Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Marylisa Manning, a Registered Nurse, Certified Life Coach, Reiki Practitioner, soon to be Divine Family Coach, and an all-around beautiful human being. Below you will read about Marylisa's upbringing, life experiences, and how her struggle with addiction led her down a path of remarkable pain and healing.
Marylisa grew up in the suburbs of Alexandria, Virginia with her older brother and younger sister. Growing up, she felt like the odd one out as her siblings were the “brilliant ones”. She says that her parents were soulmates, that they loved each other very much, and were religious. She has always had an interest in spirituality, and even remembers being given a tarot card deck in high school. One day, at a neighborhood carnival in support of Muscular dystrophy, she did tarot card readings for 25 cents each, and absolutely loved it. Looking back, she says that she has had an intuitive outlook from the very beginning.
As humans, we all have core wounds that originate in childhood and shape the way that we experience life. Marylisa says that her core wound is feeling that something is wrong with her, and that she doesn’t know what it is. Throughout her life, she has felt a profound aloneness, even though there were always people around; she recalls first feeling this way when she was 4 years old. Given her core wound and her life experiences thus far, Marylisa believes that she came into this world to learn about connection and opening up to others- she now calls herself a “friendly introvert”.
When Marylisa was 17, she worked at a nursing home and went to a party hosted by one of her coworkers. She remembers getting drunk and for the first time feeling beautiful, smart, and clever, while capturing everyone’s attention. She finally felt special, connected, and therefore, not alone. She recalls this being the start to her battle with alcoholism. Soon after, she went away to college and began experimenting with drugs. Amazingly, she was able to complete college and move onto nursing school, where she became a Registered Nurse (RN). Despite this, she felt that she lived a double life. When she was 22, she married the man that she met the first day of college and says that is was not a healthy marriage. Sadly, she recalls reaching a point where any spiritual or religious values were long gone. When reflecting on her first marriage, she realizes that she knew he wasn’t the right person for her, but married him anyways because she subconsciously knew that he was the vehicle for her kids to incarnate.
When Marylisa got sober, her marriage was pretty much over. She says that “when she didn’t look so sick, he didn’t look so healthy”; these profound words clearly depict the filter that alcoholism imposed on her perception. When she got sober, her youngest son was 3 1/2 and her older son was 7. One night, after yelling at her son for breaking off a small piece of the Ikea dresser that she was putting together, she began to sob, along with her son. She recalls spirit coming to her, as if a glimmer of hope in the darkness, telling her that it was time to change. Not only for herself, but for her kids too- so that she could be present in their lives.
From that day on, Marylisa began attending recovery meetings; it was there that she finally felt connected again. She says that her ego was loud and insistent, but that the people and principles taught in recovery were louder. Moreover, her journey in sobriety was accompanied by an incredibly gradual spiritual awakening. In recovery, she calls her higher power a “shape shifter” because she often needs a tangible message in order for her to really feel connected. Over the years, she has had one angel named Antonio, who has been her primary connection to spirit.
After two years of sobriety, she got divorced from her husband. During this time, she began receiving messages from spirit that slowly became louder and louder. At the time, she was working as an RN at a Home Care agency, and met another woman who was also on a spiritual journey. Together, and with the support of other spiritual minded people, they learned how to use a pendulum, as well as how to pull and read tarot cards. Marylisa says that these were invaluable tools that served as vehicles to further connect with spirit.
Over the years of her healing and spiritual journey, she has extensively reflected on her relationship with her mother and has worked very hard at forgiving her for quite a bit of meanness. She now holds the perspective that we are here to evolve our souls, and that her soul specifically chose her mother so that she could learn the lessons that she needed to evolve. She says that, “forgiveness has nothing at all to do with the person apologizing. It entirely has to do with what we’re letting go”. Overall, she says that she’s learned to never wait for others to change for her to be happy… “as long as I’m waiting for you to change so that I can be happy, I’ve got a long wait”. This realization developed as a result of being in alignment with her soul’s purpose.
Currently, Marylisa meditates every morning with her current husband Marty, who is very supportive of her spiritual journey. She utilizes breath work as well, as a tool that brings her to a place where she is “cracked open”, and where her ego is subdued. She is also near completion of certification as a Divine Family coach; she sought this out after having an awakening from her own experience taking the course. This course focuses on healing the inner child, connecting to spirit, and discovering one’s purpose. In addition, she is a certified Life Coach, certified in Reiki 1, and is ultimately a true healer who works closely with recovering alcoholics.
When asked what her advice would be to someone searching for their purpose, she says that she would recommend someone to seek out a course like Divine Family, which goes step by step into spiritual growth. So much of what we block, and what we don’t know, lies in our subconscious… “building a connection with spirit and really getting in touch with the infinite part of you, is the first step”. She also states that you won’t know what your purpose is if you don’t know who your soul and higher self is. This concept holds so much truth and awareness.
Talking with Marylisa, and listening to her inspiring story, clearly revealed to me that she is a healer and has so much wisdom to share. She ended by saying that “oneness is something that has brought her great awareness, peace and connection”. She likes to think that, “we are each a wave in the ocean”. Of course, there are individual waves, but they each return to the vast oneness of the ocean 🌊.
Thanks for reading!
Stay Curious,
❤️ Oliviah
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