205: What Grief Doesn't Tell You: Loss, Motherhood & Moving Forward with Elaine Alexander

205: What Grief Doesn't Tell You: Loss, Motherhood & Moving Forward with Elaine Alexander

⚠️ Content note: This episode discusses grief, including suicide loss. Listener discretion is advised. If you or someone you know is struggling, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988) is available 24/7 in Canada and the US. In this episode, Lianne sits down with registered psychotherapist Elaine Turcotte Alexander (Gracious Living) to talk about the messy, non-linear, deeply human experience of grief. From suicide loss to pet loss to grieving versions of yourself you never got to become, this conversation reframes what grief actually looks like — and gives you language for feelings you may not have known how to name. About Elaine: Elaine Alexander is a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) in Ontario, working under supervision with adults navigating grief — including suicide loss — as well as relationship and dating challenges. She also works at the intersection of AI and mental health. Before stepping into this work, Elaine spent two decades in entrepreneurship, where she navigated burnout, financial pressure, personal loss, and becoming a wife and mother in her forties. In this episode: * Why the "5 stages of grief" framework can create shame instead of healing * The difference between "moving on" and "moving forward" * How suicide loss carries unique guilt, anger, and unanswerable questions * Why sadness feels harder to sit with than anger (and what that says about our brains) * Grieving things beyond death: divorce, motherhood expectations, past selves, missed decades * Small, concrete ways to support a grieving friend long after the funeral * Elaine's personal story of loss, burnout, and finding her purpose in grief work Connect with Elaine:Website: Courageousliving.me [https://grieftherapyontario.com/]Instagram: @ElaineTAlexander [https://www.instagram.com/elainetalexander/]Seeing clients in-person in Gloucester, ON, and online across Ontario Follow Lianne on IG @liannemcaughey [https://www.instagram.com/liannemcaughey/]

204: The Second Half of the Year Isn't Asking You to Hurry. It's asking you to slow down.

THE RETURN. A 21 day live program for the woman who is done living on autopilot, who has a great life and who is also longing for more. Add you name to the waitlist. We start in August 2026. Exact date TBA. THE RETURN [https://www.thespiritualshiftworker.com/renaissance-waitlist-772139] Can you believe the year is already half over? If hearing those words immediately sends you into panic mode—thinking about everything you haven't accomplished yet—this episode is for you. So many of us reach the middle of the year feeling like we're behind. Behind on our goals. Behind in life. Behind on becoming the person we thought we'd be by now. But what if the second half of the year isn't asking you to do more? What if it's asking you to notice more? In this episode of The Spiritual Shiftworker Podcast, we're exploring why so many women in midlife feel like life is passing them by—and why the answer isn't another productivity hack or a bigger goal. Instead, it's learning to reconnect with yourself through presence, awareness, and the ordinary moments that make up a meaningful life. If you've been feeling disconnected, restless, or quietly wondering, "Is this all there is?" this conversation will invite you to slow down and return to what matters most. * Why the middle of the year often creates unnecessary pressure * The hidden cost of always focusing on "what's next" * How autopilot steals the moments that make life meaningful * Why presence is more powerful than productivity * A simple question that can change how you experience the rest of this year What have I been rushing past that deserves my attention? Sit with that today. You don't need to catch up. You simply need to come back.

203: Unbound: Healing Immigrant Guilt, Generational Trauma & the Power of the Pause with Serena Arora

Serena Arora shares her journey from Calgary to building a wellness retreat center in Costa Rica, where she works as an Ayurvedic health practitioner and yoga therapist of over 25 years. She opens up about the concept she calls "Imma Guilt" — the generational guilt and inherited weight of obligation and self-sacrifice passed down through immigrant families — and how it kept her stuck in a life of obligation over alignment. Serena talks candidly about reinventing herself again and again while still repeating the same burnout cycle, the inner child healing that came through her stepdaughter, and the deeper differences between masculine and feminine energy. The conversation also moves into Serena's current season of caregiving for aging parents, where she reframes discomfort as "dis-ease" — an early signal worth listening to through nervous system regulation and embodiment before it becomes something more. She shares the pause practice as a tool for self-abandonment recovery and reclaiming inner wisdom, the one question to ask before a big decision rooted in guilt versus alignment, and details on her upcoming women's wellness retreat, Living Unbound, plus where to find her book, Unbound. Follow Serena on IG @serena_arora [https://www.instagram.com/serena_arora/] Get the book here UNBOUND [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FQ381KK1?ref_=pe_93986420_775043100] Make sure to follow Lianne on IG @liannemcaughey [https://www.instagram.com/liannemcaughey/] And a 5 STAR review helps to get the podcast out to those that need the most.

202: Why I Almost Spent $7,000 on a Coaching Program — And What Stopped Me

Join the RENAISSANCE ROOM - a community where women are having soulful conversations, breaking patterns and unlocking their conscious awareness. Founders Rate available until July 1st RENAISSANCE ROOM [https://go.satva.io/payment-link/6a05bcc21d5a394a682e492d] Grab the HONEST CHECK-IN GUIDE [https://thespiritualshiftworker.com/honest-checkin-360384] - 7 questions for the woman who keeps living the same day on repeat and who is ready to change it. This week's conversation is for the women who are chronic course-buyers, program-hoppers, always looking for the next thing to fix them. Lianne almost learned a very costly lesson - but caught herself long enough to ask some deep questions. Make sure to follow Lianne on IG @liannemcaughey [https://www.instagram.com/liannemcaughey/] Follow @whispers_of_wings [https://www.instagram.com/whispers_of_wings/] for Astrology updates And if you love this show, make sure to leave Lianne a 5 STAR review and even better, Lianne loves a good Cortado- you can buy her a coffee here: Buy me a coffee [ https://buymeacoffee.com/thespiritualshiftworker]

201: Stop Waiting for Certainty: How to Cross the Bridge Even When You Can't See the Other Side with Danielle Frank

If the RENAISSANCE ROOM is calling you - join us here: THE RENAISSANCE ROOM [https://go.satva.io/payment-link/6a05bcc21d5a394a682e492d], where women come for soulful connection and conversation, to be seen and to remember who they are at a soul level. Make sure to follow Lianne on IG @liannemcaughey [https://www.instagram.com/liannemcaughey/] This week I'm joined by Danielle Frank — author, luxury brand builder, and someone who has created a genuinely fulfilling life by embracing every unexpected turn along the way. Danielle started her career in international PR at Miramax Films, living the kind of 20s most people only dream about. But after six years, restlessness set in. She left New York, moved to LA, walked into a toxic PR firm, and quit three months later — without a plan. What followed was an accidental pivot into the wine and spirits industry, over two decades building iconic luxury brands at Bacardi and Moët Hennessy, and eventually, the courage to finally publish a book she'd written over a decade ago. A Wine Lover's Guide to Parenting is part comedy, part love letter to the industry she's spent her life in — a witty, satirical guide that parallels raising good humans with wine terminology, written from the perspective of a proud aunt who has spent years as a professional observer of chaos. It's proof that the things sitting on the shelf in the back of your mind deserve to be finished. In this episode, we talk about: * Why Danielle left a dream job and what that pit-in-your-stomach feeling is actually telling you * The life she thought she'd have versus the one she built — and why she chose fulfillment over the expected path * Publishing a book 14 years after writing it, and what finally pushed her to do it * Her concept of "don't linger on the bridge" — and why transitions aren't meant to be lived in * The difference between happiness and fulfillment, and why that distinction matters * Why she started the handle @CreateAGreatStory long before she became an author — and what it actually means Connect with Danielle: * Website: daniellefrankauthor.com [https://daniellefrankauthor.com/] * Instagram: @CreateAGreatStory [https://www.instagram.com/createagreatstory/] * Book available on Amazon [https://www.amazon.ca/Wine-Lovers-Guide-Parenting/dp/1967598061/] and Barnes & Noble [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-wine-lovers-guide-to-parenting-danielle-frank/1148414693?ean=9781967598069]