The Summit Effect

As women, we are so good at noticing. We notice what needs to be done, who needs support, who hasn’t had enough time for themselves, and how everyone around us is doing. But somewhere in all that noticing, we can forget that we need to be poured into too.

In this episode:

• Why our definition of fun grows up with us
• The magic of uninterrupted time with women
• Why being truly listened to feels so powerful
• Why friendship shouldn’t be something we squeeze in after everything else is done
• Why the same qualities that make women incredible can also drain us
• Wanting fun that you come home from feeling more like yourself
• Scheduling “time-ins” before you desperately need a break
• Why not everything enjoyable needs to become another wellness practice
• Why we need to stop silently rooting for women and start rooting for them out loud

Summit takeaway:

We are so good at creating connection, taking care of people, building community, and making life beautiful for everyone around us—but sometimes we forget that we’re supposed to experience the beautiful life we’re creating too.

If this episode resonated with you, send it to a woman you want to schedule a time-in with.

Continue the conversation on Instagram: @alannacrawford_

What do sports, healing, Ted Lasso, and the nervous system have in common?

More than you might think.

In this episode, I unpack a conversation that has been sitting with me for weeks—a discussion about professional sports, collective emotion, and whether something can be both deeply beautiful and deeply flawed at the same time.

We explore why humans have gathered around sport for thousands of years, why shared experiences regulate our nervous systems, and why anything powerful enough to unite us can also expose what's unresolved within us.

This isn't really an episode about sports.

It's an episode about human behaviour.

About collective healing.

About learning to think beyond black and white.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why humans are biologically wired to seek community and shared experiences
• The history of sport as a tool for peace, grief, and social connection
• Why sports don't create emotions—they amplify what's already there
• The difference between healthy passion and dysregulated group behaviour
• What domestic violence statistics during major sporting events really tell us
• Why removing the "vessel" rarely fixes the underlying problem
• The importance of supporting organizations and communities that align with your values
• Ted Lasso's greatest lesson: staying curious instead of judgmental
• How to participate in any movement without losing yourself to the crowd

If this episode resonated with you, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Come join the conversation over on Instagram @alannacrawford_, or share this episode with someone who loves understanding why humans behave the way we do.

If you're enjoying The Summit Effect, don't forget to follow the show, leave a rating and review, and share it with a friend. It helps more than you know.

Thank you so much for listening, and I'll see you next week.

In this episode, we unpack the feeling of losing yourself and why “How do I find myself again?” might be the wrong question. We explore neuroplasticity, how life experiences and repeated choices shape the brain, and why the woman you were at 25 isn’t someone you need to get back to. This is a conversation about identity, the choices that build who you become, and how to stop looking in the rearview mirror and start casting votes for the woman you are becoming.

In this episode:
Why women feel like they’ve lost themselves during major life transitions
Why “How do I find myself again?” might be the wrong question
Neuroplasticity and the brain’s lifelong capacity to change
How emotionally significant experiences can reshape the way we see ourselves and the world
Why life events don’t automatically change us — and why our choices matter
The difference between finding yourself and building yourself
James Clear’s idea that every action is a vote for the person you want to become
The solar plexus, identity, will, and personal power
The sacral chakra, creation, joy, and following what pulls you

Summit takeaway: “Start casting votes for the woman you are becoming.”

In this episode, we explore what summer is actually asking of us. We unpack the science behind why we naturally feel different during the longer days, why our nervous systems crave more light, movement, and connection, and how working with the energy of the season can leave us feeling more alive instead of more exhausted. Through a personal story from a recent trip to Banff, we talk about the difference between productivity and presence—and why joy isn't something you earn.

In this episode:

• Why every season has a different purpose and how nature offers a blueprint for our own lives
• How longer daylight regulates your circadian rhythm and influences hormones, mood, energy, and sleep
• The role of serotonin and why natural light supports emotional well-being
• Why humans are biologically wired to expand during the summer months
• Summer as the season of bloom: visibility, expression, joy, community, and connection
• The surprising lesson that came from leaving work behind and embracing an unplanned adventure
• Why the "90s Summer" trend reflects our longing for presence, not just nostalgia
• Reflection questions to help you participate more fully in this season of life

Summit takeaway: "You don't need to earn summer. Nature isn't asking you to accomplish more right now—it's inviting you to participate more. Summer isn't the season to force the harvest. It's the season to bloom, to be seen, and to experience the life you've been working so hard to build."

If this episode resonated with you, I'd love if you shared it with someone who needs permission to slow down this summer. Tag me on Instagram @alannacrawford_ and let me know what's on your summer bucket list—I genuinely love seeing how you're bringing these conversations into your everyday life.

If you're enjoying The Summit Effect, leaving a rating and review on your streamer. It is a great way to support the show and help more people discover this community. Thank you for being here, and I'll see you next Wednesday.

In this episode, we welcome the very first guest to The Summit Effect: my dear friend, Aneta Pietruszko, owner of Burlington Power Yoga Canada and co-owner of Soulfull Yoga and Wellness Retreats.

Aneta's journey didn't begin in a yoga studio. It began in the corporate world, where anxiety and panic attacks became the breadcrumbs that ultimately led her toward a completely different life. Together, we explore how our bodies often speak long before our minds are ready to listen, why movement can become medicine, and how healing isn't always something that happens on a treatment table. This conversation is about the science of nervous system regulation, the spirituality of following your intuition, and the many forms that energy work can take. Whether you've ever rolled out a yoga mat or not, this episode is an invitation to notice the breadcrumbs your own life has been leaving for you.

In this episode:

• The difference between success on paper and feeling aligned in your life
• How yoga became more than exercise—it became a pathway back to herself
• What it feels like to hold space for hundreds of people in a yoga class
• The many ways people process emotion through movement
• How teaching yoga is a form of energy work
• Why Reiki helped expand—not create—Aneta's understanding of healing
• How music, intention, and presence can change the energy of a room
• The art of creating playlists 
• Community as medicine
• Learning to trust the breadcrumbs that continue to guide us throughout life

Summit takeaway: Your life rarely changes because of one big moment. More often, it changes because you finally decide to follow the breadcrumbs your body has been leaving for you all along.

You can find Aneta on instagram: @anetapie_ or @burlingtonpyc or @soulfullyogawellness

In this episode, we pull back the curtain on Reiki. What actually happens in a session? How does energy communicate? Why do some sessions feel deeply emotional while others create profound shifts in direction, purpose, and healing? I shares stories from real sessions that have stayed with me over the years, explore the role of free will in energy work, and explain why Reiki is less about being "read" and more about remembering how to listen to yourself again. This is a conversation about healing, intuition, grief, love, trust, and the limitless potential of reconnecting with your own energy. 

In this episode:

• What Reiki actually is (and what it isn't)
• Why energy workers often don't remember sessions afterward
• The difference between "doing healing" and facilitating healing
• Why participation and integration matter in energy work
• Reiki, chakras, auras, and energetic communication
• The role of free will in intuitive and mediumship work
• Ethical boundaries in energy work and spiritual practice
• How spirit communication can support healing when invited
• The importance of approaching energy work with humility, reverence, and curiosity

Summit takeaway:
"Your guides can only lead you where you're willing to go." Reiki isn't about someone else having your answers. It's about clearing enough noise that you can hear your own.

Resources & Links:

• Learn more about Reiki and Osteopathy at The Summit Collective
• Follow along on Instagram: @alannacrawford_
• Listen to previous episodes of The Summit Effect
• Interested in a Reiki session or training? Reach out through the clinic website
  www.thesummitcollective.ca

If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating and review. It helps more people discover the show and supports the mission of helping people reconnect with themselves through both science and soul.

In this episode, I introduce one of the foundational concepts behind The Summit Method: the idea that healing is not determined by what you choose, but by why you choose it. We explore the difference between operating from faith versus fear, how those two states influence every layer of healing, and why awareness may be the missing piece for so many people who feel stuck in cycles of symptoms, frustration, and uncertainty.

In this episode:
The question that changed how I think about healing
Why most people focus on the "what" instead of the "why"
The difference between faith, trust, and fear
The four layers of The Summit Method
How fear can disguise itself as healing
Why awareness is often the first step toward transformation
Perimenopause as an example of fear-driven versus faith-driven healing
A simple 7-day practice to identify whether fear or trust is driving your decisions

Summit takeaway: “Maybe you're not making the wrong choices. Maybe you're making the right choices from the wrong place.”

If this episode resonated, share it with someone who might need it.

Continue the conversation on Instagram: @alannacrawford_

Have you ever felt like you know something needs to change, but you have absolutely no idea what that change is?

Maybe you're feeling stuck, disconnected, frustrated, or simply aware that your current life no longer feels aligned—but every time you try to figure out your next step, you become overwhelmed by how big the change feels.

In this episode, we're talking about one of the most common questions I hear in clinic:

"I know I want something different... but I don't know where to start."

We'll explore why your nervous system often keeps you searching for certainty, how overwhelm can lead to freeze and avoidance, and why clarity rarely arrives through more thinking.

Instead, it comes through surrender.

I also share one of my favourite practices from Marianne Williamson's A Return to Love—the Four Questions—a simple but powerful tool that has helped me navigate some of the biggest decisions of my life.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why feeling stuck is often a sign of disconnection, not failure
• The difference between wanting change and knowing what change to make
• How overwhelm activates the nervous system and creates freeze responses
• Why we cannot jump from fear to gratitude overnight
• Finding relief and courage as the next emotional step
• What surrender actually means (and what it doesn't)
• The physiology of surrender and nervous system regulation
• Why intuition is easier to access when the body feels safe
• The connection between stillness, creativity, and clarity
• Marianne Williamson's Four Questions practice
• How guidance actually arrives in everyday life
• The role of trust, action, and co-creation in personal growth
• Why fear keeps us attached to outcomes—and how to move through it

Remember:

You do not need to fix your entire life today.

If this episode resonated with you, please rate and review the podcast. It helps more people discover the show and allows us to continue bringing meaningful conversations where science meets soul.

Connect with me:

Instagram: @alannacrawford_

In this episode, we unpack astrology in a way that feels far less overwhelming and a lot more human. Instead of treating every moon phase like a deadline or a 24-hour portal you can “miss,” we explore astrology as a slow unfolding pattern that moves through your life in seasons. We walk through the energetic progression from Aries season into Taurus season and now into Gemini season, and how each sign builds on the last emotionally, energetically, and practically.

We also break down the difference between sun sign seasons, new moons, and full moons in a grounded and digestible way — including why the new moon is like the “final exam” of the season, and why full moons act more like flashlights illuminating what still needs attention.

Plus, we dive into the upcoming Sagittarius full moon and why it may be bringing radical honesty to the surface.

In this episode:

• Why astrology is meant to be worked with slowly, not perfectly
• Aries season, anger, shadow work, and the “fire” of spring
• Taurus season and grounding big ideas into reality
• Gemini season and how communication creates momentum
• The difference between sun sign seasons, new moons, and full moons
• Why the new moon is like the “final exam” of the season
• How astrology helps us recognize patterns and participate more consciously in our lives

 My summit takeaway:
You are not behind.
These seasons move through us slowly.
Astrology is here to help you notice yourself more clearly.

In this episode, we’re diving into shadow work: what the shadow actually is, why it forms, and how it quietly influences our reactions, relationships, triggers, and patterns behind the scenes.

We talk about why shadow work is not about “fixing” yourself or locking away the messy parts of who you are. Instead, it’s about understanding the pieces of yourself that were buried, suppressed, or pushed out of awareness because at some point they didn’t feel safe to express.

I also break down why I’m seeing so much anger and emotional reactivity in clinic right now through the lens of both shadow work and Traditional Chinese Medicine. 
This episode explores:

• What the “shadow” actually means
• How childhood conditioning shapes the parts of ourselves we suppress
• Why anger is often a protective emotion rather than the root emotion
• The connection between triggers, projection, resentment, and the subconscious
• How shadow patterns become automatic behaviors over time
• Why not all shadows are “dark” (sometimes we suppress confidence, success, visibility, or power)
• How shadow work can help you understand recurring emotional patterns and self-sabotage
• Journal prompts and tools to begin your own shadow work practice

This is a conversation about awareness, nervous system protection, emotional suppression, and the healing that happens when we stop abandoning the parts of ourselves we were taught to hide.

Books/resources mentioned:

• Entering The Castle by Caroline Myss
• The Wheel of Emotions
• Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
• Acupuncture + seasonal healing practices

If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who’s been feeling emotionally reactive, stuck, or overwhelmed lately. And if you want to continue the conversation, you can find me on Instagram at @alannacrawford_.