Episode 05 with Alena Turley

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Alena Turley is a somatic therapist, Hapkido black belt and business alchemist whose life has taken her through extraordinary adversity, single motherhood, homelessness, martial arts, entrepreneurship and the long process of rebuilding a life after surviving a violent attack. After reaching rock bottom in 2005, she began a very different chapter, one that would eventually shape both the life she lives and the work she does today.

Summary

In this conversation, Alena and I talk about what happens when the ways you've learned to survive and succeed begin to become the very things you need to question.

We talk about the experiences that shaped her early adulthood, surviving a violent attack, single motherhood and homelessness, and the importance of community in helping her find her way forward. Alena shares the unexpected role martial arts played in her life, and how learning to pay close attention to the body became part of a much larger shift in how she understood herself.

We also talk about surrender and why it can't always be forced, the move from overachievement toward creating more space, and how easily we can become accustomed to overriding what we know and what our bodies are telling us.

At the centre of the conversation is self-trust: what happens to it through adversity and conditioning, how often we look outside ourselves for answers, and the ongoing practice of learning to trust what we notice again.

Episode Link

Website - https://www.alenaturley.com/
Instagram - @alenaturley
Podcast - Unboxable - Somatic Self Development

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Alena's Journey

02:32 Alena's Broad Spectrum Career Path

05:03 The Significance of Attention to Detail

16:54 Breakdowns as Doorways to Growth

55:57 Building Self-Trust and Self-Compassion