Storytelling, SEO, & Somatics w/ Alexandra Granato-Garcia
This episode is going to really tie my 2 worlds together—SEO & spirituality. And I’m so excited! But things are always better with friends…
Meet: Alexandra Granato-Garcia 🪩
I’ve been fortunate enough to work with Alexandra several times over the last year with a variety of her offers—including somatic therapy!
I wanted to have her on the podcast because somatic therapy can be deeply healing—on a personal and generational level—but it can also be pretty intimidating if you’re newer to this idea.
In today’s conversation, Alexandra & I get into what somatic therapy is, how we’ve both found it to be supportive during intense life moments, & how it can be an incredible modality for business owners! We’ll see you on the other side!
Topics covered in this podcast episode:
Alexandra’s journey into being a somatic practitioner
What it was like for her to process grief in real time
The power of your unique story & journey
How to tap into the innate wisdom of the body
How somatic practices can be supportive for entrepreneurs
How & why to sustainably build self-trust
What spirituality has to do with SEO
How somatic therapy helped Brittany tap into her intuition
How & why Alexandra works with animal medicine
Meet: Alexandra Granato-Garcia
As an Indigenous somatic practitioner, Alexandra offers a holistic approach to personal growth and healing. She’s passionate about the human experience and helping individuals of all ages connect to their bodies, emotions, and the world around them through somatic practices. She does this by weaving the creative arts + body-based modalities inspired by nature to facilitate transformative healing experiences that spark curiosity and wonder to find joy!
Mentioned Resources:
Somatic Medicine Wheel Reading
You Are the Medicine (book)
Related Episodes:
How to Have a Successful Business w/ Celi Arias
Feminine Leadership & Business Energetics w/ Raechelle Embrey
Nervous System Work for Professional & Personal Growth w/ Jen Donlin
Connect w/ Alexandra:
Connect w/ Brittany:
This episode of The Basic B podcast is brought to you in partnership w/ Leah Bryant Co.! Help me reach more service providers like you by following the show & leaving a rating or review on Apple & Spotify!
The unedited podcast transcript for this episode of The Basic B podcast follows
Welcome back to the Basic V podcast. I'm so happy that you're here and I'm so super duper happy that my friend Alexandra is here as well. We're going to be talking all about SEO, spirituality, somatic therapy, and whatever else comes through. But before I bring her on, let me introduce you to her. As an indigenous somatic practitioner, Alexandra offers a holistic approach to personal growth and healing. She's passionate about the human experience and helping individuals of all ages connect to their bodies, emotions, and the world around them through somatic practices. She does this by weaving the creative arts and body based modalities inspired by nature to facilitate transformative healing experiences that spark curiosity and wonder to find joy. For me, it's been really, really fun to watch Alex's Journey. I'm going to share more about that shortly. But Alex, hi, my friend.
Alexandra Granato-Garcia: Hello, Brittany. Thank you so much for having me today.
Brittany Herzberg: Of course. I'm really excited that you're here and that we really kind of are tying together two parts of my world. Before we get into like, our part of the conversation, I'm going to ask you the question I ask everyone and there's no wrong answer. So that question is, which do you believe is the most important for sales because we're both entrepreneurs, SEO, storytelling or social proof?
Alexandra Granato-Garcia: Well, I just want to say hello and greetings and gratitudes to everyone here. And I'm coming to you today from the ancestral homelands of the and the Estegana tribal nations. So land acknowledgement is a really big important part of my practice. And if you can see that I began with that, I am going to choose story.
Brittany Herzberg: I like that. And that was a really cool way to answer that. I'm so glad that you did that, first of all, because you do that with all of the work that I've been a part of in your world. And that's something that I think is really, really neat and very special to you, at least in my world. So I love that you do that. What a cool way to answer it though.
Alexandra Granato-Garcia: Thank you. It just came. I was like, oh, this is a perfect way to insert that and answer the question as well.
Brittany Herzberg: It really was. I love that. Okay, so I'm going to give a little bit of background. And then one thing that Alex says is she pulls cards pretty regularly and she and I are always on voxer with her, pulling cards and telling me about stuff. So we're, we actually met in gab, which is run by Selly, where we were learning all about business foundations. And I Think we were both in that first cohort, right?
Alexandra Granato-Garcia: We were, yeah. Yeah. Which is already like, a year almost and a half ago. It's wild.
Brittany Herzberg: It's so wild. And like I said, it's been really cool to watch your journey, because not only did we go through that, then we kept seeing each other in these different spiritual communities. Like, one thing that we did recently was liberate with Ray, and. And I'm going to link Stelli's episode. I'll link Ray's episode so you can go explore those, too, after this. But through that, we've developed a pretty deep friendship, and we've even realized that our astrology and human design charts are really pretty similar. So I feel very seen talking to you. I think you feel very seen talking with me.
Alexandra Granato-Garcia: Absolutely.
Brittany Herzberg: And like I said, I'm so excited because this episode is really gonna tie those two worlds of mine together, like the SEO and strategy and the spirituality and, like, all the fun stuff in Somatics. So will you tell us what it is that you pulled and maybe just explain it and then read it for us?
Alexandra Granato-Garcia: Yeah, absolutely. So I love that you brought in the human Design, Brittany, because this is something that I've been using to really embody my own divine essence, which I call the sacred self, and which is what somatic healing and therapy helps you build a healthy relationship with. And that is actually how your world will be into change. And so in Human Design, I have an open throat center. And what that means is that I'm like a chameleon when it comes to speaking, and I'm meant to respond to people. So I do deeply listen or observe the world around me. And my somatic practices and awareness have helped me really refine that throughout my life. And so before we began today, I told Brittany, I pulled a card, and I really set the intention. Setting intentions is another big part of the somatic practice. Releasing expectation, but setting an intention. So I wanted to set an intention and say, based on your audience, Brittany, what is the message that's going to serve everybody's highest good? Like, what is the thing? And I loved the card when I pulled it in, so I shared it with Brittany immediately when we got on. Just to share the author and artist of this deck, I'm using Asha Frost. She is a medicine woman, and she has a beautiful book called you are the Medicine. And then this is her deck that accompanies that. And it's the sacred medicine oracle. And the card that we got today is number 18, the creation story, story, and pathway. And so I just loved it because I think Brittany and I have really connected through our passion with storytelling and we have different perspectives on that. And then when we put those perspective together, it just really amplifies everything. So this card says pathway. Before you arrived here on the planet, you were a vision, a spark of creation. This card comes forward to ask you to remember your divinity. In our traditional ways, we speak of our original instructions. What was the vision that Creator had for us? Can you hear the whispers? Can you remember those instructions that were planted in your soul? Sometimes in life we compare ourselves to others. We feel less than or feel that we aren't quite measuring up in some way. We feel that we need to change who we are at the core. This medicine card is here to tell you that Creator makes no mistakes. Your story is yours alone. It is unique and cannot be compared to another's journey. If you find yourself wishing that your path was different, this card is here to pull you back to your original instructions. Your path is exactly as it needs to be. You are no less or greater than anyone else that walks upon this earth. Your divine nature is meant to be expressed in the unique way that calls to you. This medicine brings you back to your own truth, your own way, your own story. There can be no comparisons as there is nobody who is quite like you upon this earth at this time. It is the route back into your original instructions and intentionally claim your path. I remember that I am a spark of the divine. My path is beautiful and unique. How perfect is that?
Brittany Herzberg: It couldn't be any more perfect. Because, you know, that's a large reason that I created this podcast the way that I did is because I wanted us to all get back to, like, who we truly are deeply. Because I'm seeing it come through with SEO. I'm seeing it come through in spiritual communities. I'm in. It doesn't matter where you are, who you are, when you're hearing this, it's really important to get back to who you are and what your vision is for your life and what's important to you and what you're passionate about. And sometimes it can take us a while to get back there. Maybe you're 60 something years old and you're hearing this and it's taken you this long to get back there. Maybe you're, I don't know, like 20 and you're hearing this and you're in college and who knows what's going on? So that card completely ties into the original purpose for why I created this podcast.
Alexandra Granato-Garcia: I love that.
Brittany Herzberg: Right it's like someone new.
Alexandra Granato-Garcia: I know I. And I tell people, a lot of people who have come into my world, they're like, newer to all of this. And I really have woven my indigenous ancestry into everything that I do because I think it roots us back to that place, to the great web of life. And so it's just most people, they don't have this as their daily practice. Right. And this has become my daily practice in the way I've created these shifts in my life. And so now I'm beginning to share that with others because we're three fives in human design, so we are meant to have our own lived experience first and lead others through that. And so most people, they've never experienced this before, and they're like, oh, my gosh. The way the messages will weave through our entire time together is so beautiful. And I say the body is the same way, because the body is always going to bring up in the presence of the moment, exactly what is needed for our awareness and for us to continue to move through.
Brittany Herzberg: Oh, totally. And with my massage therapy background, like, that couldn't even be more true. I treated some clients for, like, 10 years, and they would come see me monthly or every other month, like, with some regularity, and it never mattered. Like, every time they came in, they may have thought they wanted the exact same type of massage or parts worked on or whatever. And it's like, well, how are you doing today? What's going on today? Because every time was something a little bit different.
Alexandra Granato-Garcia: Absolutely.
Brittany Herzberg: I love that. So you have not always been a somatic practitioner. What did you do in your previous life?
Alexandra Granato-Garcia: Yeah, so I remember when I was going to go to college, I was like, what am I going to major in? My sister was in business and majored in marketing. And I remember her telling me, you know, you just love people. You should just do, like, communication. We're very opposite people. And she was the one that kind of like, planted that seed of communication. Because I originally said that I wanted to do dance. And at the time, my father, who, you know, they're protective of us. And my dad was a very more in the mind, logical thinker that he was like, okay, Alex, but what are you going to do when your body falls apart? And so he was always like, yes, and have a backup plan. Yeah. So I majored in communication, and I actually. I love speaking, I love meeting people, I love to write. And so I felt like that world kind of blended things. I was passionate about a creative person is the thing I've Identified as throughout my entire life, which is why I wanted the word creative to be in my business. And it's really cool, actually, in the way that that has evolved in my business. But when I look at the core of what I've been trying to do with my business, that's always been there. So I majored in communication with an emphasis in interpersonal and cultural communication. And then I got to minor in dance education. And in my dance minor is actually when I was introduced to somatic therapy as a form of movement therapy. And so this was a really unique opportunity. My professor at the time was going through the extensive somatic program that I'm actually now doing my certification in. So that's really cool. And so she was needing, you know, her practicum, and so she offered this independent study. And so me and a. And a friend in the dance program, we joined her. And this opportunity came at such a pivotal moment in my Life. I was 19 at the time. It was just the start of my sophomore year of college, and my dad was diagnosed with a really aggressive form of brain cancer. And before I knew it, he was gone within the year. My dad was my rock. And I was just like, but I'm still a kid, I still need my parents. How am I going to, like, continue my life? But my mom lost her dad at a very young age at the age of eight. And I watched growing up what that did to my grandmother and how she always kind of carried this resentment and bitterness about that she never met anyone else again. She was like, he was my love. And. And she raised three children on her own from a very young age. And my mom was the oldest at 8, and her two brothers were younger. That's a long time to, like, do life by yourself. And so when my dad died so young, I just knew, I can't get bitter. I can't let this, like, steal my joy. And what I didn't realize at the time was that this somatic practice that I had access to, I was processing my grief in real time because we would meet every day and there was like, as you know, there's like, integration work you have to do when you start to do this. And so people always wondered how I kept going after my dad's death. And I, in hindsight, now know it was these somatic practices that really got me through that time. And so fast forward, you know, I graduate in 2007, and I'm like, okay, well, what did my dad always taught me based on masculinity and based on the Western World like you go to college. I was very fortunate. My parents helped me through college. Getting that degree was really important to them. My dad was the first generation to get a college degree and that was what he wanted for us girls. It was actually her senior year in college, the semester he got sick. And so it was like, okay, I've done the thing. So I got a corporate job in training and development. And in that time I realized, like, I get to be with people. My favorite thing, get to be with people, build relationships, right? So I did corporate training and development melded into. I worked with a team of creatives. And it was so cool because I got to go out and see every single process of a business. And I have always been a systems thinker. And so I did that in the business world and then I do that with the body. The body is very much about the systems thinking not only of our internal systems, but the ones that we have externally. And so I did the corporate, you know, song and dance for 12 years. And I was starting to kind of burn out. I knew I needed a place where my creativity could thrive more. I was feeling a little bit caged in, a little frustrated. And around that time I ended up pregnant with our second child, who ended up being a girl. I have an older son and a daughter. And I just knew something had to change because we're adding a new member of the family. Then Covid happened. She was six months old at the time and I got laid off. And so while that was really scary, it also was one of the biggest blessings because the universe was like, we've been sending you the signs. You knew something had to change. But the planner in me was like, I have to figure out what the next thing is first, you know, because I have a family to take care of financially. I need to feel supported and safe. Universe had other plans. And so then I got to really begin to think about, like, what do I want to do? And so during that kind of downtime, I helped a small business switch there full in person business to an online model. And I got to really use my creativity and I got to show myself that everything that I knew was applicable to another industry because I had been in the food industry for so long and so that showed me small business. And I was like, well, why am I helping build someone else's business when I can build mine? And then that's kind of when I met you and entered Sellie's world. And I knew I wanted the somatic practice to be a part of the business because that helped me. During COVID I went and got my box out of storage, and I found all my books and all my journals, and I relived that journey. And that's when I made the connection of how much I've been operating by these practices kind of unconsciously in my life, because I had already done the patterning in the nervous system and in the body. And I was like, the humans are hurting, and I want to help the humans. But my masculine mind was still in the way. And so I felt that I needed to do this in a way that people would understand, where people would take me serious, where people would respect me. So I was like, well, I'm going to help with business systems and strategy. What I began to find is it's really the human behind the business who needs the help. And so that's when my whole world began to shift, thanks to the awareness of Sally, who really said, what's holding you back? I was building this one business to really build what I wanted to do. And she's like, no, let's just build that thing now. And, you know, it has been not quite a year of me fully leaning into this somatic healing and practice, but it's already been nine months. And it's just amazing how my life has changed and the incredible people that I've met. And I really am having to shift my mind. Like, my energy is what I'm getting paid for now. It's not all of these tangible things that it used to be. And so that's been the biggest adjustment for me in understanding that it's my energy and my ability to hold space and my ability to teach through this embodied way that is now the exchange. And it's not a pack of PDFs, deliverables, video testimonials, creative graphics that it used to be. But it's really special because the creation is leading you back to your own creation within yourself.
Brittany Herzberg: Isn't that the weirdest thing to be? Like, oh, I'm just here existing and tapping into my natural divine gifts. And like, oh, that's enough. Someone once told me that it didn't matter what career path I chose, that just people being around me, they would get what they needed. And, like, basically my existence was enough. And I was like, yeah, sure, okay, now. Now, like, two years, almost two years into what I'm calling my healing journey and, like, spiritual awakening. I get it. I really get it. And especially with what I'm doing right now with the SEO mentorship, I'm just talking, I'm sharing And even if I gave zero templates, zero PDFs, nothing except the replay, I know it would be enough. Because they're getting it. They're getting what they really, really need to, which is that when they are ready to step into, okay, this is what I truly want. This is a vision I truly have. This is who I really want to help. The rest of it falls into place. Like, you have to have those drivers, but the rest falls into place. And as you were talking, I'm like, I really feel like I did this backwards because I was in the massage world, I was in the energy world, I was in the healing space. And then I came into the online business world, got way in the logical side of things with SEO and strategy and all of that. And now I'm doing, like, the healing stuff. So it's just like, I was there, now I'm over here, and it's like, okay, let me go back to that and weave it in.
Alexandra Granato-Garcia: Yeah. And you have to find the happy medium, because we need both. And that's what Somatics does, is it helps to build your capacity to recognize when you're ignoring that intuition, that gut feeling feeling that saying, this is not right, even though the mind is like, this makes no sense. And so it's really building that self trust, though. And I have to say, what I've loved about you and what you've done with your business, even before we were as close, you know, I did a few offers here and there that you had to kind of help me better understand. I knew SEO was important, and to be honest, I was always like, oh, I have to learn all the things. When I was doing more business consulting, and then I was like, no, I just need to build relationships with other experts so I can pass that off and I don't have to know everything. But what I really love about what you do is that you really cater to different learning styles. Thank you. And so that, to me, is so important because that shows valuing others and not just building for someone exactly. Like yourself. And the adult learner in me, that was the training and development creator. It was like, I always see when business owners do that and they make a cognizant effort to make sure that people are receiving information in various ways and in ways in which they can make their own connections. Because that's essentially what we're here to do. Not fully teach, but help provide you that pathway to begin to make your own connections. And I love that you empower people in that way with SEO.
Brittany Herzberg: Thank you. You said Several things that you know this because again, our charts are so similar. We're so similar. But it really lights me up to know that someone sees that I'm doing that because I do want to empower business owners with SEO. It doesn't have to be confusing and crazy and costly and all the things. And then the other bit is that I have always, from the start, it's just been a thing for me that whenever I share anything, I'm like, okay, I'm going to speak it, I'm going to write it, I'm going to like, walk someone through with me to the point where, like, I'm constantly, like, examining what I've done and I'm like, okay, did I do enough? Did I miss a learning style? Did I not capture something? And even right now, I've got an entrepreneur who's deaf who's in my mentorship thing. I'm letting her know. I'm like, if there's something that doesn't work, I want you to tell me because I want to make sure that you're getting this stuff. So, like, we were on our first call this week and I'm like, are you seeing the captions? Yes. Okay, cool. I sent out a video. Are you seeing the captions there? Is there anything else that I can do?
Alexandra Granato-Garcia: Yeah. Accessibility matters. And it goes such a long way in ways that we don't even notice. A lot of times. I mean, I can't tell you the amount of times someone who I haven't even nurtured a relationship with will just randomly decide on that day to connect and say something that they see that. And it's a great reminder too, when we think about spirituality and things that are unseen and even when we get impatient. Right? Because I feel like we all do this self help or personal development or professional development because we want results, we want change, we want things. And how often do we give up on ourselves too quickly because our logical mind is looking for the evidence and the evidence isn't there yet. And so this is just such a lesson in why building that self trust is so important.
Brittany Herzberg: Yeah, okay, so on that note of evidence, you know this. It's kind of crazy, but recently I have discovered that there is some kind of connection with me and animals and something there with like, communication and the unseen rounds and all of that. And I'm still playing around to figure out what it is because I've been told that it's going to be very unique to me. So I'm like, okay, great. I don't have A rulebook to follow. I don't have a roadmap. Fine. I'm not sweating over here. It's totally fine. But, you know, like, even that has been something that trusting myself, trusting my intuition, that has been a big thing. And how it used to show up, I would love to know how it showed up for you. But while you're thinking about that, for me, it used to show up with, like, my massage clients. I would know either the day of or the day before that my 3 o'clock wasn't going to show up. Wouldn't know why, wouldn't know what was going on. I'm just like, I think they're going to. Sure enough, every single time I had that gut hit, it kept happening. But I kept being like, for 10 years, that's a weird coincidence. And then this year, I intentionally started playing with it. And it was really, really cool to watch that, like, have the evidence actually in real time, because I was playing around with the NCAA tournament. So I'm living in Connecticut, and UConn made it. The men and the women, they made it pretty far. And so with each game, I'm like thinking to myself and like asking in my head, I'm like, okay, who's going to win? Okay, what team member is going to get a lot of play time? Okay, is there any, like, crazy event that's going to happen every single time? The answer that I got was accurate and I was like, oh, that's kind of cool. So I would love to know, like, your thoughts there.
Alexandra Granato-Garcia: Yeah, well, you know, like, ever since I was young. And I think it's like being a systems thinker, but also with my indigenous roots, as I've dug into that, I really know that, like, part of my purpose is to be this Weaver. And so I've always really been into, like, signs and synchronicities, not to the extent of what they are in my life now, but it's been really fun to learn, like, my strategy and my authority in human design and to play with that when it's a low risk situation so that my nervous system isn't like, you know, blown out by it. But those are the ways in which I have built up my capacity to deepen that self trust in the things that do weigh heavier. And, you know, when I work with clients in a more mentorship, one to one way, that is something that I offer to them as, like, let's try this. And if they have trouble kind of figuring out what scenarios, I'll give them a few suggestions and they're like, you know what? I'm going to try that. I have a lot of friends and clients who are artists or creatives in some capacity because they feel obviously very understood when they're with me. You know, she was going to an event soon, and she was feeling a little anxious about it because she's mainly by herself and her art studio all day, you know, now that she works from home and she spends a lot of time with animals, but not people. And so she was feeling the anxiety buildup of, like, I know I need to be there because I need to grow my business and all the things we do as business owners. Right? And so I gave her some suggestions to play with that in terms of leading her to who she needed to speak to. And it was really cool. And so I told her, you know, while there weren't a lot of collectors there, there were other artists. So think about those that you planted little seeds with, and how can you then continue to nurture that connection? Because it's like you said, trusting that intuition about, like, there's something about this person. I'm not sure why, but they're like, the one I'm drawn to. Continue building the relationship. I said, because their customers may be looking for a specific piece as a gift for themselves that maybe is outside of their realm of specialty, but then they'll remember you. And so I do this a lot. I take people out in nature and I'll ask them, are we going to go left or are we going to go right? Like, let's really tap into the body and allow it to lead. Where are you being led and what is waiting for you there? It's just like fishing, right? Like, you cast in a big sea or pond or lake. You may know what you get and you may not. And so there's, like, a lot to that in practicing that in your life.
Brittany Herzberg: Yeah, there is. And you bring so much fun and play into your work. And I know that's intentional, but I also know that's just part of who you are. And I think that's so cool that you do that with the somatic work. I like doing that with the strategy and the SEO stuff, but it's just so beautiful how you mentioned connections. And for me, that's a big thing. I think I have that somewhere in my copy that, like, connections are everything. People, connections, again. Used to be a massage therapist of, like, connections in the body and now connections online. Like, these are all webs that we weave, and it can be haphazard, it can be not intentional or it gets to be intentional when you wake up to this stuff and then you can go, oh, okay, I see how that ties into this. And I feel like this one, I'm over here and I'm noticing these things and this is what could it be telling me? So it's really cool to see all of that. Tell us a little bit more about like what you bring into your work. Cause I know, but like, what are some of the things that you pull in?
Alexandra Granato-Garcia: Yeah. So I have what I'm calling like anchors or their threads that appear in every container that I hold. And so I have been playing with different ways of creating this awareness around Somatics. And you know, I did the thing most people do when you're trying to figure out, you look and see what other people are doing. But those ways didn't really resonate for me. It just didn't feel natural and in alignment. So then I began to say, okay, just reel it back and close your eyes and like block everybody else out. You are meant to teach and lead through your lived experiences. What have you done? Teach people that. And so I had to then begin to do my own like, self exploration, which is kind of fun because then I like myself up here, observing my life like down below. Yeah. And I begin to kind of like actually intellectualize and map out what have been these practices. And so that's what led me to create my initial offer, which is a 90 minute, I call it a flutorization discovery session, where there's really no agenda. We're just going to create a safe space for exploration. What that does is it helps me get a gauge of where people are at in their journey. I'm able to tune into the body and know how much safety exists there to do this work. And I have an intake form and I purposely don't send it until just a few days before because so much can change. As you know, I just ask a few questions about do they like a more scientific lens? Do they like a more spiritual lens? Because that helps me choose a language that they're going to be comfortable with and then that can meld and widen the scope. And it's so amazing because people that come more in the logical mind, more in the science, and that's amazing. They begin to find that like softness and that flow that spirituality really offers us. So I create this container where we can really have this experience. And I realize I am meant to lead and to teach through an experience. So I'm not going to lecture you about Somatics and then give you just a little taste at the end. No, you're going to be learning throughout the entire thing. So I open up the space and that helps to kind of create that safety, that container. I begin every session with walking because I just want you to consciously walk, because how often do we consciously walk in our day to day life? Probably never, right? And so we bring awareness through just walking. I use animal medicine in every space as well, because that is just a big part of my life. And most people who are drawn to me already love animals, whether they've intentionally used them as medicine or not. And then other people, after they've done a session with me, it like opens up their whole awareness. They start noticing, they start seeing, and. But we can't really get to that part until we begin to open up the awareness, until we begin to see the patterning of what our current reality is. And then we can begin to shift that into what you are actually wanting to feel more. It's just so beautiful how it all weaves together as this immersive experience and that I can teach in this way. And even if your mind doesn't remember everything that I said, your body remembers because of the way it felt. Your lived, felt experience is what somatics is. And so our bodies have been gathering this data our entire lives, even when we're not aware that it has. And on the flip side of that, we've also come into this life with that soul blueprint that we talked about in that card, but also our epigenetic blueprint based on our DNA. And so I know we can have a whole another conversation on that. But what I do want to say is that a lot of times what's playing into our outer experiences are what's happening in our inner world. And it begins with the nucleus of our DNA. Yep, you begin to notice, but I'm feeling something that's not mine. Where did they come from? And that actually led me to do this work. Part two, I say is because when my daughter was born and you know, I was in that big shift in my life of like, okay, I. I did the college, I got the job, bought the house, got married, got have the kids. Now what life? Like, you know, I felt like I checked all the boxes and I was like, that's pretty terrible. Like, I'm living my life to check other people's boxes. Like, what do I actually want? And so then that's when I was like, okay, but who am I? Like, mother aside, daughter aside, wife aside, like, who is Alexandra and what am I here for. And that's really what led me to this, where I'm at today. Like, reopen the vault is what I say. But then when I think about what did I say earlier? About how I watched my grandmother live her life in this way, and I didn't want that for me. Well, my son was the one that brought all of that back to the surface. And then I had to look within me. Where have those parts been within me? Where I haven't given them a voice, Where I haven't let others see them because I was afraid? Would they hold space for me? Would they hate me? Would they love me? And that's what this work is like. There's so many facets and pieces. We're like a big mosaic. And the way in which the awareness of those parts of us come to light can come out of left field sometimes. Yeah, you become activated. You know what they say, it's like the people you judge or the people that really bother you, what is it about them that's really about you? You know, because the world is our mirror, right?
Brittany Herzberg: Yeah.
Alexandra Granato-Garcia: And so how do we build up the capacity and the compassion to ourselves to have that non judgmental observer to say, what is the message? What are you teaching me? Because those parts aren't going to go away. We always are going to live in this duality of positive and negative, of dark and light. But it's the dance between the two and the shifting of the power that we give the things that can drag us down for a really long time. That's what we want to shift. We're not getting rid of anything. We're just changing the relationship with them. And it really begins with the somatic awareness and really working with the feeling in the body and not allowing ourselves to disassociate and completely pull away. But how do I invite you in and soften into that and begin to create that change?
Brittany Herzberg: Yeah, that was a really beautiful way to say that. That is your relationship to that. Because I have always been so good about like noticing and being aware of what's going on in my body. However, I was so not in touch with emotions. The only one that I was really in touch with which surprises people was like more like the rage and the anger. That was the only one that I was connected to. And just the feeling of abandonment and like needing to dim and to make myself smaller and all this kind of stuff. And I really wasn't aware of that until like two years ago. And then instantly just like woke up to it. I couldn't Even tell you what it was, but it was just like, boom, one day I was like, oh, wait, I've had everybody else's back. I've been cool for everybody else, but I haven't had my own back. And so for me, that was like the big shift in transition into this world. And I know you and I could talk forever, so I'll probably have to have you back on, which I would love. I think this has been, like, a really good taster for people of just hearing your story, seeing how that can add into business and your life. It's not just business. I've learned by working with Ray that if something's happening in one, it's happening in the other, too.
Alexandra Granato-Garcia: Oh, absolutely. You know, and guess what? Like, we are humans, and so our body is the vessel for this experience from the physicality level of our human experience and our energetic level with our spiritual experience. And so that's really what I love. Help people rebuild a relationship with themselves. I use nature because it's free and it's accessible to all of us. And when we plug back into that energy and know that we're not alone, we could step outside at any time and shift from a feeling of lack to abundance if we just stop and realize, like, I am breathing. But it takes practice and it takes that curiosity. And so, as you know, I use, like, archetypes, and so I use. The disco ball is a big archetype in my work. And I really use this to illustrate to people like, this is who we are. All of these pieces are our stories, our experiences. And so when we look to create change, which we all have different moments that initiate change in our life, maybe because we chose it or maybe because we didn't, right? It's like, let's just focus on one facet. Let's just focus on one little piece. And I can't tell you how long we're going to stay with that. The body will tell us, and we're going to just be gentle with it and compassionate. And just in shifting that one piece, we can turn this and the whole light will change. So it's not that you have to do this whole thing. Just know, like, the work's never done. So, you know, just embrace it and you're worth it.
Brittany Herzberg: Where can people find you and connect with you?
Alexandra Granato-Garcia: Yeah, absolutely. So I am active on Instagram @fl creative is my Instagram. My website is flutoracreative.com and then I'm also on LinkedIn, so you can find me there, too, if you like. The LinkedIn streets.
Brittany Herzberg: Well, thank you so much for coming on, for sharing your story, for sharing your work with us, for being someone in my world that I can go to. And the sessions that Alex was mentioning earlier, the 90 minute sessions, I've done that with her before and it's absolutely incredible. It helped me get rid of pain. That was like an immediate thing that I noticed, but beyond that, it just, it was an expander. It was a reminder of the abundance available and it was hugely calming to my nervous system. And if you want to know any more about that, feel free to get into my dm. So definitely go check her out, say hi, see what she's got available. I know you're working on some other, like, some free, some paid stuff, so just stay tuned, everyone. It's going to be pretty freaking epic, if I know anything.
Alexandra Granato-Garcia: Yeah. I'm really excited to see what continues. We're both generators, so we're never short of ideas.
Brittany Herzberg: No.
Alexandra Granato-Garcia: So I'm excited to see how this continues to evolve and how I can continue to be of service. And I really, when I create something, I really tap into the collective and see what is really being needed at this time. And that's usually how I discern what I'm going to put my time into and what I'm going to create.
Brittany Herzberg: This has been amazing. Thank you, my friend.
Alexandra Granato-Garcia: Thank you so much. I hope you have a beautiful day.
Brittany Herzberg: You too. And I will catch you next time.
