Secret To Life

Home
United States
Irvine, CA
Secret To Life

Guiding others through our pioneering method of Inner-child work and subconscious modalities That's Jenine Lori, our beacon of hope.

JENINE AND CARL'S JOURNEY

Welcome to The Secret to Life™ Institute, where the tapestry of self-discovery unfolds in the captivating stories of our founders, Jenine Lori and Carl. JENINE'S ODYSSEY OF TRANSFORMATION

Picture a visionary determined to bring transformative change to lives worldwide. With a background in Psychology and Art Education, she embarked on a healing quest that led her to the profound impact of inner-child work. The echoes of childhood wounds, once hidden, emerged as influencers of her choices, relationships, and well-being. CARL'S MASTERY MEETS JENINE'S JOURNEY

Enter Carl, a master of subconscious realms. His expertise seamlessly merged with Jenine's journey, unveiling the power of inner-child work, re-parenting techniques, NLP, hypnotherapy, and transformative subconscious methodologies. Their collaboration birthed a program that releases original wounds without resurfacing past pain. THE INCEPTION OF THE SECRET TO LIFE

With newfound clarity and the glow of self-discovery, Jenine and Carl answered an irresistible calling. The Secret to Life Institute emerged as a beacon of hope, offering programs founded on the belief that healing childhood wounds is the key to unlocking a harmonious and fulfilling life. MORE THAN A COMPANY — IT'S A MOVEMENT

At its core, The Secret to Life Institute is a Human Evolution Company, that transcends conventional healing. Join our movement, where each step is a dance with your inner child, a journey of self-discovery, and an awakening to endless possibilities. Behind every word, technique, and resource is a story — the story of Jenine and Carl, transformation, and most importantly, YOUR story. The Secret to Life™ Institute is more than an institute; it's an invitation to rewrite your story and embrace the magic of your Inner child. Embark on this extraordinary journey with us, where healing becomes a celebration of self-discovery and the secret to a truly fulfilling life.

08/14/2025

Carl Jung was the first known psychologist to work with the Inner Child, bringing this powerful healing approach into the mainstream. I like to call it our child essence—our original wounds.

What you call it, or where you place it, doesn’t really matter.

If we want to heal the void that shows up as dysfunction in our lives—
relationship struggles, financial stress, health challenges, feeling disconnected, self-sabotage, addictions, abuse, or simply being at odds with ourselves and the world—the list goes on…

✨ We MUST learn the language of the Inner Child. ✨

At The Secret to Life Institute, our Inner Child work is for anyone consciously ready to take active steps towards creating positive change. It’s a gateway to finding peace in the moment by releasing the baggage that isn’t truly you.

We teach people how to understand the language of their Inner Child so they can step into their true power and finally be themselves.

We help you face and release the “three-headed monster”—that boogeyman lurking under the bed, online, at the store, in your family… IN YOUR MIND.

If you’re ready to free yourself from the true source of fear—the wounded, “tantruming” child within—we’re here to guide you.

This practice stays with you forever, gently guiding you through anything, if you are truly ready to move past the mind-made drama.

We currently have a few openings for private clients. Secure your spot here:

👇👇👇

https://secrettolifeinstitute.com/schedule-now

03/22/2025

Ever wonder why people worship celebrities, business moguls, and spiritual leaders like they hold the secrets to life? Why do we hang on their every word, waiting for them to show us the way?

It all comes back to the wounded inner child.

If we never learned to truly parent ourselves, we keep looking outside for someone to fill that role. Just like when we were kids, we instinctively sought out caregivers to guide us. If that guidance was inconsistent, conditional, or just not there, the need doesn’t go away—it just transfers to the most charismatic figure who seems to have the answers.

The inner child is still searching for the "Ultimate Parent".

This is why people get obsessed with authority figures. Whether it’s a political leader, a famous artist, or a self-proclaimed guru, they step into the role of the idealized parent—the one we trust to lead us, validate us, and tell us what’s right.

You see this play out everywhere. The people who put all their faith in a spiritual teacher, only to be devastated when they turn out to be flawed. The superfans who defend their favorite celebrity no matter what. The ones who expect a CEO or influencer to solve all their problems because they seem to “have it all figured out.”

But here’s the thing—when we haven't developed a strong inner foundation, we look outward for stability. We think someone else has the magic formula when, in reality, we’re the ones who have to build that for ourselves.

What Happens When You Start Self-Parenting?

The people who don’t get caught up in idolization? They’ve learned to parent themselves. They may still admire leaders, artists, and mentors, but they don’t need them to feel whole.

When we commit to inner-child work and step into healthy adulthood, we:

Self-regulate instead of relying on external validation.

Trust our own wisdom instead of looking for someone else to tell us what’s true.

Balance our childlike wonder with emotional maturity, so we can embrace inspiration without handing over our power.

This is what real freedom looks like!

Inner-child work isn’t about rejecting guidance or inspiration—it’s about making sure we’re not outsourcing our power so we can be clear minded. It’s about integrating the beauty of childlike energy with the strength of self-leadership.

When you get to that place, you can admire greatness without pedestalizing it. You can be inspired without needing a savior. And most importantly, you realize that the answers you’ve been looking for? They were within you all along 💛

03/17/2025

Lately, I’ve been feeling it—this underlying heaviness in the air. It’s everywhere. I see it in conversations, in the way people move through their days, in how the world feels collectively stuck. And when I really sit with it, I see the two forces running the show: fear and apathy.

Fear has always been a part of the human experience, but right now, it’s on overdrive. The world feels unstable, unpredictable. People are holding their breath, waiting for things to calm down before they take the next step. Now’s not the time, fear says. What if things get worse?

And then there’s apathy. The quiet killer of dreams. So many people—maybe even you—feel like they’re just going through the motions. Numb. Disconnected. Resigned. It’s not that we don’t want to change; it’s that something deep inside whispers, Why bother? Nothing’s going to change anyway.

I know this feeling all too well. Because I’ve been there.

Fear is the childhood protector that became a prison

Fear has shaped so much of my life. And when I really look back, I see exactly where it started.

As kids, we are naturally fearless. We dream big, we take risks, we believe anything is possible. But at some point, life teaches us otherwise. Maybe you were shamed for making mistakes. Maybe you were taught that love was conditional—only given when you did everything “right.” Maybe you witnessed the fear of the adults around you and took it on as your own.

And so fear becomes a survival strategy. We play it safe. We shrink ourselves. We convince ourselves that if we just avoid risks, avoid failure, avoid being too much, we’ll be okay.

But here’s what changed everything for me: I realized that fear is just my inner child trying to keep me safe.

It’s not some evil force. It’s a younger version of me who learned that the world was dangerous and uncertain, and instead of being guided through that fear, I was left to manage it on my own. And if you really look at your own fears, I guarantee you’ll see the same thing—old wounds from childhood still running the show.

But here’s the truth: You are not that child anymore. You are not powerless. And the only way to break free from fear is to go back and give that younger version of you what they never got—reassurance, encouragement, and permission to trust themselves again.

Apathy is the slow disconnection from ourselves.

Apathy is everywhere right now. I feel it in people who once had big dreams but have lost their spark. I feel it in conversations where people are exhausted, emotionally drained, running on empty.

And I get it. Because I’ve been there too.

For a long time, I thought I had just lost my passion. That maybe I was burned out, maybe I just wasn’t the same person anymore. But when I really sat with it, I realized something deeper:

Apathy isn’t a lack of passion. It’s a lack of safety to express it.

Because here’s the thing—when we were kids, we were alive. We played, we imagined, we felt deeply. But if that joy, that enthusiasm, that raw aliveness was met with indifference or discouragement, we learned a painful lesson: Caring hurts. Hope leads to disappointment. It’s safer to shut down.

And so we do. We stop dreaming. We numb out. We go through the motions.

But deep down, that part of us—the part that still wants more—is still there. Waiting.

Why This Matters NOW More Than Ever

We are living in a time of massive change. The world is shifting, and for a lot of people, that’s terrifying. But I believe this moment—this exact moment—is an opportunity.

Because when things are uncertain, we have a choice:

We can let fear and apathy keep us small, stuck, disconnected.

Or we can face what’s been holding us back and finally wake up.

Fear and apathy won’t go away on their own. They will keep running your life until you decide to do the work—until you go back to your inner child, the part of you that never got the safety and reassurance it needed, and finally give it to them.

That’s the work I’ve been doing. And if any of this resonates with you, it’s the work you can start doing too.

Because you weren’t meant to live trapped in fear. You weren’t meant to be numb.

You were meant to be alive. And the time to reclaim that? Is right now.

As always,

With Love 💚

03/02/2025

I don’t post much on social media these days—mostly because life has been full, intense, and transformative. It’s easy to share the sunshine and rainbows, but the truth is, these past few years have taken me to the depths of my soul. They broke me open, stripped me down, and in the process, revolutionized not only who I am but also the work I do.

Truth be told, I’ve died and come back to life more times than I can count—both literally and metaphorically. But this last time was different. It was final.

Four years ago, I leapt into the unknown, uprooting my entire life to move to a foreign country. At the time, I told myself I was chasing adventure, a fresh start. But the truth? I was running. Running from myself, from choices that shattered everything I thought I knew. I wasn’t blind to it—I saw it all unfolding—but I had no idea how to hold it, how to make sense of it. So, I jumped. Headfirst into the void.

What followed was the darkest night of the soul I could have ever imagined. I had never known true depression before. Sure, I had struggled, faced hardships, but this? This was different. Living in Panamá, I lost myself. The land was foreign, the language a barrier, the isolation unbearable. I longed for what I had left behind, but even if I returned, I wasn’t sure who I would be. The weight of it all crushed me—so much so that my body manifested the pain. "Broken heart syndrome," they called it, along with POTS, another autoimmune condition that left me barely able to function. It was as if my very cells were grieving.

The irony? I had run to escape, yet there was nowhere left to go. No more distractions, no more escape routes. I was forced to sit with my wounds, to face my deepest fears, to descend into the heartbreak and let it crack me open. It was brutal, but somewhere in the wreckage, a quiet knowing remained: this is happening for me, not to me.

I begged for it to end, to be released, but I also knew—deep in my bones—that I wouldn’t leave until I had met every shadow, turned over every stone, and allowed the pain to do what it came to do: transform me.

And then, one day, in a moment of complete surrender, it happened. The release. The door opened, and life began to move again. My inner child let go, and for the first time in years, I allowed myself to receive the healing I had given so freely to others.

Now, as we prepare to return to California, to our new home in San Luis Obispo, I look back at these past years and see them for what they were: an initiation. I was taken to the brink of every emotion, to depths of consciousness I never knew existed. And somehow, I made it through.

I return to my country a different person. I no longer recognize the one who left. I don’t know exactly what I’ll be stepping into—because I have changed, and so has the place I’m returning to.

But I do know this: I am ready for it all.

And I step forward with love. Love for the journey, for the lessons, for the people who stood by me and the ones who didn’t. I forgive it all—the pain, the betrayals, the misunderstandings—because I see now that it was never about them. It was always about me. About what I needed to learn, to feel, to release.

So, I move forward with gratitude. Grateful for the suffering that shaped me, for the healing that rebuilt me, and for the love that now leads me home 🫶

01/12/2025

My heart aches as I witness these fires burning in California from afar. If you know anything about me, it's my deep, unwavering love for California. Since the day we moved to Panama, I’ve missed it more than words can express and have longed to return. I originally envisioned moving to Central America as an opportunity to explore new places and create new memories, yet all my travels over these years have been spent flying back to California, as I've missed it so much.

California holds my heart. It’s where I met the love of my life, had our fairytale wedding, built our first home, welcomed our son, shared life with three incredible fur babies, became a published author, connected with spirituality, and found myself—only to lose and rediscover myself more times than I can count to set me on a path towards my true calling.

To me, California is more than just a state; it’s a magical, sacred place. She’s powerful and wise... She’s home.

She holds ancient wisdom and resilience, and I know she will get through this. To the brave souls of Los Angeles facing this devastation right now, our hearts are with you. We pray to our sacred land to help us uncover the miracles hidden in this tragedy. She will help us uncover the wisdom in it. She always does, as we call upon her great spirit to carry us through.

Namaste 🙏

12/30/2024

HOW WILL YOU STEP INTO THE NEW YEAR?

Every New Year, like clockwork, I see the same messages popping up, asking the same questions about the same things people swear they’ll finally change or master. The promises to leave behind old habits, frustrations, and setbacks. The hopeful mantra of, “This is the year I will…” fills every corner of our world. Sound familiar?

I’ll admit, I’ve fallen into this mindset too. There’s something intoxicating about the hope of a clean slate and a fresh start.

But this time, I’m stepping away from that message because I’ve come to believe it doesn’t truly work—not for creating deep, lasting change.

Sure, imagining the possibilities of a “new year, new me” can feel invigorating. But let’s be real—by March, how many people are still riding that wave of motivation?

Why does this happen?

Because real change doesn’t happen in a single moment of resolve. It’s cultivated over countless moments—sometimes over years. True transformation is a process. It’s not always shiny or Instagram-worthy either. It can look like gaining weight, losing a job, navigating grief, illness, or unexpected challenges. Yet, within those moments, if we’re willing to look, we can find profound gifts—deep connections to ourselves, others, and the essence of life itself.

This past year, 2024, was hard for so many. In my work, I’ve heard countless stories of struggle. But I’ve also witnessed something extraordinary: transformation in action. Time and again, I’ve seen people rise, grow, and uncover their own resilience and beauty.

Doesn’t that deserve recognition? A moment to pause and give thanks for the lessons 2024 brought us? Doesn’t that deserve to be carried forward into the next year?

If this past year has taught me anything, it’s that we need a new approach. Something deeper. Something real.

Don’t get me wrong—I love magic and miracles. (There’s a reason people call me Spicy Unicorn!) But I also believe in grounding those miracles into everyday reality. That’s the essence of our inner child—it craves what’s real. Life, in all its rawness, includes difficulty, beauty, and yes, magic ✨️. It’s in surrendering to the wholeness of life that we find the true motivation to seek magic in the moment.

So instead of focusing on what we’re leaving behind or changing, let’s reflect on what we’ve learned. Let’s celebrate the ways life has spoken to us and honor the unfolding journey we’re on. Peaks, valleys, and all—it’s a story worth telling.

---

2025 is already shaping up to be a monumental year of transformation for Carl and me, with some surprising turns of events. We're stepping boldly into massive changes that are taking our lives on an entirely new trajectory. While change can sometimes feel scary or overwhelming, I see it as exciting and exhilarating! The journey ahead will undoubtedly challenge us to grow even more—and to me, that’s a beautiful and empowering thing.

If you’re ready to make real, meaningful changes in your life, it’s important to recognize that lasting transformation doesn’t happen by accident or through sheer willpower alone. Most of the struggles we face—whether in relationships, career, or personal fulfillment—are rooted in unresolved patterns from our inner child. It’s not something that shifts on its own, no matter how long you wait, hope, or how many New Year’s resolutions you make.

The truth is, real change becomes so much easier when you have the right tools and support to guide you. That’s where we come in. Together, we can dive into the heart of what’s holding you back, heal those old wounds, and help you step into the life you’ve always envisioned.

Congratulations on everything you’ve mastered in 2024. Let’s step into 2025 with the power of our own intention guiding the way 🎉.

With love,
Jenine

Photo: Me standing on top of Rainbow Mountain in Peru at 16,522 ft, after a bout with severe adrenal fatigue.

12/12/2024

Have You Ever Heard of the Liminal Space?

Liminal space is that strange, uncertain in-between place where you’re no longer where you were but not quite where you’re going. It can show up physically, emotionally, or even metaphorically. To be in a liminal space means you’re standing at the threshold of something new, but you haven’t quite crossed over yet.

I’ve found myself in this space more times than I can count, even now as we're beginning to sort out another international move and let me tell you—it’s maddening. There’s all this excitement about what’s possible and where you’re headed, but also this gnawing uncertainty about whether you’re actually going to make it. You’re still tied to the old, but the new hasn’t fully revealed itself yet.

And as hard as it is to be in this space, I’ve learned it’s one of the most important phases of growth. This is where the real work happens—the work of holding onto hope and staying aligned with what’s coming, even when it feels like nothing is happening.

I’ve seen so many people lose steam in this place of transition (and honestly, I’ve been there myself). You start to wonder if you’re ever going to get where you want to go. The patience it takes to push through can feel like too much, but this is exactly the moment when you have to dig deep and keep going. Not yet. Not now. Because you’re almost there.

So, how do you make it through this liminal space without losing yourself—or your dreams? Here are a few things that have helped me:

1. Shift How You See It

Instead of thinking, “Why am I stuck?” try asking, “What is this space preparing me for?” The liminal space isn’t a punishment—it’s a pause. It’s where you realign, recalibrate, and get ready for what’s next.

2. Stay Grounded in the Present

It’s so tempting to obsess over the future or replay the past, but the power is always in the present. Focus on what’s right in front of you. What’s one small thing you can do today to move closer to where you want to be?

3. Take Care of Yourself

This space can be exhausting. Make sure you’re giving yourself the care you need—whether it’s rest, journaling, a long walk, or even just saying no to things that drain you. You need your energy for what’s ahead.

4. Keep the Vision Alive

Don’t lose sight of where you’re headed. Write it out, dream about it, talk about it. I like to imagine what my life will feel like when I get there—it helps me stay focused and keep the faith when doubts creep in.

5. Lean on Your People

You don’t have to do this alone. Whether it’s a friend, a coach, or a mentor, find someone who can remind you of how far you’ve come and why you’re doing this in the first place.

6. Look for the Lessons

This is the part no one really wants to hear, but it’s true—the liminal space is a teacher. What are you learning right now about yourself? About what you really want? These lessons will carry you forward.

7. Celebrate Even the Smallest Steps

Progress is progress. It doesn’t matter how small it feels—every step you take is getting you closer to the other side.

I know how hard it is to be in this place. It’s messy, uncertain, and often frustrating. But it’s also temporary. You’re not going to stay here forever. Keep going. The version of you that’s waiting on the other side is already cheering you on.

You've got this!

And if you need support to get you through, reach out... we're here to help 💪✨️

05/24/2024

What do you think? When a client says" In my many, many, many years of seeking therapy, counseling, in and out of Mental Hospitals have I seen such a powerful transformation after 57 years from being in this program and credit the two of you!" should we take that as a compliment.

Of course, we should. Not too bad for a few hours of work. As a result, this wonderful woman has had her life changed time and again.

And we have another happy customer.

04/30/2024

If I have access to you on my newsfeed, you probably know how I like to respond. Sometimes with NLP Dad jokes, other times I like to shift perspective. And most time, I just get to the point.

YEP, I'm that guy.

Next question.

04/21/2024

Talking about the problem almost always perpetuates the problem.

Is that the goal 🤔

03/26/2024

Just recorded a 🎥 with Jenine on 'Why People Get Stuck In Their Problems & Why They Can Rarely Exit Them.' Want it?
Tell me 👇

Address

Irvine, CA

Website

https://secrettolifeinstitute.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Secret To Life posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Secret To Life:

Shortcuts

Want your practice to be the top-listed Clinic in Irvine?