What if your pain isn’t something to escape… but something guiding you toward healing? 🌱
In this powerful episode of Grief to Growth, Brian Smith sits down with writer and seeker Alexis Lee, author of Pain Is a Portal to Beauty, for a raw and deeply honest conversation about healing grief through pain.
Alexis shares the moment that changed everything — a voice she heard while walking in the woods that revealed a painful truth about her life. What followed was a courageous journey into grief, childhood trauma, generational pain, and radical self-healing.
Together, Brian and Alexis explore:
✨ Why avoiding pain can keep us stuck
✨ How grief lives in the body — and how to release it
✨ Internal Family Systems and healing your “younger parts”
✨ Psychedelic-assisted healing (MDMA, psilocybin, ayahuasca)
✨ How pain can become a portal to beauty, purpose, and authenticity
If you’ve ever wondered:
Why does my grief still feel unfinished?
Am I broken for still hurting?
What if my pain actually has something to teach me?
…this episode is for you.
Alexis doesn’t offer quick fixes or empty platitudes. Instead, she invites you into a gentler, braver relationship with yourself — one where grief is honored, not rushed, and healing unfolds naturally.
💬 Join the conversation:
Brian will be sharing a companion article on Substack, where you can reflect, comment, and share your own story with the Grief to Growth community.
👉 https://grief2growth.substack.com
📖 Learn more about Alexis & her book:
🌐 https://alexislee.com
🕊️ Feeling unsure where you are in your grief?
Take the free Grief Check-In (no labels, no pressure):
👉 https://grief2growth.com/check-in
If this conversation resonates with you, please like, subscribe, and share — you never know who might need to hear this today 💛– – – Let’s Connect: – – –
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00:00 🌱 Grief to Growth: A New Way to See Pain
Brian introduces the podcast and reframes grief as a path to growth.
02:28 🌲 The Voice in the Woods
Alexis shares the moment a voice told her her life would have been a tragedy.
04:34 💔 When Truth Forces Change
Why honesty about her marriage became the first major step in healing.
06:03 😢 Turning Toward Grief
Choosing to grieve instead of avoiding pain — and what that unlocked.
08:53 🧬 Childhood Loss & Numbness
How Alexis’s body shut down after losing her mother — and why grief returned later.
10:01 🔊 Listening to Inner Wisdom
Understanding the voice as intuition and embodied knowing.
12:10 🌊 Losing Everything to Find Yourself
Grieving marriage, career, and identity — and rediscovering aliveness.
16:58 👶 Healing the “Younger Parts”
Internal Family Systems explained and why self-compassion matters.
21:24 🍄 Psychedelics & Trauma Healing
MDMA, psilocybin, and guided journeys into grief and truth.
30:34 🌿 Ayahuasca & Letting Go
Deep grief release, body wisdom, and surrendering control.
35:42 🍫 Coping, Avoidance & Awareness
How we numb pain — and what happens when we stop.
44:07 🌺 The Beauty on the Other Side of Pain
Why facing grief leads to authenticity, love, and freedom.
58:45 📖 Pain Is a Portal to Beauty
Alexis shares her book and how listeners can connect further.
