Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lena Franklin. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Lena, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
Authentic confidence and self-esteem flows from our soul and is beyond thought, effort and striving. Admittedly, I am a recovered people pleaser. I’ve had a few incredibly transformative spiritual awakenings in my life that put my feet to the fire in terms of shedding the false in service of embodying my True Self. The primary energy that held me back from creating a life of confident alignment was fear. I would outsource my sense of worthiness onto how well I did in school, my accolades, the relationships I had and all of the roles I played. I earned a full ride to attend The University of Georgia on a division 1 soccer scholarship. There, I met my college sweetheart who played basketball for UGA and it all looked like the picture of perfection…a classic love story. The truth was it was a castle built on quicksand. It was beautiful on the outside but vacant on the inside…an emotionally and spiritually bankrupt marriage. This was a tremendous lesson for me to begin exercising my confidence and self-esteem. I was a successful mindfulness-based psychotherapist traveling the world on the one hand, but on the other hand, my relationship was completely out of alignment. Internally, I made the decision to leave my marriage. After that, everything accelerated. I was untangling my old life, preparing for divorce. I ended up meeting the love of my life who was the epitome of intimacy and authenticity I didn’t know existed. Then, I was guided to Peru to experience my first plant medicine journey with ayahuasca which helped me to shed layers of my ego that perpetuated falseness. Leaving my marriage and embracing a completely new life guided me to the embodiment of my truth as a Medicine Woman and Transpersonal Psychotherapist. Beyond the fear and judgment of others, I chose the inner power of my soul-intuition beyond the external, which began to birth authentic confidence and self-esteem. Look within and move through life from that place of knowingness. It was a massive liberation.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
As a Medicine Woman, my work is all about alchemical liberation so we can embody our dharma (soul’s purpose) in this lifetime and share it with the world. My now beloved partner, Jeff Glattstein, and I are Founders of The EAST Institute, a global organization that works at the intersection of ancient, indigenous ways or working with medicine and modern science. We offer many ways to work with us at The EAST Institute including our 90-day transformational and healing program The EAST Method™ which is powerful for human optimization as we shed stress, anxiety, depression and other imbalances that hold us back from our true nature of limitlessness. The EAST Method™ is a six pillar methodology that includes Energy Medicine, Mindfulness & Meditation, Transpersonal Psychology, Neuroscience, Vibrational Sound Therapy & Plant Medicine. I’m here as a bridge between the ancient and modern, North and South, East and West. Honoring our wisdom tradition lineages such as the Mopan Maya, Q’ero, Shipibo, Mahayana Buddhists & Taoists, we interweave ceremonial traditions, healing modalities and modern science together in order to heal Pachamama (mother earth) and humanity. I’m an expert at working with global leaders who are here to elevate consciousness.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Truly, the practice of meditation has been one of the most invaluable skills / areas of expertise on my journey. As a meditation teacher, I work with many meditative tools but my foundation is spiritual Buddhist Psychology and Meditation. If we all could continue to cultivate the inner capacities of presence and compassion, the world would be quite different. Our world seems to be speeding up rapidly so creating and prioritizing a daily meditation practice is essential to being able to come home to yourself and to have the resilience to meet the moment with equanimity and intentionality.
Another skill that has been transformative for me is compassion…and true compassion begins with the self. When we’re in pain or suffering…or if we find ourselves in misalignment in life, compassion is the energy of meeting the moment with open heartedness in the face of challenge. Compassion transforms our sense of suffering into love because, in those moments, we’re honoring our humanness. Cultivating the energy of compassion prevents us from projecting our wounds onto others or getting stuck in the web of victimhood. As a woman in this current world and as an entrepreneur, the consistent state of evolution inevitably illuminates the ways I’ve self-betrayed. I needed to see where I was betraying myself to begin to see the what the other side looked like…what true alignment looked and felt like, internally and externally. The third quality I would say is the capacity to sit with myself. In moments solitude and stillness is where we really see the state of our mind and the beliefs and thoughts that are swirling…in addition to the energies we’re carrying. True healing and transformation happens when we choose to look inward and course correct the thoughts that are not in alignment with our heart, and thus, our soul. This quality is key for humanity right now.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
One of the books that I feel has been impactful in my career and life is Anatomy of the Spirit by Caroline Myss. She talks about the intersection of energy and the psychology of the chakra system so potently. It’s been a grounded resource for me to work with the unseen realms of energy while also working intentionally with the human psyche. Caroline Myss talks a lot about one’s self-esteem and internal power which is who you are at soul level.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.theeastinstitute.com/
- Instagram: @iamlenafranklin
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lena-franklin-922aa199/
- Twitter: @iamlenafranklin
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lenafranklin
Image Credits
Photo credit: Erick Valderrama
