Guides
Passion Diva
Simplicity
MAY 2014
Content Hello Beautiful Soul! Welcome to the new and improved edition of the Passin Diva Guides! A few little changes, a great new format and a new monthly schedule. I am sure there will be a couple more tweaks as we get up and running, but I am really loving the new format! Each month we are going to be digging into a new topic and we are going to be limiting the number of articles, we want to be sure to share great value first and foremost! If you have any questions or suggestions for future topics or would like to be an featured expert, please contact me at info@sacredearthpartners.com. Thanks for reading and we hope you enjoy!
3 Living Feng Shui Create a home for your body and for your soul.
5 Living Simply The virtues of living simply are countless.
7 Simplicity We are wonderfully made beings.
12 Simple Living Can You Get By With Less?
18 Peaceful Simplicity lorem Endus imint de susapicia bea atiis si nullec.
20 Simplicity 10 ‘soul awaken’ tips to get you started.
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“Knowledge is a process of piling up facts; wisdom lies in their simplification.� ~ Martin H. Fischer
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Feng Shui Your home is speaking to you.
Create a home for your body, and for your soul
Mia Staysko Calgary Feng Shui Consultant and Interior Designer
Living Feng Shui
As a professional Feng Shui consultant and Interior Designer, I am acutely aware of the impact that stuff has on us. Things that are cherished, beautiful and evoke gratitude generally have a positive effect. These items connect us to our highest aspirations and to the people we love. Things that are no longer desired, or that represent less than ideal life circumstances generally have the opposite effect. Too much of either, and
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we don’t just have stuff anymore, we have clutter.
start to bug us, but we deal with it regularly.
I have a particular definition of clutter and make a distinction between clutter and mess. Life is messy.
Clutter, on the other hand, is different. Clutter is all the stuff that we don’t know what to do with. Clutter makes us feel bad and its effects can be felt in the body.
Mess is the stuff that we use or need daily. It helps us to get on in life. It is the kids’ homework, the bills, the groceries and dishes. Mess moves. It is made up of stuff that’s useful, and it is cyclical. We are constantly making it and cleaning it up. It might
You know you are dealing with clutter when you feel that tightening in your stomach as you walk past it. You shield your eyes and try to put it out of your mind. You feel guilty for having bought all this
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Passion Diva Guides Don’t impulse buy. Even if you really want it, leave it for at least 2 days. If you still can’t live without it, then buy it, maybe. •Leaving space in your spaces tells the Universe that you have room to receive! Make room, good things will happen. Surrounding ourselves with beauty inspires us and I do believe it is important. But for my money discernment is the key.
stuff in the first place, or for not being able to enjoy items given with good intentions but unwanted. I’ve thought a lot about stuff lately and pine for a more minimalist lifestyle. I have secret daydreams of selling it all to live debt free, deleting everything on my computer, giving it all up to live in unknown destinations. Though my circumstances would make that difficult right now, I have taken steps to reduce my
consumption and clear my own clutter and here is what I know to be true: •Organization is NOT the key. Organization fools you into thinking that having all that stuff is Ok, that as long as it looks good you can keep it. Having your stuff organized is great but once you’ve run out of shelving, boxes and storage space, you are back to square one. Purge! •Buy only that which you know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.
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Buy less, do more. Spend less on stuff and more on travel. Create less waste and more value for others. Contrary to the consumerism message that we are all bombarded with, only less can set you free! Clear out the unloved, unnecessary and unwanted from the nooks and crannies of your sacred space. Mia’s 27 day Clutter Clearing Challenge provides daily guidance and inspiration delivered straight to your inbox! http://www.whitelotusinteriors.ca/courses/
Mia’s Bio I am Mia Staysko, a Calgary Feng Shui Consultant and Interior Designer. I am also a wife, and mother of two wonderful young men (and one nutty border collie). I fuse functional contemporary design with the ancient art of Feng Shui I practice BTB Feng Shui, a contemporary and easily accessible Feng Shui for the Western mindset. A disciple of Grandmaster Professor Lin Yun, I am proud to consider myself a part of the BTB lineage. I have had the privilege of studying with amazing teachers such as James Jay, Katherine Metz, ‘Feng Shui for Dummies’ author David Kennedy, Jon Sandifer and Dr. David Lai. Mia’s Contact Info: Website: http://www.whitelotusinteriors.ca Facebook: https://www.facebook. com/whitelotusinteriors Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ miastaysko
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Virtues of Living Simply The virtues of living simply are countless. Depending on how you decide to simplify, you’ll begin to experience more joy and serenity.
Virtues of Living Simply Have you ever been so overwhelmed by your life that you wish you could just chuck it all and live a simpler existence? What’s fascinating is there are so many ways you can alter your life to make it easier for you and your family to enjoy everything that life has to offer.
Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. Buddha
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Living simply encompasses many positive qualities. Whether you quit your job as an accountant and buy your own little bed and breakfast inn or move closer to the office, sell your car and walk to work, the possibilities are
endless in terms of how you can live a simpler life. Here are some ways that living simply can benefit you: 1. You’ll save money. When you restructure your life to live more simply, it usually involves spending less money. The impact of saving m oney is great if you’ve got children who’ll be going to college. Also, the money you don’t spend due to living simply can be banked for your own retirement.
2. You’ll spend more quality time at home. When you make an effort
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Passion Diva Guides to simplify, you clear away the chaff. Eliminate activities from your schedule that don’t benefit you. Your spare time increases when you live a simpler life. 3. The things you truly enjoy will be at your fingertips. There are certain items you love and others you can clearly do without. Get rid of the items you no longer have a use for. •For example, maybe you love your iPad, books, and drawing utensils, but you no longer need your fishing poles, the trampoline, and a closet full of outdated files. •Living simply gives you quick and easy access to the things you love without having the clutter and mental baggage around you of the things that no longer benefit you.
Plus, it will leave more space for the items and activities that bring you pleasure. 4. Your surroundings will be more comfortable. As you adapt a minima-
list lifestyle, you’ll find yourself rearranging your home exactly the way you’ve always wanted. You’ll focus on comfort. A good reading light, a cushion behind your back, and a long afternoon to spend in your beloved home may be exactly what you seek to feel the comfort you’ve been lacking. 5. You’ll experience more serenity in your life. After all, when you have fewer personal belongings, there’s less to worry about, clean, and take care of. Tranquility is the end result. 6. Your children will grow up to be less focused on material goods. When you live minimally and raise your children in the same ways, they’ll learn about living a simpler lifestyle. You’ll introduce them to an easier, less frivolous way to live, grow, and prosper.
7. It’s less important to follow the crowd or keep up with the Joneses.
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As you disconnect from the hustle and bustle of going through the motions just because others do, you’ll eventually arrive at what’s actually the main elements of life for you and your family. 8. Your health will likely improve. If you simplify by buying more locally grown produce and fewer processed foods, your family’s health will improve. More fruits and vegetables and fewer canned and boxed items will reduce unwanted sodium and chemicals in your nutritional diet.
•Remember, there’ll be more time for exercise when you step away from the rat race a well.
9. Your life will revolve around your priorities. What’s important to you? When you simplify, you’ll surround yourself with things that matter to you and participate in activities that have meaning to you. The virtues of living
simply are countless. Depending on how you decide to simplify, you’ll begin to experience more joy and serenity. Cutting out the extra junk in your life will pave the way for you to live exactly the way you want, with a life that’s brimming with activities and things you love. Discover the deeper meaning and purpose of a life lived simply.
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Passion Diva Guides Are you tired of just Muddling through the Day? I was tired of Just Hanging in There too. I was ready to fight back. I decided to start getting From the Day, to learn life’s lessons and make a positive difference in my life and that of others. Learning and growing have become such an important and intricate part of my life. We are wonderfully made beings designed to be all we are created to be.
Put your oxygen mask on first”, as the greatest business psychologist, mentor, and motivator of our time, Jim Rohn stated
Simplicity: Designing Your Life Living Your Dreams
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Like most women, I found myself so busy giving to others, helping and taking care of my family that I really was not taking care of me. We wear ourselves out because we feel guilt for taking time to pamper ourselves, or do something fun or meaningful .Our lives go on unfulfilled and lacking. The problem is that you can’t keep giving when the well runs dry. You have to “Put your oxygen mask on first”, as the greatest business psychologist, mentor, and motivator of our time, Jim Rohn stated. You can’t
save or help anyone if you are real sick or dead. It is not selfish; it is an act of Love. The truth is simple; you already possess all the inner wisdom, strength, creativity, and drive you need to design your life and live your dreams. We have been led to believe that happiness comes from without, and we do get love and enrichment in our lives from relationships with others, and positive experiences. True fulfillment comes from our spirituality and our inner journey; awakening our authentic self that has been buried for so long and learning to connect to the simple things; finding the sacred in the ordinary. Some of the principles that I found for contentment and inner peace are gratitude, simplicity; finding the sacred in the ordinary, order, harmony, appreciating the beauty that surrounds us and from within us opens to an inner joy we have not known before. We can learn to love, appreciate, and accept ourselves and others.
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Passion Diva Guides Your authentic self has been waiting for you to reconnect with the real you. Listen to your inner child calling to you to learn the wonder of you, leading you to the path of wholeness. Start the journey you were destined to make. How do you start your day? It is bringing you positive input and inspiration? Have you thought about a power Hour or 15 minutes to start your day? Why not find a room or a corner of a room that you can make your sacred learning, growing space? Find a chair love seat, bench you love or explore some second hand stores to find what is just right for you. You could get the perfect fabric to recover what you already have if it is not just so for your discovery sanctuary. You want to have things that make you feel comfortable and are meaningful to you for your spot. A small table, perhaps a family picture, a small indoor fountain and calming music can add
to the atmosphere. You can let your imagination run wild. This is your special place for renewal and learning to love all of you. I read the Bible and Bible based literature, books on personal development and growth, at this time, but you may like poetry or other things that are inspirational to you. I have a gratitude journal that I use at this time and later that evening to list 5 things I am grateful for from that day. I have my daily planner where I go over the plan for the day, and that evening to review the day, finding better solutions to how things went that day. What did I learn?
The hardest experiences are the greatest opportunities for growth. Find your Authentic self with your journey within simplicity, by finding the sacred in the ordinary things you see, do, and experience. Learn life’s lessons and become all you were
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created to be. Denyse Claire Bayer Denyse (Dee) Bauer Successful Living Strategies Life/Success/Health Coach Designing Your Life, Living Your Dreams 252-838-1420 -513-4763767 Denyse’s goal is to empower and motivate people. She wants people to be able to reach their full potential and have a more positive outlook in life. Ms. Bauer tailors her services to each client and is always willing to go above and beyond for those who seek her help.
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“Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough.� ~ Charles Warner
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Passion Diva Radio on iTunes Passion Diva Radio: Wednesday’s at 10:00AM PST (60 minutes)
The intention of the show is to explore all levels of Holistic living.
Live on BlogTalkRadio: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/lorilynnsmith On iTunes at: Click Here for iTunes Page
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At Sacred Earth Partners, we believe that you can create a Lifestyle AND a Business with your passions. We believe that heart-centered, spiritually-minded,
passion-driven can successfully combine both lifestyle and business to create their perfect lives, following their passions. We explore a variety of topics so let the your ideas expand and enlighten. The Feel: Each shoe is informal, conversational,
and friendly, as if our listeners were in our living room having coffee with us. We are always looking for new and interesting people to join us, if you are interested in being an interviewee or you know someone that would be
perfect, please let us know. Email directly to info@sacredearthpartners.com
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It’s a great show. And you’re a great host. Vironika Tugaleva
Past Shows that you HAVE to listen to :-) Vague Intuition to clear Divine Guidance Special Guest: Lisa Barnett Lisa Barnett is the Founder of Akashic Knowing School of Wisdom and is an internationally recognized teacher with more than twenty years of experience in the spiritual healing forum. Through her school, Lisa shares resources to bring clarity and healing to you, by
using the ancient yet accessible Akashic guidance. Lisa accesses the healing energy of the Akasha for her clients and she will share that energy with you today. Click Here to listen Top 5 Ways to Easily Recognize Angels Special Guest: Kimberly Marooney How would your life change if you could easily recognize the ways your angels communicate with
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you? Recognizing our angels and how they guide us is one of the greatest blessings in life. Rev. Dr. Kimberly Marooney is a pioneer in the fields of Angelology and Spiritual Transformation. She has helped hundreds of thousands of people worldwide to recognize how angels are communicating personally with them!
Click here to Listen
Viewing your life holistically Special Guest: Debbie Marshall Whether you acknowledge it or not, making a change in one area of life will impact all of the other areas. Experiencing success or disappointment in on area of life will carry over to all other areas. How do we manage our life holistically, taking into account the “domino effect”? Click Here to Listen
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Simple Living: Can You Get By With Less? You can begin taking small steps toward living the simple life today.
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For many people, simplification can feel like an overwhelming task. The amount of stuff that may exist in your life may look like too much to tackle. This begs the question: Can you get by with less? Be aware that you don’t have to simplify all at once. You can take it one-step and one day at a time until you’ve conquered the mountain.
The spiritual path - is simply the journey of living our lives.
You’ll get there eventually, and you may even enjoy yourself along the way. In the end, you’ll discover that a simple life can be the most fulfilling!
Marianne Williamson
Try these strategies to help simplify
your life: 1 List your top priorities. Create a small list of the most important four or five things that you want to accomplish in your life. What are your priorities? Where do you most want to devote your attention? Keep this small list with you at all times so you never forget where you want to be. 2. Drop one of your commitments. Find a commitment that takes up your time without giving you much value. Perhaps it’s something you dread doing or simply no longer enjoy. Take action today
by dropping that commitment from your load. 3. Start with a single drawer. Choose a single drawer or shelf in your home to begin your purge with. Empty everything out of the area into a single pile; then select only the important stuff you really want to keep. Get rid of everything else, either by throwing it away or donating it. •Clean out the drawer, simplify it, and organize it, and then you have your foundation for a simpler and more organized life. Ensure that everything remai-
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think simply. 5. Free up your time. Simply put: Find at least 20 minutes each day when you can sit down and think about simplifying.
ning is put back in an orderly manner. From here, you can try another drawer or shelf. 4. Simplify daily routines. Take a look at your daily routines and to-do list. If you’re trying to fit more than 10 tasks
into your list for a day, then there are probably ways for you to simplify things. What can you eliminate, delegate, outsource, or even ignore? Shorten your list as often as you can by focusing on what really matters.
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6. Clean up your desk. A clean desk can completely change how you’re feeling, and this is a simple task to complete, as well. Clean everything off your desk, creating a pile. Process your pile from the top down, one object at a time. Deal with each item individually. File it, route it to somewhere else, note it on a list of to-do items, or trash it.
•Repeat the process until your desk is clear and your pile is empty. Complete this process at the end of every day so that your desk is always clean, organized, tidy, and most of all, simple. If you do this daily, it will take you only a few minutes each time. 7. Slow down. Stop rushing through the day and start living at a slower pace. Work on simplifying your life by doing less and living much more consciously. Walk, drive, eat, and even work more slowly. Learn how to live in the moment, to be present, and to
8. Avoid multi-tasking. Rather than multi-tasking, strive to do one thing at a time. Remove any distractions, resist the urge to check your email, and focus on one task at a time until you complete it. This will boost your productivity and reduce stress. You can begin taking small steps toward living the simple life today. Know that you can learn to get by with less than what you have, and you can live well in the process - perhaps even better than you did before!
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Passion Diva Guides realize what madness this all is.
Whatever the tasks, do them slowly with ease, in mindfulness, so not do any tasks with the goal of getting them over with. Resolve to each job in a relaxed way, with all your attention.” - Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Master
Peaceful Simplicity: How to Live a Life of Contentment Article written by Leo Babauto. Thanks for sharing!
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This fantastic quote summarizes something that I’ve been trying to focus on recently in my daily life: “Whatever the tasks, do them slowly with ease, in mindfulness, so not do any tasks with the goal of getting them over with. Resolve to each job in a relaxed way, with all your attention.”
- Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Master
In our daily lives, we often rush through tasks, trying to get them done, trying to finish as much as we can each day, speeding along in our cars to our next destination, rushing to do what we need to do there, and then leaving so that we can speed to our next destination.
Unfortunately, it’s often not until we get to our final destination that we
At the end of the day, we’re often exhausted and stressed out from the grind and the chaos and the busy-ness of the day. We don’t have time for what’s important to us, for what we really want to be doing, for spending time with loved ones, for doing things we’re passionate about.
And yet, it doesn’t have to be that way. It’s possible to live a simpler life, one where you enjoy each activity, where you are present in everything (or most things) you do, where you are content rather than rushing to finish things.
If that appeals to you, let’s take a look at some suggestions for living a simple, peaceful, content life:
What’s important. First, take a step back and think about what’s important to you. What
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Passion Diva Guides do you really want to be doing, who do you want to spend your time with, what do you want to accomplish with your work? Make a short list of 4-5 things for your life, 4-5 people you want to spend time with, 4-5 things you’d like to accomplish at work. Examine your commitments. A big part of the problem is that our lives are way too full. We can’t possibly do everything we have committed to doing, and we certainly can’t enjoy it if we’re trying to do everything. Accept that you can’t do everything, know that you want to do what’s important to you, and try to eliminate the commitments that aren’t as important. See this article for more. Do less each day. Don’t fill your day up with things to do. You will end up rushing to do them all. If you normally try (and fail) to do 7-10 things, do 3 important ones instead (with 3 more smaller items to
do if you get those three done). This will give you time to do what you need to do, and not rush. Leave space between tasks or appointments. Another mistake is trying to schedule things backto-back. This leaves no cushion in case things take longer than we planned (which they always do), and it also gives us a feeling of being rushed and stressed throughout the day. Instead, leave a goodsized gap between your appointments or tasks, allowing you to focus more on each one, and have a transition time between them. Eliminate as much as possible from your to-do list. You can’t do everything on your to-do list. Even if you could, more things will come up. As much as you can, simplify your to-do list down to the essentials. This allows you to rush less and focus more on what’s important. See this article for more. Now, slow down and enjoy every task. This is the most important tip
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in this article. Read it twice. Whatever you’re doing, whether it’s a work task or taking a shower or brushing your teeth or cooking dinner or driving to work, slow down. Try to enjoy whatever you’re doing. Try to pay attention, instead of thinking about other things. Be in the moment. This isn’t easy, as you will often forget. But find a way to remind yourself. Unless the task involves actual pain, there isn’t anything that can’t be enjoyable if you give it the proper attention. Single-task. This is kind of a mantra of mine, as I talk about how to singletask all the time. But it’s an important point for me, and for this article. Do one thing at a time, and do it well. Eat slower. This is just a more specific application of Tip #6, but it’s something we do every day, so it deserves special attention. See this article for more. Drive slower. Another application of the same principle, driving is something we do that’s of-
ten mindless and rushed. Instead, slow down and enjoy the journey. See this article for more. Eliminate stress. Find the stressors in your life, and find ways to eliminate them. See this article for more. How and why to slow down. This is such an important point, that I’m going to point you to two other articles on this: here and here. Create time for solitude. In addition to slowing down and enjoying the tasks we do, and doing less of them, it’s also important to just have some time to yourself. Read this article for more. Do nothing. Sometimes, it’s good to forget about doing things, and do nothing. Here’s more. Sprinkle simple pleasures throughout your day. Knowing what your simple pleasures are, and putting a few of them in each day, can go a long way to making life more enjoyable. Here’s a list of 75 simple pleasures. Practice being present. You can practice being in the moment at any time
during the day. Here’s how. Find inspirations. Learn from the best. Here are 5 inspirations for being in the moment. Make frugality an enjoyable thing too. Instead of delayed gratification, try enjoying life now while saving for later.
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Simplicity The Key To Happiness Simplicity is not just about removing distractions from our life where we have become over committed, but is it also about eliminating the jumble from our minds, our bodies, our home and our lifestyle.
Tidying up our life brings our mind back under control so we no longer feel out of control. Distractions That Keep Us Occupied and Confused. We live in an extremely
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busy world, there is always something going on, something to distract our attention and we fill our lives full to the brim, where we run the risk of overload and ‘overwhelm’. We can allow ourselves to become immersed in the outside world, buy into the issues, the fear, the “I must have”, and the “needs” that are created by very effective marketing, or we can choose to stay centered and focussed on our inner self and hence stay on a much more calmer, smoother pathway; and therefore keep our life effectively simple.
Have you noticed that when there is what feels like, albeit a short lull, something comes along to attract our attention, tempting our thoughts to once again focus on the external world ensuring that we don’t touch base with the inner quiet where our thoughts are clearer and which eventuate in a calmer life.
We have become so used to this way of being, hyp-
notised by it even, that we can’t bear it when we can actually hear the quiet, when there is no “noise” to fill our minds. We have become programmed to expect interference of some sort to occupy our minds and our thoughts which create outcomes in our life’s journey.
It’s Hard For Our Minds To Be Still You can imagine a scenario of constant struggle and indecision going
on in our mind... “is it quieter outside or quieter and safer inside. Where can I go to find peace and quiet?” It can feel to some, that there is no escape, nowhere to go to switch of the interference or the noise. It can be quite tiring, perhaps exhausting when wanting and needing so much to be able to find quiet. But when are lives are more simplified there is less confusion, less distraction and less external and internal noise.
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So how do we simplify our lives? Here our 10 ‘soul awaken’ tips to get you started. 1. Say no to what distracts you from your desires. 2. Say yes to what you really want in life and start creating it. 3. Be clear on your intentions. Don’t assume others know how you feel or what you want. 4. Ask a simple question like, “what makes me happy?” Then go do it. 5. Take time out to retreat within, so you begin to find inner peace and calm.
6. Listen to your inner guidance. No more excuses.
7. Honour how you feel and don’t ignore what your feelings are telling you. 8. Speak your truth you have so much to offer this world. 9. Make time for reflection, meditation and journalling. 10. Most of all, be yourself. You really do matter!
Bio Sandy Hounsell founder of Soulawaken is on a mission to clear the toxic dustbin that is holding people back from stepping forward into the vibrant, healthy joyful lives they deserve.
Sandy offers free Strategy Sessions, where she will look into your
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issues, highlight the root causes and what healing is required to dissolve those issues. You and Sandy then agree if you want to work together with healing, mentoring and guidance. Sign up for your obligation free session: http://soulawaken. com/application-form/
Get your free eBook: “My Top Tips For Living without Fear or Limitations and meditation “Opening To Love”: http://altitudewebconsole.com/soulawaken/ living-without-fear-orlimitations-free-ebook/. Over 100 tips and insights valued at $97
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