Hi, I’m Ali
In May of 2019 my life was turned upside down.
Three weeks before our wedding, I was diagnosed with Chronic Lyme Disease.
I was spinning.
Up until this point in my life I knew I could handle hard things. Throughout childhood and adolescent I had faced a lot of adversity from sexual abuse to my parents divorce, and the loss of loved ones. On top of that, I had struggled with my health prior to my lyme diagnosis from the age of 13. The truth was, I had been living in a state of fight or flight from this trauma for years. But I did not know how to connect with my physical and emotional pain, I kept shoving it down and “saving it for a rainy day”. For as long as I could remember I had been looking at my life from an out of body perspective. What I mean by this, is that I was able to “handle” hard things but I could not feel hard things.
This changed dramatically when my husband and I lost 3 friends within a year of each-other. These deaths brought up all of my pain that I had disassociated from.
This is when I dove head first into trying to find relief from my pain and became a student of learning about trauma, somatic body experience and embodiment. I not only learned about my own complex developmental trauma and C-PTSD that I was living with but how I could find my strength and myself again, ( post-traumatic growth).
Fast forward 4 years later and my diagnosis of Lyme Disease opened me up to step into the person I am meant to be.
Sitting in the IV room, (where I would receive treatment over the course of 9 long months), I saw people from many walks of life coming through the door. I listened to what was plaguing each person’s life and my recurring thought was this: People need a place to process their grief and develop strategies to transform their lives.
I began to dream.
I would dream about what my life would look like after this constant battle was finished...
I dreamt of friends and acquaintances coming together...
I dreamt of a space for people to find healing…
From my own battle this coaching practice was born.
AS SEEN IN
Each day my treatment brought me closer to the person I knew I was meant to be once I got out of the IV room.
Up until this point I had been working through my trauma with my own somatic embodiment therapist. Because I was doing the work to heal from my emotional pain and PTSD, I became more aware of how much I was living outside of my body. My diagnosis of Chronic Lyme Disease made me realize that I had been neglecting my physical pain. It was in the months following that I learned how to live in my body so I could truly heal.
Today, I am grateful that I have been given the opportunity to see my dreams come true. There is a place for people to heal. There are tools and resources available. And the most important thing that I have learned is that single person is individual and unique and this is crucial to find in order to become the authority over your life and emotions. Every person has the ability to find freedom from their physical pain, past hurts, and PTSD.
Are you ready to find freedom through healing?
Xo,
Ali Kates
Fun Facts About Me:
TRAVEL
I fell in love with the Hispanic culture in high-school. So much so, that I minored in Spanish in college and speak it fluently. My zest for Spanish led me to travel the world. I studied abroad on Semester at Sea and have been to over 30 countries.
LEARNING
I do my best when I am learning. For me, my most authentic self can thrive when I learning and unlearning all the things of life. I really enjoy learning more about people and what makes each person unique.
VALUES
I place high value on Authenticity, making sure I am doing everything from a place of Love and Inclusivity. Ironically my values spell out ALI. Authenticity, Inclusivity & Love are my guiding principles in my life.