Intimate Conversations

Step into a raw, courageous, and deeply validating conversation with Melissa Rymer, narcissistic abuse survivor turned advocate, certified recovery coach, certified divorce coach, and founder of the Victim to Warrior Method, on this episode of Intimate Conversations: Dark Night to Divine Light. Melissa's work exists to do what no one did for her when she was in it: name it, witness it, and walk people through to the other side. Melissa vulnerably shares how she built what looked like a perfect life. An executive career, a beautiful home, three boys, and a marriage she believed in. When that marriage ended after her husband's affair, the grief cracked her open in ways she did not see coming. In that vulnerable, soul-bared state, she walked into a divorce recovery group and straight into the arms of a predator. What followed was nearly a decade of psychological manipulation, financial destruction, credit card fraud, IRS audits, stolen dogs, broken restraining orders, a 13-year custody battle, and a quarter of a million dollars lost. And through all of it, she kept journaling. She kept going. She did not go down. Together, Allana and Melissa explore the invisible architecture of narcissistic abuse. How it happens slowly. How it erodes confidence like water on stone. How the mask can come off behind closed doors while everyone outside remains convinced he is wonderful. And how the moment you try to leave, the real war can begin. We talk about: Why predators prey on insecurity and how divorce recovery groups can become hunting grounds The slow erosion of confidence through passive aggression and gaslighting Why victims doubt their own reality and how journaling helped Melissa hold onto hers Smear campaigns, isolation, and the weaponization of children The 13-year custody battle and the financial and emotional cost of prolonged legal conflict Why you must plan your exit methodically before you speak a word The moment on a Mexican beach when Melissa's calling became clear How people pleasers can become vulnerable to narcissistic relationships and what can break that pattern The difference between absorbing someone's pain and holding compassionate space Becoming whole enough that another person's behavior no longer takes you off center The Victim to Warrior Method and why accessible support can change everything How surviving narcissistic abuse can become a catalyst for a deeper homecoming This episode is a reminder that the journey from victim to warrior is not linear, not quick, and not for the faint of heart. But it is possible. Melissa's story is proof that when you stop faking your way through and finally look within, you can discover not just who you survived, but who you were always meant to become. ABOUT MELISSA RYMER Melissa Rymer is a narcissistic abuse survivor turned advocate, certified recovery coach, and certified divorce coach who helps victims escape manipulation and rebuild their futures. After enduring years of physical, emotional, and financial abuse, she reclaimed her life and transformed her experience into a global movement. Through the Victim to Warrior Method, her podcast, books, and online resources, she supports people across the United States and around the world in breaking free from trauma bonds and reclaiming their peace. CONNECT WITH MELISSA Website: www.victimtowarriormethod.com —————————————————————————————————————————— 💫 Book Your Intimacy Breakthrough Experience with Allana: www.allanapratt.com/connect Scholarship Code: READYNOW 💖 Ready to stop searching for The One and finally become The One? Discover Allana's signature program: Become the One Introductory Program: www.allanapratt.com/becomeintro Use Code: BTO22 for over 40% off Stay Connected with me: Exclusive Video Newsletter: www.allanapratt.com/newsletter Instagram URL: @allanapratt    Facebook URL: coachallanapratt

Step into a raw, tender, and profoundly moving conversation with Wayne Barkus, men's empowerment facilitator, men's coach, founder of SVRN1 Menswear, and teacher of initiatory experiences dedicated to helping men transform their lives, on this episode of Intimate Conversations: Dark Night to Divine Light. Wayne's work lives at the intersection of emotional mastery, relational strength, masculine initiation, and community, creating spaces where men can stop performing, reconnect with themselves, and begin becoming the men they know they are capable of being. Wayne vulnerably shares the series of dark nights that cracked him open. A marriage that had been quietly collapsing. A body screaming from decades of inflammation and self-neglect. And then the moment it all gave way. Sitting on the couch of his half-million-dollar home, surrounded by the appearance of a perfect life, he asked himself a question that changed everything: Who am I without all of this? What he found beneath the surface was not who he wanted to be. And standing on the edge of becoming a single father to a four-year-old and a one-year-old, he knew he had no choice but to discover who he could become. That descent became the beginning of a hero's journey. From joining his first men's group and witnessing what sovereign, embodied men actually looked like, to building his own men's circles from three guys in a room to forty, to holding initiatory experiences across North America, Wayne's path is a living testament to what becomes possible when a man stops toughing it out alone and steps into community. We also explore the tender story of a Good Friday parking lot, where grief cracked Wayne open in front of his daughters, and how that moment of surrender deepened their bond in ways years of holding it together never could. He also shares how his partner's own embodiment journey, her altar, her boundaries, and her becoming became the quiet permission slip that first showed him what healing could look like. We also talk about: The initiatory descent every man will face and how to navigate it Why men are incredibly sensitive and what happens when that sensitivity finally opens Isolation, shame, and the invisible epidemic of men suffering alone How feminine embodiment can become a catalyst for masculine awakening The power of one meditation session to crack open decades of emotional suppression Tracking cycles, practicing curiosity, and navigating conflict in conscious partnership Grief as one of the richest and most transformative emotions available to men The tribal practice of singing a man's song when he forgets who he is Why programs can help, but community is essential to lasting transformation Divorced fatherhood, presence, and the gift of being an imprint of love Wayne's eight-week initiation program and the cohort that continues the journey What it means to excavate before rebuilding Why men often already know who they want to become, but need the right space to remember This episode is a reminder that healing is not a destination. It is a practice, a process, and most powerfully, a shared one. Wayne's work calls men back from isolation and into the kind of community where truth can be spoken, grief can be held, and the song of who they truly are can finally be sung back to them. ABOUT WAYNE BARKUS Wayne Barkus is a Men's empowerment facilitator, founder of SVRN1 Menswear, and teacher of Initiatory experiences dedicated to helping Men transform their lives. Through men's work, coaching, community, and initiatory experiences, Wayne creates spaces for men to reconnect with their truth, deepen their relationships, and step into greater sovereignty. CONNECT WITH WAYNE Website: www.waynebarkus.com Instagram: @asacredking Free Gift: The SVRN1 Morning Blueprint Go deeper with me inside The Intimate World. patreon.com/AllanaPratt #TheIntimateWorld —————————————————————————————————————————— 💫 Book Your Intimacy Breakthrough Experience with Allana: www.allanapratt.com/connect Scholarship Code: READYNOW 💖 Ready to stop searching for The One and finally become The One? Discover Allana's signature program: Become the One Introductory Program: www.allanapratt.com/becomeintro Use Code: BTO22 for over 40% off Stay Connected with me: Exclusive Video Newsletter: www.allanapratt.com/newsletter Instagram URL: @allanapratt    Facebook URL: coachallanapratt

Step into a breathtaking, paradigm-shifting, deeply embodied conversation with Mike Elliott and Courtney Wren of The Sacred We, a real-life couple, parents, and partners in both love and business, on this episode of Intimate Conversations: Dark Night to Divine Light. Courtney is a Relational Somatic Therapist and mystic. Mike is a relationship coach and guide. Together, they bring over 30 years of combined experience helping couples build relationships that can truly hold it all: healing, intimacy, conflict, family, and purpose. They are also living proof that the work they teach is possible. Courtney shares how years of devoted inner work, including healing her relationship with her own inner masculine, prepared her nervous system for the relationship she was calling in. Spirit showed her images of someone so far outside her usual patterning that she knew she might not recognize him when he arrived. She asked for a sign. She called in a lion. Mike walked in with a lion tattoo. What followed was a conscious, slow, sacred unfolding of two people choosing each other with full presence and accountability. Mike opens up about what it felt like to be claimed by a woman who already had herself. How terrifying it was. How it brought his unintegrated insecurity and inadequacy to the surface. And how that sacred friction became an initiation, forging him into the man he had longed to become. Their story reframes what we think we know about masculine and feminine polarity. The feminine claims. The masculine devotes. And in that dance, something ancient and electric comes alive. We also talk about: How Courtney prepared her nervous system for years before calling Mike in Why being claimed by the feminine can be terrifying for a man The moment sacred sexuality initiated Courtney's inner priestess into embodiment Why the feminine claims and the masculine devotes Gentle power, strong back and soft front, and what it looks like in daily life Clearing ceremonies, consent, and sharing hard truths without triggering defensiveness Why women's emotions can be an invitation rather than an attack, and how men can learn to receive them The difference between the little boy saying no and the embodied man holding ground How Courtney learned to receive masculine structure as wisdom rather than shutdown Tracking cycles, attuning to the field, and moving at the pace of connection How understanding a man's emotional history can change the way a couple meets conflict Radical self-responsibility as the foundation of sacred partnership What becomes possible when two whole people stop performing and start truly meeting This episode is a transmission and an invitation into a version of love that most people have never witnessed up close. A love that does not avoid the fire, but walks into it together, emerging more whole, open, and devoted. Mike and Courtney's relationship is not a fairy tale. It is a practice: daily, embodied, courageous, and deeply devoted. Their story will challenge how you see yourself, your partner, and what is possible between two people willing to do the work. Explore The Sacred We and their somatic conflict resolution practices: www.thesacredwe.com/thesacredwe Get their free gift, 3 Somatic Practices to Resolve Conflict Faster: www.thesacredwe.com/deeperconnection ABOUT MIKE ELLIOTT & COURTNEY WREN A real-life couple, parents, and partners in both love and business, Mike and Courtney guide visionary couples from unmet and unseen, to in love and thriving. They have lived through stuckness, shutdown, and disconnection themselves, finding their way back through deep inner work, shared vision, and sacred devotion. Now they walk with other couples on that same initiatory path. CONNECT WITH MIKE & COURTNEY Facebook: Mike Elliot Instagram: @courtneywren.relating YouTube: @thesacredwepodcast —————————————————————————————————————————— Go deeper with me, inside The Intimate World ➡️ Visit: www.patreon.com/allanapratt 💫 Book Your Intimacy Breakthrough Experience with Allana: www.allanapratt.com/connect Scholarship Code: READYNOW 💖 Ready to stop searching for The One and finally become The One? Discover Allana's signature program: Become the One Introductory Program: www.allanapratt.com/becomeintro Use Code: BTO22 for over 40% off Stay Connected with me: Exclusive Video Newsletter: www.allanapratt.com/newsletter Instagram URL: @allanapratt    Facebook URL: coachallanapratt

Step into a warm, wise, and witty conversation with Rebecca Whitman, abundance mentor, international bestselling author, Princeton honors graduate, and host of the globally top-ranked Balanced, Beautiful, and Abundant podcast, on this episode of Intimate Conversations: Dark Night to Divine Light. Rebecca's work is built around a powerful truth: abundance is not just financial. It is spiritual, physical, emotional, romantic, mental, social, and financial, woven together into a life of genuine joy and freedom. Rebecca vulnerably shares the season when grief and heartbreak arrived together. Her father was dying as her marriage unraveled, while her ex-husband was suing her for spousal support. At one of her final conversations with her father, he asked her to write a book. He was buried on a Wednesday. Her divorce was finalized on a Friday. That experience became the seed of her Seven Pillars of Abundance framework. We explore how Rebecca spent years choosing emotionally unavailable men, not because she was a victim, but because she was emotionally unavailable to herself. After deleting the dating apps and giving herself a 90-day dating detox, she met Ben at a backyard party on her late father's birthday, the man she had been asking her father to help her find from the other side of the veil. Together, Allana and Rebecca explore anxious attachment, love avoidance, emotional availability, and the relationship between inner healing and outer abundance. They discuss how health, self-love, intuition, purpose, and financial freedom all contribute to a truly abundant life. We also talk about: The seven pillars of abundance and why finances come last Anxious attachment and the nervous system cost of chasing love Emotional unavailability, neediness, and control The 90-day dating detox and surrendering to what unfolds Journaling as a daily spiritual practice Body before business and health as the foundation of magnetism Feminine and masculine energy Multiple income streams and creative financial diversity Zone of genius versus excellence How a secure partnership can transform your nervous system The sacred intelligence of the body Les Brown, a childhood quote, and a son who called after six and a half years This episode is a reminder that abundance does not begin with a bank account. It begins with becoming emotionally available to yourself and tending to your inner world. Rebecca's story shows that the most magnetic version of you is not the one trying harder, but the one who has finally learned to exhale. ABOUT REBECCA Rebecca Whitman is an abundance mentor, international bestselling author, Princeton honors graduate, and host of the globally top-ranked Balanced, Beautiful, and Abundant podcast. She created the Seven Pillars of Abundance framework, helping people align their spiritual, physical, emotional, romantic, mental, social, and financial lives for greater joy, freedom, and prosperity. She has been recognized as Mindset Coach of the Decade and Empowered Woman of the Year by the International Association of Top Professionals. CONNECT WITH REBECCA Website: www.rebeccawhitman.com Abundance Journal: www.balancedbeautifulabundant.com Events and Offerings: www.pillar.io/rebeccaewhitman —————————————————————————————————————————— Go deeper with me, inside The Intimate World ➡️ Visit: www.patreon.com/allanapratt 💫 Book Your Intimacy Breakthrough Experience with Allana: www.allanapratt.com/connect Scholarship Code: READYNOW 💖 Ready to stop searching for The One and finally become The One? Discover Allana's signature program: Become the One Introductory Program: www.allanapratt.com/becomeintro Use Code: BTO22 for over 40% off Stay Connected with me: Exclusive Video Newsletter: www.allanapratt.com/newsletter Instagram URL: @allanapratt    Facebook URL: coachallanapratt

Step into a candid, juicy, and deeply liberating conversation with Karen Bigman, midlife sex and relationship expert, certified sex educator, and menopause coach, on this episode of Intimate Conversations: Dark Night to Divine Light. Karen is the host of Taboo to Truth: Life & Sex After 50, a shame free space for honest conversations about sex, desire, dating, relationships, menopause, and intimacy after 50. Karen shares the unexpected journey that brought her into this work, beginning with a book club moment when a grown woman could not say the word "blowjob." Combined with reconnecting with an old flame, discovering the realities of menopause, and a life changing visit to a sexual medicine practice, that moment sparked a calling she never saw coming. We explore the changes that happen in midlife bodies and relationships, including menopause, perimenopause, hormone therapy, and shifting libido for both women and men. Karen offers a shame free approach centered on communication, body awareness, pleasure over performance, and emotional connection, reminding us that great sex is a full body, full heart experience. The conversation also dives into foreplay as an all day practice, what Karen calls "sex snacks," and the difference between spontaneous and responsive desire. Allana vulnerably shares her own experience of introducing her Yoni to a partner for the first time, opening a deeper conversation about asking to be honored rather than waiting for someone else to know what we need. We also talk about: ● Why your sex span should equal your lifespan ● How men can better support partners through menopause ● Spontaneous versus responsive desire ● Why women have affairs to leave and men have affairs to stay ● Sex snacks and keeping intimacy alive outside the bedroom ● Porn, the death grip, and difficulty reaching orgasm ● Religious shame, guilt, and learning to let go in the body ● Introducing your Yoni to a partner as an act of sacred honoring ● Tantric sex, connection, timing, and trust ● Alternative relationship structures and honest communication ● Why judgment is the enemy of pleasure and curiosity is the cure ● How suppressed sexuality can come out sideways ● Raising sexually healthy children who become open adults This episode is a reminder that pleasure is not a luxury. It is a birthright. Our bodies, at every age and stage, are worthy of attention, tenderness, curiosity, and delight. Karen makes it easier to laugh, exhale, ask the questions we were never taught to ask, and reclaim a vibrant intimate life at any age. ABOUT KAREN BIGMAN Karen Bigman is a Sexual Health Alliance Certified Sexuality Educator, menopause coach, intimacy and relationship coach, and host of Taboo to Truth: Life & Sex After 50. After navigating her own midlife transition, divorce, dating, and changing desire, she became passionate about helping people understand the physical, emotional, and hormonal shifts that can affect intimacy after 50. Karen's mission is simple: to help people have great sex for the rest of their lives. Her work combines education, humor, lived experience, and shame free conversations to help people communicate better, understand their changing bodies, and create more connected relationships. CONNECT WITH KAREN Website: www.taboototruth.com Instagram: @taboototruth YouTube: @taboototruthpodcast LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/karenbigman Free Resources: www.taboototruth.com/free-resources —————————————————————————————————————————— Go deeper with me, inside The Intimate World ➡️ Visit: www.patreon.com/allanapratt 💫 Book Your Intimacy Breakthrough Experience with Allana: www.allanapratt.com/connect Scholarship Code: READYNOW 💖 Ready to stop searching for The One and finally become The One? Discover Allana's signature program: Become the One Introductory Program: www.allanapratt.com/becomeintro Use Code: BTO22 for over 40% off Stay Connected with me: Exclusive Video Newsletter: www.allanapratt.com/newsletter Instagram URL: @allanapratt    Facebook URL: coachallanapratt