This is a meditation to support us in making the space in our lives and hearts for all of the delightful and fulfilling, opportunities and experiences to be had. When we simply allow 'what is', without resisting, we increase our overall sense of wellbeing and have the power and clarity to respond to any given situation.
Complete the form below to download and print this affirmation.
I’m confident that when you started looking at your life you saw all kinds of things you do that support you in living the life you want.
This week, we’re shifting our attention. Right now, I invite you to identify one accomplishment that you’d be delighted, excited and proud to have in your life.
Take a minute and look at a result you want to produce. Then, ask yourself:
How would it actually feel if you produced this result?
To give a personal example, one result I would be delighted to have is clarity in my business finances. My current system is to “ballpark it”, round up and estimate. In other words, there has been a lot of ambiguity for me in my business finances.
My goal is to track precisely how much money is coming in as revenue and exactly how much is going out due to expenses. To stop guessing and to have certainty. Initially, the idea of getting to clarity felt overwhelming. So it was the perfect place to work with micro-moves. How would I feel if I had crystal-clear clarity in my business finances? Like a total badass! And, I know it’s going to take new skills and stretching myself in new ways in order to get there.
What about you?
What’s the result you’d be delighted to produce and how will you feel when you accomplish it? That’s your work for this week.
Ignite a life of Passion with Micro-Moves: Part 1
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Have you heard this term before? It’s one of my favorite topics to discuss at retreats.
We’ll start by looking at what a micro-move is and why it’s so potent. Then we’ll look at a result you want in your life and we’ll go through the process of choosing a life goal you want to achieve so we can break it down into micro-moves. Overall, taking a deeper look at the components necessary to get you in action..
First of all, what is a micro-move?
What we know about living a creative life, is that a clear intention matched with an elevated emotion is a recipe for creation. This comes directly from Dr. Joe Dispenza’s work.
A micro-move is a tiny step that is infused with clear intention and high energy.
I have created a simple tool that will help you get to the heart of this. It guides you to define the micro-move you’re committed to taking and to get clear on why you’re taking it, as well as how you’ll feel when it has been accomplished. In this way, you’ll be tied into your intention and you’ll know what energy is needed to get the best results. Download your Micro-moves journal prompt here.
Let’s begin our exploration of micro-moves by looking at what micro-moves you’re already making in your life and how they are working to help you achieve your goals. Micro-moves can be little habits or rituals, like making the bed each morning after waking up or drinking plenty of water.
Next week, we’ll look at something we want to accomplish and how we can attack it with micro-moves.
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In case you missed it:
Last month's exploration on Belief is now available on the blog. Catch up on the blog.
(P.S. I'd love to hear what you are discovering about Beliefs! Chat with me on social media or reply directly to this email.)
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The hustle of the holidays are calming down. Perhaps you are traveling home, or plugging back into the flow of life this week. Often we begin to get a flood of emotions as the close of a year approaches and the creation of one is calling.
I invite you to acknowledge 2018 and manifest 2019 in a playfully collaborative way. I have created a 10 minute video and a journal exercise to help guide you in accessing your hearts desires for a powerful 2019. I am here for you. I want to hear what you create in this exercise and allow yourself to reach out. Embrace the support and send what you design with this practice to me directly at ashlie@ashliewoods.com.
Grab your Journal and follow these steps to bring into 2019 who you most want to be, Wild One.
Download: Reflect on 2018 to Manifest 2019
Your Heart is Able to be Trusted
Breakaway from old patterns and step into the life that is calling you forward.
Let's talk about BELIEF - Part 4!
How did that go? Did you play with your belief and come up with some new things that you could believe in this area?
To recap, I was working on the area of work, where I wanted ease but often felt anxiety. I was living inside a belief that anything worth having required sacrifice and hard work. This wasn’t a belief I wanted to hold on to. It was causing me to over complicate things. It was leading me to dismiss what came easily rather than embracing, celebrating and making the most of it.
I played around with this belief and various things I could say instead. Here’s what I settled on:
“Hard work is overrated.”
It has a quality of playfulness. I value hard work, determination, perseverance, commitment, grit and all that jazz; that’s already ingrained for me. This new thought, “Hard work is overrated” feels like a relief. It makes light of the issue, and it really works for me. It’s something I’ve started to say to myself over and over and to put into practice.
What’s the use of a new belief if it doesn’t then shape your actions and your results?
I began to catch myself overcomplicating things. I could see where a project was good and I had an impulse to tweak it to death, adding things that could enhance it but would also delay it. I started to ask myself, Is that necessary or can it be good enough as it is?
It allowed me to start dropping perfectionism and quit complicating the shit out of things. It let good enough be good enough.
It let done be better than perfect.
Are you, like me, someone who continues to work on things endlessly and never finish because you’re always messing with it? That’s overrated, too.
To take on the belief that hard work is overrated enabled me just to get shit done and have it be good enough. It made a tremendous difference in how I work and brought much more ease into my life and business.
How about you? What’s the new belief you’ve come up with and how are you going to embody it? What actions will you take to make it stick?
I invite you to make yourself a little touchstone, a physical reminder of a way of being that you want to adopt in your life. It can be anything from a sticky note on your bathroom mirror to a crystal in your pocket to an intention that you set every morning as you brush your teeth.
I’ll give you my example that you’re welcome to use if you like. I also suggest that you create one of your own that works for you. I’d create a touchstone - a note on my desk that says, “Let it be easy” or “Done is better than perfect” -- something that connects me to the new belief that I am embedding and embodying in my life.
GET YOUR THOUGHTS ON PAPER; DOWNLOAD THIS WEEK'S JOURNAL PROMPT HERE.
Thanks for joining me on this belief exploration. I’ll see you next time when we’ll be looking at a whole new topic. See you then!
Let's talk about BELIEF - Part 2!
How was your week? Were you able to see the thoughts you keep thinking that keep this belief in place?
I’ll share my own experience of a limiting belief and how I transformed it. One area in which I wasn’t getting the results I wanted was work.
I said I wanted ease, yet I was perpetually stressed and anxious.
I knew it was possible, somehow, to work with ease, as I could see other people doing so. But it just wasn’t happening for me. I began to look into what underlying beliefs might be keeping me from the ease I so desired.
When I did some digging around my beliefs regarding what it means to be successful, to have a business and to work hard, I discovered this strong, deep-rooted belief within myself: you can have whatever you want as long as you’re willing to work hard for it.
In other words, anything worth having requires hard work. While I definitely value the virtues of perseverance, discipline and effort as an entrepreneur, at the same time
I could see that this belief I was holding wasn’t always true.
I began to see that I was making everything harder than it needed to be, as if I didn’t feel I deserved something unless I worked really hard to earn it. I also dismissed things that came too easily. I couldn’t appreciate, accept or enjoy the things that came naturally to me, because they didn’t require hard work. This was costing me energy -- and the ease I said I wanted.
What’s the belief that you uncovered?
What is the impact of believing it?
What do you get to be right about?
What story do you get to keep in place?
In what way is this belief costing you?
What are you giving up?
Here’s a handy PDF you can use to brainstorm your ideas around these beliefs.
If you feel the impulse to share, by all means, reply to this email. I’d love to hear from you! Next week, we’ll answer the question, “What do I do to get rid of this belief I don’t want anymore?” See you then!
Unplugging can be a powerful practice.
Here are 3 tips to Unplug
1) Schedule it and be mindful of the commitment. Communicate any obligations even if only for an hour to minimize disruption or distraction.
2) Take care of your body. Eat well, get rest and select clothing or essential oils that feels supportive. Ask your body what it most needs to be comfortable.
3) Eliminate expectations. Instead of going into the time of solitude with what you most want to get out of it, go into it with an intention on how you most want to feel while in your special alone time.
Wildhearted Retreat Guatemala 2018
Photo: Tiffany Bednar
Let's talk about BELIEF - Part 1!
This month, we’ll be exploring the theme of beliefs. Our beliefs have the power to shape our reality and impact our results. Belief work involves discovering, distinguishing and changing our unconscious, limiting beliefs.
This is Transformation 101 -- the foundation of any personal growth/development work.
So, let's get back to the basics. Anytime you're not getting the results you want is a good time to look into the hidden beliefs that are affecting you without your knowledge or consent.
Here’s the plan for this month’s investigation:
Today, we’ll look at the definition of belief and start to uncover the unconscious, limiting beliefs at play in our lives.
Next week, we’ll delve into the impact of those beliefs -- how they are shaping our results and reality.
Then, we’ll explore what else we might want to believe instead.
Finally, we’ll learn some practical ways to shift these limiting beliefs and upgrade them to something more empowering and aligned with our desired results.
I’ll leave you with concrete ways to take that new belief and put it into embodied action, so you can start getting more of what you want.
Just what is a belief? According to inspirational Law of Attraction teacher and channel, Esther Hicks, a belief is a thought that you keep thinking over and over. You’ve thought it so many times that it has hardened into a belief that lives in the background and under the radar. It has become “just the way it is”.
Our beliefs are influencing everything!
Beliefs can be sneaky and powerful, because these passive, repetitive thoughts are usually neither loud nor on the surface of our consciousness. Yet our beliefs impact what we see, what we think is possible, and what we’re willing to do. Our beliefs shape how we show up in the world and interact with others.
In what aspect of your life are you not getting the results you want?
Where might you have an unconscious, limiting belief that you can work on?
Grab a sheet of paper or download this PDF to use. You might choose to explore a specific area, such as health/fitness, work/business, love/relationship -- or keep it more general. On the top left side of the paper, write “I want…” and on the top right, “But…”. Fill in the blanks. For example, “I want to feel strong, capable and light on my feet…”.
In the right column, list the reasons why you don’t have this stated desire. “But… being healthy is really hard… requires too much sacrifice… or means not getting what I want.”
Which thoughts have turned into unhelpful beliefs? Because these beliefs have probably been kept for a long time, it will likely require some deep contemplation and honesty with ourselves to uncover them.
Look for yourself -- what underlying beliefs are present? See you next week, when we’ll take a closer look at the impact of these beliefs!
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In case you missed it:
Last month's exploration on Boundaries is now available on the blog. Click here to start at Part 1 and be sure to download your free Journal Prompt.
(P.S. I'd love to hear what you are discovering about Boundaries! Chat with me on social media or reply directly to this email.)
Practical Ways to Put Clear Boundaries in Place
All month, we’ve been exploring our relationship with boundaries. Last week, we looked at the many tolls we pay when our boundaries are murky. The intention today is to help you discover a few places where you can immediately put healthy boundaries into place in your life.
We’ve discussed the definition of what boundaries are; gained insight into why we don’t set them in some aspects of our lives; and understood the true costs involved when our boundaries are blurry or nonexistent.
Are you ready to make a change?
Get a piece of blank paper and draw a line down the middle. On the top left side, write THIS WORKS. Title the right column THIS DOESN’T WORK. I invite you to spend a few moments making these two lists.
What works for you? For example, respectful, engaging conversation; being on time and prepared for meetings; presenting clear offerings that feel resonant and true.
What doesn’t work? Ambiguity doesn’t work for me. It doesn’t work for people to disregard my time or for me to disregard anyone else’s time. And so on.
Reread the list of what doesn’t work for you and circle 2-3 items that jump out at you, perhaps with an emotional charge. This is where we will start. Ask yourself:
What action can I take to implement a new boundary?
How can I ensure that I don’t have to put up with situations/people/things that don’t work for me?
Personally, I’ve been looking at my boundary around people who I am and am not willing to work with as a coach. I’ve seen that it doesn’t work for me to continue to try and convince someone when I’ve recognized that they are not ready. It doesn’t work for me to try and force a good fit. Instead, I can accept that it’s okay for people not to be a fit and simply say: “I don’t think what I’m offering is a good match.”
What actions can you take to put stronger, healthier boundaries in place? What steps are you taking to support the kind of life you want to live?
Write in your journal:
I am making a commitment to __________________
I am available for ______________________
This is what works for me: ______.... Here is an action I’m taking to support this boundary: _______________________
Thanks for joining me on this adventure in boundary setting. Stay tuned! Next month, we’re moving into BELIEF.
I want to hear from you. What did you discover around boundaries this month? It’s powerful to share your thoughts and ideas with someone.
Feel free to comment below and share your thoughts on boundaries with me. I’d love to hear how this exploration has been for you.
This 12-minute guided meditation invites you to expand your awareness of the spaciousness within and around you and infuse your daily life with gratitude. To hold an ordinary object in your awareness and look at its details, edges, shape, color and texture with new eyes. To notice your direct experience of this object without the judgement and to sense its energy and simple beauty. To rewind your day, from the moment you woke up to beginning your morning routine to engaging in the day’s work to, finally, getting into your bed at the end of your day. How might you infuse each experience with gratitude? What can you find to appreciate? What moments would you take a snapshot of, to remember and treasure? What delighted you? What simple pleasures did you enjoy? Where did you see beauty? Open your heart to genuinely experience the gratitude.
Listen to this meditation to relax your body into the softness of your breath and let gratitude permeate every cell of your body and overflow.
What is the Cost of Not Setting Clear Boundaries?
Ready to continue our exploration of boundaries? Last week, we looked at where our boundaries are in place and where they are lacking. What did you discover are the reasons you use to justify for not drawing clear lines?
We’ve started to gain insight into where our boundaries are not in place and why -- the underlying beliefs preventing us from maintaining healthy boundaries. We’ve already taken a huge step toward setting healthier, clearer boundaries and have gathered a lot of helpful information to work with.
Let’s take a deeper look at what happens when we do not set clear boundaries.
Remember the example I shared last week regarding speaking with a potential coaching client? What was it costing me to not have firm boundaries in place around who I am and am not willing to work with? A significant amount of time and energy. Effort and time that could be much better utilized working with compatible clients.
Not everyone is going to be a good fit, and that’s okay. Continuing to pursue conversations with people who just aren’t ready is a waste of both my time and theirs. Even when I could tell someone wasn’t ready, I would keep trying and inevitably end up feeling frustrated and drained. It was also a drain on my sense of self-expression, making me feel imprisoned.
Now, when I realize a potential client is not ready, I can say, “I don’t think this work is a good fit for you right now. Here are some resources that could make a difference for you…” and suggest a book, technique or teacher that might inspire them.
Ask yourself:
What is it costing you not to have clear boundaries in place in your relationships, work/business, health, etc.?
What’s the cost when something is not okay with you and you’re unwilling to speak out and make a change?
Energy, patience, clarity, self-expression, your power and freedom, to name a few.
What else could you add to this list?
Next week, we’ll learn how to reclaim our power, well being and freedom by setting effective boundaries.
Feel free to comment below and share your thoughts on boundaries with me. I’d be honored to hear how this exploration is going for you!
GET YOUR THOUGHTS ON PAPER; DOWNLOAD THE FREE JOURNAL PROMPT BELOW!
Download and print this affirmation!
Where are boundaries missing?
This month, we’re exploring the theme of boundaries. Last week, we defined boundaries as drawing a line and being clear about what we will and won’t tolerate.
What have you noticed over the past week with regard to where your boundaries are clear or unclear?
Can you identify the obstacles that prevent you from effectively setting and maintaining boundaries? Do you have feelings of uncertainty as to where we or others stand in relation to an issue or perhaps a subconscious fear of being taken advantage of?
Here’s something that came up for me recently. On a call with a potential coaching client, I was asking questions and trying to get a sense of whether we’d be a good fit to work together. Frankly, she was being difficult and did not seem open to the coaching. Several comments she made and her tone of resignation indicated to me that she wasn’t ready. After the call ended, I felt frustrated and exhausted by the exchange.
When I reached out to my coach about the situation, she suggested that I take the coaching idea off the table and simply say, “How can I make a difference for you in the next ten minutes?”
I am not available to work with people who are not ready to dive in. I saw how my boundary was missing here with this potential client. Why didn’t I set that boundary initially? I wanted to believe I could make a difference for her. I didn’t want to seem unkind or rude. I didn’t want to give up on her. So the idea that I could take back the offer was a revelation to me.
Our inner work this week involves looking more deeply at the places where our boundaries either don’t exist or aren’t clearly defined. What do you notice? What is keeping you from drawing a line and saying, “This doesn’t work for me”?
Fear?
Concern for what others will think or feel?
Not wanting to seem rude, inconsiderate or ________ [fill in the blank]?
All of the above?
Something else?
Keep tuning in to where your boundaries are well-defined and where they are not. Next week, we’ll investigate the costs of not having healthy boundaries in place.
Don’t hesitate to comment below and share your thoughts on boundaries. I’d love to hear from you!
GET YOUR THOUGHTS ON PAPER; DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE JOURNAL PROMPT, BELOW!
Defining Our Boundaries
Boundaries are an important theme in our personal lives and in society at large. Whether related to our own personal development or the ongoing creation of our business or career, setting clear boundaries is essential.
Let’s explore the concept of boundaries over the next few weeks. Today, we’ll define boundaries and in future videos, we’ll discuss:
What obstacles get in the way of our ability to set and hold boundaries?
What is the cost in our life of having boundaries in place, or not?
Why do we keep doing something if we know it is not working for us?
What are some practical action steps to start creating stronger, healthier boundaries?
First things first: what are boundaries?
Houston-based professor, researcher and author Brene Brown, who you may remember from her viral TED talk, The Power of Vulnerability, says we can simply define boundaries as “this is okay; this is not okay”.
Setting healthy boundaries means drawing a line and being crystal clear about what we are and are not willing to tolerate and engage in. We are responsible for setting the parameters around what works for us--and what does not.
To begin this exploration, become aware of two things:
What boundaries are clear for you? In what areas of your life have you already set strong, healthy boundaries? Relationships, family, work/business, health?
Where are your boundaries lacking or murky?
Setting the foundation with this awareness practice will enable you to learn how to set clear boundaries.
Feel free to share in the comments below. I’d love to hear your thoughts on boundaries.
At one point in my life the idea of going after what I wanted seemed so self-centered. I grew up in a relatively conservative, religious background and I think it was just sort of this understood or unconscious belief that if we focused on what we wanted we would be selfish, hedonistic people, and it was dangerous to do that.
And then there was this point in my life, this really critical point of change, where a trusted advisor encouraged me to notice what it felt like in my body when I told the truth. That experience allowed me to tap into something I’d never experienced before. I began to understand that what my heart wanted was VALID. That if I could trust my heart and what I knew to be true for me, life got really easy and simple.
I don't have to be afraid of what I want. I don't have to be ashamed of what I want—or going after it. What I’ve come to believe and what I now know to be true is that the things my heart desires are stepping stones to fulfilling my greatest purpose in this life.
Thank you for hearing my story. I’ve created an 8-minute guided meditation + activity to help you explore this for yourself. Enjoy! <3