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Rise Above
the Story™
A course for emotionally intelligent women who’ve done the work and are ready to feel at ease.
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Immediately
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own pace
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For Women Who’ve Done Everything Right — Except Feel Better
There’s often a missing step between understanding your past and actually feeling free in your present life.
When your body
hasn’t caught up yet
You may understand your patterns clearly — and still feel tense, vigilant, or unable to fully relax. This work helps your nervous system release what your mind already knows.
When insight hasn’t
become ease
Knowing your story doesn’t automatically change how you live. This is where awareness begins to settle — so life feels less managed and more lived.
When self-trust feels
just out of reach
If you’re tired of second-guessing yourself or staying quietly on guard, this work helps you move forward with more steadiness, confidence, and internal permission.
You've Done the Work
So Why Doesn't Life Feel Easier?
By now, you’ve done significant inner work.
You've Likely...
- Spent years in therapy or personal development
- Processed your past and understand where your patterns come from
- Learned to function exceptionally well under pressure
- Built a life that looks intentional and well-managed
And yet something fundamental still doesn’t feel settled.
You might notice...
- Your mind doesn't fully quiet, even in moments of calm
- Relaxation feels like another task you need to earn or schedule
- Joy arrives with a side of guilt — like you shouldn't be enjoying yourself
- Your body stays vigilant — jaw tight, shoulders raised, breath shallow
- You're always one step ahead instead of here, now, present
This isn’t resistance.
It’s not a failure of awareness.
And you don’t need to revisit everything you already understand.
Your nervous system is still organized around an old internal story — one that made perfect sense when it formed, but no longer serves the life you’re living now
Rise Above the Story™ is designed for this moment.
What This Course Makes Possible
Rise Above the Story™ won’t ask you to become someone new.
It’s designed to gently interrupt the habit of holding everything together — especially when it costs you comfort, joy, and presence.
As you move through this work, you may begin to notice subtle but meaningful shifts.
In Your Body:
A sense of ease where tension once lived.
The ability to rest without needing to justify it.
A softness that feels safe — not exposed.
In your life:
Less pressure to get everything “right.”
More presence in ordinary moments — laughing more easily, enjoying without guilt.
Decisions that come from desire rather than obligation.
A quiet confidence that no longer needs to be earned.
This won’t happen all at once. And it isn’t meant to.
This work is about living with less effort — about no longer organizing your life around an interpretation of the past that’s become more habit than truth.
What Women Have Shared About Rise Above the Story™
285+ Reviews
What Women Have Shared About Rise Above the Story™
"I am what defines me."
Karena reminded me that my story is not what defines me. I am what defines me.
"this will not only transform lives, but save them."
I’d give this book all the stars if I could.. this one will not only transform lives, but it will also save them.
"melds neuroscience with a therapeutic approach."
Karena beautifully melds the neuroscience of the way our body and minds process trauma with a therapeutic approach, offering journaling entries along the way to fit in true self reflection.
"my past doesn’t get to run my life."
This book helped me see that my past explains me — but it doesn’t get to run my life.
"It's a compass"
It’s a compass that will guide you out of the darkest woods of your own history.
"This makes you look at yourself and your history"
An interactive slant with thoughtful queries and journaling exercises. This makes you look at yourself and your history in a positive and growth-enhancing way. Recommended.
"we can use our stories to shape our journey"
She takes us through separating the story in our heads from the truth, and then she shows us how we can use our stories to shape the direction of our journey.
Everything I’ve lived through is part of my story
For the first time, I realized that everything I’ve lived through is part of my story — not the end of it.
"I am what defines me."
Karena reminded me that my story is not what defines me. I am what defines me.
Recognition & Endorsements
This work has been recognized by leaders across creative, cultural, and entrepreneurial spaces.
In Rise Above the Story, Karena offers a thoughtful and purposeful perspective on how to liberate ourselves from the experiences that too often limit how fully we live.
— Mike Love
The Beach Boys
Rise Above the Story is a testament to the strength and resilience within each of us.
— Suzi Weiss-Fischmann
Co-Founder of OPI
How does your personal history define you today? A deeply insightful and encouraging blueprint for self-betterment, Rise Above the Story is an invitation to challenge your past and redefine your present.
— Leon Logothetis
author of Go Be Kind and host of The Kindness Diaries
The Framework
Rise Above the Story™ follows a clear human arc — one that reflects how change actually happens when you’re no longer trying to fix yourself.
The course unfolds across three phases:
I.
Acknowledge
Gently look back — not to relive the past, but to understand how your story formed in response to what happened, and how your brain learned to make sense of it at the time. You’ll explore where the story came from, what it was designed to protect you from, and why it felt necessary then.
II.
Release
See how you became entangled in the story — how it gradually began to shape your reactions, choices, and sense of self — and begin loosening its hold. Through understanding, self-forgiveness, and integration, you’ll learn to separate what happened from who you are.
III.
Rise
Learn how to live from awareness instead of habit — cultivating authentic self-love, self-trust, and choice in your everyday life. Rising isn’t a finish line. It’s an ongoing way of being that becomes more natural over time.
What's Inside the course
When you enroll in Rise Above the Story™ you receive a complete, self-paced experience designed to be engaged with thoughtfully — and lived from — over time.
Introduction
Welcome Module
A gentle orientation that sets the tone, explains how to move through the course, and prepares you for the work ahead.
Module one
Acknowledge
- How your brain creates stories in response to trauma and stress
- Understanding the function your story served — and why it felt necessary
- Journal prompts to explore how the story formed and what it was protecting you from
worksheets
Reflective worksheets that help you gently identify the internal story you’ve been living from and see it with clarity and self-compassion rather than judgment.
Module two
Release
- Recognizing when your story has become your identity
- How to untangle yourself from old narratives without dismissing your experience
- The practice of self-forgiveness — why it's essential and how to begin
- Integration exercises to help your nervous system catch up with your insight
Worksheets
Worksheets designed to support forgiveness, emotional release, and inner integration.
Forgiveness Meditation
A guided practice to gently release lingering resentment and self-blame, allowing emotional weight to soften without forcing reconciliation or bypassing your truth.
Inner Child Meditation
A grounding meditation that helps you offer safety, compassion, and presence to younger parts of yourself — integrating what was once carried alone without reliving the past.
Module three
Rise
- Living from awareness instead of autopilot
- Cultivating self-trust and making choices from your present self, not your past
- Building sustainable self-love practices that don't feel like work
- Ongoing practices to continue rising
Guided Reflection
Practical reflection tools that help you apply awareness in daily life, strengthening self-trust and making it easier to meet emotions and choices without slipping back into old narratives.
I See You Meditation
Processing Emotions – A practical, repeatable meditation for meeting emotions as they arise.
Bonuses
Bonus Resources
- Downloadable worksheet with all guided reflections and journal prompts
- Audio versions of each module for listening on the go
- Downloadable Rise Above The Story™ journal
- A curated collection of meditations you can return to anytime
- Lifetime access to all future course updates
About The Creator
Hi, I’m Karena Kilcoyne.
I’m the national bestselling author of Rise Above the Story™, and I’ve spent over a decade studying how internal narratives shape the way we experience ourselves, our relationships, and our lives.
My work sits at the intersection of psychology, lived wisdom, and language — helping women understand why certain stories formed, and how to stop letting those stories quietly run the background of their lives. Through my writing, teaching, and speaking my work has reached tens of thousands of women navigating midlife, leadership, and personal reinvention.
Like many women who find their way here, I’ve done the healing — deeply and honestly.
What I care about now is what happens after that work is done.
How we live.
How we choose.
And how we allow ourselves more ease, joy, and self-trust — without turning healing into a lifelong project.
You've Spent Years Understanding Yourself. Now It's Time to Feel It.
If you’ve done the inner work but life still feels effortful —
If you understand your past but your body hasn’t released it —
If you’re ready to stop holding everything together and finally soften into ease —
This course is for you.
You've Spent Years Understanding Yourself. Now It's Time to Feel It.
If you’ve done the inner work but life still feels effortful —
If you understand your past but your body hasn’t released it —
If you’re ready to stop holding everything together and finally soften into ease —
This course is for you.
Still Have Questions?
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this therapy or coaching?
No. This is an educational course designed to help you understand and relate differently to your internal story. It’s reflective and integrative, but not therapy or a substitute for mental health care.
Do I need to have read the book first?
No. The course stands completely on its own. If you’ve read the book, the framework will feel familiar — not because it repeats what you already know, but because it meets you further along the same path.
I’ve already done a lot of personal work. Is this still for me?
Yes. This course was created specifically for women who are emotionally aware, insightful, and no longer in crisis — but want their lives to feel easier, calmer, and more lived.
How long will I have access to the course?
You’ll have lifetime access, so you can return by choice, not obligation.
Is there a community or ongoing program?
There is no required community or ongoing commitment. A private, optional invitation may be offered in the future. Participation is always your choice.
What if I enroll and it doesn’t feel aligned?
If the course doesn’t feel aligned, you may request a refund within 7 days, provided only Module One has been accessed.
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Rise Above the Story™ © 2026 Karena Kilcoyne LLC. All rights reserved.
You’ve spent years understanding yourself.
You’re not in crisis.
You know your patterns.
And still — your nervous system hasn’t quite gotten the memo.
You may notice yourself holding tension in your body even when nothing is wrong.
Running mental to-do lists instead of being present.
Feeling responsible for managing everything around you.
Struggling to rest without guilt or justification.
This doesn’t mean you’re broken.
And it doesn’t mean you’ve missed something important.
It means an old internal story is still quietly organizing how safe your body feels to soften, rest, and trust.
Rise Above the Story™ helps you step out of that story — so your life can finally be lived with the ease you’ve been working toward.