.jpg)
Good Neighbor Podcast: Fort Collins
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of Fort Collins. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Nick George helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around Fort Collins, Colorado.
Is your business serving the residents of Fort Collins? Then, we need to talk! Visit gnpFortCollins.com to schedule your free interview.
Good Neighbor Podcast: Fort Collins
E53: Your body, mind, and spirit are connected in ways you never imagined.
Ever wondered what happens when engineering precision meets holistic healing? Meet Alex Willen, founder of Wholesome Therapies, whose remarkable journey from competitive sports and engineering to somatic therapy offers a fascinating glimpse into the evolution of a modern healer.
Alex's practice stands at the intersection of body and mind, challenging conventional approaches to wellness. "Our body and mind, our thoughts, our beliefs are all connected," he explains, detailing how his structural integration techniques—similar to Rolfing but with important nuances—address multiple dimensions of wellness. With offices in Fort Collins and Boulder, his work particularly resonates with women and trauma survivors, offering them a uniquely sensitive therapeutic experience.
What sets Alex apart is his identity as a "wounded healer." Having navigated personal challenges including sports concussions and Lyme disease, he brings profound empathy to his practice. This vulnerability transforms into a strength, enabling him to connect deeply with clients while maintaining professional boundaries. Perhaps most refreshing is Alex's rejection of ego-driven practice: "I'm not looking to necessarily make the most money out of them or provide them like that have to be the absolute solution," he shares, explaining his willingness to collaborate with other practitioners when a different approach might better serve his clients.
Beyond his professional life, Alex finds fulfillment as a father to two children and as a member of an intentional community, embodying the holistic values that inform his therapeutic work. Whether you're seeking relief from physical discomfort or deeper emotional healing, Alex's integrative approach might be exactly what you need. Discover more about Wholesome Therapies at wholesometherapies.com or reach out directly for a consultation to see how this unique blend of technical knowledge and heartfelt care could support your wellness journey.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Nick George.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of holistic care that empowers clients to nurture every dimension of wellness, from body and mind to spirit, community and creativity? Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Alex Willant, with Wholesome Therapies. Alex, how's it going?
Speaker 3:Nick, it's going great. Thank you so much for the generous introduction.
Speaker 2:We're excited to learn all about you and your business. Tell us about your practice.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's a somatic therapy practice that works on both the body and also through some coaching. I have offices in both Fort Collins and Boulder and just loving supporting this community.
Speaker 2:We're excited to figure out how you got into this business. So tell us the story.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's been a long, circuitous route. I started in engineering and competitive sports, grew into management where I realized that I understood the things of engineering but not you know people in management. So I deepened my studies to a little bit more formal understanding, first, starting with the body, at a school that's similar to the Rolfe Institute. A lot of people in Colorado are a little bit more familiar with Rolfing. I went to a school that a gentleman who started ran the Rolf Institute, and while in my studies I realized that our body and our mind, our thoughts, our beliefs are all connected when you can't just only work on the physical or sometimes working on the emotional and even energetic parts of the body.
Speaker 2:What are some myths or misconceptions in your industry you'd like to tell us about?
Speaker 3:Good question, there's so many. Some people hear the word rolfing, they think oh, that's really painful or that's really difficult. These methodologies which are under the umbrella of structural integration, this body work form is a little bit more seen as an appropriate level of touch now. Sometimes we're working with, like deep muscular things or all the way down to the bone, where the pressure might need to be a little bit greater. But sometimes we're working on more superficial tissues, like blood vessels or nerves or lymph, where if we did apply a lot of pressure we could actually do more damage. So it requires a lot more nuance and a lot more intelligence than just applying pressure and hoping things work out for the best.
Speaker 2:Yeah, finesse. Who are your target customers and how do you attract them now?
Speaker 3:That's a good question. Referrals has been my number one source of clients and to me that's such a compliment If somebody has had a good experience with me and they know that I can help somebody else for them to pass them along. As far as demographics go, I work predominantly with women, also with trauma. A lot of my training has been focused on that, to hold that sensitive space. And yeah, as I said, referrals, networking, chamber of commerce, a couple of other channels that I go through.
Speaker 2:We know that marketing is the heart of every business. Have you ever thought about doing your own podcast to reach people about your very unique practice?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's one of those things I love joining others in the communities that they build to share knowledge and information about some of these podcasts. Right now is not, like you know, the next thing lined up for me. I do have some social media going where I can share some information and promote some of the podcasts that I really value and the influencers in those spaces.
Speaker 2:Cool Outside of work. What do you do for fun?
Speaker 3:Other titles that I have are a father. So I have two young kids. I have a seven-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old son and, whether we're in northern Colorado or the surrounding areas, getting into nature, being in community with others I also live in an intentional community, so just supporting my neighbors and sharing life together. I found that it's been a passion of mine and something that I'm really drawn to let's switch gears.
Speaker 2:Can you describe a hardship or a life challenge that you overcame? How it made you stronger? What comes to mind?
Speaker 3:yeah, there's. There is a concept of, like the, the wounded healer. So there's a strong identification awareness that I have in some of my hardships and, whether that's through childhood issues, all the way up through my adolescence, playing competitive sports, I had a number of sports-related concussions and had to address some of the challenges that come up with that. Been diagnosed with things like Lyme as well and navigating that entire process. And while there have been difficulties, there's certainly been some strengths and resilience that have been developed in the process and with all of those, just the active participation of being a parent and sharing, you know, just the love and care that I have for my kids, not wanting them to have the same struggles that I do yeah, the efforts that I'll go through for that.
Speaker 2:Alex, please tell our listeners one thing they should absolutely remember about wholesome therapies.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, one thing that I've been working on in all of these things about my development is the release of the ego and the belief that I have to be the savior for everybody. So one thing that they should know is stepping into my practice and under my care is that I'm not looking to necessarily make the most money out of them or provide them like that have to be the absolute solution. So I've developed relationships with a number of other therapists and people that I can either refer out to or just understand that I might be part of someone's journey and I'd love to help them as much as possible. And there's other people too and there's other methods and needs that somebody might come across.
Speaker 2:Wow, Alex. How can our listeners learn more about Wholesome Therapies?
Speaker 3:Website probably has the most amount of information, so it's wholesome. Therapiescom. I do have a social media presence on Instagram and Facebook, um, but sometimes the best way is just to reach out. Uh, give me a call, send a text. I also have consultations and things like that that are available.
Speaker 2:Well, Alex, I really appreciate you being on the show. We wish you and your practice the very best moving forward.
Speaker 3:Thank you, I really appreciate the time and thanks so much for what you're building here in Northern Colorado.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpfortcollinscom. That's gnpfortcollinscom. That's gnpfortcollinscom, or call 970-438-0825.