My Second Life
HISTORY OF MY TRANSITIONS.
transition coach
Hi, I’m Alessandra.
I help women in transition and expatriates to achieve a better life balance.
I live in Jerusalem. I am not an expat for “easy countries”. Probably because when you live in areas of the world where your whole life narrows down to the human contact only, you realize how valuable and important humanitarian projects can be and you discover the extraordinary strength we possess.
Before becoming an expatriate, I was living in a small Italian town as an Interpreter and Translator.
I used to love teaching, speaking, reading and writing in English and French. Life, though, can take unexpected turns and force you to transform into something else. Just when you think you have finally found your way.
I had to deal with a divorce and my whole world literally fell into pieces. I had to leave the town I was living in, say goodbye to all my family and friends and start to look for a job again.
I started what I call my “Second Life” and, today, I am extremely satisfied of the choice I made.
During my divorce I came into contact with Biodanza® and started to “dance” for my life again.
I wanted to become more familiar with my feelings and emotions and to open up to them. To connect with the most authentic part of myself.
Biodanza allowed me to become more aware of my limits and boundaries, to listen to my deepest desires and my inner rhythm, to respect myself and, above all, to take my courage in both hands and finally leave my home country.
For love.
Love for the human race. I had already been a volunteer in a hospice for terminally ill patients.
I had the chance to learn that being so close to those who suffer can teach us to appreciate life a lot more and to not fear pain and death.
Love for my partner, whom I met during my “Biodanza journey” and whom I followed to the Central African Republic, in Chad and, now, in Jerusalem.
During our expat life I have always tried to find my own dimension, my place, my mission.
Love for cultures of different countries, where you live in simple clothes, where you cannot brush your teeth at the tap, no cinemas or expensive restaurants to go to, w no nearby hospitals. Where homeless children stare at you with a dead look in their eyes because of AIDS. Where the sense of injustice and powerlessness is suffocating but gives you a huge motivation to put your body and soul into the project you belong to and to believe in it.
Where you get sick, you recover and you get sick again, because life as an expat in difficult countries is never like the life you have if you live in New York or Paris.
expat coach
You and I.
Life as an expat changes constantly. It evolves according to the cultural background you are in, your family situation, if you are relocating by yourself or are following your partner.
During your life abroad you might have to face burn-out, (re)achieve a better work-life balance, face a cultural shock, deal with a complex and time-consuming paperwork system. At the same time you want to remain true to yourself and not feel lost. A huge struggle without the support of a friendly shoulder.
When you expatriate for love, you are basically alone with yourself facing many fears and uncertainties, including that sense of non-belonging to that place which, often, even proves inhospitable.
Expatriation is just one of the frontiers of a woman’s transition.
Some might be caused by external events – a loss, a divorce, a change of job or city – others are connected the the changes our body goes through.
In me you can find a Life Coach who has lived the experience of expatriation on her own skin every day for years and who has gone through many changes and challenging transitions while constantly learning how to maintain her balance: that’s why what I do is related to Life Balance.
We can start working on a specific area of your life you feel you have been neglecting, where you feel you are stuck and aim to improve and, as a first “dance step”, we will start creating a small (yet huge) revolution within your world that will eventually embrace all of your existence.
Working on yourself pushes those around you to reflect, improve, grow and evolve together with you.