Before coaching with Ana, I was confused about my path, lacking the clarity, confidence and support to take my next steps in starting my own business. With Ana’s skillful listening, compassionate presence (even over the phone), finely honed intuition, practical exercises and guidance, and keen observations I was able in just a few months to gain the needed focus, confidence, and clarity to get unstuck, and realize my dreams in not only my professional life but also in my personal one as well. As someone who has also done a lot of personal work over the years, I can definitely say working with Ana is a deeply transformative experience that also didn’t feel like work, and instead was joyful and fun! She is truly a gem, a very gifted coach and special human being. ~Kristen Cates, Owner and Certified Nurse Midwife at Sequoia Midwifery, Prenatal Yoga Instructor, Berkeley, CA
Ana is a gifted life coach. I am still blown away by the amount of support she gave me when I worked with her and the progress I made in my business goals. She is so sharp, intuitive, and best of all, she held me accountable for the changes I was wanting to make. Ana helped reflect back to me what was really exciting in my career. This did wonders for my clarity and reminded me to trust that this makes a difference in the work that I offer. I especially loved a guided imagery session that we did accessing my future self. This gave me SUCH great perspective and vision! Thank you Ana for your commitment to me, my passions, and my success! You helped me to take the action I needed to move my business forward, and now I have more clients, more options, and clarity about where I am heading. That has been invaluable! ~Chanti Joy Smith, entrepreneurial trauma healing expert at Embodied Beginnings, Brooklyn, NY
Ana’s coaching for the past six months has made all the difference. For the first time in my entire adult life, I am fully embracing life and willing to face its challenges as well as rejoice in its victories and blessings. Ana has been like a bridge builder in my life – she could see the other side where my authentic and true self resided, but needed to lay board by board insights and wisdom to help me get across the canyon of my doubts, sorrows, misunderstandings and pain that had accumulated in my life. Through Ana’s humor, matter-of-fact realism, homework assignments, leadership and even becoming a cheerleader a time or two, I am not the same person by any means as I was six months ago.
When I first started being coached by Ana, I was tear-stained inside and out from self-doubt, fear, unfulfilled dreams and self-ridicule. Even after years of therapy and counseling, I still could not surmount mountainous barriers to success in my life do to excuses, misguided advice and negative thoughts. Yet, after each phone call session, Ana was able to coach me through leaping over, removing or jumping past so many of these barriers. No matter how strong or insurmountable the problem, Ana always found a way for me to see what was possible and even probable when I allowed my true authentic self to be expressed and shown to the world.
Ana does not sugar coat her words, but rather listens intently and then guides with wisdom, compassion, honesty and integrity. You can feel her passion come through the phone line- a passion for living life and living it to the fullest. Every victory, every step in the right direction, Ana helped me to see was one step closer to my dreams and goals. I have to say that I was probably one of Ana’s toughest clients, for there was so little room in my mind for becoming a woman of substance, for I had yet to experience such. Yet through all this, Ana was still able to guide me to a place that I have never been before – a place where I can walk confidently with both feet on the ground and smile.
Ana was able to help me see that whether or not I have money in the bank, a successful career or a ring on my finger, I am still a woman that matters and needs to be here on this planet. I now understand that it is the depth of soul that is the true gift of life, for once a person is able to operate from the true authentic self, the place where God resides, then what is left is only love. And, where love is one can rise above limiting beliefs, financial distress and emptiness. Love of oneself fills all holes where it is allowed to come in. I could not have seen this part of me, this embrace to be here, this need to fulfill my purpose, and this need to love what is and the world around me without the coaching of Ana Neff. She is a gold maker. I am so thankful for her. ~ Brenda Reynolds, mentor to young women recovering from anorexia through horses and teaching How to be a CowGirl, Boulder, CO
Ana is a gifted and talented coach. She strikes the perfect balance between creating a safe yet challenging space. I always felt like I was stretching and growing, pushing myself past my previous comfort levels; and while challenging and uncomfortable at times, I always wanted to come back for more.
For me, talking to Ana is like talking to that cool, wise sister or friend – except more impartial and not ever judgmental. She’s funny, kind, insightful, compassionate and tough. She has a whole box of handy resources and tools available to help you move forward, and her approach is tangible and grounded. She has clearly figured out a few things about living an inspired and exciting life, and is passionate about sharing the love.
From helping to move past emotional blocks to devising a business strategy, if you are ready – like i was – to explore and move beyond old patterns and beliefs and are ready to take the action necessary to add new dimensions to your life, then I highly recommend Ana’s services.
She primed me for the leap necessary to step more fully into my potential – and the rest is up to me! I’ve felt a transformation occur on some deep levels regarding my response to difficult emotions, people or situations. I’m also reminded that “challenging old patterns ain’t easy!” I definitely see more clearly the ways and places I have held myself back in the past, and feel like I have only gone forward and can only go forward in the direction of living with integrity and breaking through self-imposed boundaries. I have reached a point of no return.
Since working with Ana I have sold my first piece of art and have a website and a show on the way. I’m leaving my apartment of 6 years to do some traveling and to embrace some change, Ive gotten a new job, developed a regular exercise routine, gotten engaged, and have definitely worked through/ let go of some old “ishies”/ experiences, making me an even stronger person. There is still so much more for me to do, but I feel a lot clearer going forward, more ready to embrace change, and more empowered to step fully into the best version of my life – and for this I’m very grateful. ~ Kelly Terr, artist, San Francisco, CA
I worked with Ana for about 4 months, and am far better for the experience. I was feeling confused and off-track . .. having trouble getting motivated on anything, and felt like my life was passing me by. Ana helped me get back on track, define my goals, unblock internal resistances, and held me accountable. She knows how to ask the right questions, and was stern, but kind. She possesses a good combination of practical and energetic skills that helped me define and achieve some of my goals. For example, I have never been able to stick to an exercise routine . . . I would always slack off after a while . . . with Ana’s help, I have been going to the gym 4x/week consistently for the past 6 months, and I have never felt better. I highly recommend her services – money well spent! ~ Dean Halpern, San Rafael, CA
I know Ana well professionally and personally. She walks her talk, and is a powerful woman who is not afraid of reinventing herself whenever life instructs! The patients we share adore her, and I would recommend Ana as a coach any day.
~ Ajana Miki, ND, LAc, Kokoro Center, Ashland, OR
Ana has been an amazing coach and I genuinely feel she has saved me from failing my first year of college and has given me more confidence to take on the rest of the year. I was going through so much starting university in a new town with moving, having to make new friends, dealing with homesickness and having a lot of fear about where I was going in life since I couldn’t even decide what major was right for me. I had a lot of academic stress and anxiety as well, with my grades falling (I wasn’t used to that!). It was really affecting my health. I saw Ana’s flyer up on campus and thought I’d give her a call. She had a special offer for students and I am so glad, because it has been worth every bit! I knew instantly that her energy matched mine and that I could definitely connect with her. We’ve been coaching for 3 months now. Soon after we started I began to clarify what it is I really wanted, and how I wanted my next year to look like. We addressed a lot of the negative self-talk I had going on, and I was able to have–I mean choose!–a healthier perspective and move forward with many issues I was having. I feel like I can breathe again. I have a plan for managing my stress, I made some changes to allow me more time for self-care, I took some risks to get out there socially and have made some great friends, and I am learning about what is really important to me. I didn’t think that last part would be so amazing, but it has actually been what I’ve loved the most. I didn’t realize how important it was to really know what I wanted. I think Ana is amazing! ~ Heather P., university student, Ashland, OR
Ana Neff was a colleague of mine fifteen years ago at the Outward Bound School. Recently we reconnected when she came to deliver a talk to my class of 25 epistemology students. Ana captivated the audience, sharing her story of rising above extraordinary challenges. She did this with both humility and humor. Afterwards, half a dozen of the young women in the class gathered around Ana to share personal stories of struggle and to ask Ana for advice. This woman is a gifted orator and an inspiration to behold!
~ Jack West, Ed.M., Harvard University, teacher and author of Parmenidean Breach, Menlo Park, CA
My teenage daughter Sarah started coaching with Ana one month ago, and I can already feel that she has a mentor she trusts and looks up to. Ana has done so many amazing things, from rockclimbing all over the world to delivering babies, going to amazing schools and traveling to adventurous places. My daughter genuinely looks up to her, and I think this is partly why her coaching is so effective with Sarah. She can tell Ana has lived what she is talking about, and says Ana is really funny too. Ana also has an understanding of what my daughter is going through in high school and how painful this can be. She helps give Sarah an injection of “ziji” that confidence she speaks of so often. I get scared as a mother with how my daughter is going to manage all the stressors teenage girls have to face these days. But it seems that whatever is going on in their sessions is helping Sarah to handle them with more grace. I would highly recommend Ana as a life coach for teens. ~Rebecca Manley, loving mother of a teenage girl, San Francisco, CA
