Alanna Kaivalya is the author of The Way of the Satisfied Woman: Reclaiming Feminine Power as well as an alumni of our M.A./Ph.D. in Mythological Studies with Emphasis in Depth Psychology program. She will present a talk titled “The Way of the Satisfied Woman: A Mythological and Depth Psychological Approach to Feminine Empowerment” May 13 & 20, 2025, through Pacifica Extension and International Studies. Register here.
Prospective students often ask what they can do with a degree in mythology, and the answers are as varied as each individual enrolled in our Ph.D. program. In Alanna’s case, she graduated with her Ph.D. in Mythology and went on to write the bestselling book, The Way of the Satisfied Woman: Reclaiming Feminine Power, create the Reclaim Your Feminine Power Workbook, run a podcast, teach courses, and even have an app for her community of women, all in service of empowering women to create a fully satisfied life. As self-started, non-traditional careers go, wow!
Having come to the Pacifica myth program fully steeped in yoga and eastern spirituality, with several books about the mythology of yoga under her belt, Alanna says, “I wanted to further my studies and have a broader understanding of what people believed and why they act the way they do. I couldn’t have made a better choice in studying mythology. It gave me a unique perspective on humans and how they operate in the world.” She immersed herself in the study of masculinity and femininity, and found mythology to be the best way to approach the topic. She relates, “It was the foundational body of knowledge I needed to dive into this. It was the way for me to bring this work to the world.”
After graduation, Alanna chose “the Satisfied Woman” as the subject for her book and business. Of the intentional choice of the word “satisfied,” she says, “I’d been studying masculinity and femininity for 20 years, and there’s the foundational work about masculinity, called Way of the Superior Man. But there hasn’t been anything written on the flip side for the feminine. So I wanted to present that. I wanted a title that reflected the feminine, and when I found the definition of satisfaction, I knew I’d found the right note.” It’s a word we all know but perhaps don’t think that much about. She defines it as “the pleasure derived form the fulfillment of our wishes and needs,” something that is “a wholistic pursuit that encapsulates the heart of the feminine and talks to the way the feminine wants to be in collaboration and feel pleasure in all things and life.”
Given the amazing range of products and services Alanna offers, what advice she might offer to those who are just starting in depth psychology and are wondering how to forge their own path? Alanna’s biggest recommendation is to “pursue the degree in alignment with the primary question of Joseph Campbell, which is “What myth am I living by?” She promises that this question and the study of myth will “reveal more to you about yourself than you can imagine. What it will reveal in the innerground* pursuit is profound. You have to make your own way.”
One of the things that piqued my curiosity about Alanna is that she describes herself as “an author, educator, speaker, and pleasure-seeker.” The term “pleasure” in an of itself, often creates feelings of discomfort for many people. It’s not something women are conditioned to expect or pursue for themselves. It turns out that Facebook isn’t comfortable with the term either, and often blocks Alanna for using the phrase. She laughs this off saying, “Welcome to the patriarchy! What I want to lean into with these terms is that they are feminine and are at the heart of femininity. Feminine woman are so much more complex than sexual beings, and our pleasure and satisfaction is at the heart of a wholistic life. I use these terms intentionally to challenge patriarchal notions of what women should be or what women think they should be.”
Alanna’s book, The Way of the Satisfied Woman: Reclaiming Feminine Power, came out in November 2024, so it was in the works well before the presidential election and the current atmosphere in politics, which I would call male-centric, or reliant at least on the image of “the strong man” that historians would say harkens back to the first half of the 20th century. Like many women, I wonder where this leaves the feminine and our capacity to create positive change in the world, create our own dreams into reality, and forge a path that is not mired in gender dynamics that seem painfully outdated. Alanna herself is delighted with the timing of the book, saying, “I feel like something, perhaps divine timing, made this book be released at this pivotal time when women need this work so powerfully. These are complicated and challenging times when it comes to the patriarchy and our current political climate reinforcing harmful notions of gender. But remember, we also live in a time when, as women, we absolutely have more agency, choice, and power than we have ever had before. I know it feels scary right now. But even thirty years ago, women couldn’t have their own checking account without a male cosigner. So even though it’s tumultuous, we’re positioned to create the kind of change and satisfaction that benefits us. And hopefully the political climate energizes us to act.”
Many women are conditioned to believe that the sharp edge of ambition, never being content with ourselves or what we’ve created, being perfectionists, always striving, is the way to live life. Alanna explains that “Most women have been indoctrinated into trying to create success and meaning on a man’s terms. And in doing so we end up armoring ourselves with the heavy burden of masculinity that is not ours to wear.” I asked Alanna how to go about that, and she revealed that first we must “must drop the mask of masculinity and lean into the gifts of femininity, which is where our power and strength lie, and at the heart of it is satisfaction. At the center of this is pleasure. Women are nothing if not feeling, emotionally deep, intuitive souls. Instead of striving for success, strive for fulfillment, which is wholistic, connective, circular. That’s why I’m encouraging women to drop the masculine ideas of success.”
Alanna is extraordinary but not atypical at Pacifica for taking the study of depth psychology and forging a career that fulfills our mission to tend soul in and of the world, and we wish her the best of luck in her amazing work.
Register now for “The Way of the Satisfied Woman: A Mythological and Depth Psychological Approach to Feminine Empowerment”
May 13 & 20, 2025.
*“Innerground” is Alanna’s term. She notes that Campbell would say “underground.”
Alanna Kaivalya, PhD, is a bestselling author, educator, thought leader, and expert on mythology, spirituality, psychology, and women’s empowerment. The author of Sacred Sound and Myths of the Asanas, she earned a doctorate in mythological studies with an emphasis in depth psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute and is the host of The Satisfied Woman podcast. She lives in Los Angeles. More information at TheSatisfiedWoman.com.
Angela Borda is a writer for Pacifica Graduate Institute, as well as the editor of the Santa Barbara Literary Journal. Her work has been published in Food & Home, Peregrine, Hurricanes & Swan Songs, Delirium Corridor, Still Arts Quarterly, Danse Macabre, and is forthcoming in The Tertiary Lodger and Running Wild Anthology of Stories, Vol. 5.
