Healing Surprise
My January Special Offerings
Sometimes, life surprises us in the most unexpected ways. Over the past month, I’ve realized that some of the hardest moments I endured over the last few years were the catalysts for profound healing, growth, and grace. What I once thought was the most terrible thing to happen to me turned out to be one of the most beautiful gifts. My heart now feels bigger—able to hold the full spectrum of the human experience (the light and the dark) with warmth.
Late 2018 or early 2019, I experienced what I can only describe as a spiritual awakening. It wasn’t something I planned for, and it did not feel like a gift at first. I wanted to hit the rewind button and go back to my familiar, comfortable consciousness. But instead, I found myself face-to-face with fears, anxieties, and unprocessed pain I didn’t even know existed. Turns out, “the body keeps the score” (thanks for your research, Bessel van der Kolk). In hindsight, I realized that I had been living in my head, disconnected from my body and its signals. I wasn’t aware of the subtle sensations or emotions stored in my body—until one morning, everything changed.
The night before, I felt fine. But when I woke up, I was in excruciating physical pain. I could barely get out of bed or walk. I had to tell my team I had to work from home because I couldn’t commute to work anymore. The excruciating pain lasted about a month. During that time, I was seeking support from various healers, chiropractors, acupuncturists, and yoga teachers who specialized in therapeutic practices. This pain was centered around my spine near my heart center. And close to my heart, there was a deep clenching, a ball of fears and big emotions, and a young part of me that had closed itself off from the world, braced against its harshness.
As I continued my healing journey, I slowly connected with this tender, young, and vulnerable part of me. I started to understand its survival patterns, triggers, beliefs, and needs. And over time, I learned to love it (plus all the other parts of me that were protecting me too). The process wasn’t linear, nor was it easy. I had to be patient with my timeline. But as I extended compassion to all parts of myself, I began to heal. (Compassion is a simplification of the process but the best simple word choice to use).
At first, the fear was most prominent. It gradually subsided until the anxiety became more prominent. But step by step, as I softened the layers of pain and protection, the tight grip around my heart began to loosen. The clenching softened into a sense of relief and freedom.
The Result of Deep Healing
Earlier this month, my body became pain-free. *happy dance!!* And wow does it feel SO good! I have more room to breathe. My body feels spacious. I sometimes feel tension in my head or I might feel some pain when I’m triggered, but it no longer controls my whole being because I have been able to self-soothe quickly. As of now, that chronic, persistent pain I lived with for years has dissolved. I waited several weeks to write this to make sure it stayed true! haha. *fingers crossed* Is this what it means to feel more secure within oneself? (I think so and I hope so). It feels like a miracle.
I share this vulnerable journey because I know I’m not alone. Am I scared to share this with you? YES! Of course I am. I had this post written for a couple of weeks, but I couldn’t press “Publish” until I felt 100% ready to share it with you! Through conversations, I’ve come to understand that some of you are navigating your own healing journeys. My hope in sharing this story is to remind you that you’re not alone and to encourage you to keep moving forward—because healing truly is possible, and it does get better! I know many people in the Asian community don’t like to talk about these things openly. But the truth is, nearly every human being faces challenges like these in some form. Only when we have the courage to share what is going on can we heal together and help one another. At the end of the day, we all want the same thing — to feel happy, safe, and loved TOGETHER!
Will my healing journey continue? Absolutely—but now, it feels more subtle, gentle, and slow. That is because my mind isn’t preoccupied with trying to resolve the persistent pain that I lived with over the last few years. I have been enjoying settling into this new felt sense of my body. I also feel I have more capacity to focus my energy on other things! Woohoo!
Lessons From My Healing Journey
If you’re in a phase of healing, here are a few things that profoundly helped me break the cycle/patterns that were running my life. I hope these tips can support your journey:
Listen to Your Intuition: It often urges you to go slower than your mind wants. Trust it.
Be Gentle and Kind With Yourself: Your mind might say you “should” be doing or feeling a certain way, but your body often knows what it truly needs. And it knows what it’s truly feeling. Honor it.
Drop Into Your Body: Healing happens when you connect with what’s arising in your body rather than popping into your mind to avoid the discomfort. I believe that only when you touch or feel that energy in your body (that you’re trying to avoid) will it be able to move and shift. If you don’t make contact with it, it stays there (maybe forever…haha).
Love All Parts of Yourself: We tend to like the good, positive parts of ourselves. Yet the anxious, hurt, or scared parts of you deserve even more of your care and attention. Imagine how you would care for a scared puppy or kitten and treat yourself the same way.
Find the Spacious Part Within You: There’s a part of you that feels safe and whole already (this part is in all of us). Build a connection with it—it can cradle, hold, love, and comfort all the parts of you that feel pain or discomfort. Finding this safe and whole part of me was crucial for me to break the cycle.
Only You Can Save Yourself: You know yourself better than anyone else, and the refuge you seek isn’t outside of you—it’s already inside you, waiting to be discovered and nurtured.
Lastly, I want to add something important that can shift your perspective of healing. Doing this inner work does not mean you’re holed up all day crying or venting about the things that happened to you. Yes, it could sometimes look and feel like that. But healing can be fun, too. Playing and having fun is a part of the healing process. In fact, I think it is a necessary ingredient that helps balance the heaviness of the emotional work. Healing can feel heavy AND it can feel joyful AND it can feel so soothing and nourishing. It’s a process that allows all of this to coexist.
My Current Purpose
If you had known me before 2019, you would have seen a version of Liwei who seemed fearless, tackling challenges head-on with unwavering determination. Hike a 30,000-ft peak in snow? No problem. Rock climb 12 pitches in a day? Done. Bike over 100 miles? Check! Devour two biggie-sized Wendy’s meals? Won this bet! Facilitate a workshop for leaders and C-suite executives at a big company? Game on! Every challenge felt like something I could conquer with enough willpower and effort.
But then life handed me a challenge of a different kind—one that would test me in ways I could never have imagined (and one that I couldn’t get my mind to power through or get my body to muscle through). Perhaps my soul was ready for the ultimate challenge: learning to heal, to feel deeply, and to love unconditionally. This is a challenge I know I’ll continue to grow through for the rest of my life.
Over the years, I’ve explored countless healing modalities, devoured books, taken courses, and listened to inspiring interviews. And yet, I feel like there is a giant vastness to still uncover. The journey of understanding ourselves—our minds, our bodies, and our spirits—is infinite, intricate, and absolutely fascinating. Human beings are incredibly complex, uniquely diverse, and profoundly beautiful, and I’m deeply grateful to walk this path of discovery and honored to contribute to the healing and growth of the Asian community.
Life Coaching And Space Holding: An Empowering And Gentle Way to Heal
If any of this resonates with you, I’d be honored to hold space for you in your healing journey. Our aim in your sessions is to meet you exactly where you are, help you connect with what’s present, and create room for healing and discovery. These sessions are designed to support you in moving toward your heart. It is SO therapeutic to say out loud what is true for you, even if it feels hard to admit. When you honor exactly where you are in your journey it can feel so liberating.
If this supportive space feels like exactly what you need, I’ve got a gift for you! As a Christmas gift, when you book me during the month of January, I’m offering:
✨ 20% off My Coaching Packages (Sprout and Sapling)
✨ 20% off Ad-Hoc 1-hour Space-Holding Sessions (Seed)
✨ Free 15-minute Complimentary Call
🌟 Seed: These sessions are flexible—schedule them weekly, monthly, or whenever you feel the need for a supportive space. We are not trying to get to a goal or get somewhere in these sessions, just creating room for you to voice and connect with what is on your heart and mind at that moment. Regular price $120/hour. January special $96/hour.
🌟 Sprout: Six 1-hour sessions over the course of 3-4 months, plus voice messaging and email support. Sessions take place every 2-3 weeks. During the 3-4 months together, we move towards achieving your heart-centered and feelings-based goals. We drop into where you are in the present and journey toward where you truly want to be (present to future-oriented). Regular price $720. January special $576.
🌟 Sapling: Twelve 1-hour sessions over the course of 6-7 months, plus voice messaging and email support. Sessions take place every 2-3 weeks. During the 6-7 months together, we move towards bigger, juicier, more challenging, heart-centered goals. We drop into where you are in the present and journey toward where you truly want to be (present to future-oriented). Regular price $1440. January special $1152.
To understand more of what you can expect in my 3 coaching/space-holding options or read some testimonials, visit my website here.
Together, we’ll gently explore what’s arising for you, help you drop into your body, and nurture the spaciousness and healing you deserve.
💛 I can attest to this: healing takes its own time and often feels like a dance of moving forward and backward. Yet, in reality, it’s always progressing. If you’re ready to begin or deepen your journey, I’m here to support you.
👉 Book your 15-minute Complimentary Call to get started, click here: https://calendly.com/liwei-yang/complimentary-call
To book coaching sessions with me, please reach out to me directly or connect with me on your complimentary call to determine which option might be most suitable for you! You are a beautiful human being, and I cannot wait to witness you! 🤗
Here are ways you can support me and my work:
I am a heart-centered coach who supports Asian millennials to deepen their relationship with themselves and gently free themselves from unhelpful expectations, patterns, and fears so that they can have the life and relationships they desire. To learn more about my coaching series visit my website: alaliwei.com
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