Your Body is a Messenger of Spirit

WSC Intro/Outro: This is When Spirit Calls and you on your journey are in the right place. This show is about magic miracles and meaning shared through stories, interviews and channeled messages. We have so much to share about who you are and your divine mission here on the earth. Let's get to it When Spirit Calls is right now

We have another amazing guest coming at you today. Today we have Alana Joy with us. Alana joy is a reconnection coach, speaker and lifelong healer. She has been a helping professional for over 20 years working as a nurse and psychotherapist, her personal experience of chronic illness, death and divorce catalyzed proof profound physical, emotional and spiritual healing, weaving her deep understanding of the body, heart and soul. A lot of Joy's work bridges science and spirituality to integrate all parts of the human experience. Her mission is to guide as many as possible through the process of excavating their authentic self, and connecting with a renewed sense of purpose and joy. Please welcome our guest today. Alanna joy.

Hello, everyone. And so happy to have you back on another edition of When Spirit calls you have just learned about our beautiful guests today. Alanna joins in the house. Hi, Alanna.

Alana Joy Newton: Hi, DeeAnne. I'm feeling so joyful to be here.

No, I'm so happy to have you here. And you really are a bundle of joy. So I'm excited for our guests to really tune into that energy and feel the joy that you bring to the table. So why don't you get us started? Because of course, in typical when Spirit calls fashion, we want to know the story behind you. We want to know what brought you to where you are today. So would you start us off by this little story sharing?

Alana Joy Newton: Yeah, thank you for that. And thank you again for having me here. Where to start? What brought me here? When did spirit call and excites the question to lead with and you know, in truth spirit has probably been calling my whole life. They couldn't quite hear the messages it took it took a few decades to really get it. I remember I was round seven years old and sitting on my bathroom counter and staring into the mirror and seeing this face reflected back at me and I couldn't quite make sense of what I was seeing a I saw this face I saw this body but it's like I didn't quite belong in it. And I kept repeating my name Alana Alana Elijah kind of to connect myself with this form I was seeing and, and it was just sound to my ears. And this was just an image I was seeing. I felt very disembodied, and had the sense that I didn't belong here. And this feeling stuck with me. For most of my life, the sense of non white belonging here or being up here. And so fast forward and using the peed into my life. I tried to belong. I really really did. I tried to belong, you know, in grade six, I was the most fashionable girl in class with the neon suspenders. Yeah. Yeah, so I worked really hard to belong to. And I just, I mean, I on the surface I appeared to fit in, but I just never quite had this sense of belonging and maybe some of your listeners can relate. I suspect many of them can I can even relate to that right? Loli

Yeah, I remember. My mom, I'm in this world, but not of it. Because I felt so removed from what everyone else was doing and acting like.

Alana Joy Newton: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And, you know, as humans we have a need for belonging for a sense of safety and an acceptance it's a human need. And so I really did try I really did try to belong, but I just never felt like I quite got it in the internal world did I external I had Yeah, I had the kneeled suspenders Of course I belong, but he and the internal world. I just didn't quite feel it. Yeah, something else. A way that. Yeah, my soul was whispering to me was through my body. And growing up. One of the ways that I felt like I didn't belong is I had lots of things happening in my body that, you know, friends, peers, were not. I when I was nine years old, I had a tonsillectomy, so pretty, you know, routine procedure of having my tonsils taken out. And a week later, I have arranged lost massive amounts of blood needed a transfusion and actually had a near death experience, which I've come to realize now that that's, that was wow When I was 12 years old, had a pretty minor fall off my bike and broke my wrist, which wasn't a huge deal cast on cast off. But for weeks later, I was still limping and had pain in my head. And, you know, it wasn't visible on the surface that there was anything happening and my symptoms were more or less dismissed. And in busy family of four to working parents, it was you know, it was kind of the bottom of the list of priorities, my sore leg and and Lynn. And so I learned to disconnect even further from my body. So back at the you know, when I'm sitting in the mirror, feeling disconnected from body, this message was actually reinforced and disconnect from my body because the body was experiencing was actually really uncomfortable. And I was told it wasn't real. Yeah. So I learned to not trust what my body was telling me. Fast forward, that story hit actually, it did get investigated. And it turned out I had a condition in my leg and I was at risk of never walking again. And thankfully, miraculously, it was treated and I'm able bodied and walking. So my body was showing me signs. Hey, listen, listen, listen, and listen to the truth of your body. And I believe I've come to believe that, you know, our body is a kind of the packaging that our soul inhabits in this lifetime. And it does carry very important messages. So it's really important to listen to listen to these messages from body because they will guide us and guide us back into ourselves back into our soul and reconnect us with something greater. So body has been. I've had an interesting relationship with Barney about it. I did, but it's very I'm so appreciative of the messages I've received from it, even though they came in very painful packaging, right?

Yeah. Isn't that how it goes? I just have to share with you I know you're thinking of the story. But yeah, yeah, by the way, also talk tonsillectomy when I was a kid five, also broken bone. And I was 12. Same thing happened to me. Nobody below

Alana Joy Newton: I just got sent home. Oh,

I just had to share that with Oh, like she's like telling my story here. He'll lie a tonsillectomy, but just a couple months, I think it was, oh, gosh, I don't remember who was before after when my had my near death. But I don't know. Jawbreaker. And I had my near death that same time. So it happened right around the same time to that tonsillectomy. So anyway, I mean, I could go on, but I just wanted to hear those synchronicities with you.

Alana Joy Newton: Both by accident that we've connected, we know this, doctor All

Eight. So yeah, yeah. Listening to your body. Now you're starting to tune into your body, what else is going on in your world?

Alana Joy Newton: Hmm. So okay, so Well, I mean, I, you know, so I was disconnected from body, and, you know, having a near death experience and having this condition in my leg and how, you know, didn't quite get get me back in. And so I, you know, the environment, you know, my family that I knew my environment they knew that I was living in was, I'd say, quite hand oriented, meaning, you know, very yet scientific logic, if something, yeah, if science can't prove it, it doesn't exist. And so, you know, in terms of, you know, religion or spirituality, that there were, there wasn't much space for that in my family. They've just, and you know, I appreciate my parents had had to own perhaps kind of negative or uncomfortable experiences with it. And I think, you know, raising us they just sort of decided to leave it open ended, which I do appreciate and at the same time, the leaning was towards a more kind of scientific head orientation way of being in the world. And so, you know, I can look back now and recognize my, you know, connection with spirit and soul and all the whisperings I got and premonitions and invoices and all these things, but I never spoke of them because that was just crazy. So I shoved it so another piece of myself that I disconnected from because it wasn't safe. Well right now isn't safe to talk about this stuff. So I shoved it down. Yeah, so I was disconnecting from body I was disconnecting from soul I was disconnecting from emotions because I think as you know, so many can relate to you know, we grow up often conditioned believing that there are certain emotions that are okay certain motions that are okay and not okay, you know, girls don't get angry. These boys shouldn't cry, you know, some of these some of these kind of common messages. And so that was something else I experienced was like, not expressing emotion. So that's kind of what was going on for me. I was pretty disconnected. Then, so professionally, I became a nurse and I became a nurse because my mom was a nurse and I always felt called, was maybe one of the ways I do Listen to my soul, I always felt called to help others. And, you know, there were, we lived on an edge of a forest Hill growing up, there were always these little animal friends and I was always trying to rescue the squirrels or rescue the birds or, yeah. And so I always felt called to help others. And so when it came to, you know, I came to the age where I was deciding what to do is fashion nursing did a line, actually, you know, with the depths that I knew myself at the time. So I became a nurse, and, and it to put it succinctly, very quickly started burning out. It didn't take me very long in the profession to start to feel more emotionally exhausted. And the intensity of what I was witnessing and supporting was it was it was quite overwhelming, and the word many resources, how to navigate this. And so I didn't really have them internally. And they weren't really provided externally, right. And one of the things I really appreciated about nursing was that emotional support listening to my patients, and there wasn't really a lot of space for that I was focusing on their physical survival, which I mean, it didn't love doing that. And I could appreciate why it took priority. And I wasn't connecting and supporting in a way that my soul was feeling called to. So I went on and did my Master's in Counseling Psychology and became a psychotherapist. And so I've been working as a psychotherapist for the last 15 years, and I'm also working as a coach. But just to backtrack a little bit about one of the reasons I stepped away from nursing. So certainly one of them was I was becoming burnt out and wanted to provide more emotional support, then the professional had the capacity to Yeah, for me to do that. But also, body was giving me sighs I was getting whispers from my body that this really intense work, she was not sustainable. I think it's hard on any body. Absolutely. The shift work the, you know, not necessarily being able to eat when you're hungry, not being able to go to the washroom when you need to like that. It's a very intense profession. And I was getting messages from my body that I can't sustain this. So more clues and more clues, all these breadcrumbs along the path and body was saying, hang on, hang on. Listen out here, something's going on. So I know it's not a this kind of a circuitous path. It's not a straight line. Their lives aren't. Yeah, they're not nothing. pause here for a sec while I collect and you can, you can Yeah.

Yeah, you know, I've got to add to this too, because I was an EMT. So that was the career I chose. So instead of nursing, the EMS route, because my dad had my life when I was little. And so I wanted to save other people's lives. I thought that's what I was going in for an O and then I got there. And you're right. It's a very demanding you're working shift work. You are, you know, getting mistreated. I remember I got spit on I got kicked. I mean, all of the things, you know, and my body also spoke to me, you know, I had a knee injury, and I was struggling to lift some of my heavier patients in their stretchers. And so my body was like, you can't keep doing this. So that brings up the thought, though, because a lot of people are like, well, how does spirit call? Yeah, I we know Spirit calls, but how to spirit call Well, Spirit calls in many forms and fashion, but one of which is the physical ailments or discomfort or pain. And that's actually the last sign of spirit, by the way, everybody listening, that earlier signs or the intuition or like noticing other job opportunities when we're in a job we don't love? Or do you know what I mean? Like, there's usually other signs before the body shows up, the body is usually a latch, last ditch effort for spirit to say, Yeah, well, my goodness, you're not listening. Now I'm really going to show you. And so, you know, is it good to be connected with our bodies prior to getting to that point? Absolutely. But to also remember, that spirit will call you long before that, if you want to listen to it, if you want to look for it, look for the signs, look for the nudges look and see when things have popped up more than once. You know, we've made like in Kashuk, records keeps coming up and where you keep hearing about it. While there's a there's an indication that you're being called to that right. Yeah, and not to say that every time spirit will be like, oh, yeah, I'm gonna make you suffer because you're not listening. That's not what spirit is saying, either. By the way, you know, divine God, creator is not saying, If you don't listen, you're gonna suffer unnecessarily. Ever. However, I'm auront. Right? We associate pain as discomfort. However, it's really just an alarm bell to say, Oh, yes. Here. Look here. Yeah, I am hidden and it's up to ask how much we suffer in that. And oh, hi.

Alana Joy Newton: I'm so with you on this. Yes, right. Yes. Yes, pain is a messenger. And so to the Segway. So what you know, I was experiencing pain in my body, and I don't even really I call it that for ease of communication. But I don't really attach to that label anymore because it doesn't really serve me. But what I was experiencing yeah was throbbing stinging pinching. Yeah. So it to be more kind of objective with what I was actually feeling. And I didn't know that at the time because this is the only body I'd only live I'd never lived in the States. I didn't have any frame of reference. But so throughout my life I was experiencing and you know, then then the big alarms with the tonsillectomy and the hemorrhaging and the the thing that happened in my life all this yet. So body was sending signs, and I was likely getting signs in other places, as you say you him, but I wasn't. I wasn't aware. I wasn't aware, most of us are aware. Yeah, exactly. I didn't have a template of how to hear these messages. Yeah, so body kept bringing them back to me. So fast forward, I'm pregnant with my first child. And yet again, body's sending me some clues that some things are going on here that don't happen for every pregnant woman, but you know, kind of easily enough brushed under the rug or just, you know, managed and then my son was born and I was noticing things in him, you know, as as a baby as a toddler, you know, so it was going into a few years ago, but it was noticing things in him then like, is kind of like kind of floppy. He had he had a hernia in his belly button. When he was born, he was late to crawl and you know, be like not Yeah, but all mate far end of the spectrum, or normal, typical. So these things are going on from there kind of subtle, and it's just like what and him is very tired, who's very, very tired and so convenient. You know, as as a parent, oh, he's wonderful sweeper. He sleeps a lot. And what's going on here? Like, I mean, he was napping, you know, up until kindergartner, like, how is he gonna get through a full day kindergarten? So where that led me was okay, I think this thing's going on with Shem. Let's get this investigated. But then it was like, oh, oz. These things I'm seeing and him. I plan it. Yeah, kind of started with me. What have I been ignoring in my body? Or my whole life? Wow. So this led me down the path of investigation, which is a whole story unto itself. But what I'll say now is that so I went, it was a long path, but I eventually ended up being seen by a genetic program and being diagnosed with a genetic disorder called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. So it's a disorder of the wait for it. connective tissue. Yeah, that this year, their spirit is giving me another message Wednesday. So I had a disorder of connection had disorder of connection. So I couldn't you know, I can take that very literally. Okay, so yeah, it's at the collagen level, the glue in mind body doesn't work so well together. Okay, that is all true. And I am experiencing all those things that happened to body when the body is glue isn't so good. But I took that deeper. So one of the catalysts for me to take that deeper. So shortly after I was diagnosed, I guess it may be about two years after I was diagnosed a year and a half shortly after I was diagnosed, my father died. And it wasn't sudden, we we anticipated his death. i It wasn't necessarily related to the condition I had been diagnosed with. But still it could have possibly been, but that's another story. So leading up to his death days before his death, he shares and he was a very quiet man, it kind of enigmatic I never really felt like I knew him that well. But leading into his death, we had a moment together, and he shared with me, life is for living. And it's such a simple message, which I could have allowed it to just kind of go over my head. But it didn't. It just It struck me and so am I living? How am I not living? What parts of myself I might not lay. And I I mean, it wasn't within that exact moment. But pretty shortly thereafter, words, I went into this deep spiral of unraveling all the parts of my life that weren't me. Those Nealon suspenders weren't me. Yep, yeah. So many places in my life I had conformed and adapted to be who I thought I was supposed to be. I was married. I had two children. I had the picket fence, you know, I that was my life on the outside. But on the inside, I knew I wasn't living I was disconnected from my authentic self from my soul. And so as I'm sure you can relate and Like we've been in your listeners can, too. I went through this really dark time. Right? Like with all of what I fought self was, was falling apart wreath and had to. It had to come apart. Yeah. Yeah.

Beautiful. So how was your son by the way? I just feel like, I want to eat that circuit. Your son is great. Your son is healthy. What's happening with your soul?

Alana Joy Newton: Yeah, he's well, you know, I mean, he and I have a, at this time this, you know, the symptoms of our condition are fairly well managed. They're not I mean, they're invisible. So they're not element. Right. So he, you know, he's not a fast runner yet, though, these days, right, which can be a challenge for him with peers, et cetera. He's 13. Now so you know, it's, uh, yeah, but I mean, anyways, he's, he's, well, I Well, and my diagnosis, which even that I've started to distance myself from it's messages from my body, it almost doesn't matter what labels put on it.

Yes. Right. Yeah, thank you for saying that is, you know, I think we get attached and I hear people all the time. They're like, Oh, I have cancer. It's like, well, then you're just validating that. And getting hooked into that. What if I was diagnosed with it? Yeah, then not getting attached to it? Yeah, I love that perspective. You know, don't take ownership over it, then. Need to take ownership over it. You can distance yourself from it. So I love that. That's how you see it as well. Yeah. So So now you're a psychotherapist. Tell us like the snapshot of now? How do you help people? And what do we need to know from your story? I mean, we already gave some golden nuggets around, you know, listening to the body of it more. But, you know, what are some of the specific takeaways from your experience? Or journey around how this connection from the body? And yeah, really learning about connection? What do we need to know about connection? What do we need to know about this whole idea?

Alana Joy Newton: Yeah. So what's coming up for me, and part of my journey and might be part of others as well. So I'll share it if it's helpful. So noticing, you know, when we're engaged in behaviors, or now let's just say I'm we're engaged in behaviors, to numb to just connect. Yeah. And Society offers us so many. There are so many options in the world of ways to numb and disconnect. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I see your face, right. Oh, yeah.

Well, I'm laughing because I have to share with you, you know, I don't drink but this weekend as like a friend's party. And I was like, Yeah, I just want to have a few drinks. And I just want to turn off, and I totally did the whole numbing thing. And what I witnessed and that was like everyone else in the numbing and it's like, accepted to me. And I had this really great realization after the weekend because when I felt like crap, courtesy of my own do I was made him do it. But to then I felt so out of it for the days following it took me days to really feel like I got myself back. Yes. And it got me thinking about how we make it so readily available to numb ourselves and it's not just drugs and alcohol. It's it's gambling, it's work it the hustle culture, right? It's social media it out. It's so rampant and yet I normalized it in such a way that it's like, let's keep everyone numbing because the movie keep ourselves numbing yet what that means is for the big corporations is that they they can basically have do whatever they want with us then.

Alana Joy Newton: Absolutely. Because we'll we're no more disconnected from our intuition. We're disconnected from our authentic self, we're disconnected to something greater what no matter what name people put on it. Yeah, I'm not attached to any particular name, but we are disconnected from Yeah, our true self and power and the collective others our oneness. We're disconnected from all of that when we're numbing and so part of my story was waking me up to that realization of my relationship with alcohol. And I would never have been diagnosed as an alcoholic. No, I didn't drink enough to meet that threshold. But I knew what I picked up a drink but I was drinking to numb I was drinking to disconnect from my discomfort of disconnect to get that one. Yeah.

Yeah, it's a it's a spiral. It's it is really is and we can make many excuses to do that. You know, but I think it comes back to well, what is your intention? Are you having a glass of wine to celebrate? Yes. Or you know, to, you know, have a better taste in your Food or are you having a glass of wine to numb? Yeah, you know, I think I think that's kind of what did I eat something healthy versus not healthy potentially anyways,

Alana Joy Newton: I'm with you on that. I think it's conscious, like so the so how to not engage in numbing behaviors is conscious yeah being conscious being reflective being mindful. Yeah asking yourself, Why am I really doing this and being really honest with yourself? And it can be uncomfortable. Yeah. But because also just using drinking as an example. And as you said, there are so many, but just working with that example. It can be uncomfortable, because then it's like, oh, I'm the weird when at the party to stop drinking. Right, because it is so socially sanctioned and endorsed. I mean, it's just now that I'm on this other side of it. I haven't had alcohol for about four years now. And I know that I'm guilty of this. I'm like, This is wild. It is we ingest poison to celebrate. I don't get it. I mean, I do get it because I was there. Right. I don't get it anymore. You know, I used to do it. I got my 20s I was desiging the bars like either? Yes. Yeah, I definitely did that. Yeah. So. So I think okay, to go back to your question. Being mindful and conscious of our behaviors, and keep peeling back the layers within self an exploring knowledge, criticism, exploring with compassion and curiosity. Why am I doing this thing? Yeah. Why am I why did I just pick up my phone? Just roll? What's the feeling that I might be trying to disconnect from? And can I be with that feeling? Tend to that feeling? Move through that feeling instead of distracting and numbing from it?

Yeah. I love that. Just that little extra pause? Yeah. You know, that's an invitation for all of you listening? Is there an area where you can maybe pause before you disconnect? Or before you numb or escape? Whatever that is for you? Can you pause? And can you tune in to what it's really about for yourself? And then from there, you make at least a decision to say yeah, no, I really do want to numb out so I am going to do the things I'm doing the thing, or or not. Maybe that thought is that you're like, Yeah, I actually don't need to do the thing. Yeah, nice.

Alana Joy Newton: Oh, I'm just I get I'm getting chills because I'm so excited. And because I so aligned with what you're saying. It is I fully endorse the power of choice. And so I have never said to myself, I will never have a drop of alcohol again. Because then I'm creating this internal resistance. I'm creating this internal tension of war, right? That somehow if there's a part of me that wants to have that its role. So I'm actually furthering the disconnection. So what's been supportive for me is I have the choice. If I want to pick that up, I just will just be conscious, you know, mindful, take that pause. But it's not no go. It's not like I'm not going to ever drink again. But because I'm doing myself that choice. I really haven't had a drink for four years, because I just don't really want it.

There's a good little how the sad I love that for you, though. What else do you wish you would know? So we know, you know, be more aware and conscious mindful of the numbing. What else does our audience need to know about this idea of connection or heal?

Alana Joy Newton: Yeah, so whispers and body behaviors that we're doing to disconnect from emotions or sensations? Yeah. Yep. Critically, well, critically, not in the form, not in the sense of the word, like being hard on oneself, but consciously evaluating consciously and compassionately evaluating our values. And so, you know, how did I decide that this was something important to me? Right? Yeah. Yeah. So like, whether I have the value of family or whether I have this value of compassion, or whether whatever our values are being conscious and asking yourself, How is this actually my it might be, but it might not be? Yeah, sometimes we adopt values, like a family name, like we just think that this is something we have to be, right.

Absolutely. people pleaser in my family. Right? Right as like, Oh, I've got it. I've got to be the people pleaser, because that's what my parents are doing. And our parents did. Yeah. So but the valuation, I think that we forget sometimes that we can do that self reflection and do Yeah, valuation right. Yeah. Just say okay, it's just me. Why is it really mine? You know, asking those questions, everybody so I love that with listen to the whispers of the body. Really check in your behaviors around escapism or disconnect? Yep. Consciously evaluating the decisions that you're making. Yeah, I think

Alana Joy Newton: those are really valuing system. Yeah. Like, is it actually yours or was it inherited?

Yes, yeah. Do I actually yeah. Ah, is it? Do I actually believe this? Right? Yeah. Oh, brilliant.

Alana Joy Newton: And all that, as you say, takes the pause, right, we all to be able to access that we need to pause and turn inwards. And, you know, it might not be the form of meditation for everyone, but certainly has been my pathway into the, you know, to the inner world into that pause. But, you know, allowing self space for that pause, turning off the outside distractions. Yeah, it's really allowing for that quiet space, which is definitely hard to come by these days. And outer world is always trying to pull us out. But radius helps out pause so you can guide yourself through those three steps. Yeah. Has the power in the pause right. Or in the pause.

Alanna, I know that we could probably talk forever about sure there's many more tips and tools you have. So how can people come and see you find you? What do you have in store for our audience?

Alana Joy Newton: Yeah. So as I mentioned, I am still working as a psychotherapist. So that's a part of my practice. I know they're growing part of my practice is I am a reconnection coach, spirit thing gave me that title. Because my, um, my story of disconnection at the DNA level, yeah. And so I guide my clients through the process of reconnecting with their heart and their emotions, reconnecting with their body, their sensations, and reconnecting with their soul and their intuition. So hearing those whispers that we've been talking about, on all three levels. And so the client, the coaching clients that I work with are at that precipice. They're right there. They're at that spot where they're feeling the call the pool back into soul, call a dark side of the soul, whatever we want to call it, but they're there at that place where they're like, I need to reconnect. So that these are the steps that I guide clients through. And so I work with clients individually, and I'm on the brink of launching an online program called beneath the surface below and loved it and I'd be with your authentic self. Yeah. So Yeah,

Beautiful. So lots in store and your website and details are going to be in the show notes for all of you listening. So if you are drawn to this beautiful, joyful soul that we had on then you can certainly reach out to Alanna anytime. Alanna, I am loved sharing space with you it Bronk joy to me and so much reflection and again, the rest of your story, by the way, basically mine. So while I need to shout outside of this podcast, the more and I can't wait for that. Thank you so much for coming and being on the show with us.

Alana Joy Newton: So great. Thank you so much for inviting me here. I loved our conversation. Yeah. And it really flowed and the Synchronicities are I mean, again, not surprising, but every time Spirit calls in this way of like reminded, oh, yeah, there's all Yeah, read play here. Yeah, right. Always something bigger a play.

Oh, I love it. All of you, listeners. Thank you so much for tuning in again. And we will be back again in a couple weeks with a new episode of When Spirit Calls. Bye for now.

WSC Intro/Outro: So happy you can join us today. And we hope that you found comfort and inspiration with wherever you are at right now. If you feel you received a gift in today's message, please pass that gift along to a loved one by sharing this episode with them. To continue this conversation. Please join me at Rosehope.ca And when you do, be sure to access your free gift by signing up for the When Spirit Calls newsletter. I'm looking forward to connecting with you again soon.