest community of women who travel solo worldwide, on this episode of Intimate Conversations: Dark Night to Divine Light. With a global community of more than half a million women, a TEDx talk on the power of shared firsts, and a mission to help women change their lives through adventure and real connection, Amanda is living proof that following your gut, even when it looks like a one-way ticket to a country you've never visited, can become your life's greatest gift. Amanda opens up about the loss that started everything. Her mom, her best friend, died when she was twenty-nine. With a small amount of money and a heart full of grief and quiet defiance, she bought a one-way ticket to Honduras and became a dive master. What began as a declaration of defiance against the loss that had changed her life became the foundation of a global movement. A Facebook group of 65,000 women wanting to travel together led to a sold-out Bali trip. That trip became the beginning of something much bigger: a community built around adventure, belonging, and the kind of connection that can change your life. Together, Allana and Amanda explore what women are really seeking when they book a trip alone. It is rarely just the destination. It is the permission to show up fully, form bonds in unexpected places, and discover parts of themselves they have been too busy, too worried, or too caught up in people-pleasing to meet before. We also talk about: How grief can become a portal to total self-permission The difference between worry as love and worry as control Why shared firsts can unlock connection that years of ordinary conversation cannot The sisterhood that forms when women do hard things together for the first time How a 109-flight stair climb to Tiger's Nest became one of the most beautiful days of Amanda's life What women think they are signing up for versus what they actually receive Why half a million women are choosing to travel solo and what that reveals about our hunger for real connection How Amanda kept her company alive through the pandemic by taking personal risks The surprising vulnerability of being a highly self-sufficient woman who still craves meaningful partnership Why the depth we build with our women friends is the standard we deserve to bring into romantic love What the first voice of excitement, before the brain interrupts, may be trying to tell you Amanda's TEDx talk on shared firsts and how new experiences help us build belonging Upcoming adventures to Uzbekistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Egypt, Morocco, and destinations across Africa This episode is a reminder that the life you are longing for may be one brave, slightly reckless, beautifully impulsive yes away. Sometimes the best way to find your people is to stop waiting for connection to happen and go create the conditions for it. ABOUT AMANDA BLACK Amanda Black is an entrepreneur, community builder, and founder of The Solo Female Traveler Network, a global community helping women experience the world through culturally rich travel, adventure, and meaningful connection. With a decade of experience in global travel, community design, and transformational group experiences, Amanda is passionate about creating shared moments that turn strangers into lifelong friends. She is also the speaker behind the TEDx talk "Shared Firsts: Redesigning How We Find Belonging" and the founder of Kindred Community, offering women connection retreats designed to make meaningful relationships feel natural, joyful, and accessible. CONNECT WITH AMANDA Website: www.thesolofemaletravelernetwork.com Meet Amanda: www.meetamandablack.com Kindred Community: www.kindredcommunity.co Instagram: @solofemaletravel TikTok: @sofetravel YouTube: @sofetravel TEDx Talk, Shared Firsts: Redesigning How We Find Belonging —————————————————————————————————————————— 💫 Book Your Intimacy Breakthrough Experience with Allana: www.allanapratt.com/connect Scholarship Code: READYNOW 💖 Ready to stop searching for The One and finally become The One? Discover Allana's signature program: Become the One Introductory Program: www.allanapratt.com/becomeintro Use Code: BTO22 for over 40% off Stay Connected with me: Exclusive Video Newsletter: www.allanapratt.com/newsletter Instagram URL: @allanapratt    Facebook URL: coachallanapratt

Step into a raw, real, eye-opening, and ultimately deeply liberating conversation with Amber Romaniuk, emotional eating, digestive, and hormone expert, host of the No Sugar Coating Podcast with over 2 million downloads, and founder of amberapproved.ca, on this episode of Intimate Conversations: Dark Night to Divine Light. With 13 years of experience helping high-achieving women create body confidence, hormonal balance, and lasting freedom from self-sabotage, Amber brings both professional expertise and profound personal truth to everything she shares. Amber vulnerably opens up about the journey that became her calling: a childhood moment on a school bus that lodged itself into her identity for the next two decades. A home filled with love and food in equal measure, where both became inseparable. Years of dieting, bingeing, purging, and spending over $50,000 on binge foods. And the rock-bottom moment in a back alley dumpster that finally cracked the denial wide open. What followed was not a quick fix. It was a multidimensional, multiyear journey back to herself through nutrition, mindset, somatic healing, nervous system work, and the slow, courageous practice of self-worth. Together, Allana and Amber explore the truth that much of the wellness industry does not want you to hear. Weight is often a symptom rather than the root issue. The deeper work is understanding self-worth, emotional regulation, and the relationship we have with our bodies. No diet, injection, or number on a scale can replace that inner work. We also dive into the growing conversation around GLP-1 medications, including what they do in the body, questions around their effects on hormones, metabolism, bone density, gut health, mood, and dopamine, and why some people experience significant challenges when transitioning off them. This is not about shame. It is about asking better questions, understanding your body, and making informed choices. We also talk about: How a single moment of childhood bullying became a 20-year identity wound The connection between witnessing a parent's illness and using food as a soother Why reaching your goal weight and feeling nothing can become a powerful turning point The all-or-nothing binge cycle and how restriction can fuel it How to feel an emotion without becoming consumed by it Sacred rage, breathwork, tapping, and other tools for moving emotion through the body The practice of remothering your inner child and what it actually looks like Why self-worth is central to lasting body confidence Questions women are asking about GLP-1 medications, hormones, gut health, and metabolism Why food noise returning is not necessarily a failure, but information worth listening to How to make your body your best friend instead of your enemy Listening to your body's intelligence around food, rest, movement, and desire Why a sovereign woman can step away from trends, quick fixes, and external pressure After years of being a dancer, model, and on camera, Allana wholeheartedly connects with Amber's perspective that the body is not the enemy. It can be a messenger, inviting us to look beneath the surface and understand what needs attention. When we stop trying to silence the body and start listening to it, a different kind of freedom becomes possible. Not just freedom from food struggles, but a deeper relationship with yourself, your pleasure, your boundaries, and your life. ABOUT AMBER ROMANIUK Amber Romaniuk is an emotional eating, digestive, and hormone expert, certified coach, and founder of amberapproved.ca. With 13 years of experience, she helps high-achieving women build body confidence, understand their relationship with food, and create lasting freedom from self-sabotage. She is also the host of the No Sugar Coating Podcast, which has surpassed 2 million downloads. CONNECT WITH AMBER Website: www.amberapproved.ca Free Emotional Eating Quiz: www.amberapproved.ca/emotional-eating-quiz Schedule a Complimentary 30 Minute Body Freedom Session: www.amberapproved.ca/body-freedom-consultation The No Sugarcoating Podcast: www.amberapproved.ca/podcast Apple Podcasts: www.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-no-sugarcoating-podcast/id1158699464 —————————————————————————————————————————— 💫 Book Your Intimacy Breakthrough Experience with Allana: www.allanapratt.com/connect Scholarship Code: READYNOW 💖 Ready to stop searching for The One and finally become The One? Discover Allana's signature program: Become the One Introductory Program: www.allanapratt.com/becomeintro Use Code: BTO22 for over 40% off Stay Connected with me: Exclusive Video Newsletter: www.allanapratt.com/newsletter Instagram URL: @allanapratt    Facebook URL: coachallanapratt

Step into a raw, courageous, and deeply validating conversation with Melissa Rymer, narcissistic abuse survivor turned advocate, certified recovery coach, certified divorce coach, and founder of the Victim to Warrior Method, on this episode of Intimate Conversations: Dark Night to Divine Light. Melissa's work exists to do what no one did for her when she was in it: name it, witness it, and walk people through to the other side. Melissa vulnerably shares how she built what looked like a perfect life. An executive career, a beautiful home, three boys, and a marriage she believed in. When that marriage ended after her husband's affair, the grief cracked her open in ways she did not see coming. In that vulnerable, soul-bared state, she walked into a divorce recovery group and straight into the arms of a predator. What followed was nearly a decade of psychological manipulation, financial destruction, credit card fraud, IRS audits, stolen dogs, broken restraining orders, a 13-year custody battle, and a quarter of a million dollars lost. And through all of it, she kept journaling. She kept going. She did not go down. Together, Allana and Melissa explore the invisible architecture of narcissistic abuse. How it happens slowly. How it erodes confidence like water on stone. How the mask can come off behind closed doors while everyone outside remains convinced he is wonderful. And how the moment you try to leave, the real war can begin. We talk about: Why predators prey on insecurity and how divorce recovery groups can become hunting grounds The slow erosion of confidence through passive aggression and gaslighting Why victims doubt their own reality and how journaling helped Melissa hold onto hers Smear campaigns, isolation, and the weaponization of children The 13-year custody battle and the financial and emotional cost of prolonged legal conflict Why you must plan your exit methodically before you speak a word The moment on a Mexican beach when Melissa's calling became clear How people pleasers can become vulnerable to narcissistic relationships and what can break that pattern The difference between absorbing someone's pain and holding compassionate space Becoming whole enough that another person's behavior no longer takes you off center The Victim to Warrior Method and why accessible support can change everything How surviving narcissistic abuse can become a catalyst for a deeper homecoming This episode is a reminder that the journey from victim to warrior is not linear, not quick, and not for the faint of heart. But it is possible. Melissa's story is proof that when you stop faking your way through and finally look within, you can discover not just who you survived, but who you were always meant to become. ABOUT MELISSA RYMER Melissa Rymer is a narcissistic abuse survivor turned advocate, certified recovery coach, and certified divorce coach who helps victims escape manipulation and rebuild their futures. After enduring years of physical, emotional, and financial abuse, she reclaimed her life and transformed her experience into a global movement. Through the Victim to Warrior Method, her podcast, books, and online resources, she supports people across the United States and around the world in breaking free from trauma bonds and reclaiming their peace. CONNECT WITH MELISSA Website: www.victimtowarriormethod.com —————————————————————————————————————————— 💫 Book Your Intimacy Breakthrough Experience with Allana: www.allanapratt.com/connect Scholarship Code: READYNOW 💖 Ready to stop searching for The One and finally become The One? Discover Allana's signature program: Become the One Introductory Program: www.allanapratt.com/becomeintro Use Code: BTO22 for over 40% off Stay Connected with me: Exclusive Video Newsletter: www.allanapratt.com/newsletter Instagram URL: @allanapratt    Facebook URL: coachallanapratt

Step into a raw, tender, and profoundly moving conversation with Wayne Barkus, men's empowerment facilitator, men's coach, founder of SVRN1 Menswear, and teacher of initiatory experiences dedicated to helping men transform their lives, on this episode of Intimate Conversations: Dark Night to Divine Light. Wayne's work lives at the intersection of emotional mastery, relational strength, masculine initiation, and community, creating spaces where men can stop performing, reconnect with themselves, and begin becoming the men they know they are capable of being. Wayne vulnerably shares the series of dark nights that cracked him open. A marriage that had been quietly collapsing. A body screaming from decades of inflammation and self-neglect. And then the moment it all gave way. Sitting on the couch of his half-million-dollar home, surrounded by the appearance of a perfect life, he asked himself a question that changed everything: Who am I without all of this? What he found beneath the surface was not who he wanted to be. And standing on the edge of becoming a single father to a four-year-old and a one-year-old, he knew he had no choice but to discover who he could become. That descent became the beginning of a hero's journey. From joining his first men's group and witnessing what sovereign, embodied men actually looked like, to building his own men's circles from three guys in a room to forty, to holding initiatory experiences across North America, Wayne's path is a living testament to what becomes possible when a man stops toughing it out alone and steps into community. We also explore the tender story of a Good Friday parking lot, where grief cracked Wayne open in front of his daughters, and how that moment of surrender deepened their bond in ways years of holding it together never could. He also shares how his partner's own embodiment journey, her altar, her boundaries, and her becoming became the quiet permission slip that first showed him what healing could look like. We also talk about: The initiatory descent every man will face and how to navigate it Why men are incredibly sensitive and what happens when that sensitivity finally opens Isolation, shame, and the invisible epidemic of men suffering alone How feminine embodiment can become a catalyst for masculine awakening The power of one meditation session to crack open decades of emotional suppression Tracking cycles, practicing curiosity, and navigating conflict in conscious partnership Grief as one of the richest and most transformative emotions available to men The tribal practice of singing a man's song when he forgets who he is Why programs can help, but community is essential to lasting transformation Divorced fatherhood, presence, and the gift of being an imprint of love Wayne's eight-week initiation program and the cohort that continues the journey What it means to excavate before rebuilding Why men often already know who they want to become, but need the right space to remember This episode is a reminder that healing is not a destination. It is a practice, a process, and most powerfully, a shared one. Wayne's work calls men back from isolation and into the kind of community where truth can be spoken, grief can be held, and the song of who they truly are can finally be sung back to them. ABOUT WAYNE BARKUS Wayne Barkus is a Men's empowerment facilitator, founder of SVRN1 Menswear, and teacher of Initiatory experiences dedicated to helping Men transform their lives. Through men's work, coaching, community, and initiatory experiences, Wayne creates spaces for men to reconnect with their truth, deepen their relationships, and step into greater sovereignty. CONNECT WITH WAYNE Website: www.waynebarkus.com Instagram: @asacredking Free Gift: The SVRN1 Morning Blueprint Go deeper with me inside The Intimate World. patreon.com/AllanaPratt #TheIntimateWorld —————————————————————————————————————————— 💫 Book Your Intimacy Breakthrough Experience with Allana: www.allanapratt.com/connect Scholarship Code: READYNOW 💖 Ready to stop searching for The One and finally become The One? Discover Allana's signature program: Become the One Introductory Program: www.allanapratt.com/becomeintro Use Code: BTO22 for over 40% off Stay Connected with me: Exclusive Video Newsletter: www.allanapratt.com/newsletter Instagram URL: @allanapratt    Facebook URL: coachallanapratt

Step into a breathtaking, paradigm-shifting, deeply embodied conversation with Mike Elliott and Courtney Wren of The Sacred We, a real-life couple, parents, and partners in both love and business, on this episode of Intimate Conversations: Dark Night to Divine Light. Courtney is a Relational Somatic Therapist and mystic. Mike is a relationship coach and guide. Together, they bring over 30 years of combined experience helping couples build relationships that can truly hold it all: healing, intimacy, conflict, family, and purpose. They are also living proof that the work they teach is possible. Courtney shares how years of devoted inner work, including healing her relationship with her own inner masculine, prepared her nervous system for the relationship she was calling in. Spirit showed her images of someone so far outside her usual patterning that she knew she might not recognize him when he arrived. She asked for a sign. She called in a lion. Mike walked in with a lion tattoo. What followed was a conscious, slow, sacred unfolding of two people choosing each other with full presence and accountability. Mike opens up about what it felt like to be claimed by a woman who already had herself. How terrifying it was. How it brought his unintegrated insecurity and inadequacy to the surface. And how that sacred friction became an initiation, forging him into the man he had longed to become. Their story reframes what we think we know about masculine and feminine polarity. The feminine claims. The masculine devotes. And in that dance, something ancient and electric comes alive. We also talk about: How Courtney prepared her nervous system for years before calling Mike in Why being claimed by the feminine can be terrifying for a man The moment sacred sexuality initiated Courtney's inner priestess into embodiment Why the feminine claims and the masculine devotes Gentle power, strong back and soft front, and what it looks like in daily life Clearing ceremonies, consent, and sharing hard truths without triggering defensiveness Why women's emotions can be an invitation rather than an attack, and how men can learn to receive them The difference between the little boy saying no and the embodied man holding ground How Courtney learned to receive masculine structure as wisdom rather than shutdown Tracking cycles, attuning to the field, and moving at the pace of connection How understanding a man's emotional history can change the way a couple meets conflict Radical self-responsibility as the foundation of sacred partnership What becomes possible when two whole people stop performing and start truly meeting This episode is a transmission and an invitation into a version of love that most people have never witnessed up close. A love that does not avoid the fire, but walks into it together, emerging more whole, open, and devoted. Mike and Courtney's relationship is not a fairy tale. It is a practice: daily, embodied, courageous, and deeply devoted. Their story will challenge how you see yourself, your partner, and what is possible between two people willing to do the work. Explore The Sacred We and their somatic conflict resolution practices: www.thesacredwe.com/thesacredwe Get their free gift, 3 Somatic Practices to Resolve Conflict Faster: www.thesacredwe.com/deeperconnection ABOUT MIKE ELLIOTT & COURTNEY WREN A real-life couple, parents, and partners in both love and business, Mike and Courtney guide visionary couples from unmet and unseen, to in love and thriving. They have lived through stuckness, shutdown, and disconnection themselves, finding their way back through deep inner work, shared vision, and sacred devotion. Now they walk with other couples on that same initiatory path. CONNECT WITH MIKE & COURTNEY Facebook: Mike Elliot Instagram: @courtneywren.relating YouTube: @thesacredwepodcast —————————————————————————————————————————— Go deeper with me, inside The Intimate World ➡️ Visit: www.patreon.com/allanapratt 💫 Book Your Intimacy Breakthrough Experience with Allana: www.allanapratt.com/connect Scholarship Code: READYNOW 💖 Ready to stop searching for The One and finally become The One? Discover Allana's signature program: Become the One Introductory Program: www.allanapratt.com/becomeintro Use Code: BTO22 for over 40% off Stay Connected with me: Exclusive Video Newsletter: www.allanapratt.com/newsletter Instagram URL: @allanapratt    Facebook URL: coachallanapratt

Step into a warm, wise, and witty conversation with Rebecca Whitman, abundance mentor, international bestselling author, Princeton honors graduate, and host of the globally top-ranked Balanced, Beautiful, and Abundant podcast, on this episode of Intimate Conversations: Dark Night to Divine Light. Rebecca's work is built around a powerful truth: abundance is not just financial. It is spiritual, physical, emotional, romantic, mental, social, and financial, woven together into a life of genuine joy and freedom. Rebecca vulnerably shares the season when grief and heartbreak arrived together. Her father was dying as her marriage unraveled, while her ex-husband was suing her for spousal support. At one of her final conversations with her father, he asked her to write a book. He was buried on a Wednesday. Her divorce was finalized on a Friday. That experience became the seed of her Seven Pillars of Abundance framework. We explore how Rebecca spent years choosing emotionally unavailable men, not because she was a victim, but because she was emotionally unavailable to herself. After deleting the dating apps and giving herself a 90-day dating detox, she met Ben at a backyard party on her late father's birthday, the man she had been asking her father to help her find from the other side of the veil. Together, Allana and Rebecca explore anxious attachment, love avoidance, emotional availability, and the relationship between inner healing and outer abundance. They discuss how health, self-love, intuition, purpose, and financial freedom all contribute to a truly abundant life. We also talk about: The seven pillars of abundance and why finances come last Anxious attachment and the nervous system cost of chasing love Emotional unavailability, neediness, and control The 90-day dating detox and surrendering to what unfolds Journaling as a daily spiritual practice Body before business and health as the foundation of magnetism Feminine and masculine energy Multiple income streams and creative financial diversity Zone of genius versus excellence How a secure partnership can transform your nervous system The sacred intelligence of the body Les Brown, a childhood quote, and a son who called after six and a half years This episode is a reminder that abundance does not begin with a bank account. It begins with becoming emotionally available to yourself and tending to your inner world. Rebecca's story shows that the most magnetic version of you is not the one trying harder, but the one who has finally learned to exhale. ABOUT REBECCA Rebecca Whitman is an abundance mentor, international bestselling author, Princeton honors graduate, and host of the globally top-ranked Balanced, Beautiful, and Abundant podcast. She created the Seven Pillars of Abundance framework, helping people align their spiritual, physical, emotional, romantic, mental, social, and financial lives for greater joy, freedom, and prosperity. She has been recognized as Mindset Coach of the Decade and Empowered Woman of the Year by the International Association of Top Professionals. CONNECT WITH REBECCA Website: www.rebeccawhitman.com Abundance Journal: www.balancedbeautifulabundant.com Events and Offerings: www.pillar.io/rebeccaewhitman —————————————————————————————————————————— Go deeper with me, inside The Intimate World ➡️ Visit: www.patreon.com/allanapratt 💫 Book Your Intimacy Breakthrough Experience with Allana: www.allanapratt.com/connect Scholarship Code: READYNOW 💖 Ready to stop searching for The One and finally become The One? Discover Allana's signature program: Become the One Introductory Program: www.allanapratt.com/becomeintro Use Code: BTO22 for over 40% off Stay Connected with me: Exclusive Video Newsletter: www.allanapratt.com/newsletter Instagram URL: @allanapratt    Facebook URL: coachallanapratt

Step into a candid, juicy, and deeply liberating conversation with Karen Bigman, midlife sex and relationship expert, certified sex educator, and menopause coach, on this episode of Intimate Conversations: Dark Night to Divine Light. Karen is the host of Taboo to Truth: Life & Sex After 50, a shame free space for honest conversations about sex, desire, dating, relationships, menopause, and intimacy after 50. Karen shares the unexpected journey that brought her into this work, beginning with a book club moment when a grown woman could not say the word "blowjob." Combined with reconnecting with an old flame, discovering the realities of menopause, and a life changing visit to a sexual medicine practice, that moment sparked a calling she never saw coming. We explore the changes that happen in midlife bodies and relationships, including menopause, perimenopause, hormone therapy, and shifting libido for both women and men. Karen offers a shame free approach centered on communication, body awareness, pleasure over performance, and emotional connection, reminding us that great sex is a full body, full heart experience. The conversation also dives into foreplay as an all day practice, what Karen calls "sex snacks," and the difference between spontaneous and responsive desire. Allana vulnerably shares her own experience of introducing her Yoni to a partner for the first time, opening a deeper conversation about asking to be honored rather than waiting for someone else to know what we need. We also talk about: ● Why your sex span should equal your lifespan ● How men can better support partners through menopause ● Spontaneous versus responsive desire ● Why women have affairs to leave and men have affairs to stay ● Sex snacks and keeping intimacy alive outside the bedroom ● Porn, the death grip, and difficulty reaching orgasm ● Religious shame, guilt, and learning to let go in the body ● Introducing your Yoni to a partner as an act of sacred honoring ● Tantric sex, connection, timing, and trust ● Alternative relationship structures and honest communication ● Why judgment is the enemy of pleasure and curiosity is the cure ● How suppressed sexuality can come out sideways ● Raising sexually healthy children who become open adults This episode is a reminder that pleasure is not a luxury. It is a birthright. Our bodies, at every age and stage, are worthy of attention, tenderness, curiosity, and delight. Karen makes it easier to laugh, exhale, ask the questions we were never taught to ask, and reclaim a vibrant intimate life at any age. ABOUT KAREN BIGMAN Karen Bigman is a Sexual Health Alliance Certified Sexuality Educator, menopause coach, intimacy and relationship coach, and host of Taboo to Truth: Life & Sex After 50. After navigating her own midlife transition, divorce, dating, and changing desire, she became passionate about helping people understand the physical, emotional, and hormonal shifts that can affect intimacy after 50. Karen's mission is simple: to help people have great sex for the rest of their lives. Her work combines education, humor, lived experience, and shame free conversations to help people communicate better, understand their changing bodies, and create more connected relationships. CONNECT WITH KAREN Website: www.taboototruth.com Instagram: @taboototruth YouTube: @taboototruthpodcast LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/karenbigman Free Resources: www.taboototruth.com/free-resources —————————————————————————————————————————— Go deeper with me, inside The Intimate World ➡️ Visit: www.patreon.com/allanapratt 💫 Book Your Intimacy Breakthrough Experience with Allana: www.allanapratt.com/connect Scholarship Code: READYNOW 💖 Ready to stop searching for The One and finally become The One? Discover Allana's signature program: Become the One Introductory Program: www.allanapratt.com/becomeintro Use Code: BTO22 for over 40% off Stay Connected with me: Exclusive Video Newsletter: www.allanapratt.com/newsletter Instagram URL: @allanapratt    Facebook URL: coachallanapratt

Step into a soul drenched, body awakening, and profoundly tender conversation with Regena Thomashauer, founder of the School of Womanly Arts and New York Times bestselling author of Pussy: A Reclamation, on this episode of Intimate Conversations: Dark Night to Divine Light. For more than 25 years, Regena, also known as Mama Gena, has helped hundreds of thousands of women reclaim pleasure, desire, emotional expression, and feminine power. Her newest book, On Our Knees, invites women to stop bypassing pain and discover the power within grief, rage, pleasure, and surrender. Regena shares the extraordinary journey that brought On Our Knees into the world. Born from six years inside what she calls a death portal, she began writing at four in the morning when the book would wake her. What emerged is an exploration of feminine wisdom, grief, erotic aliveness, and the radical practice of meeting yourself with tenderness. We explore the disconnection so many women experience from their bodies, desires, and emotional truth. Regena explains how women have been conditioned to bypass the full 88 keys of their emotional piano and play only middle C. Her invitation is to return to the body, grief, pleasure, and the erotic aliveness that lives within us. Recorded in NYC, Allana vulnerably shares her in the moment experience of reconnecting with her son after six and a half years of no contact. Together, they practice Swamping from On Our Knees live on air, beginning with Allana's grief and rage and moving into embodied erotic energy as a way to transmute emotion with fierce compassion. We also talk about: Why women have been disconnected from erotic aliveness The difference between the erotic and the sexual Grief as a portal to power, not a problem to solve The On Our Knees Move and how to practice it Patriarchy, religion, and disconnection from inner Source Inanna, Lilith, Aphrodite, and feminine wholeness Children of divorce, rejection, and breaking blame cycles Why listening to your body can be more powerful than listening to your brain Cyclical wisdom and the intelligence of the female body Practices for reconnecting with yourself during difficult times Meeting yourself with tenderness when your heart is broken Erotic aliveness and Audre Lorde's The Uses of the Erotic This episode is a reminder that a woman's body is not the problem. It is the answer. Grief, rage, desire, and pleasure are not obstacles to healing. They can become the path back to ourselves. This conversation invites us to come back into the flesh, feel what is true, and remember that we were never meant to be "fine." ABOUT REGENA THOMASHAUER Regena Thomashauer, also known as Mama Gena, is a teacher, bestselling author, speaker, mother, and founder and CEO of the School of Womanly Arts. Founded in 1998, the School has grown into a global movement serving hundreds of thousands of women. She is the New York Times bestselling author of Pussy: A Reclamation and author of On Our Knees, exploring heartbreak, grief, surrender, pleasure, and feminine power. CONNECT WITH REGENA Website: www.mamagenas.com Instagram: @mamagena Facebook: mamagenaschool YouTube: @mamagenas ————————————————————————————————————————— Go deeper with me, inside The Intimate World ➡️ Visit: www.patreon.com/allanapratt 💫 Book Your Intimacy Breakthrough Experience with Allana: https://allanapratt.com/connect Scholarship Code: READYNOW 💖 Ready to stop searching for The One and finally become The One?  Discover Allana's signature program: Become the One Introductory Program: https://allanapratt.com/becomeintro Use Code: BTO22 for over 40% off Stay Connected with me: Exclusive Video Newsletter: http://allanapratt.com/newsletter Instagram URL: @allanaprattFacebook URL: Coach Allana Pratt Regena Thomashauer interview, Mama Gena interview, On Our Knees book, School of Womanly Arts, feminine power, feminine embodiment, erotic aliveness, women's empowerment, pleasure and healing, grief and healing, divine feminine, emotional intimacy, feminine sexuality, body wisdom, Allana Pratt interview, Intimate Conversations  #AllanaPratt #RegenaThomashauer #MamaGena #FemininePower