Daily Inspiration: Meet Ilana Sparrow

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ilana Sparrow.

Hi Ilana, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
While I didn’t know what it was at the time, I was born with many spiritual gifts, and they came online when I was quite young (animal communication, psychic abilities, medical intuition, seeing “through the veil,” among others), but I grew up in a home where this was neither understood, nor encouraged, nor accepted. As a result, I had a complicated relationship with my intuitive abilities, and, like many people who were invalidated for their gifts, I alternated between being confused and afraid, or doubting them…which, ultimately led me to shut them down.

Fortunately, there was always that part of me that was drawn to the unexplained, to metaphysics, and to spiritual questions that never fully went away. But I kept it pretty hidden and went on to earn an MBA at NYU’s Stern School of Business, then moved to LA to work in the entertainment industry, only to find the work unfulfilling. Eventually, I transitioned to working in communications at an animal not-for-profit (helping animals is a calling of mine), but even that didn’t truly feel like I was fully living my purpose.

It took the pandemic shutdowns for me to rediscover what always was there beneath the surface. I reconnected with my intuition, and wound up studying 1:1 with a psychic who specializes in training law enforcement. That, in turn, led me to opening up to and owning all of my gifts…and uncovering a natural ability to do energy healing.

From there, I dove in head first, starting with reiki. I am now a Reiki Master Teacher and train and certify others in this amazing healing modality. I’m also an Animal Reiki Master and will start teaching animal reiki in the fall. I’ve studied and trained to advanced levels in a lot of different disciplines, from mediumship to animal communication to Akashic records reading to spiritual leadership, and have completed thousands of hours of training and being mentored in various energy healing modalities. I take this work very seriously, and I’m not about fluff: I’m about helping people and animals heal. I’m also about helping people who are struggling find their soul purpose and spiritual gifts, which sometimes is the answer to the physical, mental, or emotional issue that brought them to me in the first place.

I have had my business, ALIGHTWITHIN WELLNESS, for the past four years, and work on people and animals all over the world (via Zoom) and in person at my Fryman Canyon studio. I teach classes, host retreats, do workshops, and see clients one-on-one, with the occasional online group healing. I’m affiliated with The Den Meditation, and also a new online platform called Ground & Gold, where I teach a class on discovering and working with your unique animal guides.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think I took the VERY scenic route, one with lots of detours, road closures, potholes, but plenty of beautiful views! However, once I stepped into my intuitive gifts and started practicing energy healing, the doors opened wide, and it has been extremely smooth sailing…because I am living my purpose. Finally, after so many false starts. Really, it came down to opening up to all the gifts that were always there, and then letting go of the fear that I had about being seen for these gifts (this is often referred to as the “witch wound”…something that a lot of people unknowingly carry).

And yet, even though I am living in a very soul-aligned way now, it wasn’t the easiest transition on a personal level, because it came as a very big surprise to my husband, my friends, and my family, and there was quite a bit of shock, horror, and resistance initially. Although, interestingly, a lot of old friends (from childhood, and even from college and business school) have told me that they are not surprised at all that this was my path. So I guess this was always lurking beneath the surface…

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a multi-modality energy healer, intuitive, spiritual guide, and teacher. I also do animal communication and animal healing, as anyone who knows me, knows I am crazy about animals. It’s a far cry from working in strategic planning and business development at a major film studio! I absolutely love what I do and am literally in a constant state of gratitude that I’m walking this path.

Often people come to me when all the usual channels have failed them (i.e. Western medicine, pharmaceuticals, psychotherapy) or they are just done with playing out repeating patterns, or want relief from chronic pain, or major illness. So in a way, I’m a bit of a last resort, and that’s in part because what I do seems a little “out there” for most people. That said, I think humanity as a whole is opening up to alternative therapies more and more these days.

I combine multiple types of energy healing (reiki, Egyptian seichem, shamanic healing, intuitive healing, Beyonder, and more) with Akashic records work, intuitive reading, and working with higher dimensional guides and beings, to get to the root cause of whatever needs healing, and then facilitate that healing for the client. It’s very powerful and effective, and frankly, I see miracles on the regular. The same holds true for my animal clients…their humans reach out to me to help them with physical and/or behavioral challenges. Animals are usually very easy and straight-forward clients, because they know how to work with and take the energy healing, and the shifts can be quite instantaneous.

In many cases, I wind up saving my clients thousands of dollars when they avoid surgery or the need for expensive medicine or behavioral experts (in the case of animals), and/or provide them with relief from something that they thought they just had to live with. Sometimes, it is genuinely about helping to save a life (such as horses with emergency colic or a cat with a blocked bladder), often working in concert with more traditional medical therapy.

At the end of the day, in some respects, I’m like a spiritual detective…going into higher realms to figure out and heal the issues presenting in the physical realm.

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I’m a serious fan of the Diary of a CEO podcast. Stephen Bartlett does a great interview and he chooses such fascinating people from the worlds of business, health, and wellness, with a small dash of woo thrown in.

I also love A Psychic’s Story podcast, which is a great way for people to start to learn about and understand their intuition, spiritual gifts, and explore the unseen world in a fun and non-threatening way. Even for people like me, who work in this space, I find the guests quite enlightening.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Are You Spiritual podcast! My dear friend and fellow healer, Jasmine Milani, started this a few years ago to explore trends, movements, and hype in the Spiritual community. She brings on a wide variety of guests and helps people sort the wheat from the chaff. She also has a fun end-of-show feature called The Crystal Corner, where she gives you the lowdown on different crystals.

At the end of the day, the thing that helps me the most is spending time with my animals, being out in nature, and plenty of meditation and self-reiki. One of the best things about living in LA is how easy it is to get outside, get some sunshine, and just enjoy the day, which is free and easy medicine for the soul.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.alightwithinwellness.com
• Instagram: @AlightWithinWellness
• Facebook: @Alightwithin Wellness
• Other: Google Business Page (reviews here):https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fg.co%2Fkgs%2FkGXejQw&data=05%7C02%7C%7Cc4686fdffa6945ae325608ddac6b461a%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638856298910611595%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=UFZvstQaqd56QhSd8L0BDlUW%2FHEFMk0H8zGxGctwA4E%3D&reserved=0

Image Credits
Caroline White