Aspire Magazine - August/September 2014 Issue with Christina Rasmussen by Aspire Magazine

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with National Book Writing Coach Lisa Tener

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CONTENTS On the Cover

Christine Rasmussen Visionary author, speaker and Philanthropist Christina Rasmussen, founder of Second Firsts and Life Starters. Cover Photo Credit: Caroline White www.carolinewhitephotography.com

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2014

OWNING YOUR FEMININE POWER

Wisdom & Self-Growth 20 INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTINA RASMUSSEN by Linda Joy Aspire Magazine is honored to introduce you to Life after Loss Pioneer Christina Rasmussen. Christina is a bestselling author, speaker and philanthropist on a crusade to change the way we live after loss. As the founder of Second Firsts and Life Starters, both organizations dedicated to helping people create a pathway back to life after loss, Christina has helped thousands of people rebuild, reclaim, and relaunch their lives using the power of the human mind. Her book of the same name — Second Firsts: Live, Laugh, and Love Again— aims to take her message even further. Tens of thousands of people receive Christina’s magical, life changing & truthful ‘Message in a Bottle’ every Friday morning.

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24 WAKE UP AND STOP: STARTING YOUR DAY WITH QUIET TIME IS KEY TO MINDFUL PRODUCTIVITY by Barbara Schmidt If you are woman who wakes up every day jumping right into your to-do list, Barbara Schmidt suggests you begin each day in a much more peaceful and supportive way with meditation. The practice of “waking up and stopping” gives us the opportunity to live our days more productively as well as in a more loving and compassionate manner.

CONTENTS 28 HONORING MY INNER PRIESTESS: A JOURNEY OF TRUST by Maryellen De Vine Learn how Maryellen has learned to trust her inner priestess. She believes that every woman deserves to allow her Inner Priestess to come forward in everyday life. When you learn to trust and honor your inner priestess, you will be on your way to becoming one with her, living a life filled with magic and miracles.

“Trust and surrender to the process of your divinely feminine unfolding.” SHANN VANDER LEEK

31 NOW WHERE DID I PUT MY GODDESSTHEMED THONG? by Cathleen O’Connor The archetypes of the goddesses is an accessible path to the Divine Feminine but may not be the best examples for modern-day women. The modern lure of the goddess speaks to women who have learned to give to themselves rather than waiting for someone else to come along and leave precious gifts at the altars of their hearts. The real juice is knowing your deepest needs and then giving yourself permission to get your needs met.

35 COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EARTH ANGEL by Sonja Grace Earth angels share many similar characteristics. You might recognize the characteristics of an earth angel in yourself. If you are an Earth Angel, it is vital that the elements described in this article are carefully nurtured and developed with the full understanding of their potential.

CONTENTS

“When we cultivate a relationship with our joy, our hearts and spirits expand and we remember who we are.” CAROL WOODLIFF

Health & Wellness 40 BEAUTY BREATH MEDITATION by Cindy Heath The energy of the universe contains a sacred field of infinite magic power that every heart-filled intention can reach. Its potential to manifest beauty and all things sits inside the hidden vibratory waves and can be awakened. There are secrets in our breath that can help link us to this higher energy if we can commit to breathing more consciously.

44 12 STRATEGIES TO COMBAT EMOTIONAL EATING by Julie Daniluk Women often reach for comfort food to feel better and then beat themselves up for not making a healthy choice. We often starve ourselves with low calorie diets that set us up to fail. The most important thing you can do is to stop beating yourself up and let go of the guilt about your food choices or lack of motivation to get moving. If you embrace healthy eating for more than 60 days, your taste buds will change and you will start to fall in love with real food.

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48 SURRENDERING TO THE PATH OF THE SOUL by Saskia Röell In my Soul’s journeys, I’ve learned to be out of my mind because the path of the Soul is not the path of the mind. Birthing a child or a huge dream or a book requires surrender. I realize that surrender was the key. And surrender is the key now, again. Instead of pushing to achieve, I have to let go and listen to my heart so I can receive. A trust in the Soul. With a leap, there becomes here.

CONTENTS 51 THE WISE WOMAN WAY: LISTENING TO THE VOICE OF INNER WISDOM by Susun Weed What is the voice of inner wisdom? Can you hear it? Does it speak to you? Does it come to you in your dreams? There is are many voices of wisdom within us. See if you can identify them. Remember that you are a woman of wisdom with many facets. Learn to trust your inner wisdom, and its many voices.

“Sovereignty naturally comes to a woman when she develops a empowered Goddess Mindset.” LISA MARIE ROSATI

Relationships 56 TRANSFORMING YOUR RELATIONSHIP: YOUR GREATEST POWER IS YOUR FEMININITY by Stacey Martino Your greatest power is your femininity. Ironically, somehow our femininity got lost along our path to empowerment. The experience that we have when we are truly in our feminine is called “feminine radiance.” Femininity comes from a willingness to be vulnerable. And anyone who is vulnerably open will tell you that it takes a hell of a lot more strength to BE open (feminine) then it does to close up and protect yourself (masculine). Learn how to flaunt your greatest asset!

61 YOU DESERVE TO PUT YOURSELF AT THE FRONT OF THE LINE by Shann Vander Leek Do want to still put everyone and everything at the front of the line before your own selfcare? You deserve to be your first priority. When women learn how selfawareness, self-talk and self-care relate to each other, we remember that the most important relationship in this lifetime is the one that we create, nurture and experience with ourselves.

CONTENTS Career | Business 66 LIVING THE GODDESS LIFESTYLE: HOW OWNING MY AUTHENTIC TRUTH HELPED CONNECT ME TO MY FEMININE TRUTH AND OUTRAGEOUS SUCCESS by Lisa Marie Rosati Do you speak your truth in life and in your business? Do you practice being congruent so you mean what you say and say what you mean? When you follow this formula, infinite success and prosperity will flow right to you... as if by magic. Learn how Lisa learned to trust herself and own her truth and shine after several years of trying to mimic how others define success.

“Think about what made you happy as a child and rediscover it. It’s who you were meant t0 be.” CAROLYN FRITH

70 TENDING YOUR ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEM by Jennifer Lee If you are entrepreneur, your creative business is a living and breathing entity, and it needs TLC to blossom and prosper. Whether you’re fairly new to your business, or you’ve been at your work for a while, it’s helpful to take a step back and check in — to assess the overall health of your Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, especially if you want sustained success. So let’s take a look at where your business is right now and identify what’s needed for your business to fully bloom so you can create sustainable success for your business.

Sp ea k th you in in life r you r b an d usi nes s. tru

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75 7 PRIESTESS TOOLS TO ACCELERATE YOUR BUSINESS GROWTH by Lisa Michaels As women today seek ways to own and fully embody their feminine power, they discover that connecting to the ancient archetype of the priestess awakens the source of Divine Feminine wisdom within. Priestesses learn to channel for Divine energy, which increases their inner guidance, wisdom, and selfconfidence in every aspect of their lives and businesses.

CONTENTS 78 ROCK YOUR FEMININE TYPE TO ROCK YOUR BUSINESS by Joy Balma You are the leading lady of your life. You cast and play yourself in this role, and you’ve been playing her for as long as you can remember. In fact, she was well established by the time you were in grade school, and she is probably running your business right now! It is important that you know all about this leading lady role of yours—your Feminine Type.

“Find a bit of fun and laughter in every situation. it inspires the best in each of us.” JANET NESTOR

81 INSPIRED TO WRITE? TAP INTO YOUR FEMININE POWER TO WRITE by Lisa Tener Your Feminine Power is one of the most powerful tools you can use to write. When you learn to tap into your feminine power, writing can be more compelling, beautiful, easy and fun. You’ll likely enjoy the process more and the writing will likely have a stronger voice and be more authentic and moving to your readers.

LINDA JOY

Publisher & Editor-In-Chief | Linda@aspiremag.net

Creative & Brand Direction || RACHEL DUNHAM | www.HummingbirdCreativeConcepts.com Editorial Layout || MANDY GATES | www.GruveDesign.com Graphic Designer || MANDY GATES | www.GruveDesign.com COO || KIM TURCOTTE | www.SoulPurposeBusinessSolutions.com MAILING ADDRESS || P.O. BOX 1149 | LAKEVILLE, MA 02347 | 508.265.7929 ADVERTISING || Email Linda@aspiremag.net MISSION TO INSPIRE INFO <CLICK HERE>

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EXPERT COLUMNISTS STACEY MARTINO

LISA MARIE ROSATI

Stacey Martino helps people who feel stuck, frustrated and helpless with the challenges of intimate relationship. Through strategic private coaching, programs and events for her Relationship Transformation System™, individuals learn to use her proven strategies and tools to create an unshakable love and unleashed passion that lasts a lifetime. Stacey firmly believes that it does NOT take two to tango, that one person can significantly shift the dynamics of the relationship. Trained and certified by Tony Robbins and Cloe Madanes, Stacey is a certified marriage educator and divorce preventionist. Click Here for Articles www.LoveandPassionCoach.com

Passionista Lisa Marie Rosati is an Inner Goddess Catalyst for women and the Creatrix of The Goddess Lifestyle Plan. Lisa mentors women on how become a Modern Day Goddess by consciously designing a luscious Goddess life, cultivating radiant health and creating a lucrative business using and directing their feminine fire. www.GoddessLifestylePlan.com www.sugarfreegoddess.com

SUSUN WEED

LISA TENER

Susun Weed is an internationally renowned herbalist, author, and director of the Wise Woman Center in New York. She is a revered voice of the Wise Woman Tradition, where women’s bodies and women’s emotions are valued. Susun is a founding grandmother of the herbal renaissance and the originator of the concept of complementary medicine. www.SusunWeed.com

An award-winning authority on writing and publishing books, Lisa Tener guides you to joyfully express yourself in writing. She blogs for the Huffington Post, serves on the faculty of Harvard Medical School’s publishing course, and teaches her own Award Winning Book Writing Courses in person and by interactive teleseminar. www.LisaTener.com

Transforming Your Relationship

The Wise Woman Way

Living the Goddess LifeStyleTM

Inspired to Write?

FEATURED CONTRIBUTORS

CHRISTINA RASMUSSEN

JULIE DANILUK

JENNIFER LEE

BARBARA SCHMIDT

CINDY HEATH

SONJA GRACE

JOY BALMA

SHANN VANDER LEEK

MARYELLEN DE VINE

LISA MICHAELS

SASKIA ROËLL

CATHLEEN O’CONNOR

YOUR WISDOM! WITH OUR READERS

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LETTER EDITOR

FROM THE

”Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.” MAYA ANGELOU

Welcome to the August/September 2014 Owning Your Feminine Power Issue Learning to listen and honor my inner wisdom and soul’s whispers has been the catalyst behind what I call ‘living an inspired life’. In fact, Aspire Magazine was birthed in late 2005 after receiving an intuitive nudge that I was meant to create a magazine that spoke “to” women and not “at” them and that served to support women on their journey of self-discovery and transformation. Owning your feminine power is about living a life of meaning, joy and passion that aligns our goals with our values and leads us to consciously create our lives from a place of meaning and intention.

It’s about owning and embracing the truth of who you are as a woman and sharing that truth and your gifts with others.

Throughout this wisdom-filled issue you’ll discover the tips, tools and resources to support you on your path to empowered living.

Connect with me! om/ http://www.Facebook.c lindajoyinspires om/ http://www.facebook.c y aJo PublisherLind

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https://twitter.com/lind http://pinterest.com/ lindajoyinspire/

Grab a cup of tea or a glass of wine and enjoy the powerful articles, empowering wisdom and supportive resources offered by our expert columnists and featured guest contributors.

LINDA JOY Publisher & Editor-In-Chief | Linda@aspiremag.net

Here’s What I’m Reading Right Now...

FROM MY BOOKSHELF

Living The Unmistakable Touch of Grace By Cheryl Richardson

I was called to reread Cheryl’s inspiring book on how to recognize and respond to the spiritual signposts in your life. Seven years ago her book literally fell off a shelf in front of me while on vacation and was exactly what I needed in that moment. As I reread it today, I look back on how grace has transformed my life and continues to do so.

ATTN: Service-Based Business Women

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WISDOM & SELF-GROWTH

“Don’t be afraid of your fears.

They’re not there to scare you. They’re there to let you kn ow that something is worth it.”

c. Joy Bell

The Courage to

Read Online!

all Stop Playing SBYm FIA CRANDALL Do you get a sense that you may be playing small in your life? A sense that you may be holding yourself back from what is really possible, from stepping up to something bigger that you are meant to be and do? There is WAY more to you than you could ever realize. There is so much more to you than you could ever conceive of when fear is convincing you that you are small.

The truth is, you have no idea just how brave, courageous and truly capable you really are. Read the full article online

CHECK OUT MORE ONLINE!

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l Live & Virtua

UPCOMING EVENTS

INSPIRED LIVING GIVEAWAY: RESOURCES FOR MASTERING THE ART OF LIVING || DETAILS! Claim 80 + transformational gifts to support you on your journey

Interview with

Christina Rasmussen Life After Loss Pioneer Aspire Magazine is honored to introduce you to Christina Rasmussen. Christina is a bestselling author, speaker and philanthropist on a crusade to change the way we live after loss. As the founder of Second Firsts and Life Starters both organizations to help people create a pathway back to life after loss, Christina has helped thousands of people rebuild, reclaim, and relaunch their lives using the power of the human mind. Her thriving Facebook community intimately connects with over 200,000 individuals who embrace her message of love. Her book of the same name—Second Firsts: Live, Laugh, and Love Again— aims to take her message even further. Tens of thousands of people around the world receive Christina’s magical, life changing & truthful ‘Message in a Bottle’ every Friday morning. Christina’s work has been featured on the Huffington Post, NPR, The Times of India, Beliefnet, the White House Blog, and MariaShriver.com.

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identity after loss. Writing this book for me was the beginning of a journey, a journey into the lives of millions of people. This book changed the lives of thousands, more books are on the way and they will continue to build the true understanding of grief and why we as humans must experience it.

My real life experience of devastating loss was so different to my study of grief. I never expected grief to be so insane, devastating and so long lasting. Because of my experience I realized that there are millions of people out there who are as lost as I am and have nowhere to turn for real help. That is when I promised myself if I make it back to life I will go back to get everyone else. Second Firsts is my Noah’s Ark.

Christina, you often use the term “waiting room” as a way of identifying the problem of grief. How do you define the waiting room and how do you know you’re stuck there?

When did you know you could write SECOND FIRSTS and help people find their way back? I had promised myself that the day that I was going to write this book was going to be the day that I had healed and I was able to live life fully. Otherwise I would not be able to take on this mission. So this book is important because it’s changing the status quo of life after loss. It’s changing the way we perceive grief. It’s changing the way we think about someone who has been divorced or widowed or abandoned or abused, any kind of loss. It’s changing the way we look at our

In my quest to free people from pain I stumbled upon a place, a secret hiding place. I called this place, The Waiting Room. The place between two lives. The life we left behind after our loss, and the life we have yet to have. In this world in between… we live life in a loop, in a repetitive pattern. It is safe from any new life experiences and we hide from the real world in order to protect ourselves from more grief and sorrow. I met people who have spent years in the Waiting room and didn’t even know they were in there. I know there’s millions and millions of people in that gap, in that space between two worlds. But they don’t know the gap. They don’t know it’s a waiting room. They don’t know that they’re to wait for something better to happen, for time to heal them. But the pain won’t go away until they take action. So every time I mention this to people, they go, “Oh, my goodness! That’s where I’m at. That’s the gap.” Grief is invisible most of the times and it happens to everyone but not everyone has the tools and the awareness to know what they are experiencing so they try to protect themselves from something they don’t even understand. My mission is to free millions from the Waiting Room and to help the world better understand grief.

WISDOM & SELF-GROWTH

Christina, you studied bereavement and grief in your 20’s. Later in your life you experienced the loss of your husband leaving you with two young children. How did the theory of your studies compare to the real-life experience?

Why is dealing and speaking and writing about grief so hard Christina? When I started writing the book proposal, people told me that it was going to be a hard sell that publishers are not looking to publish a book on grief. And I kept saying to them, “This is not about grief. It’s about the life after our experience with grief. It’s about what we do after grief.” And the stereotype in the world today is that grief lasts forever. I completely disagree. Grief does not last forever. Memories last forever. But grief is here to change us and evolve us into an amazing human being. This is the only reason humanity evolves because we feel pain, we grow from it, we change and become something better.

How can a person begin to get some distance from grief so they can start experiencing life fully again? Before we even begin to talk about healing, the one thing that I’ve learned through my grief and through the grief of other people is that we cannot move forward unless we get real with our grief. What I mean about that is that we have to understand our grief, understand our thoughts that come from our grief experience, understand what’s going on inside our brain and reflect on those thoughts and reflect on our feelings. Don’t run away from your grief! There’s nowhere to go if you do that. There’s nowhere to go. You’re going to come right back and it’s going to be here a year later, two years later, three years later. You need to get real and when you do get real you need to acknowledge and validate it and that’s when I think invisible losses are much harder to heal because there’s no validation. There’s no acknowledgment.

What are the challenges and obstacles you come across while on the path to free people from grief? Grief is such a taboo topic and unless you fit in to the stereotypes the world does not want to hear what you have to say. My work on LIFE REENTRY and using brain science to heal was a tough sell for a while. But I did not give up especially when I started to see people change their lives right before my eyes. Some of the most beautiful experiences happen after loss…if we let them.

How do you use science to describe something so delicate and emotionally bound as grief? What a great question. Our brain’s ability to heal us is so underused by our world. Instead we allow people to create grief habits instead of life habits. We let our family members and our friends continue to relive the trauma and the loss. Imagine if we created a world where we could help people start over no matter the loss, no matter the magnitude of the tragedy. Imagine if it was possible to live again fully without being told that grief lasts forever. Brain science can allow for that to happen. If we let it of course.

I’m curious Christina about what a Second Firsts world looks like to you? Big smile here…. a world of Second Firsts would be made of people who survived the unthinkable, they would be our leaders, our elders, our wise souls and our mentors. Our government and corporations would rely on the people who overcame the biggest challenges to lead the way. I believe that the

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WISDOM & SELF-GROWTH

older we get the more we are equipped to live a life worth living. Second Firsts is about respecting those who endured and overcame the worst and giving them the podium. Don’t get me started on this, I can go on forever.

After someone finishes reading your book and went through the Re-entry process what one emotion or feeling will they walk away feeling? The one thing that people have told me over and over again is that they smile again and that they have hope again. They see their own transformation and believe in their own second chapter more than ever before. You can hear it in their voice and see it in their writing, they are no longer the same person. They have reentered and have started to live life once again. This time, a bigger life.

Photo Credit: Caroline White www.carolinewhitephotography.com

Read Online!

I invite you to learn more about Christina’s empowering work by visiting Second Firsts. While you are there be sure to claim Christina’s magical, life hanging & truthful Message in a Bottle delivered every Friday morning. Join Christina’s Second Firsts Facebook page and join over 200,000 individuals who are reclaiming their life after loss.

WAKE UP AND STOP:

Starting Your Day with

Quiet Time is Key to Mindful

Productivity BY BARB SCHMIDT

“When you arise in the morning, think about what a precious privilege it is to be alive. To breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”

—Marcus Aurelius

here was a time in my life when I’d wake up and start tackling my to-do list even before I got out of bed. I thought I had it all figured out, and if I just stuck to the script, my day would unfold in perfect order. My thinking and planning gave me a sense of control over the outside world, but I would often find myself trying to hammer things into place and feeling let down when they didn’t fit. Life often felt chaotic and stressful, and I knew deep down my methods weren’t working. Although I was being productive and running a chain of successful McDonalds’ franchises, my efforts were often at the expense of my happiness and inner peace.

When I was introduced to meditation thirty years ago and began my spiritual journey in earnest, I felt an enormous relief to discover that we really cannot control the outside world—no matter how detailed our to-do list is! Knowing this took a huge weight off my shoulders. What’s more, I learned that the only thing I really needed to take control of was my mind, as my thoughts themselves were the cause of the chaos I felt inside. I have been sitting in meditation regularly first thing in the morning for nearly two decades. This quiet time gives me the

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opportunity to bring myself into balance before I go out into my day. It allows me to calm my mind of its chatter so that I can hear the whisperings of my heart. My intuition rises to the surface, and while I cannot stop my mind from thinking, my thoughts are more productive when they tune into my inner guidance. When I am connected to myself—to my source of strength, peace, and confidence— every action I take is done with mindful intention. I am more productive because my awareness is focused on what needs to be done in the present moment to further the goals that are in alignment with my heart. In fact, I credit this part of my practice with giving me the strength and fortitude to accomplish all the nonprofit work I have done to spread the message of love and peace to others. In my book The Practice: Simple Tools for Managing Stress, Finding Peace, and Uncovering Happiness, I offer a framework for structuring the day around practical spiritual tools. The first practice of the day is meditation. Instead of waking up and going, as we all tend to want to do, we find a quiet

Think of your quiet time as preparation for the day. Would you leave your house in the morning without first checking your appearance in the mirror? Most likely not. So why go out into the world without first looking within for a few moments to put your inner appearance in order? When your inner world is calm, your outer world will be a beautiful reflection of this. You’ll find that you naturally accomplish what is important to you, as you fight less against “what is” and intuitively figure out how to work with it or around it.

If meditating first thing in the morning sounds impractical to you, let me offer a few suggestions for starting your day:

#1.

Use a gentle alarm to awaken you in the mornings—no blaring music or annoying beeps, which can be quite agitating to the mind. Try setting your alarm for fifteen minutes earlier than usual so you don’t feel rushed.

#2.

When you open your eyes, take in the sunlight and remember to be grateful for the precious gift of having another day on this earth. Turn off your alarm, stretch, and take a few deep breaths.

#3.

If thoughts bombard you, allow them to pass without engaging them, as if they are storm clouds that are being swept away by a gentle breeze of mindfulness. Visualize the sunlight peeking through the clouds in your mind.

WISDOM & SELF-GROWTH

place to sit and just be—even if just for a few minutes. “Wake up and stop” may sound counterproductive as we’ve just woken up and we “should” get going, but meditating first thing in the morning has enormous benefits.

#4.

Get out of bed. Don’t immediately engage the outside world by checking the notifications on your phone or turning on the news. Go ahead and do whatever you feel cannot wait, but ideally, if you are up a few minutes earlier than usual, there isn’t anything that must be done right away.

#5.

Go to your meditation area—whether that is a cushion or chair in the corner of your room or another room entirely. Sit with the intention of being present to yourself for a few precious minutes.

out into the world—even if you sit for just a total of five minutes—you will likely find that your day is naturally more productive and less stressful. The more you cultivate mindfulness through a regular practice of mediation, the more you will be able to focus on what needs to get done in the moment while finding enjoyment and fulfillment in your actions and experiences.

#7.

Mindful productivity is when our life is in balance, time devoted internally and then taking this out into our external world. The choices and actions that we take will be in alignment with our highest, and greatest ideal. This is how I endeavor to live my life, and I find that it gives great meaning and purpose to everything I do. I wrote my book The Practice because it is one of my greatest wishes that we all learn to develop an inner knowing that life actually does unfold perfectly—maybe just not in the order we expect.

#8.

The practice of “waking up and stopping” gives us the opportunity to live our days more productively as well as in a more loving and compassionate manner. What better way is there to live Read Online! our magnificent lives?

#6. Find a position that is comfortable for

you, settle in, and take a few deep breaths. Again, if thoughts come, allow them to drift away and turn your attention inward to access the still place inside you. Continue to breath. Sit quietly for five minutes or longer, resisting the urge to get up. When you’ve “checked in” with yourself and your meditation is over, thank yourself for setting aside this time to just “be.” Whatever challenges you face in the day ahead, know that the opportunity to live another day on this earth is a precious gift. Go about your day with the mindfulness that you are in alignment—body, mind, and heart. When these aspects of yourself are in sync, your actions will be in tune with your goals for the day. While not everything will unfold as planned, be assured that you are doing your best by being present to yourself, to the people in your life, and to the situations that arise. This process of “wake up and stop” can last for as long or short as you would like. In my book, there are no rules for how long you need to meditate to get the benefits. When you carry your experience with you

Barb Schmidt – Barb Schmidt is an international lecturer, life coach and author of “The Practice.” Barb is founder of Peaceful Mind Peaceful World, designed to promote dialogue in the greater community on the topic of inner peace by incorporating workshops and weekly teachings with Barb and many of her esteemed mentors, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Dr. Jane Goodall, Dr. Andrew Weil, and many others. Barb is also the founder of Peaceful Mind Peaceful Life, a non-profit organization through which she teaches The Practice, and is her tool for spreading her belief that “outer peace begins with inner peace.” Learn more at www.peacefulmindpeacefullife.org.

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HONORING MY

Inner Priestess A Journey of Trust

BY MARYELLEN DE VINE

here is a part of me that I call my “Inner Priestess.” This is the part of me that is wise and powerful, yet also loving and compassionate. She has a good balance of the Sacred Feminine and the Sacred Masculine: knowing when to be active and productive, and when to be receptive and allowing. She is very connected to Spirit and to all of nature. She knows the importance of joy and of self-care. This part of me has been growing stronger and more present in my day-to-day life. I feel she is my “soul-self ”, wanting to take more of the lead. Like so many of us, I do still have those times when some other part of me tries to take control (the perfectionist in me, or the wounded Inner Child, or the stressed out, busy “mom-preneur”, for example).

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I have had so many amazing experiences that some people might think are just coincidences. Or they might rationalize the experience with some logical explanation. I choose to see the everyday magic and miracles happening around me. The more I do this, the more that shows up. Some show up as lovely, simple things: a hummingbird stopping right in front of me, hovering and looking right at me, or seeing the same series of numbers (“angel numbers”) over and over again. The numbers let me know that my angels are giving me a message, such as “You’re on the right track” or “We are helping you with this”.

Other Magical Experiences Have Been: When driving with my children on a mountain road, my gas tank was almost empty and there were no gas stations for miles. I called to the angels, asking my boys to do the same, and when I looked at the gas gauge, there was now enough to get us to a gas station. My Priestess self KNEW that our angels helped us; that magic and miracles were happening. My “muggle” self later wondered about logical explanations, but my inner knowing was stronger.

Life is so rich and wonderful when I live as my authentic soul-self; my Priestess-self. W hile vacationing one summer, our family was taken out on a boat with a guide for some whale watching. I feel that whales and dolphins are such beautiful and amazing beings, and I was so excited! I sent love from my heart to the whales, letting them know that I would be so honored to see them. I sensed that we would indeed find some whales, so I sent more love and thanks to the whales. We finally saw some quite a bit away, spraying water from their spouts. My heart was so excited! One of the whales started swimming in our direction, coming closer and closer to our boat. When it was directly in front of us, it jumped up and out of the water! Our excited guide said he’d never before seen one breach like that. The whale swam back and forth in front of our little boat, and a couple times turned and waved a fin at us. It was so amazing to look into his eye as he did this; we were definitely connecting to each other. My husband asked me, “What is he doing?” because he knew something special was going on, but also nervous about this huge whale next to our tiny boat with our children onboard. My Priestess self tuned in to my whale friend and heard that he was honoring me back. Soon, he left to join the other whales. Oh, what an amazing, heart-bursting experience!

WISDOM & SELF-GROWTH

Life is so rich and wonderful when I live as my authentic soul-self; my Priestess-self. I then can trust in my deep knowings. I see the beauty in all things. I have faith in Spirit and the Divine plan, and believe in magic and miracles.

A couple years ago I took myself on a working retreat at the ocean. I found some fears were coming up around stepping out in a bigger way with my work, so I started doing some clearing and releasing work on myself that I do with clients. I was using my “Angelic EFT” tapping process as I gazed out at the ocean. Soon, Spirit, my angels and nature stepped in to assist. A line of birds started flying across the ocean, more and more and more of them. As I tapped and watched them, I sensed that they were helping me: allowing me to place upon their backs all that I wished to release. These birds started landing upon the water and there were now hundreds of birds sitting in a group in front of me, letting me know that there are so many people out there just waiting for me. I was guided through a visualization process of letting my Inner Priestess expand out through my entire being: seeing and feeling her power and bigness. I was shown the gown she wore as well as her “bigger shoes” that I was to step into. I put my physical feet into these etheric shoes and walked around my hotel room in them. They felt a little big and I was a little wobbly, but all I needed was some time to get used to them. (Such a powerful message about stepping more into my Priestess self and a bigger aspect of my work!) Soon, the huge group of birds started flying in a line again, but this time going the opposite direction in front of me; feeling like they were now bringing gifts to me: things that I needed and wanted. When the visualization and process felt complete, I physically felt taller and stronger. It was such a gift! And I knew in that moment that I was to take other women through this same process for embodying their Inner Priestess.

I feel it is important to keep some of our childlike wonder alive, trust that Spirit showers us with gifts, honor the sacred in every moment, and acknowledge and show gratitude for the magical experiences that are part of our everyday lives. Don’t let the logical “muggle” part of you persuade you that something was only a coincidence or it was just wishful thinking. Wishful thinking is the gateway to magic and miracles! However, there are those times when life brings challenges and I get pulled out of my Priestess state. I worry, get stressed, and get overwhelmed. But I have to remember that we are “spiritual beings having a human experience”. And soon my Priestess self comes forward again and helps me through the rough times. She helps me see the humor in the situation, or to trust the deeper healing in the situation, or to access my inner wisdom about steps to take or how to view the situation. I have visualized my Inner Priestess standing tall on a hill, with me standing right next to her. We have not become one yet, but I trust in the process and know that we are close to it. So, I invite you to allow your Inner Priestess to come forward more and more in your everyday life. Trust her; honor her. And you will be on your way to becoming one with her, living a life filled with Read magic and miracles. Online!

Maryellen De Vine – Maryellen is a wife, mother of three, and Coach/Teacher/Angel Therapy Practitioner® who understands the challenges of being a busy woman and soul-centered entrepreneur. She has created the “Sacred Success in Business” and “Replenish Your Spirit” programs, blending her gifts and tools, such as Angelic EFT and creativity. www.AngelicJourneys.com

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Goddess-Themed Thong? BY CATHLEEN O’CONNOR

ave you noticed lately that everywhere you look there are goddessthemed products, books, events and even underwear? As I sit here in my goddessthemed thong (try getting that image out of your head!) busily writing, I can’t help but think that this emphasis on modern women as goddesses is a little misguided. The Divine Feminine – that essence in every woman of wisdom, light and empowerment – is the counter-balance so needed in our world to the Divine Masculine. I know that using the archetypes of the goddesses is an accessible path to the Divine Feminine but I’m not sure the goddesses are the best examples for us modern-day women as we struggle with issues of overwhelming ‘to-do’ lists, care-taking others and carving out time for the dreams nearest and dearest to our hearts. Let’s think for a moment about the goddesses and whether or not we would really want to step into those lofty stilettos.

WISDOM & SELF-GROWTH

NOW WHERE DID I PUT MY

Would you really like to embrace Pele, the volcano goddess of Hawaii renown for her passion, power and (I’m guessing here) her ability to spew molten lava on anyone who did her wrong? Maybe you see yourself more in the mold of Athena, goddess of war – clearly an empowered goddess who knew how to take care of herself. Did you know that she was also the goddess of that most contentious battleground, domestic crafts? And that she sprang forth from the forehead of Zeus, the big kahuna of the Greek gods? So, here we have woman as an idea of the male. Hmmm – something feels vaguely familiar about that!

Perhaps it’s not these aspects of the goddesses that you are drawn to. After all, together as women we have climbed corporate ladders, made big dents in the glass ceiling (if not yet having shattered it completely) and brought our collective earning power to bear with everything from real estate to clothes to car buying to business travel. Surely, we should be treated with the vaulted status of those who have fought the gender wars. Surely we have earned our places on the deity pedestals next to the big boys.

Maybe you should emulate Diana, the huntress. She was confident, clever, and not only could kill the bacon but bring it home and fry it up in a pan. She also was endowed, at her own request, with perpetual virginity and demanded the same of her followers under pain of death. She proved that old saying that misery really does love company!

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As Australian writer and humorist, Kathy Lette says, “Women want to be treated as equals not sequels.” So before you align yourself too closely with the goddesses of old, realize that this trend is just a new phase of a long-standing tradition

of unearned worship, formerly reserved for the male of the species.

The modern lure of the goddesses speaks to the part of each woman that secretly longs to be adored, pampered and loved unconditionally. That is why most of our goddess products and celebrations are less about the true divine feminine and more about the luxury of scented soaps, sparkling bling and designer bags in which to carry all of the stuff we accumulate as goddesses with disposable income. The modern lure of the goddess speaks to women who have learned the necessity of giving to themselves rather than waiting for someone else to come along and leave precious gifts at the altars of their hearts. And yet, real pleasure comes from the ability to truly and genuinely receive – whether from each other or from the universe. And that brings me to my own particular devotion to a goddess who I feel deserves our true allegiance. I’m sure you remember the story of Lady Godiva who may or may not have ridden naked through the streets of Coventry to protest her husband’s unfair taxing policies. She was a real woman, even if the story is fiction, living in real times of long ago whose inspiration lives on in ways large and small. It is her modern-day form as the icon for that most delectable of delicacies that I feel is most noteworthy. Today’s Godiva in all her forms (dark, bittersweet, milk, white, caramel) was and is purely about pleasure, something I think we all need to embrace as true goddesses. In each tiny immeasurably perfect bite of heavenly chocolate we find a

TREATED AS EQUALS NOT SEQUELS.” – Kathy Lette wealth of wisdom about life and our place as women. Just imagine – each little shape is unique, complete and whole. Each holds a depth of flavor and complexity in its soft center. Each is a sparkling gem which delights all the senses – touch, taste, aroma, sight and even hearing as the wrapping crackles in anticipation of the pleasures within. Now imagine that you, in whatever shape you find yourself, are unique, complete and whole; that you hold a depth of flavor and complexity in your beautiful, wondrous heart; that you, too, are a sparkling gem which delights the senses of all with whom you come in contact. Imagine that your very existence is a source of glorious joy to the universe and to everyone you meet. The gods and goddesses of old spent most of their time plotting against one another, battling for supremacy and dispensing cruel and unjust punishments on the mere mortals who dared displease them. In those great myths we embrace the wisdom of the human spirit with all its glories and flaws. But it is as mere mortals that we possess the keys to lives of pleasure, love, purpose, expression and sensual delight. And it is as women that we possess the sought-after treasure to truly transform ourselves and the world.

WISDOM & SELF-GROWTH

The real issue isn’t in how others treat us but in how we treat ourselves.

“WOMEN WANT TO BE

life. Knowing those borders means that you can give yourself the time and priority to live your life on purpose and give your gifts and talents to the world.

e time that th ll a ’ g in o ‘d “It is not in minine power. fe r u o y sh a le n you u d le to receive an b a g in e b in is It om within.” d is w e th to n e list ’Connor Cathleen O

So here are a few lessons to take from Goddess Godiva: • Become juicy and delectable, even with cheerios launched by sticky fingers crunched in your hair and dust bunnies under the bed! • Become impossible to resist! • Ride naked through the journeys of your heart; vulnerable but committed to your convictions.

Pedestals are wobbly perches – easy to get up on but not so easy to gracefully descend. So, off with the goddess-themed jammies! And on to the chocolates! Embrace the true call to action of the Divine Feminine – the call to receptivity – the call to holding the soul – the call to opening the heart in compassion and vulnerability. It is not in ‘doing’ all the time that you unleash your feminine power. It is in being able to receive and listen to the wisdom within. It is in knowing your deepest needs and then in giving yourself permission to get those needs met. It is in knowing that you, and only you, are responsible for your happiness and fulfillment in this life; and, more importantly, that you are not responsible for another adult’s happiness and fulfillment in

• Become that most delicious of beings – a real woman who knows herself for who she is.

Share that irreplaceable gift with others . . . and just watch what comes your way! Read Online!

Cathleen O’Connor, Ph. D. – Cathleen O’Connor, PhD, is a bestselling author, inspirational speaker and life/business mentor. Quoted as a dream expert in the Huffington Post and featured as an expert work-life-balance source in various publications she is the author of the 2014 International Bestseller, High Heels on the Hamster Wheel. Find her at www.cathleenoconnor.com .

www.AspireMAG.net | August / September 2014

Characteristics of the

Earth Angel BY SONJA GRACE

arth angels share some similar characteristics, which I have listed below. However, as a spiritual teacher and as an earth angel who sees and receives messages from the Divine, I am aware that the process involves your evolution in all areas, including the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies. Once on your path, it is vital that these characteristics are carefully nurtured and developed in the full understanding of their potential. What follows is drafted from my own experience and from the observations of others:

AUTHENTICITY:

Earth angels are authentic. They know who they are and why they are here. They have found their own voice deep within themselves. There is no mask, no facade. There is no investment in the duality.

WISDOM & SELF-GROWTH

Common

NEED TO HELP OTHERS: Earth angels share a need to be in service as a way of realizing their earth angel experience. No doubt you too recognize and empathize with the pain of others. Just standing in line in the store, I can “see” and “feel” the energy of others; I “know” what they need. Compassion and love pour from my very being, but at the same time my respect and boundaries for others remain intact, never intruding on someone but sharing my gifts with those who ask.

INTEGRITY: There are many ways to

work with energy but the sign of a true earth angel is someone with integrity. When I am called to help others I maintain a space of compassion, no matter how important or trivial the issue. I always ask that my will is aligned with the will of God and the Goddess, and that the work is done for the highest good of everyone and the highest good of the universe. I never use my gifts for gain or power, nor do I allow any pollutants, such as drugs and alcohol, to block my filters. I hold each person’s energy with love and respect. I do not converse with any astral beings, such as entities and lower astral plane demons. I only communicate with the angelic realm and with the Divine.

SENSITIVITY: What sets an earth angel apart is that all of their senses, including intuition, are constantly open, and are often felt as an energetic acceleration. Many people experience an opening of one or two of these sensory systems, but it’s only the earth angel who experiences all senses at all times. Earth angels experience telepathy, along with vivid dreams and psychic

translations of past, present, or future. They experience themselves as constantly in contact with the Divine.

HUMILITY: Humility allows earth angels

to transcend the duality, for when they are humble they no longer need to attach themselves to anything. Gandhi lived his life with total humility and showed the world his true strength, his inner peace. The humility that comes from understanding the importance of the earth and all that she gives us is something an earth angel understands. As an earth angel, several times in my life I have experienced sitting on a hillside, praying for four days, with no food or water. This experience has brought the most humility to my life.

HEALING: The gift of healing is something most earth angels are born with. Early signs in childhood show us the past life connection that inevitably brings the healing work to the forefront. The healing aspect is the most difficult for an earth angel, as it requires grounding, awareness, and selflessness. The healer is the one who understands how illness can serve us and helps others to see there is no victimization.

COMPASSION: Like Mother Teresa, earth angels understand there is no soul that gets left behind, for there is no separation between people, cultures, and religion. Compassion is the artist’s palette whose colors I work with daily as I encounter so many stories of loss, pain, and hardship across the globe.

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SENSE OF PURPOSE: Earth WISDOM & SELF-GROWTH

angels know their purpose, for it is deep within them and often discovered at a young age. Each day, I feel a deep sense of purpose. I always pray that my life is in alignment with the will of God and the Goddess, and that my work is for the highest good of everyone and the highest good of the universe.

PAST LIVES: The common

thread connecting all earth angels is their experience of past lives as healers, mystics, or visionaries. Earth angels have worked throughout history helping people all over the world. The job of an earth angel is not for the faint of heart; it is for warriors who know where they have been and what they have done.

Have you been called to serve? You might recognize the characteristics of an earth angel in yourself. You are not alone. Feeling a purpose in life is leading thousands to heed the call for a spiritual connection to Source. Prepare yourself as we embark upon the angelic universe.

LOVE: The mission statement for humanity

is to love at the deepest level of our beings. The path of the earth angel is one of service, of transcending the duality and embodying such a high vibration of love that there is no seam between this world and the spirit universe. The love I experience in my work is the foundation for all that I do as an earth angel. It is through that experience that I am able to love every person around the world equally, with as much love as I have for my own family.

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Sonja Grace - Mystic and healer Sonja has an international clientele offering spiritual processing, healing, remote viewing, channeling, past and future life therapy, animal communication, alien and entity clearing and communication with the divine. She is an author and popular speaker on a range of topics. Learn more at www.SonjaGrace.com

www.AspireMAG.net | August / September 2014

HEALTH & WELLNESS

“Health isn’t about being “perfect” with food or exercise or herbs. Health is about balancin g those things with your desires. It’s about nourishing your spirit as well as your body.” Golda Poretsky

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5 Ways to Cultivate

Self-Compassio

BY NAOMI GOODLET

Compassion is a virtue that as women, we often give away freely to others but rarely direct towards ourselves. If you can become self sufficient for your own compassion needs then internalizing your feelings can be a thing of the past. Instead you can feel fully nourished and supported without the need for anything external. Here’s 5 tips to help you cultivate self-compassion.

our Feel Y gs Feelin

2: Use

Compassion ate Self-Talk

Compassio Affirmation

5: Place Yoouurr Hand on Y Heart

Read the full article online.

l Live & Virtua

UPCOMING EVENTS

3: Use anate

4: Send Lo ve Your Pa i

CHECK OUT MORE ONLINE!

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INSPIRED LIVING GIVEAWAY: RESOURCES FOR MASTERING THE ART OF LIVING || DETAILS! Claim 80 + transformational gifts to support you on your journey

Beauty Breath

Meditation BY CINDY HEATH

Beauty is a manifestation of secret natural laws, which otherwise would have been hidden from us forever. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

he energy of the universe contains a sacred field of infinite magic power that every heartfilled intention can reach. Its potential to manifest beauty and all things sits inside the hidden vibratory waves it owns that can be awakened. Many sages, saints, and spiritual masters across the ages share their insights about this secret hidden force and guide us to go within to find it. There are secrets in our breath that can help link us to this higher energy if we can commit to breathing more consciouslyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and then the power of that breath becomes divine.

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“If there is anything divine in you, it is your breath.” – Yogi Bhajan

THE TRUTH ABOUT BEAUTY

In truth, beauty is not a commodity. We have been led astray to believe that its source is hidden in the creams, lotions, and plastic surgery society offers us —yet the greatest opportunity we have to manifest ‘real beauty’ actually sits inside the science of our own body, the universe, and the life force we breathe in. As a Kundalini Yoga teacher I have become trained in the understanding of the sacred science inside the body that is activated when we become mindful of our breath. Like a magic potion the elements of our breath unlock the hidden potential contained in every cell in the body, and then beauty and every wish can be created. But there is an art and practice to own these mysterious powers that has to be mastered before the miracles we choose can exist. Kundalini Yoga is a sacred science of the body that combines multiple energy practices with the breath such as the use of; mantras [sacred sounds or words], mudras [hand postures], body postures, eye focus, and more that sharpen our magic skills to bring forth the desires we intend, and shorten the time it takes to manifest them. I have blended a specific breath sequence with some other energy secrets I have been taught below to help you experience beauty on some deeper levels. Yogi Bhajan knew the messages in the media and marketing would hide the real

truth and block the way to cultivate our greatest beauty on a cellular level. Like all enlightened spiritual masters, he knew we would struggle to seek knowledge outside the ‘status quo’. He asks each of us to build the experience of beauty from his gift —a mantra imbued with the vibrations that create beauty and confidence for all women that can be imprinted on the soul.

A MANTRA FOR ALL WOMEN The power of the mantra below is already stamped with Yogi Bhajan’s guarantee to deliver beauty to us when we use it with great honor. The mantra is as follows…

‘I am bountiful, blissful, beautiful, bountiful, blissful, beautiful, I am.’ A mantra is scientifically designed to create a specific effect inside the body, based on the physical law that sound is energy. The energy frequency that results when we repeat the words of this special mantra will elevate you to an experience of beauty you will not forget. It is important to remember, the essence of any sound in a mantra created by an enlightened master is far greater than words in any affirmation. The wisdom in this mantra dials in the secret code to deliver the direct meaning of each word into every cell in your body. It is impossible to fail. Experience it for yourself. All that is required is your honor and commitment; these magic words, the breath practice, and meditation below will do the rest. I added a posture, mudra, and specific eye focus to the mantra and breath- sequence

in the meditation below to help expedite the delivery of beauty to your soul.

The Beauty Breath Meditation MANTRA: I am bountiful, blissful, beautiful, bountiful, blissful, beautiful I am. [repeat silently as you inhale] POSTURE: sit in easy pose [a meditative position with crossed legs], or any comfortable position. Lift your spine upwards along with the back of your neck to ensure a straight spine so your breath can flow unimpeded. EYE FOCUS: close your eyes and focus them at the third eye or brow point [the center point between both eye brows]

Beauty Breath Sequence: 1. Take a long and deep breath in

*this eye focus stimulates the pituitary and pineal glands to bring glandular balance and increase our connection to the secret power in the vibrations of the universe.

MUDRA: press the tips of your thumbs on the tips of your ring fingers while all other fingers are straight. This is called surya mudra and links the body’s energy within to the universal energy to create vitality, health, and beauty inside the body. *Once you have all of the above elements in place, add in the beauty breath sequence below…

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through the nose as you repeat the words of the mantra “I am bountiful, blissful, and beautiful, bountiful, blissful, beautiful I am.”

[inhale for 11 seconds]

• As you inhale, expand your belly first, then your ribs, then your chest all the way up to the tops of your shoulders to ensure a complete and effective breath.

SPARKLING INSIGHT: breathing in and out through the nostrils activates 2 of the 3 most important energy channels in the body that make our contact with universal energy frequencies possible.

2. After your inhale is complete, keep

this breath inside you without pressure while you visualize and feel what it would be like to be bountiful, blissful, and beautiful as this energy fills every cell in your body. [retain the breath for 11 seconds]

Commit with honor to this sacred meditation for 3, 11, or 31 minutes a day, for 40 days— and then watch beauty unfold. Be sure to have your journal ready to write down every bountiful, blissful, and beautiful transformation you are sure to experience. Writing your experiences in a journal is just another way to elevate the power of this beautiful meditation even higher—When a word becomes written it becomes manifest.

3. Next, release or exhale the breath

slowly in the opposite direction [from the tops of the shoulders, from the chest, from the ribs, and lastly from the abdomen]. As you exhale, let go of the toxins, hurt, pain, traumas, negative beliefs, unhealthy thoughts, and anything else that you no longer need as your cells refill with the vibration of beauty from the mantra. [exhale for 11 seconds]

Sat Nam

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Cindy Heath - Cindy is an R. N.[BScN],a past university teacher of Nursing, a Kundalini Yoga teacher, and the mother of six beautiful daughters. Cindy combines 25 years of medical insight to trail-blaze a sacred path for women to uncover their ‘energy being’ so they can create magic and miracles in daily life. Download your free sparkling heart and waterfall meditation to begin unlocking the secrets inside you! www.RealBeautiful.ca

“The ener gy of the u niverse contains a sacred field of infinite magic pow er that eve ry heartfilled inten tion can re ach.” Cindy H eath

12 EMOTIONAL EATING Strategies to Combat

BY JULIE DANILUK

at Enough

Calorie-restricted diets are proven to fail. Eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Plan to have healthy snacks throughout the day. This is important, as skipping nutritious foods may make you feel uncontrollably hungry! Here are some words of wisdom from my friend Kris Carr: “If eating healthy feels

like deprivation, lean into it. Do it because you want to feel good. Do it because you love your life. Do it because you want more energy. If smoking and drinking and eating fast food is what you do for fun, know that it is not real fun, it is covering up sadness.” I promise that if you embrace healthy eating for more than 60 days, your taste buds will change and you will start to fall in love with real food.

Eat Protein with Every Main Meal Protein has the ability to release satiety hormones faster than fat or carbohydrates and causes you to feel fuller while eating less. A study published in Nutrition & Metabolism indicates that increasing your protein intake to 30 percent can reduce total caloric daily intake by up to 450 calories. Michael F. Roizen, M.D., writes, “Drinking 2

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glasses of water and eating 1 oz of nuts or seeds [equivalent to 2 tbsp hemp seeds or 12 almonds] when you’re hungry between meals can extinguish cravings by changing your body chemistry and controlling hunger hormones.”

Learn to Recognize Your Hunger Before you automatically pop something into your mouth, rate your hunger on a scale of one to five, with one being ravenous and five being full. Make an effort to avoid going long enough without food to become ravenous. Also, avoid eating when you’re at four or five.

Pray for Consciousness Thich Nhat Hanh, one of the best-known and most respected Zen masters in the world, often talks about a craving being like a crying baby who is trying to draw our attention. When the baby cries, the mother cradles the baby to try to calm it right away. By acknowledging and embracing our cravings through a few breaths, we can stop ourselves from going on autopilot and reaching out for the cookie or the bag of chips. Without talking, smell your food for one minute before eating. Look at it closely. Notice the color and texture of the food or how the steam rises from it. Look at your food as though you are seeing it for the very first time. Try saying a version of this conscious prayer: “I offer up my heartfelt gratitude for this meal and this day. Thanks to the farmers

who created it and the cook who prepared it. I ask that any pain or negativity be removed this food. I ask that this food be filled with love and healing energy. Let me absorb what I need and easily let go of the rest.” Now take a mouthful of food, put your fork down, and chew patiently. It’s not easy, but try to slow down. Taste and savor each bite, aiming for 25 to 30 chews per mouthful. If you master the art of eating slowly, you will eat less food and absorb more nutrients, and your body will thank you.

Hypnosis for Stubborn Cravings I have found incredible results with hypnosis. My hypnotherapist, Josie Driver, explains: “Hypnotherapy can help with food cravings and attaining health goals. It can effectively assist with helping to change old patterns of how we view food, lifestyle habits, and ourselves. Sometimes, we have blocks to our conscious desires because somewhere in our subconscious mind is a very old program from childhood, we have a belief system about our bodies and what we are capable of physically doing, how and when we ‘use’ food, et cetera. The core of motivation, success, or self-sabotage is our subconscious beliefs. Hypnotherapy allows us to place suggestions in the subconscious mind that can allow more healthy patterns to develop, replacing old, unhealthy patterns and beliefs that stop us from having the health and life that we want.”

When you focus on what is bothering you while stimulating certain acupressure points, you send a calming signal to the amygdala part of your brain that is firing that “fight or flight” response. You are literally communicating with your brain, letting it know that it is safe to relax.

Drink Up Between Meals Try

non-caffeinated

herbal tea, fruit-flavored water, or cup of broth. There are several drinks on the market with no caffeine or sugar—buy a lot of all different kinds—and keep it on hand. Before you have a snack, drink 8 ounces of your favorite drink, then decide if you’re really still hungry.

Tap Your Troubles Away Sometimes it’s hard to get over our anxiety or upset and stay conscious about what we are eating. In those situations, the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), also known as “Tapping,” is an incredible tool. We become so dependent on food to help us feel relaxed and comforted that even the thought of letting go of that dependency can make us panic. How can we feel comforted and relieve stress without using food? When you find yourself with a strong impulse to overeat, it’s time to take a deep breath and take a close look at the stress that’s triggering your cravings. EFT is a great stress-relief technique that helps lower anxiety and the craving itself.

Find Alternatives to Eating Prepare a list of activities that are appealing and accessible to you. Go for a walk, listen to nostalgic music (anything that brings you back to a happy time), take a hot shower or bath, clean your house, surf the Internet, schedule outstanding appointments, clean your purse, organize your closet, or look through a photo album. One of the most relaxing and detoxifying activities you can add to your program is infrared sauna therapy. Studies show it reduces heavy metals while combating stress. Look for a reputable company that uses sustainable wood, ceramic plates, nontoxic finishes, and stainless steel. The simple act of watching TV encourages mindless snacking. You’re sitting there watching your favorite show, and every 10

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minutes, pictures of unhealthy comfort foods flash in front of your eyes. It’s no wonder we snack while we watch! Find something you can do with your hands when enjoying your favorite show: paint your toenails (with nontoxic nail polish), take up knitting, do a puzzle, sew, or perform a light stretching workout. I find that recording a show and fast-forwarding the commercials while stretching or doing light exercise reduces nighttime eating.

Keep a Food Journal Logging your food intake will help to identify your toughest time frames. Consider sharing your food journal with a friend via e-mail or text. It will make you accountable, and you’ll be less apt to reach for unnecessary food.

Get Enough Sleep Research shows that sleep deprivation can increase hunger by decreasing levels of leptin, the appetiteregulating hormone that signals fullness. Most snacking happens late at night. If you go to bed early, you automatically stop eating earlier. With those extra hours of sleep, you’ll have more energy and more resolve to fight off the urge to grab foods for comfort. If you struggle to fall asleep, consider yogic meditation.

Move to Heal A Chinese proverb says, “Walk five hundred steps after every meal.” It’s good advice! By moving, you will start to burn some of the calories as fuel and take the pressure off the digestive tract. Daily exercise relieves stress and puts you in a positive mindset, which provides greater strength to pass

on unhealthy fare. In the post-workout window of time, carbohydrates are stored as glycogen, so even if you do cave to temptation, it will have far less impact.

Let Go of Guilt Next time you find yourself eating something that does not line up with your health goals, take one step back and two steps forward and, before you know it, you’re dancing! The most important thing you can do is to stop beating yourself up and let go of the guilt about your food choices or lack of motivation to get moving. When we replace negative self-talk with an empowering context, we have the strength and self-love to shift the “death drive” into a “life drive” and cultivate juicy vitality! I am sending you off with confidence, energy, and determination to begin this awesome journey. © 2014. Julie Daniluk. Adapted with permission from Slimming Meals That Heal. Hay House Publishing.

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Julie Daniluk, R.H.N. - Julie hosts The Healthy Gourmet on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) in Canada, a reality cooking show that looks at the ongoing battle between taste and nutrition. Her first best-selling book, Meals That Heal Inflammation, advises on allergy-free foods that both taste great and assist the body in the healing process. Julie has appeared on The Dr. Oz Show, and is a resident expert for The Marilyn Denis Show and Reader’s Digest. Check out more amazing recipes, nutrition tips, and her AntiInflammatory Quick Start Program at www.juliedaniluk.com and follow her on www.Facebook.com/JulieDanilukNutrition and Twitter @juliedaniluk.

Surrendering to the

PATH of the

Soul BY SASKIA RÖELL

was out of my mind and miracles happened. It’s 10:00 p.m. when I peek through the bedroom curtains. I look at the snowcapped trees gently swaying in the wind. I admire their willingness to bend without resistance. Snowflakes twinkle in the air and smile at me. The sky looks magical with her brightly shining stars. The time has come to birth my fifth child. When the first wave sweeps over my body, I take a deep breath. I surrender and let go of my thoughts. I allow birthing to begin. I don’t push to achieve, but listen to my body to receive. My body’s innate wisdom is age-old.

I watch the snowflakes play in the air while I hold onto the window ledge. I let my hips sway with ease, like the trees outside. I look at my big belly and sense in awe as my body performs a miracle. I completely surrender to my body. My mind is turned off and my body is in control. I have no fear. Contractions and resistance belong to another world. I feel no pain, only a rush of excitement that takes me to the top of the waves. I ride them as they come and go. I feel empowered and free. I tell my child that I don’t want labor, but birth. If he’s ready, then I am, too. I reach deep within and let him go. I sing him into the world and with my bare hands I receive my son. At 10:20 p.m. my son Gideon is born.

www.AspireMAG.net | August / September 2014

A Year Later

Who could have guessed that those whispers of my Soul would lead our family of seven to leave the life in Holland that we dearly loved? Without jobs, with little money and no contacts, and with five kids who don’t speak a word of English, we leave Holland. “You must be out of your minds,” people say. As we cross the ocean, our plane is literally on fire. I wonder why God would let our journey end on the bottom of the ocean. I panic as I look around at my kids, who can’t swim. And then, slowly, I surrender to the bigger plan. On July 6, 2001, we land safely in America, the land of our dreams.

Then Tom says these simple words: “Pain is resistance. Pain is contraction.” His words hit me like a punch in the stomach. In that subtle moment, my life changes forever. I get it. I remember the births of my five children and how we followed our dream and came to America. Why were they so easy? I realize that surrender was the key. And surrender is the key now, again. Instead of pushing to achieve, I have to let go and listen to my heart so I can receive.

A Few Years Later My head is pounding and my body is in pain. Sweat drips off my forehead as my mind contracts. I feel so uncomfortable and alone. I look at all the experienced writers around me and ask myself why I came to this writer’s workshop. Coming here feels like a kamikaze action, like I must have signed up to I die. Tom, the workshop leader, instructs us to write as fast as we can and then count our

HEALTH & WELLNESS

It’s April 2000 when I hear my Soul’s voice loud and clear: “It’s time to leave,” she whispers. I walk to the window of our house in Holland and my gut contracts as I see again the cramped way we live our lives. Our yard is no bigger than a postage stamp, or so it feels. My Soul longs for endless fields of nothingness, just space. I want to float in the air and touch the sky with the tip of my toes. Suddenly, I feel so alive. Yes, my Soul’s wisdom is age-old.

words. “You need to write at least 1200 to 2000 words per hour – otherwise, you write from the left side of your brain,” he says. It’s easy to understand that I’m writing from the wrong side of my brain when I count and I’ve written only 927 words. I feel everyone’s pity. I have to admit that, for the first time in my life, I’m in the wrong place at the wrong time. My headache gets worse. My inner dialogue is loud and disturbing.

I put pen to paper and I’m unstoppable. My mind is silent as I ride the most magnificent wave. The wisdom of my heart is age-old. Twenty-two days later, my book, A Suitcase Full of Faith, is born. In my Soul’s journeys, I’ve learned to be out of my mind because the path of the Soul is not the path of the mind. Birthing a child or a huge dream or a book requires surrender. A trust in the Soul.

Today, my passion is to teach women the joy of listening within, and the adventure it brings to leap into their purpose and live their wildest dreams. I’ve been there.

With a leap,

THERE Becomes

Here

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Saskia Röell - As a Soul Purpose Success Coach, Fertility Coach, bestselling author, co-author with Jack Canfield, Stephan Covey and Deepak Chopra, energy healer, speaker, and mother of five, Saskia Röell successfully helps people to birth their biggest dreams and brings their Soul purpose alive. Claim Saskia’s free gift “Monday Morning Soul Card Readings” at www.BreakthroughMiracles.com.

www.AspireMAG.net | August / September 2014

THE

Wise Woman Way HEALTH & WELLNESS

Listening to the of Inner

VOICE

Wisdom BY SUSUN WEED

hat is the voice of inner wisdom? Can you hear it? Does it speak to you? Does it come to you in your dreams? Does it manifest through coincidence and synchronicity? I believe that there is are many voices of wisdom within us. Each of the voices inside our skulls has its own wisdom. Wisdom is not a self-driving car on a super highway with rest stops and lots of explanatory signs. Wisdom is a old stick-shift on a winding one-lane country road. It demands our full attention at all times: Is that a deer in the trees about to leap into the road? Is the bridge over the river washed out? There are

signs, but they are subtle and sometimes difficult to read. And maps are of little help, fo all ways lead to where you want to go. There are no wrong ways. Over the next few days, see if you can identify some of the voices of wisdom that live within you. Listen for the voice of your mother (or childhood survival figure if she was absent), the voice of your mate/consort (real or imagined), the voice/s of your child/ren (real or imagined), the voice of anxiety, the voice of the victim, the voice of self-pity, the voice of abandon, the voice of your inner child, the voice of your wild woman, the voice of cooperation, the voice of forgiveness, the voice of revenge, the voice that sings, the voice that grieves, the voice of rage, the voice of ecstasy, the stubborn voice, the quiet voice, and the raucous voice. Intermingled with the voices, you may hear a drone, or a hum, the vibration of the All, the wisdom from “within the within the within.” This voice is often the only one that is deemed to be wise. But it has little information for us about how to manipulate the physical world, how to thrive in a world of conflicts.

We want to be able to hear from the full council of our wisdom. We wish to nourish all aspects of ourselves in the Wise Woman Tradition. But we do not have to pay equal attention to each. We can choose to be more or less attentive to any of the voices of wisdom. Which of these voices informs the way you perceive yourself as a woman? Which of them encourage you to reach for your full potential and which limit you? Remember when you were young and had parties with your toys? You can do that with the voices in your head to a party; you can invite them to a party, a council meeting, pow-wow, a reunion, a gathering of some sort. Invite them over for dinner. Invite them for an intimate evening alone with you. Topic of discussion: The voices that tell me what it is to be a woman and how I am allowed to act as woman, and how I must be seen to be a woman. Our mother is our first guide to being a woman. “We look at the world through our mother’s eyes,” a wise woman confided in me. Become aware of her voice in your mind. Become aware of her when she speaks in

www.AspireMAG.net | August / September 2014

you and through you. Not her, herself, but the “her” you have created inside yourself. How do you allow her to inspire you? In what ways are you grateful for her support you as a woman? We want our mother’s voice at the banquet, but not always at the head of the table. Mentors/Ancestors show us the way to be a woman and a human being. Do you hear the voices of your grandmothers, aunts, and teachers? Those special people who have influenced you deeply? Who are they? Mentors jostle us out of our normative ruts of thoughts and beliefs. Ancestors shake us up and demand that we challenge ourselves. Invite these voices to your party by having a conversation with one or more of your mentors/Ancestors, by phone or in person. Put pictures of women important to you in various places around where you live. Leave plenty of room at the table for them. People we don’t know, such as performers in the arts and sports, even everyday workers at stores, can become voices in our heads and be part of our inner wisdom council, too. By modeling and revealing

Our party is almost complete. Just one more guest: The Emotional Body. There is no stronger inner wisdom than the wisdom of the body. The Emotional Body creates and unleashes hormones and electrical discharges throughout the brain, heart and gut. The Emotional Body remembers the deep past as well as your personal past. The Emotional Body can imagine your probable future and move toward it. It takes some skill and some practice to make use of the wisdom of the Emotional Body, but it is worth the effort. Not only does the Emotional Body tell

the truth, respecting it improves our health and longevity. The voice of the Emotional Body has a deep physical/psychic wisdom that helps us stay in synch with ourselves so we experience abundant health. You are a woman of wisdom. You are a woman of many facets. Let yourself gleam; let yourself shine. Trust your inner wisdom, and its many voices. Read Online!

Susun Weed – An internationally renowned herbalist, author, and director of the Wise Woman Center in New York. She is a revered voice of the Wise Woman Tradition,

where

women’s bodies and women’s

emotions

are valued. Susun is a founding grandmother of the herbal renaissance and the originator of the concept of complementary medicine. www.SusunWeed.com

“You are a w You are a w oman of wisdom. oman of m any facets. Let yourse lf gleam; le t yourself shine. Trus t your inne r wisdom, and its ma ny voices.” Susun W eed

HEALTH & WELLNESS

what it is to be a woman, friends and acquaintances leave an impression on us. The more varied our experiences, the deeper our wisdom, and the freer our expression of ourself as a woman. To expand your wisdom, widen your circle of friends. Visit other cultures, in reality or virtually. Read about other women and their lives. Share time and food with women whose lives are different. Invite diversity to your dinner party and enjoy a fresh look at wisdom.

RELATIONSHIPS

“Giving a gift that we all have

access to –the gift of love- is perhaps the most magnificent of all.” Kristine Carlson

ad Re ne! li On

Creating Meaningful Family Time

BY MARGARTE PAUL, PH. D.

There is so much joy, learning, growth, and new perspectives available to us when we begin to really slow down, be more present, and fully show up to and for our family members. As you spend more time together as a family, you’ll be amazed by all the good that’s right there in front of you. Maybe family time at your house is less than ideal. You may have gotten stuck in a pattern of arguing, retreating to separate rooms, and checking out by plugging into media, or maybe one parent is frequently gone, so just gathering can be a feat unto itself?! Where to start? With baby steps and a lot of self-compassion. Just keep it simple, begin — and acknowledge — where you are, and build from there. Consider the following ideas for creating meaningful connections with your family. Read the article online.

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TRANSFORMING

Relationship

Your

Transforming Your Relationship: YOUR GREATEST POWER IS YOUR

Femininity BY STACEY MARTINO

our greatest power is your femininity. Ironically, somehow our femininity got lost along our journey to empowerment. The experience that we have of a woman who is truly in her feminine is called “feminine radiance.” When a man experiences a woman’s feminine radiance, he is captivated and magnetized to her, like a moth to a flame. Unlike what most women think, true femininity is not weakness. Femininity comes from a willingness to be vulnerable. And anyone who is vulnerably open will tell you that it takes a hell of a lot more strength to BE open (feminine) then it does to protect yourself and close up (masculine).

www.AspireMAG.net | August / September 2014

Unfortunately, in today’s society it is quite rare to experience a woman who is authentically open in her feminine radiance.

RELATIONSHIPS

Out of our need to adapt, provide for ourselves and our families, decades ago women started entering the workforce. And I don’t know about you, but when I entered corporate America, I very quickly got the message….

“Leave your emotions at home” “Leave your family (problems) at home” “This is a place of business, it’s not emotional” “You need to stay sharp, be strong, and focus” “Get it done, show results, produce, produce, produce” All masculine directives; no room for feminine there. So, what did we do? Women excel at adapting for our survival. We got really good at wearing our masculine mask and using our masculine tools….at work. Perhaps like many women, each time you experience disappointment, heart ache, sadness, loneliness, frustration…you reach for your masculine mask and masculine tools to feel “less hurt.” And your masculine mask and tools that you get so rewarded for at work start to seep into your “personal” life.

That was the experience that I had, back when I was known as the Ice Princess! Luckily for me, life had a plan for me. I had an experience that broke me out of my masculine mask and allowed me to open to my feminine radiance for a moment, enough to get a taste of it. It took me about a YEAR to find my feminine energy and figure out how to cultivate it and find the power in it. As I did, I began to see that I was not the only woman who was stuck in her masculine and disconnected from her feminine. In fact, I feel that it is an epidemic in today’s

Feminine energy is your openness. And your FLAVOR of femininity is when your openness meets your authenticity. 57

oxygen for him)….that’s when our masculine abilities have run amuck and are hurting us more than helping us. So, what is femininity and how do you access yours? I’ve studied this for years now. I spent more than a year trying to FIND my feminine energy and have dedicated myself for years to cultivating it and teaching others. Here is what I have found to be true.

Femininity is OPENNESS. That’s all it is. Your femininity is your level of openness. It’s not about your “sexuality”, your “prettiness”, your “hair” or your “makeup.” It’s entirely about your energy. If you want to understand your femininity level, just ask yourself one question…”How open are you?”

society. Finding feminine role models is very rare, and we are not teaching our girls to be feminine. As women, we have evolved to provide for ourselves, empower ourselves, lead ourselves and do and have anything a man can be, do or have. And that’s all fantastic… except when it runs amuck. Empowered is great, freedom is a must…. but independence in spite of men, refusing to allow anyone else to provide for you out of fear that it will be taken away, providing for yourself to the point that there is no room for him to provide for you (when providing is like

Where is your center of gravity on a daily basis? On a zero to ten scale, how open are you? That’s your level of feminine energy. And it’s not cemented in stone; it can change in an instant. Feminine energy is your openness. And your FLAVOR of femininity is when your openness meets your authenticity. Your authentic femininity has a flavor unique to YOU. You can’t model my flavor of feminine energy or anyone else’s. By definition, in order for you to open to your feminine radiance, it has to be authentic for YOU. It must be YOURS. That’s why I say it has nothing to do with your hair, your clothes or your makeup. Femininity is not a tight skirt or a color of lipstick. Femininity is your openness, expressed through your authentic self!

www.AspireMAG.net | August / September 2014

I experience this daily. Of course, from Paul, my husband, who clears a path for me daily and charges through life to make all my dreams, wants and desires come true.

And that is what a man feels in a woman…her openness!

But it goes beyond Paul.

Women don’t give men enough credit. A man who is rooted in his mature masculine energy can feel a woman’s openness a mile away. As my husband Paul says, he can see a woman across a parking lot in a down coat and a hat and know immediately if she is in her feminine or her masculine…he can feel it. Men have a radar for a woman’s openness. He may not have the vocabulary to call it that, but he can feel if she is open or closed. Some men refer to it as being able to feel if she can be “made happy” or not. If she is OPEN to him, he can feel it. If she is closed to him by withdrawing, punishing, closed or unable to be made happy, he can feel that too.

From my 10 year old son, to the guy on the train who offers to put my bag in the overhead for me, to the men that I collaborate with in business, I am fully in my feminine radiance in their presence, I allow them to serve me and I appreciate and cherish them for it because I know my appreciation is their oxygen and it brings out their best and most authentic selves. I have experiences with men all the time where I truly appreciate a man for his service for me, whatever the situation. I get to see the LIGHT in a man’s face as he takes in my appreciation. I can FEEL in that moment that in his life, he is starving for a woman

When a mature masculine man is in the presence of a woman in her feminine radiance, he is called forward to serve her. He can’t help it. It’s how he is wired. If this has not been your experience of men, then I ask you, how open are you in that moment (zero to ten)? When a women is completely open to a man, able to be made happy, and willing to be vulnerable, with positive intention for men in her heart, men are called forth to serve her. That is her greatest power. Her vulnerability. But in the beginning it takes courage to be vulnerable and open, that’s why it’s so rare. Women have tremendous power, but it’s not in their masculine energy…. it’s when they truly embrace their feminine energy.

RELATIONSHIPS

In fact, you cannot be your most authentic self as a woman, unless you are living in your feminine. Being anything other than OPEN in your feminine radiance is not authentic.

to appreciate his service. Many men are surrounded by women who are withholding, punishing and closing off from them. For these men, experiencing a woman’s appreciation and openness, is like finding water in the dessert. I don’t smile at men and appreciate them to “get what I want.” I do it because it is magnificent to experience a man in his masculine, doing the right thing out of integrity, honor and service. I smile and appreciate him out of enjoyment. It just so happens that the result is typically that men can’t do enough for me. In life and in business. Men are called to serve a woman in her feminine. And I have experienced that to be true every day of my life, since I stepped into my feminine radiance and opened.

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Stacey Martino - Stacey Martino helps people who feel stuck, frustrated and helpless with the challenges of intimate relationship. Through strategic private coaching, programs and events for her Relationship Transformation System™, individuals learn to use her proven strategies and tools to create an unshakable love and unleashed passion that lasts a lifetime. Stacey firmly believes that it does NOT take two to tango, that one person can significantly shift the dynamics of the relationship. Trained and certified by Tony Robbins and Cloe Madanes, Stacey is a certified marriage educator and divorce preventionist. Stacey is a sought-after relationship expert appearing on numerous media outlets and telesummits. Download our free audio program “How to Transform Your Relationship in Eight Steps” and begin creating your magnificent relationship today!

Femininity IS your greatest power.

Embrace it! “Your fem ininity is yo ur level of openne ss. It’s not about your “sexuality” , your “pre ttiness”, your “hair ” or your “ makeup.” It’s entirely about your energy.” Stacey

Martin

www.AspireMAG.net | August / September 2014

YOU DESERVE TO PUT

RELATIONSHIPS

Yourself AT THE Front OF THE LINE

BY SHANN VANDER LEEK

he most important relationship in this lifetime is the one that we create, nurture and experience with ourselves. We can be the best wives, mothers, friends, employees, volunteers and entrepreneurs when we put ourselves at the front of the line. With that being said, far too many women believe that we are here to serve others and in doing so, often abandon ourselves. We may think our own needs don’t need to be met because we are unworthy or believe there is no time to care for ourselves. Perhaps our mothers and grandmothers modeled a behavior where self-care may as well have been a foreign language.

Do you ever catch yourself saying one day I will take a yoga class, or one day I will learn to paint, or one day I will book a massage? Pay attention to your ‘one day’ and ‘if only I had time’ comments. These are telltale signs of how you can best care for yourself. Your body wants to move and play. Your spirit craves spaciousness and adventure. Your mind loves to imagine. If you are not paying attention, the universe may hit you over the head with a cosmic two by four if you stifle your needs or halt moving forward with your ‘one day’ dreams and interests. There is no time to wait. There is no guarantee that one day will happen.

Self-awareness is the first step to claim what you really want and need; not what your children, employer or partners need. Self-awareness is about claiming your voice and stepping into your power as a worthy recipient of the life you wish to create for yourself. When our mind, body and soul are out of alignment, we can often feel tired, sick, sluggish, bored and even depressed. We can even learn to accept suffering and negative self talk as a normal way of living. ‘I could never afford to…’ ’I guess this is good enough’ or ‘I’ll do something for myself in the future.’ This line of thinking is not acceptable. If any of this resonates with you, please understand that you deserve better. Thankfully, there is a shift happening. Women are in the throes of discovering their true voice and feminine power. This is an exciting time to claim and embody our feminine sovereignty. Perhaps the very first time to get to know ourselves. One

of the reasons I love to write for Aspire and blog at Transformation Goddess is to share transformational stories of women who have learned to walk in beauty with the strength and courage of claiming their feminine sovereignty. Often an a-ha moment of awareness is preceded by a significant obstacle, challenge or dark night of the soul. This is where the courage piece comes in. This was the case for me and for many of the women I mentor and interview for the Divine Feminine Spotlight series. The common thread for each of us is that the obstacles we face open the door to significant conscious break throughs. As soon as we face our fears and get clear about what we really want, we can inspect our relationship to Self and determine how we’d like to foster a healthier connection in the days to come. Through self-awareness we discover magical treasures. I’ve learned that I love to paint, belly dance and capture images with my camera. I’ve learned to say no, and I’ve

www.AspireMAG.net | August / September 2014

also learned that it’s okay to say nothing. My ego no longer has anything to prove. I’ve learned that joyfulness and peacefulness are what I wish to experience. Do you know yourself? Do you remember what you love? Do you know what makes you feel electric joy? Being mindful of our internal self-talk is one of the most effective ways to improve compassionate self-care. How are you talking to yourself? What are the inner critics, tyrants and gremlins saying to you? Are you listening? Are you talking back? Often when I meet with new clients, negative or self deprecating language is the first thing I notice in their communication style. Our first exercise is monitoring self-talk which helps them take note of how many times they degrade themselves, are mean to themselves, along with how many times they say things like; ‘I’m such an idiot’, or ‘I’m so stupid’, or ‘I’m too fat’, etc. The exciting part of this exercise is that as soon as you start to bust yourself making these negative statements you will become more mindful of the pattern and call it as such when you hear your inner tyrant flare up. You can improve

the way that you care for yourself when you choose to edit and nullify unconscious inner commentary. As an added bonus you can assist your friends, family and children with the same exercise. If you have a loved one who is being really hard on herself, you can teach her that these harsh thoughts are not the truth. The truth is that we are human. We are perfect just as we are and that we are loved no matter what. Certainly we can say things we regret. We have all made mistakes and will continue to make them. Even on the days that we make our most destructive choices, we are still a sacred and holy being. Self-awareness and supportive self-talk are part of compassionate self-care. As a loving self-care guide, I enjoy showing women how they can put themselves at the front of the line before everyone and everything else. Self-care is often confused with being selfish. One of my dreams is to break this chain of unsupportive misinformation. Not caring for ourselves doesn’t serve anyone. We need to laugh and dance and sing. We deserve to enjoy healthy food, supportive friendships and careers that we enjoy. Today we can start a new self-care routine and pay it forward by showing our daughters, sisters and friends how they can better care for themselves. You can easily add self-care into your life today. Your first step is to include one compassionate action each day. This way there’s no need to feel overwhelmed about not having time for yourself. Your one thing doesn’t have to be monumental. You might choose a short walk, make time for a bath or drink an extra glass of water. Self-care can begin to take hold when you understand that no matter what you’ve learned (or think you know) up until this moment, you are worthy of so much more. Give yourself permission to RECEIVE.

RELATIONSHIPS

BEING MINDFUL OF OUR INTERNAL SELFTALK IS ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAYS TO IMPROVE COMPASSIONATE SELF-CARE.

Quick Transformational Tips To Help You Put Yourself at The Front of The Line:

at least one activity within the next week and the rest before the end of the August. You can make self-care a priority by scheduling your self-care activities on your calendar BEFORE everything else! I’ve been doing this for years and it really makes a difference.

I invite you to take a deep breath and exhale before each exercise.

sk your Higher Self the question, A what does my mind, body and soul want me to know right now? You may wish to journal your answer or simply sit with what comes up for you. If nothing comes up for you now, sit with this question for as long as you need to and the answer will eventually bubble up to the surface.

ake note of your self-talk for the T next 24 hours. Monitor the tyrants in your head and catch yourself when negative comments or harsh judgements plow through your mind. All you have to do is notice these unconscious patterns of dialogue and remember that these statements are not true and most likely don’t belong to you. I find it helpful to ask “who is that speaking or where did that thought come from?” I can often can trace the negative thread to an unsupportive person, cruel comment from childhood or something I heard a parent say.

3 64

I dentify the top three personal self-care experiences you desire. They might be as simple as a haircut, lunch with a friend, or a day at the beach. Now schedule

The most important relationship we experience in this lifetime is the one that we nurture with ourselves. Take action now and receive the gift of intuitive self-awareness, positive self-talk and compassionate selfcare. Know that you are loved and worthy of compassionate self-care.

Read Online!

Shann Vander Leek - Transformation Goddess, Shann Vander Leek is a delightfully curious force of nature. She is the founder of True Balance International and cofounder of Anxiety Slayer. She blogs at Transformation Goddess and mentors women experiencing lifealtering transition with her signature coaching system, podcasts, books and digital programs. Shann teaches compassionate self-care and sacred feminine ritual to women who want to reclaim their divine feminine sovereignty. Claim access to Shann’s Transformation Goddess audio series to awaken the Goddess within at www.transformationgoddess.com.

www.AspireMAG.net | August / September 2014

CAREER/ BUSINESS

“Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start think ing of yourself as a success.” Joyce Brothers ad Re ne! li On

ess: Doing Business Like a Godd Let Go to Grow

BY ELIZABETH PURVIS

One of the key concepts for doing business like a Goddess is you must let go to grow. Every once in a while I’ll have a conversation with a client that goes something like this: “I have a clear picture of what I’m going for, and I’ve been taking all the action. I’m overwhelmed, tired and it’s still not happening fast enough. What gives?” We’ve all been there. Here’s my answer: “What can you let go of?” If you find yourself in any version of “stuck” – be it with something you’re manifesting, something you want to shift, an old trigger that comes up again and again, or not getting the results you want in your business – there is SOMETHING you’re holding onto. It might be: The Need for Approval

Clothes

Clutter

ips Relationsh You’ve Outgrown

Untrue Ideas or Assumptions

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Read the article online.

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LIVING the

Goddess Lifestyle HOW OWNING MY AUTHENTIC TRUTH

Helped Connect Me to My

Feminine Truth

& Success! Outrageous

BY LISA MARIE ROSATI

remember back a few years ago when I first started working an online business model, it was a very exciting but confusing time. Like many women who decide to make a go of an online business model doing their soul work, I began to subscribe to every free newsletter that interested me – which ended up being many, many, and even more! Go ahead; admit it… you did that too. Well, before I knew it, I had an inbox full of everyone’s stuff and found myself swirling in even more CONFUSION and OVERWHELM…

Who did I help? How did I help? What was MY authentic message?

www.AspireMAG.net | August / September 2014

Monkey Mind… Inner Critic… Inner Bitch… Noise… all the same thing. The looping thought pattern of secondguessing myself kept me stuck most of the time… and if that wasn’t paralyzing enough I knew deep down inside that I wasn’t being completely authentic with my marketing message (and by the way the name of my first website was called Create Authentic Relationships!). I put a lot of time, energy and money into that website, I wrote an awesome eBook for my free gift, the website design was fabulous and chic looking and my blog posts were informative and helpful but… there was something missing. The missing piece was my spiritual self –

my truth.

I was separating a big part of who I was from my work. As a matter of fact… I’ll go as far as to say that my spiritual beliefs make up who I am, it’s how I operate in the world - I walk a spiritual path. I’m a Magical Practitioner and have been for my entire adult life. I live and breathe magic, I think and talk magically, I view the world through a magical lens… and ALL OF THAT YUMMY MAGIC was of my own accord, being consciously separated and hidden from the place I was conducting my soul work from.

Talk about incongruent… I really should have known better and thinking back, I probably did… but I was so

The missing piece was my spiritual self – my truth. I was separating a big part of who I was from my work.

HEALTH & WELLNESS

It felt impossible to hear my Inner Goddess whispering above the noise that surrounded me on a daily basis. I would spark what I thought was a great idea and my immediate next thought would be… “Well _______ does it another way, so maybe I should rethink this.”

afraid. I was afraid that if I put up a website and proclaimed, “I’m a Goddess and so are you” that the entire world would fall over laughing at me! My ego simply would NOT allow that, so I kept it to myself for the first two years until one day during a mentoring session, it all came pouring out of me in the shape of an epic meltdown. I could no longer hide my truth, feeling totally exhausted and drained I came to the realization that my ego had to step down and I had to go for it. I had finally arrived at a place of acceptance… I accepted the fact that if people were going to laugh at me it would be less painful than continuing to live an inauthentic life. I believe with every cell in my body that I am a Goddess and that I’m divine in my very nature. I know that magic exists and it works, and I know that getting into Universal flow is the quickest way for a woman to create ease, grace, abundance and joy in her life.

I couldn’t keep that a secret any longer; I absolutely had to share it. Like I said before, it became too painful for me to continue denying my magic professionally… so I had to consider a rebrand; a costly rebrand that would basically put me back the entire two years I’d been working to build my original brand in the first place AND the money… oye vey! I needed a brand new website, new graphics, new blog posts, new marketing message, everything – the whole enchilada. Me not having the courage to come out into the world the first time standing in my authentic truth cost me a lot; a lot of time and a lot of money.

It was a life lesson I will never forget. I rebranded as The Goddess Lifestyle Plan. And exactly as Universal Law dictates… the moment I made a full body “YES” decision

that I was coming out of the Goddess closet loud and proud”, the Universe began aligning everything, it all fell into place! My marketing message is in perfect alignment with my soul purpose… as a matter of fact it makes my heart smile every time I say it. Here it is:

My soul work is empowering spiritual women to magically create an abundant life and business. Yup… that’s my truth! I LOVE my soul work and I love the fact that I can spend my days serving women in the most powerful and authentic of ways. Stepping out into the world naked is a scary thing, I totally get it… but I have found that anything worth having usually scares the shit out of me!

Sp ea tru k th you i n r in l ife you r b an d usi nes s.

www.AspireMAG.net | August / September 2014

ie Rosati Lisa Mar

So be it! Since stepping into my brilliance as a Magical Life & Business Mentor and Transformation Catalyst my business has grown exponentially… I’m proud to say that I have a thriving global brand. One of my favorite magical laws is that once you send a clear intention out to the Universe, the Universe will help you to manifest it. This is the same concept with your peeps (community and paying clients)… once you allow your authentic self to shine out from within you, the Universe connects you with the perfect people who need you… and then the abundance starts to flow in. I’ve gotten so comfortable with being ME that I decided to launch an extension of my Goddess Lifestyle Plan brand called Sugar Free Goddess where I help women kick their carb and sugar addiction, lose weight and obtain optimal health. You see being a carb-a-holic is my truth and after

I hope you’ve enjoyed the story of my journey. The take away of this story

is to be yourself, completely and utterly YOU, in all of your uniqueness, quirky-ness and all that it means to be YOU… Speak your truth in life and in your business. Work on being congruent so that you mean what you say and say what you mean. If you follow that formula, infinite success and prosperity will flow right to you… as if by magic.

And so it is. Read Online!

Passionista Lisa Marie Rosati – Passionista and Visionary Lisa Marie Rosati is a renowned Inner Goddess Catalyst for women, Creatrix of The Goddess Lifestyle Plan + Sugar Free Goddess, co-author of the international best selling book – “Embracing Your Authentic Self.” Lisa mentors women around the world on how to become a Modern Day Goddess by consciously designing how to get their health back, balance their feminine and masculine energies, ignite the fire within their souls and live a luscious goddess life filled with sacred practice, passion, radiant health, entrepreneurial success and prosperity.

HEALTH & WELLNESS

are in “When you mind, r u o y f o l contro boss of e h t e r a you leasure, p h c u m how e abundanc , e v o l , e c pea u’ll have in o y y jo d n a your life.”

many years of struggle, I figured out a way to have my cake and be healthy too… so I decided to share my methodology with the world and it’s been helping women worldwide!

TENDING YOUR

Entrepreneurial Ecosystem BY JENNIFER LEE

hen I first started my business in 2003, I didn’t truly acknowledge that I was indeed in business. I was just a creative person who liked to coach people and who liked to make art. I was simply following my passions and helping people. I didn’t think of myself as an entrepreneur, especially since I was doing all of that on the side while I continued to climb the corporate ladder. But when I finally took the leap from my day job in 2006, I knew I had to start taking my business more seriously. Now that I’ve been in business for more than a decade, I’ve seen my business mature into a system that needs to be consciously tended to and cared for in order to continue thriving.

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YOUR ENTREPRENURIAL ECOSYSTEM For this exercise we’ll use the fun visual metaphor of a flower — which you’ll turn into a doodle — to help you assess some of the key pieces that go into your business success.

What you’ll need: • A large blank piece of paper • Colorful markers, crayons, or pencils

Big Vision Your business probably stems from something you’re really excited about bringing into the world. And I imagine that, as a creative entrepreneur, you have a big vision of where you want to take your business. In the top right-hand corner of the paper, jot down a few notes about the big vision of your business. This is the limitless, blue-sky thinking that right-brainers are known for. Let yourself dream big. • Where do you see yourself and your business heading? What does success look like to you?

If you’d like to add some images, include a few collage elements in the background. But don’t go overboard, because you’ll be drawing other elements on most of the paper.

Core Message Now, draw a circle in the top center of the paper. This is the center of your flower. Inside the circle, write a brief description of what you’re taking a stand for in your business. This is the core message that your business is based on. Think of it as the irresistible nectar that attracts your honeybees (a.k.a. your right people). Don’t worry if you’re not able to fully articulate your core message yet; we’ll cover this in greater depth in the next chapter. So for now, just to get you started, here are a few prompts to help you fill in the center of your flower. • What are you taking a stand for in your business? • What impact do you want to make with your work? • What are you passionate about, and how are you helping people?

Inspired Actions Next draw some petals around the center of your flower. In each of the petals write one of the actions you’re taking to move closer to your big vision. For this particular exercise, your list of actions doesn’t need to be exhaustive or superdetailed. Just highlight either the main activities you focus your time and energy on in your business, or the key tasks of the current

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Your creative business, too, is a living and breathing entity, and it needs TLC to blossom and prosper. Whether you’re fairly new to your business, or you’ve been at your work for a while, it’s helpful to take a step back and check in — to assess the overall health of your Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, especially if you want sustained success. So let’s take a look at where your business is right now and identify what’s needed for your business to fully bloom.

projects you’re working on. I call them inspired actions because you want the activities to be aligned with your values and big vision, not simply things you think you “should” be doing.

Moola Goal Now get your green marker and draw two vertical lines to make the stem of your flower. Inside the stem, write in your overall moola goal for the year. This is the gross income you want to make before expenses. We’ll go into moola-making in more depth — right now we’re simply doing an initial pass to get some numbers on paper, so don’t stress about it. Just use your gut instinct, and know that you can always come back and revise this later.

What You Offer At this point you have the basic elements of your flower, including the center of the flower (your core message), the petals (the actions you’re taking to support the Big Vision), and the stem (your moola goal for the year). Next, you’re going to draw leaves on your stem. For every product or service you offer, draw a leaf and write in a description of it and the estimated income you can earn from it. You can put existing products or services on the left side of the stem and planned ones on the right side. Do the leaves add up to the moola goal on your stem? If not, what adjustments can you make to what you’re offering? Are there leaves you can trim off that are not serving you?

The Sun In the top left-hand corner of your paper, draw a sun. The sun represents expert guidance and support. Its radiant beams shine light on new opportunities or potential blind spots. Inside the sun, write the names of the luminaries you surround yourself with. These can include your mentors, teachers, and role models, as well as trusted advisors who provide you with their expert guidance. If your sun is blank, begin building relationships with mentors who can show you the ropes, or start working with teachers whose message resonates with you. Successful entrepreneurs have access to experienced professionals in their circle who help them identify areas of growth, and who can illuminate a path through the dark patches. Sure, you may be able to figure these issues out on your own, but most likely it would take more time and effort to fumble through them alone than to figure them out while standing on the shoulders of giants.

The Soil Near the bottom of your doodle, make sure you include some soil. The soil provides much-needed nutrients to your flower. The soil is enriched with the information, knowledge, and resources needed to grow your business. Do you have the skills required to take your business to the next level? Are you familiar with the trends affecting your industry or your clients? Do you have access to data to help you make

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The Roots Draw some roots from the flower stem into the earth. The roots represent your core values. Your values are what provide meaning to your work and are what your business is grounded in. These are the things that are most important to you and that you can’t live without. On each root, write a core value or related string of core values. How are these values showing up in your business (and your life)? Are you making decisions based on your core values or based on external “shoulds”? When your business is deeply rooted by your core values, it can withstand even the harshest storms. If your core values are not strongly represented in your business, these fragile roots will make it difficult for your business to stay grounded and be resilient during challenging times.

The Watering Can Next, draw a watering can (and please, remember this isn’t about being artistic!). The watering can symbolizes the emotional support that helps keep your flower strong and vibrant. We all know what happens when a flower doesn’t get enough water, right? It shrivels up. On the watering can, write the names of the people in your life who provide you with emotional support. This support could

be in the form of encouragement, a shoulder to cry on, an empathetic ear. These people are the first ones you call when you have some good news to announce, your nurture huddle (a group of supportive cohorts), and other people you can turn to for trusted feedback who are willing to tell you the hard truth. If your watering can is running low, make time to cultivate connections with kindred spirits and develop these important friendships.

The Honeybees Remember what you wrote in your core message in the middle of the flower? That core message is the nectar that attracts your honeybees. The honeybees are the fans and customers who are drawn to your work and who help to spread the word about you by carrying your message. Do you have a sense of who the honeybees are that you attract? Are you attracting a whole swarm of your right peeps or just a few influential ones who can help put you on the map? Are you getting the kind of engagement you want? Feel free to draw in any other elements that make up your Entrepreneurial Ecosystem.

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educated decisions? If not, how can you fortify your foundation with valuable and helpful information and resources? You don’t need to overload yourself. Instead, find the right amount of information to keep the nutrients in the soil in balance.

Assess Your Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

“Transferr ing your pa ssion to your job is far easier t han findin a job that h g appens to match your passio n.”

Now take a step back from your Entrepreneurial Ecosystem sketch and reflect on the following questions. • Are you clear about what goes in the center of your Business Flower? Why you are doing what you’re doing? If you’re not certain, pay special attention to the next chapter, about articulating your core message. • Do you have empty petals on your flower? That means you probably need to take additional concrete, doable, and value-added actions to help you move forward. If you’re not sure what actions to take, at the end of each chapter you can refer to the left-brain checklist for ideas. Make sure, though, that the actions are aligned with your big vision, and that they are related to making moola in some form. • If you notice that you’re missing leaves on your stem, and you’re not sure how to reach the moola goal on your stem, start brainstorming about some leaves you can add to fill the gaps and increase your moola-making ability. In chapter 5 we will cover crafting the way you offer your products or services, but it’s helpful to start thinking about this now, even at a high level. • Lacking enough water, sunshine, or soil to support your flower’s growth? The final chapter will show you some strategies for sustaining your success, including ways to get the support you need in order to thrive. These are the ongoing practices that will help you tend the garden of your Entrepreneurial Ecosystem.

Seth Go din

Even if your flower needs more petals, leaves, sun, or water, the cool thing is that now you have a sense of what to tend to in your Entrepreneurial Ecosystem so that you can create sustainable success for your business. And it’s good to check once in a while to see if weeds are choking off your flower. What unwanted extras are getting in the way of your growth? Excerpted from the book Building Your Business the Right-Brain Way: Sustainable Success for the Creative Entrepreneur. Copyright © 2014 by Jennifer Lee. Reprinted with permission from New World Library. www.NewWorldLibrary.com

Read Online!

Jennifer Lee - Jennifer is the founder of Artizen Coaching and the bestselling author of The Right-Brain Business Plan, which has helped tens of thousands of entrepreneurs around the world launch their creative businesses. Before pursuing her own passions full-time, she consulted for ten years for Fortune 500 companies such as Gap Inc., Accenture, and HP, helping leaders and organizations manage change. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, and her website is www.RightBrainBusinessPlan.com .

www.AspireMAG.net | August / September 2014

BUSINESS GROWTH BY LISA MICHAELS spiritual gifts that I’ve applied to everything in my life. During my high priestess initiation, the entire Elemental Forces of Creation body of knowledge was divinely downloaded to me and I’ve been teaching about it through products and programs ever since.

hen I first heard the word priestess, I actually had no idea what it was or how it functioned in the world. Even though I had been integrating the feminine in my spirituality for years and actively seeking women’s traditions, I hadn’t been exposed to the priestess archetype and initially thought it was a little scary sounding. But it turned out to be profound. Activating the priestess archetype within opened my inner wisdom and brought new

As women today seek ways to own and fully embody their feminine power, they discover that connecting to the ancient archetype of the priestess awakens the source of Divine Feminine wisdom within. Priestesses learn to channel for Divine energy, which increases their inner guidance, wisdom, and self-confidence. Priestesses learn how to bring energy into form so it flows in every aspect of their lives and businesses.   I know from experience the inner spiritual principles priestesses use can be directed toward growing a business. I’ve intensely studied spirituality for over 35 years and been an entrepreneur for most of my life, and I can honestly say becoming a priestess was the best thing I’ve ever done for my business.  The priestess archetype is naturally connected to the elemental creation

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Priestess tools to Accelerate Your

Awakening and activating your inner priestess will align you with the source of Divine and increase your capacity to consciously direct the creation of your life and business. energies and helps me more fully channel the sacred into any creative form. The gift of the priestess has helped me draw upon a richer relationship to the Divine. I now use the elemental creation energies and channel the sacred in everything I do. I use the tools of creation and my priestess skills in every aspect of my business, from determining what programs to create, what books and products to produce, and assisting those I work with in private sessions and trainings.

HERE ARE 7 PRIESTESS TOOLS I USE REGULARLY THAT CAN ASSIST YOU:

Call your clients forth on the inner first. Use this inner magic tool to call the unseen into form. Sit in a meditativelike state. Consider what you do and how you help people in the world. Now, call in those you can help with your products and services. Imagine your clients showing up and participating in your programs. Deeply imprint on your inner sub-conscious mind the outer world results you want to experience.

Hold the vibration of the highest outcome. Your emotional water magnetizes your desires to you. You

must hold the vibration of the result you choose in order to create within your feeling center. Be careful about seeing what’s present externally for you now as the truth of what you can create. Hold the feelings of a successful outcome. Priestesses learn how to set and hold their vibrational tone in order to live a life of meaning, joy and passion that aligns goals with values. This leads to consciously creating a business from a place of meaning and intention.

Flow clear, clean, and current emotions. Don’t allow your past emotions to put out your business fire. Clear any old feelings about the results you had from previous business experiences. Clear self-doubt and fear anytime they threaten to pull you under and extinguish the passion you need to take action in your business. Priestesses understand energetic patterns and the clearing of energy. In my work as an author, speaker and coach, I encounter so many women (and men) who are stuck. And I know how that is. I’ve been there too. And, yes, I sometimes still get stuck. The difference now, though, is I understand how to release old blocked emotions, thoughts, and energies that kept me bogged down in repeating patterns around money, sexuality, relationships, leadership, and self-esteem.

Call in sacred space and connect to the Divine and the forces of creation at the start of each work day and before you connect with your clients. Here is a simple prayer you can use.

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creation journal helps your inner attract exactly what you want.

I call on the element of Earth to assist me in taking grounded step-by-step actions that produce results (you can insert a specific result).

I call on the element of Water to help me feel emotionally supported as I go through my day. I call on the element of Air to guide me in focusing on the highest income-producing priority (or any result you need that day). I call on the element of Fire to energize me to take actions that bring my creations into form and increase my visibility in the marketplace.   I align with grace and ease. I open to receive.  With deep gratitude, thank you for my abundant blessings, and so it is.”

Practice setting your business numbers and holding your frequency to bring them into reality. Consistently increase how much you can energetically hold. Use a creation journal to play with numbers. Write down bold goals and time frames. Practice holding your increased income numbers. When you utilize intention in every aspect of your financial life, your results improve dramatically.

Align on the inner with what you need first. Call on what’s needed in any given situation. Call on your inner guidance before you write an article, give a speech, or begin a program. Use your creation journal as part of your inner alignment process. The act of collaging, writing, noodling ideas and drawing in a

Consistently connect with the source of Divine Feminine wisdom within. Internally, the priestess connects you to the source of the Divine Feminine, strengthening and nourishing your feminine essence. Ask the God/dess to support you in fully owning and standing in your feminine leadership power. She will help you express your deep feminine nature in sacred right relationship to your inner masculine. This is another form of balance women seek. Instead of the masculine within overpowering your inner feminine, priestess energy teaches you how to work in co-creative harmony. This makes it easier to bring forth any creation in life and business.   Awakening and activating your inner priestess will align you with the source of Divine and increase your capacity to consciously direct the creation of your life and business. Today more than ever we need more women in business connected to the sacred and the natural world while fully embodying their feminine essence and standing in their power. This feminine force will move into the world, helping to improve our collective sustainability and the lives of women, children, and men Read Online! everywhere.  Lisa Michaels - Author Lisa Michaels teaches conscious alignment with nature to help visionary women dynamically increase their intuition and creation abilities. Lisa Michaels has been helping women activate the priestess within and discover how to own their feminine power for the last 15 years. Her process attracts women from all over the globe in an online community. Learn to live a life of joy and passion that aligns your goals with your values and leads you to consciously create your life and business with meaning and intention. Download your free creation starter kit on http://lisa-michaels.com today.

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“Great spirit, I ask the Divine to flow through my life and business today.

ROCK YOUR

FeminineType Business TO ROCK YOUR

BY JOY BALMA

ou are the leading lady of your life. You play yourself in this role, and you’ve been playing her for as long as you can remember. In fact, she was well established by the time you were in grade school, and she is probably running your business right now! It is important that you know all about this leading lady role of yours—your Feminine Type. Take a look at the brief description below. Which Feminine Type sounds like you the majority of the time?

The Loyal SWEETHEART is the

reigning queen of nice, but she doesn’t wear a fancy crown or put on airs. She’s really the girl next door— simple, humble and a little shy. She doesn’t try to impress anyone or be someone she’s not. She has a calm, nonjudgmental presence that allows people to relax and just be themselves. She has an astonishing ability to put her own needs aside and be there for the needs of others.

The Nurturing SAINT

is gifted at making people feel comfortable and, of course, nurtured. Her presence alone can be healing. She is the archetypal mother of the Feminine Types. It fills her heart with

www.AspireMAG.net | August / September 2014

The Responsible EXCELLENCE

GIRL leaps over the

mundane matters of everyday life in search of her utopian ideals. She wants to refine herself and the world. Her attention to detail gives her eagle eyes to see what is inefficient, ineffective or unbalanced. She can also see what is exquisite, beautiful and balanced. Congratulations, you’re a knowledgeable

GODDESS GEEK! You’re super smart! Everyone wants your skills and they clamor for your services. They can’t live without you. You are intellectual, logical and analytical. While all women are intelligent in their own way, what sets the GODDESS GEEK apart is her expertise. Her knowledge base is stunning. She is a Google unto herself. Pink hair one day, a new tattoo the next and then she tells you she is moving to France.

The

MUSE

creative

can be a different person every time you see her. If everyone is going left, she goes right. If everyone wears plaid, she wears stripes. She likes being the purple zebra in the room. She is a trendsetter and not a trend follower. Her innovative mind can turn anything from drab to fab. Certainties are boring for the free-spirited

SEEKER. She wants to blaze a new trail. She is not satisfied living by the rule book of others. She wants to go beyond the known to explore the unknown. THE SEEKER is a passionate adventurer and born explorer—seeking is a way of life for her. She is, often, alternative in some way because she takes the road less travelled. THE SEEKER knows how to make her passion pay and her work play because she follows her bliss. The ambitious SUCCESS GIRL doesn’t shrink her dreams to fit reality— she molds reality to fit her dreams. She wants her biggest, boldest and most outrageous dreams, and she is willing to take risks to get them. Her philosophy is that

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gladness to help those in need. Give her someone that needs her and she will gladly take them on as her newest project to love, heal and fix.

more is always much better. In everything she does, she wants to rise to the top. She dislikes the idea of being ordinary, average or like everyone else. She wants to shine in the spotlight.

The bold DIVA is known for her direct,

tell-it-like-it-is attitude and voice. You never know what she is going to say. She follows The Rebel’s Handbook, which says that she can (and should) stir the pot, kick up dirt, and kick some ass if need be. She tells the truth, even if it bothers people. She has diva-tude. Which Feminine Type sounds like you? Next, find your Biz Type. Each Feminine Type has her own unique style of leadership or Biz Type. Your Biz Type represents an area of your business where you have extraordinary skills. When you understand your Biz Type, you can rule your business world like a queen.

HE EXCELLENCE GIRL and • TTHE GODDESS GEEK are

The Expert Biz Types. They

excel in the knowledge area of their business.

HE MUSE and THE • TSEEKER are The Creative Biz

Types. They excel in the creative area of their business.

HE SUCCESS GIRL and • TTHE DIVA are The Leader

Biz Types. They excel in the

leadership area of their business. There is nothing more important or empowering than uncovering your Feminine Type. My book, Rock Your Feminine Type to Rock Your Business, will guide you stepby-step to do just that. It will help you see yourself clearly so you can bank on your strengths and bust through your blind spots. Your business path is a powerful opportunity for self-discovery and self-mastery. All you have to do is put your foot on the yellow brick road and begin. Read Online!

There are 4 Biz Types: The Nurturer – The Expert – The Creative – The Leader

HE SAINT and THE • TSWEETHEART are The

Nurturer Biz Types. They excel in the relationship area of their business.

Joy Balma, MA, MS - Joy is the author of the bestselling book, Rock Your Feminine Type To Rock Your Business. She helps women to discover their unique signature of feminine power so they can create the business they love and the success they deserve. Receive a special gift of free downloads when you visit www.rockyourfemininetype.com.

www.AspireMAG.net | August / September 2014

@ 2014. Illustrations used with permission. Heather Davulcu. www.AprilHeatherArt.com

INSPIRED TO

Write? CAREER/BUSINESS

TAP INTO YOUR

Feminine POWER TO WRITE

BY LISA TENER

our Feminine Power is one of the most powerful tools you can use to write. Feminine Power is: • Creative like nature • Flowing like a river • Powerful as an ocean wave • Magical as a dream • Consistent as the sunrise When you tap into your feminine power, the writing can be more compelling, beautiful, easy and fun. You’ll likely enjoy the process more and the writing will likely have a stronger voice and be more authentic and moving to your readers.

Here are some ways to tap into your power when you write:

Write in Nature: Just by being outdoors and in nature, your whole body can relax and connect to all that is. Nature offers a million metaphors and inspirations—from the insects that buzz by, to the many sounds you can hear, to the vegetation around you. If you have trouble getting started on your project, just write about what you observe for five to ten minutes. Once you’ve gotten going you can switch to writing on the topic at hand.

Use the Power of Ritual:

Ritual is one of the oldest ways to tap into our feminine power. Writers often ask me how to consistently get into the space for writing to flow and I often recommend ritual. Perhaps your ritual is a walk in nature before writing. Or reading a vision statement about your book. Or maybe you say a prayer or meditate. Consistently tapping into the same ritual will give it more power over time to help you consistently get into that state of flow.

Find Your Personal Power Hour: My

private clients and bookwriting students often ask me if there’s a best time to write. Yes, there often is, but that perfect time varies from person to person. If you want to find out the best time for you, try early morning, mid morning, mid-afternoon and evening. See which seems to be your

Many people find that writing at the same time each day makes them more productive. That way, your creative mind and muse get in a creative groove. most creative time. For me, morning is often a great time to access my writing muse because I’m still in that creative state from sleep where it’s easy to access the power and symbols of dreams and the unconscious. Many people find that writing at the same time each day makes them more productive. That way, your creative mind and muse get in a creative groove.

Morning tends to be a powerful time to write, because the mind isn’t cluttered. You’ve just been sleeping and you’re close to that creative sleep/dream energy, full of symbolism and layered meanings. Perfect. Evening can be productive, too, if

you can put aside your concerns of the day–work, meal planning, conversations, people–and clear your mental and emotional slates for writing. Some people feel peak energy mid-day. If this describes you, go for it. What about writing in the middle of the night? A student in my Bring Your Book to Life® Program found herself waking

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As we spoke, it became clear that her jampacked days made it hard for her muse to settle down and write. She often didn’t have the time and, when she did make time to write, she felt rushed. Once she made time for her muse during the work day, set some boundaries, and took a few items off her plate, she didn’t need to wake up in the middle of the night to write her book.

Recall a Time When you Wrote in the Flow: When you recall a heightened

state , you can tap into that same state again. Remember what it was like, how it felt to write in that state. What did you see? Feel? Hear? Think?

Enough about how to tap in—now just pick one of the above ideas and do it!

Read Online!

Lisa Tener – An award-winning authority on writing and publishing books, Lisa Tener guides you to joyfully express yourself in writing. She blogs for the Huffington Post, serves on the faculty of Harvard Medical School’s publishing course, and teaches her own Award Winning Book Writing Courses in person and by interactive teleseminar. Download your free Author Tool Kit at www.LisaTener.com

“With each life lesson le arned, I became a little more of who I really wan t to be.” Mandy

Majors

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up in the middle of the night to write. She enjoyed the flow of ideas, but she paid for it the next day when she dragged herself to work. This happened several days in a row. What to do?