Q&A WITH SARAH LANE — Spiritual Coach, Reiki Healer & Yoga Instructor
UNIFY FAM —
In case you didn't watch, we had friend and spiritual mentor, Sarah Lane on our IGTV Live a few days ago discussing topics around Menstrual and Body Shaming. There's so much to share and never enough time so we decided to do a Q&A with Sarah to go a little deeper.
It's such an honor to be able to share Sarah's Wisdom with you all. Her answers are so vulnerable, beautiful and profound. So, I'm excited to get it out for other women in the UNIFY Community to read in hopes it will inspire them like it did for me.
Know you're not alone in this journey and don't be afraid to lean on a Sacred Soul Sister for support.
xo Taylor
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WHAT ULTIMATELY LED YOU TO YOUR PATH OF HELPING WOMEN ON THEIR HEALING JOURNEY?
After healing my own battles with abandonment, unworthiness, codependency, and menstrual imbalances, I feel deeply called to share what I learned along the way with other women.
The Universe was communicating with me for years through my body -- by trying to wake me up to the imbalances in my life that manifested as amenorrhea, back injuries, car accidents, anxiety & panic attacks, and overall unhappiness with my life. I kept trying to change the external circumstances, but when I finally started doing the inner work, specifically with coaches, mentors, and healers that could guide and hold space for me, I started seeing real change.
I felt inspired to be one of those guiding lights for other women - to share how I healed my body, mind, and soul with others so they can step into the version of themselves their souls came to this planet to embody.
Read my period story here for more background.
WHAT TYPE OF HEALING WORK CAN WOMEN START TO DO TO HELP WITHM DEVELOP A MORE LOVING RELATIONSHIP WITH THEIR MENSTRUAL CYCLE?
Our powers, specifically our menstrual cycle, remind us of how powerful we really are. When these powers are suppressed through birth control or period-shaming, we are “under control.” The patriarch system is designed to keep EVERYONE (not just women) compliant and safe.
Women release for the whole tribe/community. Historically they would bleed in tents together or in a sacred space, and men would ask the women for help/guidance on an issue. Each time we bleed, we clear out and release any energies/emotions that are no longer serving.
All healing work needs to go through the body. Our emotions get stuck in our cells, tissues, and organs and need to be released somatically. There are several ways to do this, including Reiki Healing.
Reiki is the spiritual healing energy that can heal us physically and emotionally. During both of my Reiki attunements, I received my period within the same day after months of amenorrhea (absence of period). Reiki can be extremely powerful, as we allow the healing energy to release stuck emotions that block the flow of energy in the body, specifically around the lower chakras and womb space.
Other modalities that can contribute to womb healing and creating more loving relationships with our cycles include yoga, meditation, chanting, dance, yoni steaming, yoni crystals, storytelling, coaching, and connecting with other sisters.
Cycle-syncing is a powerful way to live in alignment with the four phases of your menstrual cycle to optimize your health and overall well-being. I teach more about this in my Womb Wisdom Course, alongside co-facilitator Dany Srey-Snow.
HOW DOES THIS TYPE OF WORK BENEFIT WOMEN AND HELP THEM CONNECT TO THEIR HIGHER SELVES?
When a woman awakens her Divine Feminine energy (also known as Shakti or Kundalini in Hinduism), she can truly embody her Highest Self.
To get where we want to go, we often have to heal and release what’s in the way. When we heal and balance our lower chakras (root, sacral, and solar plexus, specifically), we can transmute the deep-seated, suppressed emotions into creative fire that can fuel your life and passions.
This is how we release old stories or patterns and transmute shame into sovereignty. We reclaim our bodies, take power over our health and well-being, and step into our sovereignty as divine Spiritual beings having a human experience.
The womb space is where we birth life and our dreams and creative projects. We find and own our power and strength to speak our truth. And we learn to trust ourselves and our intuition. This work allows us to love ourselves at deeper levels so we can experience more joy and pleasure. We’re also able to have more intimacy with ourselves and others.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO CONNECT TO OUR HIGHER SELVES AKA OUR DIVINE FEMININE POWER?
Many women who come to me have often “tried everything” - therapy, self help books, yoga, and other modalities, but often are missing the Spiritual component - a connection to a Higher Power, God, etc. This was certainly lacking for me. I was trying to control everything and always wanted to know the outcome right away. When we learn to trust a Higher Power, connecting with our Highest Selves that has a direct correlation to God, we start to trust and receive.
The Divine Feminine is receptive, nurturing, powerful, connected to Source. We all have Divine Feminine energy within us, it’s just a matter of setting our conscious awareness on it, removing the blocks to it, and setting the intention to awaken it. When we connect to the Divine, we are guided by love and we live our lives in alignment. We recognize when the mind chatter (worry and doubt) is trying to take over, and continue opening and surrendering to the Divine love within us.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE OFFERINGS YOU HAVE FOR WOMEN WHO ARE FEELING CALLED TO DIVE INTO THIS WORK?
If you’re feeling called to dive into this work, consider applying for my 1-on-1 container program, “The Embodied Creatrix”. A Creatrix is a woman who is deeply connected to herself as a [womb]an and the Source of Divine Love & Creative Power. We will focus on coaching and embodiment work (breath, meditation, yoga, somatic, etc.) to heal your inner child, learn to set healthy boundaries, and completely transform your life so you can step into the Embodied Creatrix you are. Reach out to me on my website or DM me on Instagram (@namaslane).
I also co-facilitate a 6-week program called Womb Wisdom: Awakening the Divine Feminine Through Your Yoni. The Womb Wisdom Course creates a safe space for healing and accessing the Divine Feminine energy, while being held in an intimate, online, group setting [via Zoom]. We’ll connect with the sacred space of our womb and tap into the infinite wisdom that we’ve always had. When we know ourselves at a deeper, more intimate level, we can reclaim our power & sovereignty. Learn more about Womb Wisdom at toridanyco.com/womb-wisdom.
HOW HAS SPENDING TIME WITH THIS TYPE OF HEALING EMPOWERED YOU IN YOUR LIFE?
I always struggled with setting boundaries, saying no, speaking my truth, and trusting myself. Awakening my divine feminine has allowed me to reclaim my sovereignty as a worthy, loving, capable being who deserves to set boundaries. I felt empowered to quit my 9-to-5 and start a coaching business, with no “safety net” other than my trust in God. I’m a continual learner and student, but I sure have come a long way in empowering myself to become the woman I want to be.
SARAH'S BIO —
Sarah Lane is a Spiritual Life Coach, Yoga Instructor and Reiki Healer whose mission is to empower humans to heal themselves from the inside out. Sarah is inspired by nature, shamanic healing, womb wisdom, and the chakra system. With over 10 years yoga experience and countless years exploring trauma healing, spiritual awakenings, breathwork, reiki, inner child healing, womb healing, and embodiment coaching, Sarah is fully equipped to support her clients with a safe and loving container for radical life transformation. She currently lives in Southern California and serves clients across the world to assist in the uplifting of global human consciousness.
SPIRITUAL AWAKENING STORY —
As an empath and sensitive soul, I have been holding space for people my whole life. I am the family member and friend that can hold space for others and help them through difficult situations.
In college, I was a double major in the business school, and minored in psychology (I half-joke that people often minor in what they REALLY want to do, but we have a false story that we can’t make a living out of it.) I’ve always asked bigger questions about life and humans, exploring why we do the things we do and what is our purpose on Earth.
I partied and worked a lot in college – work, workout, party, eat, sleep, repeat – that was the cycle in what felt like a four-year vacation. When I found yoga, I tapped into another part of life (and a part of myself) that offered something far greater than anything I had ever learned in school. Yoga offered a look inside of myself and later proved to be a doorway into my inner wisdom. I started to understand and viscerally experience true pleasure, not just the temporary pleasures I had been accustomed to.
After graduating from college, I worked in the corporate world. I learned a lot, but I hated sitting in front of a computer screen all of the time. The computer, the long hours of sitting, the cutthroat environment, the deadlines, was all draining my soul. Each day I felt more depleted.
Although I dabbled in an inconsistent yoga practice for about four years, it wasn’t until 2014 that I started getting serious about my practice. I threw my back out at age 22 and I knew something had to change. I went from sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day to pushing myself hard at the gym – with little to no warm-up or stretching in between. One day after work, I found myself practically paralyzed, lying on the gym floor in agony, not sure how I was going to get home.
Physical therapy treatments 2-3 times per week helped strengthen my core to prevent future injury and pain. When my physical therapy treatments plateaued, I started going to hot yoga classes at my local gym. I felt such an amazing sense of community at these classes and was connecting with my instructors, asking them questions about the practice, and feeling a lot of relief in my back and overall health.
About a year later, I was involved in a car accident and by the grace of God, only came out with a few stitches and hip/foot/neck pain. After 6 months of physical therapy (dé jà vu?), I looked to yoga again to heal my body. It was just what it needed. I recovered from my injuries (although some of the neck/shoulder pain still lingers) while deepening my practice and love for yoga. I got hooked on Power Yoga.
These injuries were the Universe’s way of getting me to WAKE UP. Each time i woke up a little more to my surroundings, how i was depleting myself, and made positive changes.
After a break-up and starting a new job, I decided to sign up for Yoga Teacher Training. During training, I practically said goodbye to my social life and said hello to a stronger body and more focused mind. Teacher training was one of the most valuable experiences of my life, involving deep introspection on all aspects of my life and who I am, my goals and long-term aspirations. I also learned about the chakra system, which I use on a daily basis to "diagnose" and treat my own physical and emotional imbalances. I didn't realize at the time that Yoga Teacher Training was teaching me how to heal myself along the way.
When I was at a women’s retreat in San Diego one spring, I saw the facilitator on stage and thought “that will be me one day” so I put it in motion and started to follow my intuition and clues from Source to lead me here.
I started investing in myself -- hiring my own coaches, reiki masters, and shamanic healers to go deeper into my own healing.
In the meantime, I was still working in the corporate world and using every second of free time to work on my personal development and spiritual practices. I was great at my job, but my nervous system felt under attack every day.
One day, I had a panic attack at work and wrote my resignation letter that day. But I was too afraid to send it, and I stayed there for about another year. I used that year to focus on my own healing journey, dream about what I wanted to create in the world, and do things that made me happy with my time outside of work. If I was curious about something, I went ahead and did it! You name it - reiki, energy healing, sound bathing, plant medicine, EMDR, life coaching, shamanic healing, tantra, ecstatic dance, breathwork, hypnosis, past life regression, meditation, womb healing, yoni steaming, astrology, dream work, etc. I use a combination of most of these modalities in my coaching and healing work with clients now.
Later, I had another panic attack at the office in the middle of a client meeting. I left the meeting, went outside, took off my shoes, and hugged a tree. I meditated beneath the tree and felt the earth below my feet, feeling completely supported at that moment. It was an awakening moment -- I knew that it was time to leave. I could hear the quiet whispers of the trees saying, “we’ve got you” and warm sun bringing me hope and joy. I felt so supported by Mother Nature.
I wrote a “goodbye letter” to my company, thanking it for all that it taught me. I did not send it. That letter was for me. Instead, I sent the resignation letter that had been sitting on my desktop for A YEAR.
After I had the conversation with my boss, I went out onto the balcony at the office, threw my hands up in the air and yelled, “I’m FREE!!”
This was the beginning of my freedom, not only from a job that I disliked but freedom from the confines of the system. We are programmed to believe that we go to college, get a good job, retire, enjoy our life for 10 years, then die. That life was not for me. And it’s not for most creators and artists. When we live with intention and from intuition, we create the life we really want.
I decided to pursue coaching to help others on a similar healing journey. As soon as I quit my job, the Universe provided once more -- i received an email from a coach I hadn’t connected with in 6 months, with a free e-book on How to be a Successful Coach. I knew the Universe was providing for me and sending me signs, affirming that I was on the right track and that I would be divinely supported in this endeavor. We are ALL divinely supported, and life flows much more easier when we listen to that guidance and open to receive the support.
