Meet Alicia Patterson of Your Inner Power in Boulder

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alicia Patterson.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I started my self-development journey over ten years ago in hopes of finding more health, stability & well-being for myself. After suffering from anxiety, medical & sexual trauma, an eating & exercise disorder, abusing substances, and a lack of purpose, I entered into the somatic psychology world after exploring yoga & meditation and finding that I needed more. My training to be a mental health therapist was coupled with working in many different areas of the mental health system including the emergency room, in-patient psychiatric units, crisis office, residential treatment, private agencies, the local jail, and eventually building my own private practice. Alongside this training to work with people in their deepest states of challenge, recovering from trauma, the vast terrain of mental & emotional health, I had my own personal healing journey. I was relentless in seeking out healing for myself in the form of any workshop, training, book, class, online course, and mentor /practitioner that I could find. My healing journey centered and focused around my body, reproductive & sexual organs, and my story. Once I entered into healing my pelvic floor, uterine network, and cervix, my whole world changed. I had a lot of deep challenges to resolve and I found no relief in the medical system so I went digging for other supports. I eventually found them but a lot of it was under the radar or somehow incomplete. After working with many teachers, trainings, practitioners, investigating the online training world and devouring all of the material I could find on these topics of healing the pelvis / pelvic pain / menstrual challenges/infertility/trauma/gender & sexuality development/spirituality & the body, I decided to fuse my own training, experiences, and studies with this world of pelvic healing. I re-entered schooling & training to add my practice of serving as a women’s health mentor to people who wanted to address healing their bodies in a way that included anatomy & science, the reality of the body, with emotional permission & trauma-informed care. I bring all of my trainings, experiences, lenses of study, and different experiences with many different types of perspectives into how I work with people in addressing the unique journey they are on. I’ve discovered something incredibly satisfying, rare in the world, and a service that appears that people are starving for. This path has felt like a true calling ever since I began pulling this thread in my life. This place in the body is the seat of where much emotion and power lives for many people. My studies, personal experiences, and professional trainings have led me to where I am today in bringing this work out into the world. Many people have no idea what I’m talking about when I say “pelvic floor” (I didn’t years ago). Due to there being a shortage of practitioners and a severe lack of education and awareness, this work is a dire need for many. For some, it is still taboo or offensive to talk about this area of the body. I have made it my mission to make this modality accessible to as many people as I possibly can through creating online courses, working with groups, building a web presence, teaching workshops and classes virtually and in-person, all in addition to my individualized work with clients. For me, this work is truly a green effort. This area of our body is associated with the earth. Once I healed this place in myself, I fully woke up to what was happening on our planet. Many people have this experience that once their pelvis is healed, they feel more connected to the earth / the ground / their feet & feeling what is happening globally. With the state of climate change, our ecosystem, and humanity, this work feels incredibly important to me. This is my way of attempting to add something positive to the state of the world and the earth while utilizing my skills and expertise. This work has given me an incredible sense of purpose in my life and I am truly grateful.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road has been privileged for me in many ways and challenging in others. I have paid many consequences for this path. I have had access to amazing education, teachers, and mentors and it is to all of them that I truly feel my work is a tribute to. On the other side of that privilege was working full time while being in school, working too many jobs that paid very little, high student debts, and giving my all to this work when my lifestyle couldn’t really fully support it (working as a therapist is not a very high-paying career). I have devoted everything I have to build this work, I have financed it completely on my own. I have also had a steep learning curve when I realized I needed to know even more about how to support myself to do this work without being drained. Providing healing space for people all day every day is no joke. What was at first very nourishing and inspiring did take a dive into me feeling the weight of the world. I had to learn about how to work with that in a new way so that I could continue to do this work and not be consumed by it. It is a phenomenon that people who do internal (the work I do is intra-vaginal) get burnt out. I fully plan for this work to be long-term and sustainable, and I had to learn about what was needed for that to be available to me. I had to make many changes that were challenging for me and people in my life. I have had to say no more. Maintain better boundaries. Charge higher rates, make changes in my schedule and turn away people who couldn’t fit my business setup. I had to let go of many beliefs and stories I had about me, who I am, my life, my work, my career & certain things my colleagues thought, in order to let this path claim me fully. That has in itself been a transformative experience. Any transformation is painful, but I wouldn’t give it up or change it for anything.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Your Inner Power – what should we know?
I am a women’s health mentor specializing in body-based & emotional healing. I teach individually and in groups. I facilitate workshops. I lead online group experiences for people who don’t have local access to this work or who want to engage online. I work in-person with people. The modalities I utilize most strongly are pelvic floor & cervix therapy/healing, uterine & abdominal massage, healing from medical and sexual trauma, and addressing ancestry & lineage work through the process of pelvic healing.

I am known for my combination of body-based healing/science/ factual education about anatomy & the body fused with emotional permission and spiritual process. These two types of experiences I’ve had in my body and in my professional training are unique to many. I see many healing practitioners who practice a modality such as acupuncture, herbalism, pelvic floor therapy, and many others who do not have adequate training to give support for emotional & mental health. And I see many professionals who handle the emotional/mental/ spiritual level who don’t have adequate understanding or knowledge of the body and anatomy.

What I am most well known for is my way of working with the reality of the body and emotional process in a way that provides clarity, communication, consent, and awareness of trauma so people feel safe and comfortable enough to do this type of work that is very vulnerable and tender for most. Many people come to me who have had very challenging experiences and they are ready for a safe container to engage in intensive healing processes. This type of intensity requires a lot of communication, emotional intelligence and skill, and maturity on both of our parts.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Tami Kent – the woman I did my pelvic floor training with. Her book and training introduced me to this work in a grounded way.

Elizabeth Corrigan – my personal resource for this work and an incredible mentor for learning through experience

Sheri Winston – her anatomy book was an important resource that I draw on heavily with clients.

Ingrid Arna & Paith Mcqueen – business coaches who introduced me to the possibilities that exist in working online and up-leveling my business model to provide better service and increase my revenue in order to help me offer more to the world

Zoe Avstreih – one of my past supports who was the first person I talked with about this work, when I was still vulnerable and unsure about it, having the support of an elderly woman in my community was invaluable, she told me “all women need this work, keep going.”

Duey Freeman – one of my past supports that landed in important personal and professional ways, I still draw on his wisdom today.

Leah D’Abate – one of my past supports that landed in important personal and professional ways, I still draw on her wisdom today.

Jen Ross – a dear friend who has seen me through all of this ins and outs of this and has been a very important support

Leah Ardent & Kyla Clapper – part of my team who has helped me immensely in bringing my vision and offerings to fruition in the online landscape

Melissa Michaels – a teacher I’ve been studying with for years doing the 5 Rhythms, a movement modality that has been a very important support and integration tool for my journey of healing my body

Rosita Arvigo & Mayan Uterine Massage – this was my first therapeutic healing experience with my body and has been an important component to my work.

Pricing:

• My personal 1:1 work begins at $1000-2000 and scales upward for different levels of programs
• My online products range from $225 – $3500 depending on the level of program
• I offer consultation on a limited basis for $145 per hour

Contact Info:

• Address: Boulder CO 80305
• Website: yourinnerpower.org
• Phone: 3018014585
• Email: alicia@yourinnerpower.org

Image Credit:
Rick Cummings , Chuck Pringle , Kyla Clapper , Melody Christian

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