We are always so concerned about this detail, that detail, are we recycling enough, is my pantry stocked with enough gluten-free goods, are the bills organized enough, am I disciplining correctly, did the kids have too much sugar or no sugar (a win for sure!), did I teach them the value of money, did I forget to put on the sunscreen (not on them, me! yes, I tend to come last), did I actually send out that proposal I worked on all night, and sometimes it all just about one thing… did I show up. With love and compassion.

I was recently shocked by the news that a man in a leadership position, who cared deeply about sustainability, growth, education, was dealing with a very very dark secret, a secret that propagated a horrible industry and how his secret energetically affected his constituency and destroyed their hearts as the secret came into the light.

The Truth is. Many think they won’t get caught, and many don’t. But in this era of Authenticity and Truth, we are not surprised at the fall of leaders. Clean house, my friends.

So, I got to thinking about how we can be concerned about peripheral things and sometimes forget (or escape) from going to our core and asking the questions. Is the fruit inside green, ripe or rotten. Big breath. What we do on the outside world is a true gift, but when our internal fruit is not ready to be savored, it’s time to pay attention to the garden within.

We all have our dark side- it’s part of being human. May you take a moment to look within and see if your fruit needs attention.

Just a quick note from Asha:

A few people emailed me really connecting to the last post- about having a tough time right now. No problem. Remember, this is temporary, and to maximize the productivity of the challenges (always trying to work smart around here!), I have a suggestion.

Take the next 9 days to let go of what is no longer working for you. Or if you want something, a new job, career, life, or like many spiritual people, trying to follow your Life Purpose (loaded word, I know, but we all get what it implies- that we live a connected life), then make this 9 day commitment.

Every day, maybe only for 5-10 minutes, create a sacred space, where you breathe in and out mindfully, and then write (or do whatever your soul calls you to do) with the intention that for the next 9 days you are kicking this habit of not living fully to the curb. Each day, see what comes up.

I want to do my Spiritual Midwifery work and so I am consciously opening up to what wants to be healed (not really HEALED, but more like it wants to be HEARD within me). Like there’s parts of me that does not want me to do this.

So, in hearing this morning, I was ready to confront ANGER- and yet, I was taken somewhere else… I was taken to a time in my childhood when I decided being a tomboy was better. I was only 9! I had been somehow been sexualized by my older 12 year old neighbor, and his little brother (10) was heart broken because he had a crush on me. Oh, boy, love triangles really do happen early! Anywho, that little girl just wanted to be heard for this moment, and I cleared ancestral sexualization of women.

Weird stuff. I get it, and I am trying to type this fast, so you have something to work with during these crazy days.

This over-emphasis on feeling attractive to others has stopped me from my Spiritual Midwifery work. In more ways than I can comprehend. And truth be told, a huge part of me, does not get why this would stop a person from assisting other people in coming into their True Self, but I just go with the flow and trust that this was what I was supposed to focus on hearing today.

In some ways, I feel as an observer right now. I don’t think there is truly anything to heal, just parts that want to be heard (have I mentioned that?!)

Could you do 9 days of hearing parts of yourself? And after you listen, you can visualize what you truly desire from this place of being totally connected.

Hope this helps. And if you feel you need assistance- let me know!

Blessings,

Asha

I am finally a U.S. citizen and so this day has a little more meaning than years past.

I’m the first person to scoff at made up holidays, but this one, aside from the pretty colors, fire works, parties, beach, has something for me this time around. It’s all about FREEDOM. Freedom to be who I am. Not because I live in this country, but just because.

I’m beginning to think that Happiness and Peace are possible when we feel free. Like that song, Free To Be You and Me. I tear up every time my daughters sing this song.

And so YOU and me are free to be… you and me. I celebrate that today and this weekend.

Blessings,

Asha

Last summer, I had sitters and camps all lined up so that I could work, and then each sitter fell through, and yes, my kids refused to go to camp.

I was pissed! And then I settled into how amazing it is that I have a choice to slow down if that is what my family and my own sanity need. And so, I had a blast. Yes, the kids watched more movies than they did all year long (in my attempt to hear less fighting and do a little paper work), but we had fun.

Beginning the planning for this summer, I was shooting for another working summer for me (with the glorious month of August off- life is tough, I know!), and then I tuned in to ME (the big me, the Soul me). It turns out she wants to slow down. Ugh! Really? Slow down? But the company needs me, the kids can be plopped into camps, and I got LOTS of projects in the works… slow down?… do I have to? (wining here- yeah, you know the sound)

So, I compromised with my soul (no, it’s not like a pact with the devil or anything!) I have figured out a way to slow down, get writing time, work time, and still spend tons of time with the kids. Ok, that sounds so busy, I’m scaring myself here. Yes, all this figuring out was happening in my head only- in an attempt to hold on the the reigns of my life. Who is this SOUL lady think she is anyway!

But then there is the moment to moment living. THAT is what my soul is asking more of… listen to the moment it whispers (yes, I hear voices, put me in the nut house- that ought to slow ya down.)

My own internal guidance system wants to savor summer and being present without being pushed. (Yes, I’m pushy, even with myself, just ask the photographers that work with us!)

I’m not a Bible quoter- rehabbed from my boarding school days actually, but this seems so appropriate…

Psalms 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God
–

In the stillness and quiet of the moment, answers come, or more importantly, we can allow to see the Divine within. The idea of stillness and quiet seem so foreign to most of us as parents, but the truth is that just by BEING with the children,  pockets of quiet & stillness bring the most unexpected gifts. Notice  those pockets.

No matter what kind of summer you have with them. My life is just one way, you have yours, just stop & pay attention to those unforgettable little moments that make you feel alive and connected.

Hugs,

Asha

When your Momma calls after giving you the space you needed to grow, you answer. Or at least I did. You can call it crazy talk, but I heard her. Loud and clear. She took the chance as I burried my iPhone into silence for 5 days, and She instructed me. I’m not kidding you. After two days of writing like a mad woman, I got the instructions.

I wasn’t sure I’d last in silence for 5 days. In fact, I wasn’t even sure I’d come out of there sane at all. Well, the jury is still out on that one, but one thing is true, I heard Divine Mother, especially as I offered my Yes to do her work. What was surprising was how much I enjoyed silence. I ended up staying at a hotel, and I was so relieved not to have to talk to anyone; I would just pass my little note saying “I’m in silence. Can I have 2 eggs over easy, hash browns, no bread, no meat, OJ… to go.  Thank you. ” Delicious. I loved silence and silence loved me.

Coming home was not easy, my friends. Not easy at all. My ears could not believe how much noise one man and two small children make, or how fast emails pile after 5 days, or the overwhelm of phone calls to return, and most importantly how confusing it is to integrate the experience and bring it to my life.

Well, it’s now been 5 days, and I am settled. I’m not in bliss every moment, but I am firm in the knowing that it is all in how I react to the life I have. So, I’m chanting a little bit, to bring my mind to a place of peace. Not surprisingly, big changes are in motion- some by me, some by members in my family, and some by my big Momma within.

I’d like to offer this gift of silence to other women. And so part of saying this Yes is bringing my Coaching and Spiritual Midwifery dormant selves to the surface again. It’s like riding a bicycle, I’m sure,  especially since I really have not stopped providing this service, I just call it being a friend these days.

Hugs,

Asha

We just came back from a cruise from Bermuda, and though I did not expect it (especially after I saw all the hoohas drinking- ok, sorry, that was pure judgment, I meant to say, all the people enjoying/ escaping through alcohol ) I met the most wondrous woman. Why was she wondrous? She had 8 children, 4 of her own and 4 foster children she adopted. And honestly, she looked like she was enjoying every minute of servitude required.

Then by contrast, I related to the pretty, Iranian queen who avoided any contact with her children, and the husband was left to do all the heavy lifting, picking up, fetching food, and to top it off making sure she was happy. Ok, so I’m somewhere in between these two ladies.

I’ve been quiet since I got home. After everything I experience (especially vacations that take me out of my comfort zone) I need time to integrate and synthesize what just happened. So, what happened? I’m grateful for the couple who took us with them to photograph their wedding, the kids got a REAL vacation (as opposed to being dragged through another third world country and asked to eat food they hate and use purrell every 5 seconds), and I got to meet the mother of eight.

I woke up this morning with all these thoughts of people I met along the way and realized coming back to my life is a bit frustrating. Frustrating because I want to do so much- I want to be a good mom, have a loving marriage, a thriving business, and continue to write and finally publish the books I have been working on for a few years now. Yes, I have the “I want it all” syndrome.

Some would say that I just need to chill and do what I can, and that having it all is a myth. And as I remind myself of how the veil of reality lifts and the higher dimensions become more accessible to us, I wonder if as a collective having it all is more than a possibility but a reality…

I once heard someone say that we can have it all but just not at once. I wonder. Not in a “yeah, they are so wrong”, but in a “I wonder” kind of way.

Wonder.

She called me apologizing for not being there for me, and not living up to her role as “room parent”. She talked about how she had ambitions in September and after 9 months realizes that she over extended herself. I like her, and I know she has a full life. She works, is a dedicated mom, she is a room parent (to two rooms, mind you), her husband travels, and she’s a good friend.

No need to apologize friend. You are doing the best you can. Don’t compare yourself to me… I may look in your eyes as having it together, but I feel the same way. We all see the world and others through our filters.

We are all doing the best that we can. Don’t let this low moment stop you from your big heart. You volunteered not because you thought you were going to change the world, but because you wanted to help. Pat yourself on the back for caring.

And to all those women (me included in the mix), don’t beat yourself up. You are doing the best that you can.

Say Yes to what feels yummy, and no when it doesn’t. Pick good friends who will understand.

Hugs,

Asha