You can’t go back to who you were before.
The doubt still creeps in.
But your soul outgrew that religion,
and something bigger is calling you forward.
That moment of realization felt like a gut punch.
It was also the moment everything changed.
You walked out those big double doors for the last time.
That took more courage than most people will ever understand.
I help women grieve the loss of their spiritual home, reclaim their inner wisdom, and live with confidence, joy, and freedom.
So they can keep growing and move through the world without shrinking.
This Might Be For You if …
Family Dynamics Feel Like a Minefield
You are dealing with the painful fallout of leaving, whether family members have distanced themselves, openly judged you, or continuously try to make you feel guilty for walking away from the faith of your upbringing.You Quietly Battle Phantom Guilt
You sometimes wonder if you've disappointed God or "made a terrible mistake," even though you know in your bones that your soul outgrew the building and that the Divine is far bigger than those rules.You Miss Your Spiritual Home
There's a unique kind of loneliness in this. Even with loving friends or a supportive partner in your life, it feels like you've left home all over again. The rituals, the music, the prayers you once spoke alongside people who sought God the same way you did. All of that is simply gone now.You Left the Church, But the Early Programming Kept Following You
You've been out for a while and don't miss the institution at all, yet you still catch yourself people-pleasing, struggling to ask for what you need, distrusting your own intuition, or shrinking in the presence of authority figures.You Want to Keep Growing Spiritually Outside the Box
You love the sacred, the mystical, and the profound, whether that includes near-death experiences, energy, or direct communion with Source, and you are ready to explore your own expanded relationship with the Divine without a middleman.You're Ready to Meet Your True Self
You can't get enough of learning and growing spiritually. You're ready to heal the early programming still running beneath the surface, and to find out who you are underneath decades of performing, pleasing, and shrinking - your True Self, whole and unhidden.
This Might Not Be The Right Fit If …
You Are Looking for a New Leader to Follow
If you are seeking a new system of rules or someone to tell you what to believe, this won't be the right space. My role isn't to be a guru, priest, or final authority, but to guide you back to your own inner wisdom.Your Current Church Community Still Nourishes Your Soul
If your faith tradition feels like a safe, uplifting, and expansive home for you, that is wonderful; you are already in the right place.You Want to Stay Trapped in Permanent Bitterness
Anger is a sacred, necessary boundary that validates your pain, and we welcome it fully here. But if you have no desire to eventually process the grief beneath that anger and move into healing, peace, and growth, this container won't feel aligned.You Require Exclusive Theological Frameworks
If you believe that salvation requires a specific religious belief or that exploring expanded tools like astrology, energy work, or direct personal mysticism is unsafe or harmful, this expansive environment will feel too vast for you right now.You've Already Found Your Peace
If you've built a life, a community, or a spirituality since leaving that already feels full and resourced, trust that. This isn't the space for someone who's already arrived; it's for someone still in the in-between.You'd Rather Think About It Than Feel It
This work is somatic, not purely intellectual. Most of us grew up believing our bodies were suspect, even sinful, so real healing here starts with a willingness to actually feel what you feel, not just analyze it.
Whatever brought you here, most of us share one question:
Who Am I Now?
You gave decades to something that shaped everything: your relationships, your identity, your understanding of God. Walking away from it doesn't mean you have answers yet. It means you were brave enough to follow your guidance despite tremendous resistance.
If that question has been quietly following you… You're not alone
What If This Isn’t the End of Your Faith Story
But the Beginning of Something Deeper?
Many women assume leaving their church means leaving their spiritual life behind.
But for many of the women I work with, the opposite turns out to be true.
The moment they could no longer stay inside a system that no longer aligned with their conscience… something deeper began to open.
Not a rejection of faith.
A widening of it.
The questions that once felt frightening slowly become invitations.
A new relationship with the Divine begins to unfold, one no longer filtered through fear, shame, or rigid rules.
This is the beginning of awakening to experiences and perception of life far beyond any dogma or Creed.
Not abandoning your spiritual life.
But rediscovering it with honesty, freedom, and a deeper sense of the sacred than you were ever allowed to explore before.
A faith that is no longer handed to you.
A faith you discover for yourself.
What Becomes Possible
Your connection to the Divine deepens.
You discover that leaving the institution didn't mean leaving the Divine. Your spiritual life expands in ways the Church never allowed.
You trust yourself again.
The guilt loosens. The second-guessing quiets. You know in your bones that you made the right decision, and you can finally stop defending it.
You’re no longer alone in this.
You find your people, women who understand exactly what you walked away from and exactly what you're reaching toward.
I know this territory. I’ve walked it too.
I spent nearly 50 years inside the Catholic Church: teaching, serving, and believing.
My life was deeply shaped by that world, and leaving it was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made.
I know what it feels like when family members ask if you’ve been to Mass.
I know what it feels like when some of them reject you.
I know the grief that doesn’t quite have a name.
And I also discovered something unexpected.
Leaving the church freed me to experience the Divine in ways far larger than I had ever imagined.
It felt like stepping out of a tiny boat and discovering the open ocean.
That discovery is why I created Awaken to Wonder. For women like me, who listened to their heart and chose their own lives, finding their way to something far more expansive than what they left behind.
What Women Are Saying
-
I immediately felt safe, comfortable and at peace with Joan. She was put in my path for a reason, and at exactly the right time.
— Kelly H.
-
Joan’s wisdom and guidance helped me to navigate some of the most challenging times in my life. She has been an incredibly affirming presence.
— Sarah Moody, MS
-
Joan is a very loving, compassionate, and gentle person. She creates a space in which you feel safe and deeply understood.
— Terrye F
Take Another Step
Leaving was not easy.
But it may also be the beginning of something more honest, more spacious, and more deeply your own.
If you're in that in-between place, where faith still matters, but the structure that once held it no longer fits, this might be your place.
Walking together is more fun than walking alone.
What's waiting on the other side of this disorientation isn't just relief, it's a faith more honest, more spacious, and more fully your own than the institution’s dogma you outgrew.
The Starter Kits, below, are an easy way to start exploring where you are now, on this uncharted, but inviting, new path.
I left a while ago, but I’m still looking for balance.
Free, Whole & Fully Alive: a journal for reclaiming your body, mind, and spirit as one whole, integrated self. Guided by Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, you'll begin to see yourself and your needs through an entirely new lens. Not body - mind - and soul, as in three different aspects of you, but soul through body and mind, all equally valuable. ALL of you within the invisible energy called The Field, God, or my favorite, Love.
I just feel overwhelmed with life right now. I’m not sure I even think of myself as ‘spiritual’.
Still Waters is a collection of five guided audio recordings and a companion journal designed to help you do something you may have forgotten how to do: unplug from the noise, relax your body, and reconnect with the quiet inner guidance that's been there all along.
I just left, and this is harder than I thought it would be.
Find Your Footing: Even when you know it was the right decision, leaving a church you once loved is hard. The grief, the questions, and the disorientation can catch you off guard.
This starter kit was made for you.
A guided imagery recording and companion journal to help you find stillness, name what you're carrying, and begin to orient toward a more grounded, confident future.
Free downloads. No email spam. Just a gentle place to begin.