Hi, I’m Dana.
It’s time to drop the anxiety…
And become the confident, calm person you’ve always wanted to be.
“You have everything you need for complete peace and total happiness right now.”
I see you, struggling the way I did to maintain a happy, healthy life while trying to meet everyone’s expectations.
I see you miserable because you can’t get quiet enough to check in with yourself.
I see how exhausted you are trying to meet everyone’s needs but your own.
I see you overwhelmed with the constant stream of information and drama.
I see that you’re working so hard, checking all the boxes, but rarely happy and content.
“You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.”
Your life does not have to be this way.
I get it. Everyone says women can have it all, but all seems like way too much. You’re having trouble coping while trying to live “your best life” and, honestly, you feel pretty crappy about it.
Like you’re barely keeping your head above water. Like you’re dangerously close to failing in at least one area of your life.
This is no way to live!
I totally get the internal conflict.
You want a meaningful, fulfilling life but when you let too much into your life, anxiety makes everything miserable.
And you have family and friends! You crave more time with them. Quality time. Real down time that isn’t on the clock — when the real conversations start tumbling out and you remember what incredible human beings they are.
Hey there, I’m Dana.
My purpose on earth is to help overwhelmed women slow down, tune into their feelings and intuition, and live a whole-hearted life filled with purpose and love, while being the woman they always dreamed of being.
Calm…
Confident…
Fun…
Happy...
Here’s my story.
I’ve taken on a lot of different roles in my life. Daughter, sister, corporate ladder climber, entrepreneur, wife, and just about every kind of mom there is.
I’ve also struggled with anxiety for most of my life.
The funny thing about anxiety is if you’ve always had it, it’s easy to think this is just how life is. Your adrenaline shoots up easily, you feel panic at the drop of a hat, you live with a constant dread that everything you love could collapse.
I remember as a five-year-old participating in the Christmas play, completely overwhelmed by the directions I was being given and the fact that my Mom asked for me to have a red nose even though I wasn’t Rudolf!
Moments like that were everywhere and they didn’t go away when I grew up.
I was determined to not let anxiety stop me from living an awesome life.
I threw myself into everything that scared me. In a way it worked. It numbed me to the anxiety but I also didn’t feel much of anything else.
After college, I eventually settled into a stable life as a freelance writer. I enjoyed writing but interviewing people terrified me. I was no longer numb but the anxiety was back. A glass or two (or more) of wine in the evenings helped me cope with the stress but I knew it wasn’t healthy.
In my late twenties, I married and hid away from the world under the excuse of writing a novel. It was wonderful to not have to worry about “working” for a while, but there were a lot of problems in my marriage.
Problems I never addressed because neither one of us could handle conflict. Anxiety from the arguments was even greater than my fear of interviews. I was having trouble coping.
Then the greatest joy of my life came along – my son Charlie. Unfortunately, with this beautiful little boy in my life I was still struggling with anxiety and the feeling that I was careening through a life I couldn’t control.
I embarked on a new life.
After seven years of marriage, my husband and I divorced, and I started a corporate job in healthcare marketing.
It was a pressure-filled job that required constant social interaction (I’m an introvert!) and, again, I found myself going numb.
And this broke my heart because I badly wanted to enjoy every precious moment I had with my son.
After a lot of hard work (the corporate job and two side gigs), I managed to save up enough to quit the corporate job and work from home as a freelance writer/editor. It was wonderful to have control over my schedule and be there for my son when he got home from school.
Unfortunately, the anxiety was still there. I worried about my son in school. I worried I would disappoint a client. I worried about my tense relationship with my mom. I worried that I was too worried.
This is when it occurred to me that I could set up the most perfect life ever and I still wouldn’t be happy because the anxiety would get in the way. I had to figure out this anxiety.
So I started seeing a therapist. It was one of the best decisions of my life!
Now let me say immediately that I’m not a licensed therapist. I’m a certified coach. I don’t provide therapy services to anyone, but many of the tools I was given by my therapist can be used in a coaching capacity to ease day to day anxiety. They really work!
I learned the connection between my thoughts and emotions.
I learned to become aware of my thoughts. And, oh my goodness… the terrible stuff I was telling myself throughout the day, every day. No wonder I was anxious!
Gradually, through guided exercises, I learned how to slow down, recognize my thoughts, and change them. Changing my thoughts changed my feelings.
And that changed everything.
Finally…
I could halt the anxiety immediately, before it led to a meltdown
I could make sense of the voices battling for an audience in my head
I learned how to listen to my feelings instead of squashing them
I started talking honestly to myself and my loved ones, without fear that I’d be misunderstood
My racing thoughts slowed down and I could breathe
My life transformed.
I finally felt I could stop struggling. I decided to go back to school to become a therapist and continue studying the effects of anxiety on our lives. I’m thrilled to be on a career path I’m really passionate about.
I finally have tons of downtime with my son and we’re closer than ever. We’ve also expanded our little family to include two lovely step-children and a husband I can talk to without even a hint of anxiety.
And I get to spend plenty of quality time with all of them.
This is all I’ve ever wanted in life and with my anxiety finally under control I can enjoy every precious moment.
This is what I want for you, too. It took me four decades to figure out my way here. It wasn’t easy, but looking back I see how it all had to happen the way it did.
I also see a lot of shortcuts I could have taken.
And how it would have made all the difference in the world for someone to tell me I was on the right track. Which is what I’d like to do for you.
Some fun facts about me…
I’m a total Florida girl of the rustic kayaking, fishing, windsurfing variety. Stick me in a bay with a net and bucket and I’m happy as a clam.
I started a publishing company with a guy I met on a plane and published several successful books about how to make money selling on Amazon.
I’ve been running since I was a teenager and just before COVID, ran two half-marathons in two days (so kind of a marathon?)
I once came face to face with a black bear in my tent and followed him to see what had attracted him to our campsite. Interesting fact - even bears turn their noses up at Dinty Moore Beef Stew.
At one time in my life I’ve played piano, saxophone, oboe, guitar, and violin but none of them very well.
My hero as a kid was Indiana Jones.
We recently brought in a new addition to the family. A Moyen Poodle we call Peachy-Poo!
I’ve written two novels that I immediately placed in a drawer and forgot about.
It took me over 30 years to figure out what I’m supposed to be doing in this world.
Professional Bio
Dana Cooper is a certified life coach specializing in anxiety and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
Through coaching, speaking, and writing, Dana helps stressed out women conquer their anxiety and strategically set up a life that supports them in pursuing their dreams.
Dana has a BA in English/Creative writing and over two-decades of experience as a corporate copy writer and editor. She’s currently working on her Master Degree in Social Work so she can expand her services to traditional therapy while maintaining her coaching practice helping busy women lead happy, healthy lives.
Dana lives on the healing waters of the Florida Gulf Coast.