Episodes
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Learning the same lessons over and over again is all a part of this journey we call life, so why does it feel so new and surprising when it happens?!
An update on my Year of Adventure, and why it's SO OK that it's not going to plan.
Your Chronic Illness Superpower: click here to tap into the wisdom of your chronic illness and start living in the way you truly want to be living, from the day-to-day to the big dream stuff.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Do I have a problem with productivity, what is ‘productivity’ anyway and why have I applied it to a part of my life that doesn’t need it? In today's episode,I explore how a dormant belief about needing to be productive has thwarted my Year of Adventure, and what I'm going to do about it.
LINKS:
Your Chronic Illness Superpower: click here to tap into the wisdom of your chronic illness and start living in the way you truly want to be living, from the day-to-day to the big dream stuff.
A link to my Substack https://onfiguringitout.substack.com - I'd love to say hello to you over there!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Missing episodes?
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Month 1 into my year of adventure - what lessons have I learned?
This is how our dreams, goals and ambitions can be healing by nature. There’s so much we can learn from going for them, but much less to learn by being afraid to try.
Subscribe to my Substack On Figuring It Out - https://onfiguringitout.substack.com
Your Chronic Illness Superpower: click here to tap into the wisdom of your chronic illness and start living in the way you truly want to be living, from the day-to-day to the big dream stuff.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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What do we do when the dreams, goals and ambitions we've been building up in our head for SO LONG, underwhelm us in reality? What does the chronic illness experience have to do with that, and how do we pick ourselves back up...again?
Your Chronic Illness Superpower: click here to tap into the wisdom of your chronic illness and start living in the way you truly want to be living, from the day-to-day to the big dream stuff.
My new Substack - On figuring it out - https://onfiguringitout.substack.com/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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How do you step into your purpose, dreams and ambitions whilst living with chronic illness, in a way that heals rather than harms? Is it possible to achieve what you want in life, without having to push yourself beyond what's 'good' for you? You bet that's what I'm discussing this season, and I can't wait to get into it.
Your Chronic Illness Superpower: click here to tap into the wisdom of your chronic illness and start living in the way you truly want to be living, from the day-to-day to the big dream stuff.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Listen in as I explore the concept of recognising and celebrating the progress and achievements we've made in our lives, even when it feels like we're not where we want to be yet. Sharing my personal experience with chronic illness and how it taught me the importance of acceptance and surrender, I highlight that the difference in my mindset and approach to life came not from the manifestation of my illness but from changing the way I thought about, felt about, and treated myself.
Your Chronic Illness Superpower: click here to tap into the wisdom of your chronic illness and start living in the way you truly want to be living, from the day-to-day to the big dream stuff.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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It can be really easy to see chronic illness as a ‘but’ in your relationship, something without which your relationship would be much better. But, as my view stands on most things chronic illness, there’s space to see things another way.
I think chronic illness in relationships has the power to be a really positive force in your relationships, and today, I'm discussing why.
Your Chronic Illness Superpower: click here to tap into the wisdom of your chronic illness and start living in the way you truly want to be living, from the day-to-day to the big dream stuff.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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So you’ve heard about chronic illness coaching, but you’re not sure what it is, whether you want or need it, or how it will actually help you.
One thing you’ve likely realised as you’re here, is that living with chronic illness changes you and you want help, guidance and support with navigating your way through that.
Your Chronic Illness Superpower: click here to tap into the wisdom of your chronic illness and start living in the way you truly want to be living, from the day-to-day to the big dream stuff.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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I recently met Emma in Ruth Poundwhite’s membership, The Soulful Sales Society*. In her intro post she mentioned about having recently been awarded Access to Work. In short, Access to Work is a UK government grant, designed to help those with disabilities, physical or mental health conditions, or neuro-divergence either get or stay in work by providing the funding you need to access support.
In this episode, I talk to Emma Cossey about her Access to Work application and how this support has helped her in running a business.
If you want to find out more about Emma, check out her links below;
Website - freelancelifestyle.co.uk
Instagram - @emmacossey
The Freelance Lifestyle facebook group
*A quick heads up that this post might contain affiliate links, meaning I’ll receive a small commission on anything you buy through those links, at no extra cost to you. All affiliate links will be marked with an asterisk*.
Your Chronic Illness Superpower: click here to tap into the wisdom of your chronic illness and start living in the way you truly want to be living, from the day-to-day to the big dream stuff.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Pleasure as a pathway to healing - can it be? Yes. Is it important that it is? Most definitely yes.
In this episode, I explore pleasure as your basic human right, and why it's so important you don't put it on hold for when you feel up to it.
Your Chronic Illness Superpower: click here to tap into the wisdom of your chronic illness and start living in the way you truly want to be living, from the day-to-day to the big dream stuff.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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I’m finally here with the season 4 finale. I wanted it to be really conclusive but honestly, that’s just fuelling my procrastination. So now I am going to close out the season with a stream of consciousness, what’s on my mind, what’s next, 4 semi-unrelated thoughts that I can’t shake so need to talk about, kind of episode!
I'll be back with season 5 sometime later this year, so for now, the best place to connect with me is via my newsletter.
Your Chronic Illness Superpower: click here to tap into the wisdom of your chronic illness and start living in the way you truly want to be living, from the day-to-day to the big dream stuff.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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My friends, today is the final guest episode of S4! I will be brining you some kind of season finale next week, but I just want to take a moment today to celebrate and thank all the guests who I’ve chatted to this season…there’s been something of a shift that’s happened, that I’ll talk more about next week. But for sure, that shift has been hugely facilitated by this group of wonderful humans.
So, for this last episode, I’m talking to Caitlin Gwynn; a friend and fellow small business owner who is so full of colour in every possible way. Caitlin is a creativity coach and small business cheerleader and she believes creativity makes the world go round. Caitlin sincerely believes that creativity makes her a better business owner and prioritising her own creative needs and play time during a period of burnout whilst running her online business has lead to her helping others do the same!
Caitlin creates experiences to help you bring the fun back to freelancing and, to help you unleash your own unique creative self expression… and rumour has it she is about to launch a podcast of her own.
LINKS:
Caitlin's webiste - https://caitlinthecreative.co.uk/
- https://www.instagram.com/caitlin_makes_stuff/?hl=en
MY LINKS:
Your Chronic Illness Superpower: click here to tap into the wisdom of your chronic illness and start living in the way you truly want to be living, from the day-to-day to the big dream stuff.
Creativity, or creative self-expression, for me, has always been an outlet during my journey with my health, and in life in general.
What I didn’t expect, however, was to discover how so much of the creative process, how so much of learning to express yourself, can be used as a metaphor and as a training ground for healing and learning to live at peace with your chronic illness.
She’s a beam of light and her creative superhero ways are infectious.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Today I’m chatting with a long time coach of mine, Ray Dodd.
Ray is a Money Coach who helps those who have traditionally been excluded from making money, to make life-changing amounts of money. All without compromising who they are.
Ray is a money coach with a difference. You won’t hear ‘just think good thoughts and watch the money come rolling in’ from her. Ray believes that money, business and intersectional feminism are inextricably linked and that there’s a lot more to making money than just trying to manifesting it.
I wanted to bring the subject of money to the podcast because I think - I know - it’s something that can feel sticky for chronic illness folk. I’m not just talking about the very silent shame-filled reality that so many - including me at points in my life - have to step away from work - and therefore money making in the traditional sense - due to chronic illness.
I’m also referring to the link between self-worth and belief and money (which Ray is a wondermind on - and how when our sense of self or self concept is low, along with ourselves we can fall into the pattern of assign a lower monetary value to what we have to offer to the world in terms of our expertise, skills and loved experience.
There’s loads more we talk about, but I’ll leave that to the actual episode! I know you’re going to love it.
Your Chronic Illness Superpower: click here to tap into the wisdom of your chronic illness and start living in the way you truly want to be living, from the day-to-day to the big dream stuff.
LINKS:
My affiliate link to Plenty - https://www.alanaholloway.com/affiliate-services
Your Chronic Illness Ally - https://www.alanaholloway.com/work-with-me/chronic-illness-ally
Ray's website - https://www.raydodd.co.uk/
Ray's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ray_dodd/?hl=en
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Today I’m speaking with Shana Pareira, and it’s conversation that has the most wonderful underlying message. Born in Australia and an immigrant to the US, Shana is what you call a thieving double organ recipient, having had a Heart and Kidney transplant during Christmas of 2020. She is described as a walking miracle, an answered prayer and has spread inspiration and hope, particularly with the way in which she handled her illness and physical struggles.
The underlying message came from Shana’s story, is something that’s present in us all, even if you don’t yet realise it. We don’t often connect living with chronic illness with having big dreams, and yet it’s something most of us do daily. All the time we’re on that path, working towards a life that feels better, more easeful, more joyful - we’re building a skill that we can then go on to use throughout the rest of life.
Shana mentions a few times that she is ‘nothing special’. That she wasn’t born stronger or more determined or more resilient, and that what she has been able to do, anyone can. And it’s true, none of us is more special than the next person, and yet we are all completely special. We all have that inner strength, resilience, determination and desire and we are already using it every day.
What I’d love you to think about sometime is, how else could you use all of that?
I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I did. All of Shana’s links are below.
Shana's website - https://shanapereira.com/
Shana's Instagram - @shana_pereira
Your Chronic Illness Superpower: click here to tap into the wisdom of your chronic illness and start living in the way you truly want to be living, from the day-to-day to the big dream stuff.
Episode notes:
3:00 - Shana’s story. Curating a medical team & getting curious, tuning into yourself, your senses, your body, to help you do that.
9:00 - On finding the strength to advocate for yourself, to ask for what you need and want, when you’re in crisis mode, at a really low ebb.
10:45 - On breaking things into small, actionable steps. Taking action no matter how you feel, by finding out how you CAN, and what you need to do, to tweak, to design, to make that possible.
13:45 - On not attaching yourself to labels and descriptions - removing descriptors whilst also validating and embracing your experience.
16:00 - The mastery of being present, making the things you *have* to do, easier to do with fun and joy, and rituals that make you feel good.
28:00 - Working in partnership with your medical team, dismantling the hierarchy that exists and bringing only the people who align with you into your healing team.
35:00 - Being tuned in; is it something you innately have or is it something you develop?
38:45 - Faith, what that looks like, how it looks different for all of us, and why it’s important when living with chronic illness. Shana’s near death experience.
58:00 - How do we deal with situations outside of our control?
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this episode, I’m talking with Ruth Poundwhite, an aligned business coach and mentor who has been claiming and redefining the word ambitious for herself, over the years she’s been running her business, making it work for her in a way that feels good.
She helps fellow humans build businesses that are ambitious and intuitive, and that allows them to honour their whole selves, unapologetically.
She’s author of the book Quietly Ambitious and host of a podcast of the same name. You can find her @ruthpoundwhite on Instagram.
There’s so much to be talked about around being a person who lives with chronic illness, and also being a person who is ambitious, who has big dreams and desires, and who wants to live an incredible life. I myself, in the past, have asked whether I had what it took to hold all these things at once, and saw myself looking down the barrel of a life consumed by chronic illness. I now know and believe that we can use our dreams and ambitions to help us out of the chronic illness struggle, and we can use our chronic illness to guide us in our dreams and ambitions.
Your Chronic Illness Superpower: click here to tap into the wisdom of your chronic illness and start living in the way you truly want to be living, from the day-to-day to the big dream stuff.
We also talked about;
- (Over) identifying with labels and struggles vs. allowing yourself to see them as gifts.
- Not allowing the fear of judgement - around the way you choose to live your life (with chronic illness) - to stop you.
- The visibility and vulnerability that comes with claiming your dreams and ambitions, and supporting yourself to 'go there'.
Episode notes:2:45 - Ambition and chronic illness - can they work together? How do the two relate?
5:30 - Labels and how they affect the way we view ambition. When ambition feels like something that isn’t for you. Being excluded from being ambitious, having big dreams and wanting to make big things happen.
8:45 - How Ruth started claiming and reshaping ambition into something that worked for her.
13:00 - Does everyone have ambition within them, or is it something only some people have?
16:30 - Ruth’s journey with chronic fatigue and holding her ambition
17:45 - The conversation around being worthy of, or having ‘permission’ to, following your dreams when you live with chronic illness
22:45- Fear of judgement around chronic illness and how you choose to live with your chronic illness.
28:30 - How does ambition feed us?
28:45 - When we over identify with the struggles of our ‘labels’, and when struggles can become gifts.
31:45 - When all your ambition is used up on the ‘goal’ of becoming ‘healed’
34:00 - Being seen, visibility, vulnerability and ambition and allowing yourself to ‘go there’ in a way that feels safe. The desire for invisibility when you live with chronic illness.
43:00 - How do we expand our identity and self concept when we feel attached to invisibility or labels, or conditioned to feel a certain way about ourselves.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Agnes is an artist, science communicator and creator of We Are Stardust - a place where art and science collide to enrich your experience of and relationship with our messy, beautiful universe.
She creates artwork that inspires connection with the more-than-human world and online adventures that encourage you to rewild your soul.
Based in Bedfordshire, UK, she works from a little office-studio in her home filled with sketches and books and sticks and pine cones and plants.
We talk about the synergies between the night sky and our bodies - We Are Stardust after all, but also knowledge vs. experience, information vs. understanding of this whole world - both human and planetary - we live in.
I see many similarities between climate change and chronic illness, especially in how we, as a society, believe we should ‘deal with them’. Agnes has a beautiful perspective on how to live in harmony with this planet, this universe, we are a part of, how to see beauty in the darkness and how, ultimately, this can all help with the way we approach things like winter and climate change, and in my mind, the relationship we have with our bodies and our chronic illnesses.
Other things we covered;
Resisting winter when it’s exactly what we need to feel and be in, in order to know what we need to know.Healing productivity and eternal summer - always being ‘on’. Fertile void and allowing yourself to stop.Stargazing.LINKS:
We Are Stardust - Agnes' website - https://wearestardust.myshopify.com/
We Are Stardust Instagram
Your Chronic Illness Superpower: click here to tap into the wisdom of your chronic illness and start living in the way you truly want to be living, from the day-to-day to the big dream stuff.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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How does sex show up in your life with chronic illness, whether you’re in a relationship or not?
Is it something that’s changed over the time you’ve lived with chronic illness and if so, have you ever made that connection?
Is it something you’d like to improve your relationship with, your feelings about… would you like to know how to talk about it more openly and honestly, but don’t know where to start?
If we want it to, sex gets to feel fun, loving, pleasurable and enjoyable. We get to have it in our lives as something we do to connect with our bodies and desire, and with that of others, if we choose to. It gets to be really positive thing, not only in our lives, but for our health, too.
But to do that, we need to start thinking differently about it; about how we approach it, how we talk about it and how we understand it.
Today, I’m discussing all of that and more with Kate Moyle, a Psychosexual and Relationship Therapist, Psycho-sexologist and host of The Sexual Wellness Sessions Podcast.
She works in talking therapy to help people to address the challenges they are facing in their sex lives and relationships, and to help people to get to a place of sexual health, wellbeing and happiness whatever that looks like for them.
Kate has also just worked on The Women’s Collection with the meditation app Headspace, so defo go and check that out.
You can find Kate on her own podcast, The Sexual Wellness Sessions, and on Instagram @katemoyletherapy
She also brilliantly recommended a whole host of sexual wellness brands who have created products, tools and resources to add to our sex lives, from apps to stackable buffer rings. I’ve linked them all in the show notes, go and have a gander.
LINKS:
Your Chronic Illness Superpower: click here to tap into the wisdom of your chronic illness and start living in the way you truly want to be living, from the day-to-day to the big dream stuff.
Bang on - sex cushions and sex wedges
Lelo - sex toys & massage products (available most places)
Vulval pain society
Ferly - audio guide to mindful sex
Ohnut - stackable buffer rings
Dr Lori Brotto - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/defining-mindful-sex-with-dr-lori-brotto/id1527311547?i=1000493430593
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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What do dreams and ambitions mean and look like in the context of living with chronic illness and how can we hold them in a way that fosters all of that nourishment and nurturing and softeners that feels so good?
I deeply believe that holding dreams and ambitions are a key part of our chronic illness journey and life and healing journey as a whole. The can exist in symbiosis with the wisdom and intelligence of our bodies and chronic illness, and actually it’s beneficial that they do.
Dreams and ambitions are relative and unique to each one of us and however small or big, they have the potential to affect this world in a really positive way. It’s the ACT of big dreaming. It’s the ACT of having ambition - however gentle or slow or big or inspiring. It’s the EXPERIENCE of awe.
Your Chronic Illness Superpower: click here to tap into the wisdom of your chronic illness and start living in the way you truly want to be living, from the day-to-day to the big dream stuff.
Email me at hello[at]alanaholloway.com if you have any questions or just want to say hi!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Today I’m talking with Tina Clarke, who is 43 years old. Whilst age is not something I usually mention, you’ll understand why when you listen to this episode, because Tina was born with the genetic disease cystic fibrosis and received a double lung transplant in 2014.
Along with talking about how her diagnosis has changed meanings, how the very information and prognosis surrounding her diagnosis has changed in her lifetime, and how that relates so much to how many of us experience chronic illness, we also talk about Tina’s work and passion in body-mind health and wellness, a field she’s worked in for over 20 years helping hundreds of people with various conditions.
She specialises now in Somatic Movement and Embodiment for trauma, anxiety and stress due to living with chronic illness, cancer or organ transplant, which is something we go on to talk about in detail.
Through her work, Tina empowers individuals to understand how their body-mind is affected by their health and medical experiences, and how they can improve their resilience, emotional balance, anxiety and traumatic stress symptoms through a body based approach, whilst incrementally improving their relationship with their body, whatever their physical condition.
Be sure to check her out on Instagram and Facebook @tinaclarkewellness - or her website www.tinaclarkewellness.com and keep an eye out for her online courses.
MY LINKS:
Your Chronic Illness Superpower: click here to tap into the wisdom of your chronic illness and start living in the way you truly want to be living, from the day-to-day to the big dream stuff.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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We all know exercise is good for us, but have you ever felt that actually, something about the way you’re exercising and moving your body isn’t feeling good for you?
The whole premise behind exercise is that it’s a stress that we put on our bodies, and it’s that stress and consequent recovery that goes on to build strength and fitness.
But in a body where chronic illness or auto immune disease exists, stress, in the very broad and multi-layered sense of the term, is something that’s already very present, both as a pre-cursor to illness and disease, and as a result of it.
So what does that say for the way we move our bodies and exercise, and how can we make sure that we’re not overloading our systems, triggering flares or deeper or more recurrent illness, and how can we, in fact, do it in a way that feels good and supports our body’s ability to heal?
Today I’m speaking with Andrea Wool, personal trainer and founder of Autoimmune Strong; the first exercise program designed specifically for people living with autoimmune disease. Her exercise program has now supported thousands of people who love learning how to exercise safely, effectively and in a way that makes their body feel good.
LINKS:
Get Autoimmune Strong - Website - https://www.getautoimmunestrong.com/
Get Autoimmune Strong - Instagram
MY LINKS:
Your Chronic Illness Superpower: click here to tap into the wisdom of your chronic illness and start living in the way you truly want to be living, from the day-to-day to the big dream stuff.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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