Women In Wellness: Alexandra Janelli of Modrn Sanctuary PA On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Learn more about anger. The feeling verse reaction of it. They are two different things. When we listen to our anger it can be a big clue into what we want and then moving toward a solution to find it.
As a part of my series about women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Alexandra Janelli, hypnotherapist, life coach and founder of Modrn Sanctuary PA.
Alexandra Janelli, the founder of Modrn Sanctuary PA, is a premier health and wellness entrepreneur, hypnotherapists and coach who has worked with Academy Award Nominee actors, singers, athletes, and high-level professionals. After graduating from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute, Alexandra founded her private hypnotherapy practice Theta Spring Hypnosis. She opened the critically acclaimed Modrn Sanctuary, the flagship luxury wellness center in Manhattan, in 2016 and Modrn Sanctuary PA in Philadelphia in November of 2022. Alexandra is married with two children and lives in downtown Philly.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
I started my career in Environmental Consulting back in 2003. During that time I started to also explore alternative therapies to help me with TMJ and cuticle picking. Within two sessions of hypnosis I felt like my life had changed drastically in comparison to the years I spent in conventional talk therapy.
In 2009 I moved to Chicago with my partner and decided to go back to school for hypnotherapy, as it had impacted my life in such a monumental way. In 2010 I started practicing in Chicago and helping several Kellogg MBA students overcome blocks. In 2012 I moved back to NYC where I launched my career as a Hypnotherapist and worked hard to being Hypnosis to the forefront of the alternative therapy space as a viable option for creating some deeper and meaningful changes. During that time I was able to work with a variety of clients from kids to adults, professional to students and from smoking to anxiety and stress. My passion lead me to focus my skills in the area of anxiety and fear-based stress management hypnosis.
In 2015 I made the decision to continue my path in the wellness-sphere by exploring Halotherapy (Himalayan Salt Room Treatments), which resulted in the curation of what is now Modrn Sanctuary New York — a 15 treatment room oasis all surrounding a large Himalayan salt room. From alternative therapies such as crystal healing and reiki to Botox and micro-needling, Modrn Sanctuary soon became a beloved staple in the Manhattan community due to its unique offers, styling but approachable décor, and unique experiences. In 2022 I made the decision to move the business to Philadelphia and have loved growing the brand. From private practices, to marketing and program curation, I have experienced it all!
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
One word wraps it all up-COVID. Did anyone ever think this would happen? No insurance policy, class, legal counsel or government entity could possibly have prepared me for this education/experience.
When COVID hit I was living in Philadelphia with a baby. The stress that the pandemic cause and slew of unknowns urged a wait-wait, but hurry mentality. I worried about my employees, rent, clients and of course, my health. What were we to do when our business was centered around helping people, and we had to close.
Navigating the pandemic, required the participation of creativity, community, faith (in the sense of knowing everything would work out the way it was supposed to), along with a ton of tears and coping mechanisms.
Without driveling too much into the story, I was amazed at what a community of people can do when their passions align and everyone works together toward the same goal.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about a mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I am not sure that I would call it a mistake, but if I could do it again I am not sure I would have done a Himalayan salt room or taken over a space so large.
With that said, I think there was much to be gained and some of the hardest lessons (difficult clients, the things that blindside you on a Tuesday morning- like floods in your office) truly teach you that nothing is unrealistic, everything has a solution, and at the end of the day, it too will pass.
Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?
It appears that almost every day I turn on the news to hear a story about a mass shooting. Guns. Ugh. But is it the guns or is that the presenting issue? I believe it’s the presenting issue that is underlain by a mental health epidemic. People are unhappy. They are scared. They are angry. We have become a reactive culture and have lost our way. People have no idea who they are and tend to feel, in comparison to social media posts, that they are not good-enough.
I feel my work as a hypnotist and wellness-preneur is to help people find home within. To learn who you are, what you like, what you don’t like, what are your core belief systems and also rules you live by. The goal is not to never feel stress or always be happy. The goal is to learn how to move through stress and have good coping mechanisms that can shift those emotions and make them more tolerable. This can be in a facial- looking in the mirror after and feeling just a bit more beautiful. Post massage- feeling more relaxed and less pain. A hypnosis session- by finding an old belief system that no longer serves a purpose and changing it for another.
Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.
1. You are not meant to be happy all the time. Constantly searching to be eternally happy will leave you consistently disappointed.
2. If you do want to be happier look at the simple math equation of your ratio of Reality to Expectation. How often is your expectation leading to disappointment compared to reality.
3. Learn emotional tolerance. How can you become more comfortable with your emotions. Feel them. We have lost our ability to feel so we can THINK.
4. Learn more about anger. The feeling verse reaction of it. They are two different things. When we listen to our anger it can be a big clue into what we want and then moving toward a solution to find it.
5. Change starts with awareness. Then it’s a choice of what you want to do.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I would like start a movement about solution-focused communication and emotional shifts to help you move through stress states quickly. We have as a society lost the ability to RESPECT others and listen. It all comes down to communication.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
1. Trust your gut
2. Always rely on your own data
3. Not every opportunity is worth your energy
4. At the end of the day no one will ever care as much as you
5. Don’t be greedy
Sustainability, veganism, mental health, and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
Mental Health. The pain people are experiencing is real and no school is teaching coping mechanisms to shift it.
What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?
Website: www.modrnsanctuarypa.com
Instagram: @alexandrajanelli @modrnsanctuary
LinkedIn: alexandrajanelli
Facebook: ModrnSanctuary
Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.
Women In Wellness: Alexandra Janelli of Modrn Sanctuary PA On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.