What can you say without words?

What can you say without words?

Feb 11, 2021 | Featured


What can you say without words?
By Darla LeDoux, Founder of Sourced™ and Author of the books Shift The Field and Retreat and Grow Rich

 

“I’ve been a cheerleader. I’ve been asking the questions. I can’t turn off the coach in me. But none of that was relevant. There was nothing to ask. There was nothing to say. There was nothing to do. And in those moments where there was nothing to do, nothing to say, nothing that could be communicated but love, but energy. Those were the most important conversations I’ve ever had in my life. I wasn’t trying to get anywhere. I wasn’t trying to do anything. And I wasn’t trying to make anything happen. I just wanted to be present and communicate love.”

How much can you communicate without any words?

This is what I want to speak into today, and I have a vulnerable share that I think is really going to illustrate this and be compelling for you. Bear with me. 

First, I’m Darla LeDoux, I’m the founder of Sourced™, and I’ve recently developed a new framework for thinking about how Source works through you. And it’s called Your Sourced™ Magic. There’s a quiz; you can find out about it in the comments. https://sourcedexperience.com/quiz

The reason I mention this is I have been immersing in this study in the last few years of how I can personally connect with and be guided by spirit, but also how do I bring Source into the relationships I have with my clients, with my joint venture partners, et cetera. And it’s totally changed the landscape of how I think about my business and how I do business. And yet, it’s not really an easy shift to make, to trust our energy, to trust how we show up as an expression of Source to do 90% of our work. And the actual hard work we do is a small fraction of the overall way we spend our time. And one of the ways that you can really increase this muscle of trusting that, so you can ultimately work lighter as a lightworker on this planet, is to trust that you can communicate without words.

 

Here’s my story of where I really got to experience this so potently this year – last year in 2020. It was March of 2020. I was hosting a virtual retreat—one of those retreats that was originally meant to be live. We had a venue booked, people had booked their flights to come to California and retreat with me, and just a week, week and a half prior to this retreat, I really knew that without knowing any more about the pandemic, it didn’t feel right for me to have people fly and come in. And so I had turned my retreat virtual, and my clients are amazing, and they rolled with it, and we got phenomenal results. And in fact, we’ve been getting phenomenal results with virtual retreats. If that’s something that is in your mind, definitely reach out to us, but I digress.

Here I am leading this retreat and holding the space.

And I know you know what I’m talking about because you probably do this in some way in your business too. Where you know, people are really shifting their energy, and it’s taking a lot from you for you to hold it that firm container for them. Now, the better you are at it, the easier it is. I’ve done this for more than 10 years, yet I’m there, I’m present, I’m with the clients in this experience.

 

Between day two and day three, I get a call from my mother, and my brother had OD’d, and he was in the hospital. Now, my brother is 15 years younger than me. I was 15 when he was born, which meant I was his caretaker a lot of the time. My mom worked nights, so I would take him with me to basketball practice, and I would cook dinner and all of that. My brother is just really special to me, and we’ve had this bond since he was born.

 

He’s in the hospital on life support, I’m in the middle of a retreat, and I’m in the middle of a pandemic. And so I’m contemplating, What do I do? Do I fly home? Can I do anything? And just being present with all of my emotions around this. It’s overnight during the retreat. A few hours later, I get another call that the doctors have said, “He’s not going to live.” They’ve never seen anyone come back from this. Pretty sure he’s not going to make it. And by the next morning, my mom was there in the hospital.

 

Think about this. She couldn’t visit because of COVID. She wasn’t allowed in the hospital until they basically said, “He’s not going to make it.” They let her in and had her sign the papers, do not resuscitate, and sign papers to donate his organs. This was on a weekend.

Here I am about to lead my next day of my retreat, and my brother’s dead.

He’s signed over; they’re donating his organs. My little brother, who I helped raise until I went off to college, gone. I am, as you might imagine, a hot mess. Crying and crying and inconsolable, really. But I got to get it together to come back to this retreat and to hold this space. And I was able to do that with the support of spirit because I’ve done so much of this work that I know spirit can work through me, even if I’m not at my best, which is so freeing. And also the support of my team; my lead coach, Julie, was on the call with me, and I let her know what was going on. And she took the first session of the day and gave me some space to process and be able to be present.

 

Get off the retreat, close that out, and again, I’m back to: do I fly? Do I go? Do I say goodbye? Is there a funeral? What would that look like? Is it a virtual funeral? How could we do that? All of these things coming up for me. And that was kind of where I left it. I went to bed. I’m like, there’s nothing I can do. There’s nothing I can do. And by the way, I even wrote about this in my first book.

 

This relationship with my brother has had a long history for me. He called me really despondent the first time I was about to go to a networking event for my business. That’s what I wrote about in my book. Fast forward, the first time he overdosed, I was across the world in Africa and wasn’t able to be there. I couldn’t have made it back, and I had to do again, some more processing and healing around this relationship and my role and my feeling of responsibility around him.

 

The day that I moved into what I thought was at the time, my dream house on the water, which was a vision that I had wanted to fulfill so much. The day I moved in, my brother moved into a homeless shelter. Here I am moving into my dream home, and my brother’s moving into a homeless shelter. You can start to see these ties. And now we’re in a pandemic. All these things are happening. I was about to move, by the way, during all of this. A week after that happened, about 10 days, I was scheduled to move to a new state. All of these things happen, and they’re tied.

 

Next day, day after the retreat, I’m contemplating flying, all of these things, and I get a call and my brother woke up.

He woke up.

He came back from wherever he had been. And there he was alive. Nobody could believe it. Something to do with having him iced down so they could preserve his organs somehow helped him to be able to live through this. And here he was, he was back, and he’s on a ventilator of all things in the time when there’s a shortage of ventilator. That’s a whole other story. But he literally came back to life. And celebration. But we’re left with all of these mixed emotions because here’s someone who maybe didn’t want to live, and there’s all of these people who want to live, who are being faced with their mortality. And here’s someone who, all means didn’t want to live, and he’s back to life.

 

I want to circle back to my point. And there’s so many lessons I’ve learned here, and there’s so much I’ve learned about relationship dynamics, energy dynamics, how my energy is tied to his or has been tied to his and this long history of wanting more for him, seeing the best in him, wanting more for him in a way that maybe he doesn’t want for himself. And so I’ve done a lot of healing around that and places where, with my clients, with my business, with my wife, where I’ve wanted more for someone than maybe they want for themselves.

 

But he came back. Of course, as soon as I can and get them on the phone, how are you? He’s groggy, but he’s there. He’s there. And he’s going through this recovery process and recovery process. Recovery process from all of his organs that shut down and purging off of this medication that he’d been on for his mental health, getting new medication, dealing with his addiction, all of these layers of healing that he’s needing to go through. And I’m calling and I’m checking in and I’m supporting. And one of the things that happened is in this process, his medications got all out of whack. That’s the only way I can think to explain it. As he’s coming back to life, he’s out of whack.

 

And I would call him and he really couldn’t communicate. He really couldn’t carry a train of thought. Really. And those quite honestly are some of the best conversations with him that I feel I’ve ever had.

Some of the best conversations I’ve ever had were not happening in words.

And I can still be present to that feeling and that experience. And what’s really, really interesting is kind of his whole life, because he’s struggled with addiction, obviously for a while. I’ve been a cheerleader. I’ve been asking the questions. I’ve been, can’t turn off the coach in me. But none of that was relevant. None of that was pertinent. It wasn’t going to go anywhere. There was nothing to ask. There was nothing to say. There was nothing to do. There was nothing to do.

 

And in those moments where there was nothing to do, nothing to say, nothing that could be communicated, but love, but energy. Those were the most important conversations I’ve ever had in my life. I knew without a doubt that our souls were communicating, regardless of what was actually happening in the moment. I wasn’t trying to get anywhere. I wasn’t trying to do anything. And I wasn’t trying to make anything happen. I just wanted to be present and communicate love.

 

And we might think that, oh, what a gift that I could give him this experience of love. But actually, it’s what he gave me. He gave me a bigger gift than I know he could ever imagine in those exchanges, in those moments of presence, in those moments where he chose to get on the phone, even though he couldn’t talk, even though he chose to get on the phone and just be present with me. And that was the biggest gift I could have gotten.

 

What does this have to do with you? And what does this have to do with your business and your Magic?

What if you didn’t have to say nearly as much? What if what you’re off offering was 90% about energy and 10% about words?

What if you could get out of your head a little bit and maybe be less strategic? And by the way, recovering engineer here, strategy is one of my gifts. But what if you could get out of your head and be less strategic and be more present? Be more present and be more potent energetically. What would that do? What would that do if you stopped trying to figure out if they hear this, they’ll do this. If they get this, then they’ll do this, and they’ll be this, and you just said, “What if I exchange love and I trust they’ll notice?”

 

What if I cue my Magic? One of the magics is called Compassion Magic, which is all about healing with love. What if I cue my Magic and they’ll feel it? What if I use my Magic? One of the Magics is Recognition, which has to do with picking up patterns and making connections. What if I stopped trying to explain the way I made the connections and just started being as if what I see as true? What would that do for me, energetically?

 

This is just the tip of the iceberg of this conversation. This is work we do on the mat with our clients. Because the default, doing, fixing, solving, being, hustling, those things, they want to take over, and they are intense. On the mat with our clients, we really support people in letting go of all of those things that we put in the way as a shield to look good. To sound good, to say the right thing.

 

And we let that down and we practice being present and seeing what is. Trusting. Trusting your clients to go with you. If you jump 10 steps, that they’ll get it. Because they’re the hero in their own life. There’s so many ways this manifests; it’s very, very personal. I would love to hear, where have you seen your energy communicate louder than words? Where are you caught in the doing? And the hustling and the saying and the fixing and the striving, rather than the being and bringing the healing presence.

 

Let me know in the comments below. Please click the button to subscribe. If you got value from this video, I would love it if you share. We are new here with this YouTube channel, and I would love to keep building. Thank you so much for who you are in the world, and we’ll see you soon.

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It’s Not Your Brand

It’s Not Your Brand

Nov 3, 2020 | Featured, Leader


It’s Not Your Brand
By Veronica Wirth, Visionary Guide, Shamanic Business Intuitive

 

I’ve been playing with a new thought lately. Well, a new thought around an ancient idea, the idea of Divine Surrender.

 

In drinking up Tosha Silver’s book, “It’s Not Your Money” (a great read, beautiful and wise, as are all her books), she speaks of letting Source lead, remembering that money is simply the flow of universal abundance, and we are its conduit. She explains that when we are willing to let go of our ego-self running the show alone and invite Source in to show us the way, we free up bucket loads of energy so we can be more in flow with what truly wants to come through us.

 

As I read Tosha’s words about offering up the burden of “our” money to the Divine, I wondered, what if we could release our brands and businesses in the same way? What if we could pry the reins out of the hands of our willful ego – often running from a place of trying to control everything (exhausting) – and offer them to Source to guide the way?

 

I immediately felt a wave of profound relief wash over my body at the thought. Just give it all to God. Gather any sense of burden, anywhere I feel the need to control my business, any attachment to certain outcomes – and offer it up to Divine Source.

What kind of energy would that free up?

This speaks to the path I’ve been on the past couple of years, as I’ve learned to trust my intuition and guidance from Spirit more and more and bring this approach to my business (and hence my brand), not just my personal life. Embracing this approach is something I hesitated to do in my business at first, because it felt more risky. After all, if I received guidance from Spirit that didn’t match what my ego-mind thought were the “right” and “proven” things to be doing in my business, did I have the courage to honor that new wisdom?

 

We don’t need to throw out the sharp insights and knowledge of our logical side. It has much to offer, however, now we put it in service of something larger. It’s still along for the ride. It’s just no longer driving the bus.

 

I thought it might help to contrast these two ways of approaching a brand and business.

As I fleshed this out, it became clear how different the two roads felt and what they stirred in me.

The way that is guided by will and the logical mind honors what is already known, experienced or proven. Think left brain. With the logical way, we are ultimately thinking with our marketing hat on. The ultimate goal is a successful business and effective brand (not bad goals at all, we’ll just be shifting their priority) and that means a strong bottom line, so selling more products or services is the pathway there. If it feels good along the way, great! But that’s not the ultimate goal. We ask questions like:

  • How will I sell this to people?
  • How do I differentiate my business from my competitors?
  • How can I package this business/offering/product so it is most appealing to my ideal customers?
  • What are my KPIs of success?
  • What are my goals over the next quarter, year, 5 years?
  • How will this help me grow my business and make more money?

 

In contrast, when we can not only bring our soul into the equation but also invite in Spirit as a co-creator, we open up a world of infinite possibilities! With this path, we embrace more meaningful objectives as a priority. We get to ask much deeper and more interesting questions like:

  • How can I share my truest self with the people I am most meant to serve?
  • In what space can my most blessed and precious gifts come out to dance?
  • What will liberate me and my sacred work so that my divine vision can come to fruition?
  • What brand container can I create to hold all of these ideas and intentions?
  • What brand container can I create that will hold the energy of these things in their highest expression as if they’ve already bloomed?
  • How can I grow an abundant business that’s in full alignment with my divine purpose?

 

Can you feel how these questions land versus the first list? Do you sense more expansion, release, freedom, or excitement (maybe even fear) at the possibilities this opens up?

GO DEEPER

When we come from the will, we think our business is our own creation alone, and so we also carry the burden of making it work. This belief comes from the ego mind, and so then do the constructs built around it and the solutions we create.

 

But what if it were a beautiful co-creation between us and Spirit, and even the souls that we will be interacting with that eagerly await our creation for their own growth and becoming?

 

If your business is a divine co-creation and not simply “yours” alone from an ego perspective, but a participatory dance with Source, then how would you approach things differently? Would you invite Source into your every aspect of your business?

OFFER IT UP

You don’t have to carry the burden. I believe it’s possible to offer up our businesses and brands to God and then make our decisions from that lighter, expanded space.

 

What if you could let go and let Spirit take the lead and show you the way?

How would that feel?

What would change for you?

Veronica Wirth

Visionary Guide, Shamanic Business Intuitive

 

Hi, I’m Veronica Wirth, Evolvative™ business visionary, intuitive, change-maker, creative. I blend my experience from branding, shamanism, design, yoga, marketing, and the business, food and entertainment worlds. Most of my life I kept my business and spiritual lives separate, and frustrated because my business and brand didn’t align with who I truly was and my deeper work I felt called to share. It was only when I embraced my spiritual gifts WITHIN my work that things really blossomed for me. Now more than ever the world needs our soulful brilliance to be fully seen. I am here to help you shine!

SPARK YOUR NEXT BRAND EVOLUTION!

As a visionary leader, your brand needs to be built upon an internal vision FIRST. Beginning with your soul’s vision makes ALL the difference in creating a brand foundation that can evolve with you and your truth. Let’s take the first steps together in a powerful 1:1 virtual Intuitive Vision Session as we dive into what’s next for your soul-led your business!

WANT TO RETREAT WITH DARLA IN HER HOME AND UNLOCK YOUR NEXT LEVEL TRANSFORMATIONAL BUSINESS?

SHE HAS ONE MORE OPENING IN 2020. CLICK HERE TO APPLY.

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We Are Here For One Journey — The Journey of Ascension™

We Are Here For One Journey — The Journey of Ascension™

Oct 28, 2020 | Featured


We Are Here For One Journey — The Journey of Ascension™
By Akanke Rasheed, The Ascension Coach

 

Life is a journey from God back to God, from Source back to Source, from Love back to Love, from Mercy back to Mercy and is designed to give us a myriad of dynamic experiences to cultivate our spiritual strength, courage, and beauty.  When it is lived with awareness, it is a journey that has prescriptive growth in which we ascend higher through embracing and learning from our joys and challenges. 

 

I started seeing life as this journey—The Journey of Ascension™—when I introspectively started looking at my life over different periods and phases and could see a consistent pattern.  I noticed that no matter what challenges I had been through, I not only eventually got through them, but I also learned from them and became wiser and stronger because of them. These challenges could have easily caused me to give up on myself, on others, on life, on love, and ultimately on belief in God.

But, instead, I didn’t succumb to the challenges, I rose up—sometimes through pools of tears, great uncertainty, paralyzing fears, homelessness, instability, and self-doubt and emerged stronger. 

From seeing this pattern of learning and growing from challenges in my life I saw the spiritual lessons that came with them.  Then I also realized that this pattern was not unique.   Rising above our circumstances and thriving in an innate part of the human experience.  There are countless women and men who have done so and this is how God has intended it.  Our life experiences—the joys and especially the challenges—are indeed prescriptive.  They are the tools, tests, and trials that are designed to help us become stronger and more spiritually fortified. Quite simply, in this earthly life, our souls are being tested.  As we journey back to God, back to Love, back to Source, back to Mercy—back to that One Supreme Entity from whence our souls originated, the One God who is known by many names and has many amazing attributes, that One Source of all that exists—we are being tested.

But, how often do we think about the spiritual nature of life—the fact that we are souls, the fact that life is a spiritual journey, the fact that everything is innately a spiritual experience—a spiritual assignment and test?  Not often enough.

 

I came to an even deeper realization of this spiritual nature of life when my mother passed over twenty years ago.  

Her death was one of my biggest tests. It tested my spiritual understanding in a way that I didn’t see coming.

For the first time in my life, I viewed death not as a horrible thing, but as a deeply spiritual experience and I began to truly understand that we are souls with bodies having an earthly experience.  These words are easy to type and easy to read but to live in the awareness of our spiritual nature can be quite nuanced and evasive.

 

As human beings our existence is contained largely in doing—we live, we laugh, we cry, we think, we get angry, we work, we love, we marry, we make other humans, we make a lot of mistakes, and we repeat a series of cycles and patterns in our life.  Rarely, however, do we see the patterns as we are immersed in living.  It is often in hindsight that we can see the patterns and assign meaning to them—and then only if we are living consciously. 

 

From this coming into the awareness about my personal growth and seeing the patterns that emerged, I was inspired to develop a framework that identifies the patterns and in identifying them, helps accelerate our personal growth, self-actualization, and transformation.

What is The Journey of Ascension™?

Encouraged by my training to become a certified retreat leader, I had to give my framework language and form.  I had to be able to articulate it in order to begin to share it and offer it as a useful tool for transformation.  The idea of ascension is not a new concept and while the recovering perfectionist in me would want to dive into “all things ascension”, my higher self knew I could not become concerned about what it meant in other contexts. I only had to respond to what I was getting from Source and articulate what had been and was being revealed to me about the journey of life—from God back to God.

So, here is my working definition of The Journey of Ascension™.

The Journey of Ascension™ is the journey of life, from God back to God, in which one makes an intentional conscious decision to live life with healthy self-awareness in order to actualize one’s wholistic human and spiritual potential. This is done by experiencing life’s joys and challenges as blessings and lessons and learning and growing from them as a means of cultivating spiritual fortitude and certitude, positive self-esteem, and a rich and empowered relationship with God Almighty.

The Phases on The Journey of Ascension™

There are seven phases on The Journey of Ascension™. Throughout the journey there is a continuous process of learning, growing and becoming and each phase gives us access to more of ourself through surrender and assurance about how life unfolds. When understood properly, the framework can be applied to any area of personal growth—spirituality, health and wellness, relationships, marriage and more and can guide and accelerate our trajectory by heightening our awareness. Heightened awareness allows us to see life as a journey and a series of growth opportunities—joys and challenges—prescribed for our individual growth.  

 

The seven phases are: 

  1. AWARENESS 

Awareness is the first gateway on the Journey of Ascension™ because it is the intentional act of opening and receiving new information which expands how we “see” ourselves inwardly and outwardly. It is the process of becoming a more conscious human being through intentional asking, listening, thinking and reflecting on life, our soul and who we are— with ongoing inquisitiveness and compassion. This process offers great insights and transformation, it can be difficult, but it is a beautiful and meaningful undertaking for our personal growth.

 

  1. ACCEPTANCE

Acceptance is the spiritual state in which we trust that things are as they should be at any moment in our lives.  We embrace imperfection and the reality of who we are, and we grow from a loving and compassionate space of self-acceptance, self-love and self-compassion. It requires a deep level of okay-ness with who we are knowing that we are a work-in-progress, which frees us from negative self-consciousness, worry, and anxiety and cultivates deeper faith and trust in how God has “fashioned” us.   This helps us sincerely accept who we are so that we can move forward, ascend higher, and grow in the direction that God leads us.

 

  1. ASSURANCE

Assurance is the state in which we live and act with spiritual certainty about God’s Omniscient Power, His Promises, and His All-Embracing Love, Mercy, and Generosity as The One Source from which all our needs are met. This spiritual assurance strengthens our will and gives us knowing that God is always with us ready to help us succeed.

 

  1. ALIGNMENT

Alignment is a spiritual state that is brought about when we have certainty in our faith and are in harmony with our purpose. Through alignment we are able to resurrect ourselves and stand taller by connecting to and embracing the deep yearnings within us.  Alignment helps ground us and supports our spiritual ascension. When we are in alignment it helps us trust that what awaits us on our journey will be meaningful, prescriptive, guided, and blessed because we will be in alignment with God’s will. 

 

  1. AWAKENING

Awakening is the activation of our key energetic centers—our heart, soul, and mind—and comes as a result of having proper spiritual alignment. Awakening produces heightened intuition, clarity, more fluid communication, and spiritual excitement.  It charges our spiritual, emotional, and physical intelligences and generates greater joy, wholistic energy, and greater insight.   It is like plugging a cord into an electric outlet and charging our inner knowing, our soul’s purpose, and our life’s mission. 

 

  1. ALCHEMY

Alchemy is the inner dynamic transformation that results in the outward blossoming of one’s potential.  This is when the process of spiritual transformation begins to show up in tangible ways and we begin to see and feel differences in who we are, how we are, what we think, feel, and do—in mind, body, and spirit because of the collective experiences in the previous phases.  Some changes are drastic, most will be subtle, but they all come from a deep core that gives birth to profound shifts—over time—with constancy.

 

  1. ASCENSION 

The Ascension is the unending, ongoing, dynamic and evergreen process of our soul’s expansion and contraction, stretching and bending, growing and becoming.  It is the ultimate goal of our journey—to engage in self-actualization as we move dynamically in life as we move closer to our ultimate return to God Almighty.  The Ascension is a continuum on which we journey through life with active awareness experiencing our joys and challenges with a strong commitment to personal growth. The ascension is challenging. It demands and cultivates qualities of resiliency, certitude, fortitude, self-determination, and self-compassion. It builds inner strength, trust and love for God as we experience the dance of life and trust the flow of our unique divine ascension.  

 

The phases on The Journey of Ascension™ happen in cycles—many cycles—and the ascension is never a straight ascent.  There are countless dynamic twists and turns in life, and so it is on the journey.  To live consciously, means to live, learn and grow through an intentional and sincere desire.  As we all continue on the  rest of our journey I pray that we embrace and enjoy the journey by making the most of what we have each day, because every step on the journey is the journey.

Akanke Rasheed

The Ascension Coach

 

Akanke is a Muslim woman who loves God, life, people, spirituality and sincere conversations. Her journey of ascension started in 1989 when she decided to leave a burgeoning corporate career to pursue self-development in the face of uncertainties. Since then, her journey of self-actualization has taken many twists and turns—including becoming widowed twice. Her trust in God has helped her endure life’s challenges with great success. 30 years ago, she didn’t even believe in God. She gives other women the tools needed to live with divine success, grace, and abundance.

THE SPIRITUAL PATH OF SUCCESS FOR MUSLIM WOMEN

The Journey of Ascension: Explore the principles of faith and resiliency and pick up to the tools needed to build a life of success and abundance. Learn to see life’s challenges through a spiritual prism and find the beauty and blessings inside life’s lessons which will help define how you resurrect yourself and serve others in the midst of discovering your strength and courage.

WANT TO RETREAT WITH DARLA IN HER HOME AND UNLOCK YOUR NEXT LEVEL TRANSFORMATIONAL BUSINESS?

SHE HAS ONE MORE OPENING IN 2020. CLICK HERE TO APPLY.

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Surrender isn’t a dirty word.

Surrender isn’t a dirty word.

Oct 20, 2020 | Featured, Leader


Surrender isn’t a dirty word.
By Lisa Welden, Founder Rebel Sage Experiences

 

It always amazes me what shows up when people say ‘yes’ to themselves and going on retreat. My last retreat to Ecuador was no exception with day after day of synchronicity and delivery of exactly what was needed! ‘What’s needed’ often comes packaged in ways we would never order up on the life menu. 

 

In this case, some of the ways it showed up was in the form of lost luggage, near-missed international flights, witnessing a dying animal, communicating in a language I don’t speak (well), physical experiences pushing the limits of what’s comfortable in our bodies, dropping agendas, and for me – finding myself face down on the earth in a sweatlodge – something I had never wanted to do. And you know what changes these situations from being unwanted, horrible, and frustrating to holy-shit-amazing, perfect and unbelievable nuggets of Universal love???

SURRENDERING to what’s happening and TRUSTING there’s something perfect for you in it.

A great group of people came together to get real about areas in their lives that weren’t working or that they wanted to relate to in a more powerful way. They were willing to show up, take a leap of faith into the unknown, and what they came away with was clarity about what matters to them, where/how they’ve been hiding out, and how they actually want to show up in their lives that has them feeling passionate, aligned and more of who they really are and have always been. They have been taking tangible, courageous steps in their lives since returning home and are already reaping the benefits of the breakthroughs they had on retreat. 

 

Whenever I create an experience, I ask the experience to show me what the intention is for the people that are showing up. May sound wacky, but it works every time. For this retreat, the intention that came up was Surrender & Trust. What that told me was that those were going to be the areas of breakthrough for people, and that control and distrust were going to show up too.

 

(Little retreat leader sidenote – this is a heavyweight intention, so I was wiggling in my seat a bit, knowing I’d be stepping into this intention wholeheartedly myself.)

Let’s start with SURRENDER.

We humans have a real love/hate relationship with surrender. The love part is that it feels like a giant exhale when you find that you don’t have to hold onto the thing you’ve been holding onto so tightly. The hate part is that before we let go, we have to face and challenge the fear that’s had us holding on so tightly. 

 

Growing up in the US, we swim in the waters that value success and winning, and waving a white flag isn’t an option. You can look to any history book to find that. As young kids, what we learn of surrender is having to give something up that we really don’t want to, to someone who has power over us (i.e. having to give up your box of Hot Tamales because your dad says – ‘No Hot Tamales before dinner – fork ‘em over!’). 

 

But what if we looked at surrender from a different perspective – one that is more empowering than waving a white flag and giving up candy to authority figures? What if we used surrender as a tool of acceptance?

A tool that when we found ourselves striving, grasping, and digging our heels in, we actually asked ourselves, “What am I refusing to accept that is currently happening?”

What I’m pointing to is that most of our discomfort, pain and suffering comes from trying to argue with reality, and reality = what’s happening.

 

So, we’re fighting with what’s happening. This is a battle you won’t win. But don’t take my word for it – try it out for yourself. 

 

The next time you find yourself frustrated, striving, grasping or digging your heels in, try these steps to see if you can find some freedom through surrender. It can be helpful to write down what you find as you go along.

 

1) Notice what it feels like in your body. Is there tension, sensation, emotions? Where are they? Check your mind. Is it busy or calm? Are thoughts kind? Angry? Defensive? Notice without judging as you write them down.

 

2) Take a breath and soften the part of the body holding the tension/sensation. Let your body be your guide – this is a pattern that’s been built over years, so start with something small like breath to interrupt the pattern. 

 

3) Ask yourself – What am I believing needs to happen that isn’t? What/who are you trying to control? Write it down!

 

4) Then ask – What might be available if I wasn’t attached to controlling that right now? (Could be that you find more ease, peace, new solutions to old problems, and maybe that you don’t actually care to control the person/situation.) 

Surrender doesn’t mean defeat, submission or stuffing your feelings and what matters to you.

But if you are coming at something from a place of tension and forcing it to go your way it does mean you are trying to control life and that takes A LOT of energy that you could be spending somewhere else in your life.

What are you ready to surrender in order to experience more freedom in your life?

Lisa Welden

 

Transformational Leader. Mentor. Experience Junkie.

 

Hi-I’m Lisa Welden, Founder of Rebel Sage Experiences. I help rebels disrupt the predictable to create the extraordinary. I believe life is an adventure to be lived by challenging ourselves to step into the unknown, follow our hearts, and trust it will lead us to something more profound than we can even imagine. I curate transformational experiences through retreats, workshops, speaking engagements and with clients 1-on-1, all in the name of creating a massive ripple effect of courageous, conscious living.

Where is your rebel nature leading you?

LOVINGLY KICK YOUR CONTROL FREAK TO THE CURB!

Ready to experience more freedom around an important area of your life like relationship, career, creativity, your body, money, or the power your inner critic has over you? Using curiosity, awareness and compassion, we’ll get clear on one area where control is showing up in all its glory that is ready for surrender and an upgrade. Book your Surrender Session today. Here’s to your freedom!

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Are you ready to take the quantum leap to the next level of leadership?

Are you ready to take the quantum leap to the next level of leadership?

Oct 13, 2020 | Featured, Leader


Are you ready to take the quantum leap to the next level of leadership?
By Dr. Davia H. Shepherd, CHO Ladies Power Lunch

 

One of my favorite mentors likes to say: “Words don’t teach but stories do,” so may I share a story with you?

 

Once upon a time there were 3 little brothers. An older brother, a middle brother and a baby brother…Stop me if you have heard this one before. They grew up as kids often do, and as teenagers really gave their old father a lot of stress with their shenanigans. Their old father thought to himself that perhaps the solution to all his problems was to figure out career paths for his beloved sons and send them off to school. The eldest son, wanting to be like his father, went off to Germany to study engineering. He became a successful, sought after civil engineer, managing engineering projects for a large local city.

 

The middle son who had a great talent for drawing went to architecture school, he went on to work for a large architecture firm in the capital and was well respected by all.

 

And of course the baby: who if you have been keeping track, was not such a baby anymore. He may have been the most difficult of the brothers and his father finally sent him off to join the RAF (Royal Air Force). In the RAF he learned and matured so very much, and when he was honorably discharged or whatever it is that happens when you leave the military, having studied building, contracting and management, he ended up the owner of a multi million dollar construction company just a few towns over from his eldest brother.

 

Ok! I know what you are thinking: Great story! Great for those guys, and what exactly does that have to do with me? So glad you asked! This story is actually the true story of my uncles, great guys if you got to hang out with them individually but for some reason they just couldn’t get along long enough when together.

 

You probably have looked at their career trajectories and correctly realized that they worked in allied fields: One was brilliant in engineering, his younger brother could take any client idea and take it from concept to construction, and as for the baby, his business acumen was unparalleled.

But they just couldn’t get it together. Couldn’t see beyond whatever was holding them back from collaborating.

Couldn’t see that if they could have gotten past their differences, that today I would not be writing this blog but would be a big muckety muck at Mclaren Global! These three brilliant men missed out on such an outstanding opportunity to grow their impact and income. What opportunities might you be missing that could catapult you to the next level?


How can collaboration grow your impact and your income?

I get it. I know that there may be very good reasons for you holding back. Even though I consider myself the queen of collaboration, even I have questions sometimes as to whether a collaboration is right for me. It has been my experience that for the majority of us there are seven things that hold us back from considering collaboration.

 

For many of us we have bought into the idea of the competitive vibe.

Hear me out on this one. It’s no one’s fault. We have been socialized to believe that there is not enough abundance for all and that if one succeeds then it will be at the expense of another, and so we hold on to the idea that we must be in competition with each other. Sometimes the problem lies in a lack of trust in the other, we might not be sure the other person is as competent as we might hope, or that they will indeed pull their own weight. Most of us have moments of trauma remembering the high school project partner that caused everyone to get a lower grade because of their failure to do their part. And then there is the control issue: the wanting to just do everything myself. The belief that if I want something done well I have to do it myself. I mean, who among us hasn’t felt that way at some time or another? Trust issues might extend to not feeling comfortable letting others behind the scenes of our businesses, just not opening ourselves up to that kind of vulnerability!

 

Every one of these reasons: VALID. And yet there is an argument for putting these ideas aside for a moment to consider the PROS of collaboration. That list is so long dear one that we won’t have the time or space to cover all of them here but let’s get a list started? And maybe you can keep adding to this list as more ideas come to you? Awesome.

 

One of my favorite mentors told us the story once of how she went from having an eviction notice tacked to her small apartment door. This apartment was of course where she lived but it also doubled as her office where she saw clients. Through collaborations over a few years, she has been able to inspire many with her rags to riches story. She now owns a $50M business. She tells about how as a business coach, she formed a collaborative relationship with a financial advisor. All day long they would refer business back and forth. She would send her business clients for financial advice and her partner would send her finance clients over for business advice. Back and forth until both women become forces to be reckoned with. When we get together, suddenly we are working at a level of consciousness where 1+1>2.

 

If you combine your reach with that of your collaboration partner, together you can achieve explosive growth.

The beauty of collaboration is that many of us do many things, but do a few things very well. If each person plays to their strengths in a partnership the result is a win. And let’s get a little woo woo for a minute here: You may have read Napoleon Hill and you know about the idea of a Mastermind, the exponential increase in knowledge that takes place when two or more minds come together.

 

More reasons to consider collaboration: It’s more fun, you can have bigger visions, big values and often there is safety in numbers because someone is always there to watch your back. There is more energy, there are more ideas, we learn from each other and there is an increase in “abundance thinking” when we intentionally work together. What else can you think of? What other reasons can you think of for working together in collaboration?

 

“Ok,” is what you are thinking now. “Fine you’ve got me thinking there may be something to this idea of collaboration, to this idea that the power of the collective is greater than the sum of its parts! Fine and dandy, now what, where do I start?” Well, again, I’m ecstatic that you are asking all these questions.

In my experience we can go from Alone in our business to Abundance through collaboration in five simple steps: Ask, Alignment, All in, Assignment and Apps.

Let me explain.

 

The “ASK” piece is between you and the universe. I am not sending you out to go ask for a collaborator just yet. That dear one, would just be premature. Start by spending some time in contemplation, think about and maybe journal about what your ideal collaboration would look like, what pieces of the puzzle are necessary and what is the best next step. Meditate on it, ASK your questions and trust that you don’t need to see the whole picture of how everything is going to pan out, you just need the next step.

 

Step 2 is alignment but I feel as though it’s a part of every single step of the process: Opportunities are always all around us. Tune in to what your inner knowing is saying about these opportunities. Do you feel trust for the other person? Are you trusting the universe to yield to you? Are you open to what is available? Are you open to what is possible? Are you open to learning? Maybe learning a better, different, more lucrative way?

 

Step 3 asks: “Am I all in?” Am I bringing my best talents to the table? Can I truly get behind this concept that there is abundance for all and let go of the competitive mindset? Am I intending to be the one on the project who brings it 100%?

 

Step 4 Invites Assignment: Are you working in your brilliance. Is everyone on the team assigned to do what they do best? In the team that is me and my office staff, I treat the patients, I’m pretty good at that; Sandy manages the staff and all things creative, she is brilliant at that; Marin takes care of all things social media and promotion etc, and on the days when we are working well together we are like a well oiled machine and everyone’s happy.

 

And step 5 is Apps: get familiar with technology, tools, resources and personnel that can help keep track of important things like the MONEY!!! There are apps to track affiliate commissions, to ensure payouts to participants and things of that nature. Be sure to discuss all details ahead of time, if counsel is needed be sure to take advantage of experts to deal with the nitty gritty.

 

I have time to share one final super short story. Bear with me: Once upon a time, there were two real estate agents who met in a networking meeting. Instead of the traditional: “We do the same thing so we can’t possibly support each other,” they actually decided to become partners. One of the first properties they ended up listing, turned out to be a part of a large estate. Some super rich person had died and there were additional properties as well as just a ton of high priced stuff that needed to be disposed of. The executor was so impressed by their work ethic and their ability to work together that he entrusted them with the entire estate. Today, these two small town realtors are big city auction house owners and they are now considered the go to team when it comes to getting your fine pieces sold over here in our neck of the woods.

 

The point of this is that they couldn’t have seen the opportunity that was coming, but through the power of collaboration they paved the way for great impact and great income. Look, if you catch me in person, I have a hundred stories like this that I could share with you. Stories from members of our women’s group Ladies Power Lunch. Stories of women who INTENTIONALLY support each other and who are open to the power of collaboration and the power of the collective. 

 

So… what do you say? Are you ready to take the quantum leap to the next level of leadership? Will you join this growing movement? 

Dr. Davia H. Shepherd

 

CHO Ladies Power Lunch

 

Dr. Davia H. Shepherd is a holistic physician and intuitive optimal life coach. She is an international speaker, bestselling author, retreat leader and recovering researcher celebrating almost two decades of experience working in various areas of healthcare. Her focus, especially in this time, is to connect us with each other and with our true inner amazing selves, so that we may live the lives we have the potential for: Longer, Healthier and Happier in every aspect.

ARE YOU READY FOR A VISIBILITY BREAKTHROUGH?

 

Increase your impact and income while you become the leader of your movement in the Ladies Power Lunch Visibility Circle.
1) Be seen and heard on stage; reach over 50,000 like minded women while honing your message.

2) Increase your presence through being a best selling author.

3) Be a part of our podcast network.

4) Mastermind with women on the same track towards leading their movement.

 

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Expending Your Energy for Your Highest Good

Expending Your Energy for Your Highest Good

Oct 6, 2020 | Featured, Leader


Expending Your Energy for Your Highest Good
By Robin Finney, Authenticity & Intuitive Guide 

I’ve known most of my life that there was something different about me. i sense, see, and feel things.

From a young age, I thought something was wrong with me. I felt like I didn’t belong or fit in with others. I tried so hard to find acceptance and approval from my family, friends, teachers…pretty much everyone. I thought if enough people liked me then I would be okay, and that these strange sensations and mood swings would go away. Yet, how much people liked me didn’t really matter. It wasn’t about them; it was my own internal battle. I would notice my energy shift. One minute I’d be laughing and having a good time and the next I’d be uncomfortable and wanting a way out. The shifts never made sense to me. I thought that there was something wrong that couldn’t be fixed. I had no idea that these sensations and shifts in energy were part of my Human Design. 

I learned to hide and run away.

When things were uncomfortable or I felt unsafe, I would hide or run away. I would curl myself up in a tiny ball in the closet, under my covers, or in a corner where no one would find me. I would run deep into the woods and find refuge. When I couldn’t hide, I learned to block out what was going on and find sanctuary deep in my imagination. I learned to survive in the midst of chaos. As long as my inner sanctuary was free from chaos, I was safe.


Even as a child, I could feel in my body when something wasn’t safe. I took measures to protect myself. Hiding was the best way I knew to do so.

In high school, I would stay at my friend Spencer’s house to escape when things felt unsafe or tense at home. It became my second home. Yet, even in the comfort of my friend’s house, I still felt I didn’t belong at times. When my friends would have parties, I’d come and enjoy being with my friends. And then my energy would shift and I would suddenly feel out of place. The only thing I knew to do was remove myself from the situation. Even if it was 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning, I would sneak out of the house without a word or a note and drive back to my house. My friends would call the next day and ask where I went. I would come up with some excuse, because I honestly had no idea how to explain it.

     

    I wasn’t aware that I was sensing things in my body. I wasn’t present to being empathic. I was making the choice to hide or run, without knowing why.

    What I didn’t know was that my body was energetically protecting me. My body would signal to me that something was off and would protect me from situations that felt anxious, threatening, uneasy, or triggering. There actually wasn’t anything wrong with me. I had a gift for sensation and without putting words to it, my body knew.

    Sometimes we think our gifts are holding us back. When in reality, by embracing our gifts, we can move forward.

    It’s only been within the past year that I’ve become aware of my Human Design and Spiritual Gifts. And to be honest, it’s only been within the past couple months that I’ve been able to make any sense of these patterns of hiding, running away, or escaping in my mind. So my Sly Fox, Where’d You Go, Robin? can rest peacefully at night knowing that nothing is actually wrong with me. I’m gifted and learning how to use my gifts in ways that support me in my design and support others in finding clarity and being seen. By leaning into my gifts, I’ve been able to lift the veil from hiding and allow myself to fully be seen. 

    Energy varies from person to person. Some people can attend parties, be among crowds or stressful situations and not be phased. For me, however, I have to take extra care in preparing when I’m going to be in a crowd or intense environment. I’m highly sensitive and I own that. With this awareness, I can take precautions to protect my energy in advance, and also be okay leaving if it doesn’t align with where I am. And when I’m in a space where I can’t leave or don’t want to leave, I can pause, take a few deep breaths to reground myself, and engage back in the moment. 

    Being empathic and having the ability to sense, see, and feel things it’s actually a gift, and one that I’m grateful to have. I’m able to read the energy of a room or space and tune into my body. This gift has supported me in having beautiful experiences traveling all over the world. I attract incredible people and experiences simply by owning and trusting my body. I feel lucky and fortunate to have this ability to tune in and trust that I am being guided to experiences that feel safe and supportive to me. 

    How about you? Are you an empath or notice yourself feeling tense or drained a lot? Do you notice your energy shifting from one moment to the next? Do you know that there’s actually nothing wrong with you, and that it’s part of your unique design? Awareness is the first step to embracing this gift.

    Learning How to Protect & Clear Your Energy

    Learning to protect and clear your energy takes patience, practice, and purpose. 
    I’ve been learning practices that support me in keeping my energy clear when I’m in groups or crowds    , holding space for others in a coaching session, around discomfort or intense moments, or any time I’m picking up others’ energy that’s not mine to carry. Recently after conducting a 1:1 intuitive session, I noticed my energy being drained after. I was so lit up and on fire while leading the session, and when the session was over, I felt completely drained. I was tired and felt the need to rest. I messaged my dear friend and Collective Spirit sister, Manda Stack, and asked if she had any guidance. Manda is an intuitive specialist and guide and founder of My Divine Intuition. She supports others in better understanding their intuition, “sixth sense”…in other words, untapped. I had the pleasure of spending a year with Manda while participating in Darla LeDoux’s yearlong Collective, and I’ve hired Manda several times for a Personal Energy Clearing. I knew if there was anyone who could support me with this question, it would be Manda. 
    Together Manda and I talked through my sessions and how I prepare my energy before, during, and after a session. If you’re a healer, intuitive & spiritual guide, coach, or empath, these tips may be supportive to you. 

    Pre-Session (or Before You Gather with Others)

    • Set an Intention. How would you like to feel during your session or meeting? Allow yourself to get present to your intention and feel it in your body.
    • Setup Your Environment. Make sure your space is clean and aligns with your energy. This includes making sure your camera is facing away from the light (so you are in the spotlight) and at a height that is eye level (for virtual sessions). I like to lay out crystals around my space, hold one or keep one in my pocket during the session to support in transmitting energy.
    • Stand in Your Power Pose. Before you go live or enter the room, claim your space and your power. Choose a power pose that opens your body up and allows you to expand and take up space. My favorite is Wonder Woman pose (hands on hips like I’m owning the room). Amy Cuddy’s TED Talk on body language will support in creating your power pose.
    • Allow Nature to Receive Energy as it Moves. Metaphorically speaking. When you’re working with others it’s important to ensure that your energy is not running through you. It is not your job to hold other people’s energy. You can create a visualization that will support you in channeling energy to something besides your body. Imagine that you have a tree, body of water, or the support of the earth to catch the energy when it’s flowing so you are not taking it in.
    • Create a Cocoon or Orb around Your Body. Visually imagine that you are stepping inside a coconut or that you have a protective energy bubble around your body. Envisioning this can support in holding onto your own energy and keeping it safe from letting anyone else’s energy enter your field.
    • Call Upon the Support of Your Higher Power and Spirit Guides. Before beginning, call upon your Spirit Guides to support you in protecting your energy. Archangel Michael is the Archangel of Protection. Call upon him to protect your energy from being consumed by another.


    During the Session (or while in the presence of others)

    • Trust Your Pre-work to Support You. Trust that everything you did to prepare for your session will be supportive of you during the session.
    • Begin with a Meditation or Short Breathing Exercise. A short meditation or taking a few deep breaths is a great way to ground yourself and your client(s) at the beginning of the call. They are likely anxious too. It will allow both of you to start on an even plain.
    • Be Your Authentic Self and Allow Your Gifts to Shine. Tune into your light and magic. Trust that who you are is enough and that your gifts will guide the session.


    After the Session

    • Release. After the session, it’s important to release any energy or notes that are no longer needed. I like to take any notes that I’ve written and lovingly release them back to the universe. I will say a short prayer of gratitude for the person or persons who participated in the session and release the notes through burning or symbolically releasing. This is a great way to complete the session for both you and your client.
    • Ground Yourself. If you can, step outside and stand barefoot in the ground for a couple moments. This will allow you to re-center your energy and ask the earth to receive anything that doesn’t belong to you.
    • Shake or Tap. Shaking and Tapping can be great ways to move any stuck energy in your body and release it from your vessel. Katherine Bird is a transformational leader, healer, Shaman, channel, and guide who has some beautiful shaking exercises to support healers and empaths.
    • Meditate. If you’re feeling weighed down or full of anxious energy after a session, try a meditation designed to release energy. I love Pura Rosa on Insight Timer. She has a beautiful, healing meditation that I use as a go to—Empath Energy & Emotion Realignment + Protection.
    • Trust. Trust that the energy is clear. If you notice anything off in your body, you can tune into one of these practices.


    Most importantly, know that you have a gift. You are a conduit for others to expand and own who they are. 
    What are some practices that you like to embody to support in your energy clearing? 

    Love,

    Robin Finney

    Robin Finney

     

    Authenticity & Intuitive Guide

     

    Hi, I’m Robin Finney, founder of Wandering Aunt. I am your guide to discovering who your authentic self is through Intuitive Clarity Sessions, Soulo Travel Retreats, and Reveal Your Soul Photoshoot Experiences. I believe at the core of being human, we all have a desire to be seen; and the best way to capture your desire is through travel and photo experiences with an experienced guide. Since 2018, I have soulo-traveled to 19 countries across 6 continents and modeled in 8 international photoshoots.

    REVEAL YOUR SOUL!

    Would you like to experience a breakthrough in having the courage and confidence to be fully you? Would you like to feel your soul at a deeper level by connecting to your essence through a photoshoot? In our exclusive VIP Photoshoot Experience, we will capture who you are at your soul level through an unforgettable immersion experience at a destination we choose together!

     

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