Thank You All, So Much! From Astra

Hello all – Astra here!

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I just wanted to let you know, I am stepping away from my role at Abundant Heart Center to give my energy to my new business, EMERGE: Embrace Your Truth.

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Abundant Heart has been a very necessary segment of my road and journey. Co-creating all of the fascinating services that ClareShale and I channeled from the Universe last year was like nothing I had ever before dreamed or conceived of, and it has been absolutely instrumental in my own growth.

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I have equally enjoyed being a witness for ClareShale’s transformation in all of this – she is a powerful shaman and leader – and of course I have been so honored and blessed to enjoy the growth and forward movement of our amazing clients. Our clients, truly, have been more astonishing than I could ever have hoped for – and to you, dear clients, I also say – oh my goodness – from the deepest well of my heart….I could never thank you enough for being You. I love you! ♥

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If you like, you can reach me at:astra@emerge-embrace.com– or friend me/message me on my AstraSpider BizShaman page, https://www.facebook.com/astraspider.

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I would absolutely love to keep in touch!

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Again my new business, which I have been lovingly creating and growing, is EMERGE: Embrace Your Truth, where I support you in stepping into your power! http://emerge-embrace.com/

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I would love for you to Like my new FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/EMERGE-Embrace-Your-Truth/235849573166931

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And follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/EmergeEmbrace

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Thank you all so much! ♥

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Astra Spider

Shaman and Mentor

http://emerge-embrace.com/

astra@emerge-embrace.com

Quietude in Music

by Astra Spider

It can be seen as ironic that one of the things that brings me to stillness is music. Logically, music is the opposite of quiet – as it is made up of sound.

Energetically, however, everything is energy and has energy – including “quiet”!

And being brought into the energy of quiet allows for dreaming – and dreaming allows for creating – and music is one of the most innately creative things made by a soul.

So, intuitively, it doesn’t surprise me at all that the mesmerism of certain melodies often brings me deepest into the sound of silence.

A song which pops instantly to mind when feeling into the stillness of music is “Pandora” by the Cocteau Twins.

Listening to Pandora brings me directly into a state of feeling lightly blanketed by a sprinkling of snow in afternoon sunlight – only it is not a cold snow. It is tepid, healing, perfect; the illumination of the sparkle of each flake echoing through the mirrors of my soul.

This song performs a Soul Retrieval (a form of shamanic healing) on me each time I allow myself to fully relax into the harmonizing care of its trance.

I am snow. I am silence. I am the sun.

What brings you into your state of stillness?

Love,

Astra

Astra Spider & ClareShale Mountain Star: 

THE EMPOWERMENT SHAMANS

Abundant Heart: Manifest Your Dreams

www.abundantheartliving.com

Blog – www.abundantheart.wordpress.com

Twitter – www.twitter.com/abundantheart

Facebook – www.facebook.com/abundantheart

LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/pub/astra-spider-clareshale-mountain-star/35/a05/598

A Deep and Abiding Love for Bees and Raw Honey

ClareShale speaks from the heart:

When contemplating the bees and enjoying the feeling of being present in gratitude for all that they do for us, many spiritual truths are brought to life.

In choosing just one to focus on today, what comes to mind is – Abundance.  

We see Abundance demonstrated in the perfect way that bees collect their sustenance in beauty, from beauty; fully connected in community, individually brilliant and powerfully self-directed.

The bees’ gift to the earth is the propogation of green life. Their gifts to humans and animals are many and complex; however perhaps their most delicious gift is the production of the miraculous and magical: honey.

If you and I were to sit down and chat, it would only be a matter of time before I started talking about the many uses of raw honey. I might even share with you a story of how I used honey to cure my child’s sore throat overnight!

In the spirit of preparation for our future chat, let me share with you some awesome facts….Did you know that:

* Raw honey contains anti-viral and anti-fungal properties. 

* When collected from local sources, consuming raw honey can decrease symptoms of seasonal allergies as it introduces pollen to the human body in small amounts helping to gently accustom the body to what might otherwise cause a more intense reaction.  

* Raw honey has helpful bacteria (probiotics) that support human and bee health while decreasing the presence of harmful bacteria.

* Raw honey can be used as a cough suppressant, immune system stimulant, dressing for wounds, promotes excellent blood sugar control and is just super-yummy.

* Note – cooking or heating honey lessens or completely destroys these awesome qualities – it’s totally worth it to purchase the raw honey from your local farmer’s market. Let me know if you want support finding a good source!  

Enjoy this quote from fellow honey enthusiast:

‘ “Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best –“…and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called.’

Bringing in What’s All Around

by ClareShale Mountain Star

This New Year is bringing fresh hope to so many people – it seems as though everywhere I turn I see big plans, new adventures and revitalization. With each of these newly seeded visions comes an opportunity to engage with life’s boundaries once again. All over the world people are feeling, stretching and confronting what they had perceived as possible. They are preparing their vision seeds for germination by expanding their reality to include what once was unimaginable.

Here are a few 2012 visions that I have heard so far: People are inviting health into their bodies by giving up watching television, going to bed earlier, eating pure foods. People are starting brand new business ventures, expanding their existing businesses and changing fields completely. People are starting new families, having children and re-committing to their partners. Wow! That’s just a small portion of the people I know.

What is it that you want to create this year? What visions are ready to blossom and grow within you this time around the sun? Are you ready to open to deeper levels of Love? Relationship? Integrity? Health? Wealth? Contentment? What seeds have been planted in your mind?

As you orient yourself to the future – dreaming and creating the wonderful things you intend – do you have a sense of unlimited possibility? Do you feel the unique intelligence of all that exists within you? How about the universal abundance that exists in the world “outside” of your mind, emotions and body? The coming together of these forces are part the miracle of vision-manifestation – just as the coming together of seed, water, warmth and soil are part of the miracle of Life.

Your vision has its own intelligence, just like a seed, and has been kept safe inside your soul within its protective outer layer until conditions proved just right. Your vision-seed knows that outside of that protective layer you will find an abundance of all that is needed to grow and thrive.

Perhaps you have already broken through that outer layer, and are finding that opportunities for growth and success are indeed abundant and surround you continually. Or, perhaps you are finding that breaking through is a challenge for your mind – you wonder, is it really possible? Does what I need to thrive and be happy really exist in the world?

The truth is that you have your own specific vision because you are ready. If you are coming up against a limit that feels impossible to overcome (like that outer protective layer for the seed), it is a good sign that you are about to take on a new challenge and grow in ways that will ultimately support the future success of your vision-seed.

Opportunities for growth and newness present themselves on a daily basis. It is through identifying and willingly engaging with these special moments that your consciousness expands and breaks through to new levels of possibility, thereby creating your vision seed as a viable part of our beloved world.

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Congratulations and a big thank-you to all of you who are willing to nurture and hold your visions for the future. Bringing life to what is within you is truly the most important work of all. I wish you unlimited growth and success in all your endeavors this year.

ClareShale

Astra Spider & ClareShale Mountain Star: 

THE EMPOWERMENT SHAMANS

Abundant Heart: Manifest Your Dreams

www.abundantheartliving.com

Blog – www.abundantheart.wordpress.com

Twitter – www.twitter.com/abundantheart

Facebook – www.facebook.com/abundantheart

LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/pub/astra-spider-clareshale-mountain-star/35/a05/598

To Judge or Not to Judge…I Choose Not to….

by Astra Spider

I have been “accused” of, and judged about, seeing only what I want to see.

This makes me smile. The statement is not accurate. But I do understand how it may seem this way!

The reason for this judgment is due to the Order in which I perceive things – it’s not that I see some things and do not see others; it’s that I first see the essence of a person or situation. And this essence is always beautiful.

This does not mean that I don’t notice underlying “issues” or darkness – it means that I am not bothered by these things. One of Earth’s “rules” has been: There can be no light without darkness. We would not know what to call light, had we not also witnessed the dark.

I embrace the beauty of both.

Now as the Universe is shifting and expanding, and more light is coming in, I feel it in my body – there is an almost constant vibrational buzz. I am told by the Universe this will be calming down a bit after the new year begins…that the shifts will continue, but that we will be feeling them in a more slow, flowing manner – rather than these almost shocking jumps and starts that I have heard many folks talking about – and that I myself have been experiencing.

With these Universal shifts come new perceptions.

My experience for some time, as I said, has been to see the essence of a person or situation – and love it for its beauty. However, the “old earth” aspect of my perception was that there was often still judgement attached. I would see and love the beauty, but then would fall into the old mind-chatter of judging the reasons why a person did what they did, or why something happened a certain way.

The new way that has been blossoming in me is that I no longer identify with the old way of judgment. This doesn’t mean I don’t “care” if something unhelpful is happening, or that I allow unhelpful people to enter my domain. I take care of my energy. But, no matter what is happening around me, it is not for me to judge. Judgment is a block to abundance – so I will no longer have judgment in my life or in my heart. This is my choice.

And when anyone judges me, it makes me smile – for I see that I am being a mirror for whatever they need to work out inside themselves – and that is their responsibility.

 

Astra Spider & ClareShale Mountain Star: 

THE EMPOWERMENT SHAMANS

Abundant Heart: Breakthrough Success in Your Life and Art

www.abundantheartliving.com

Blog – www.abundantheart.wordpress.com

Twitter – www.twitter.com/abundantheart

Facebook – www.facebook.com/abundantheart

LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/pub/astra-spider-clareshale-mountain-star/35/a05/598

Honoring Yourself

Your Truth is your Abundance.

How do you connect in to your Abundance? Do you give yourself time and sacred space to go within?

Do you give yourself the space you need to feel into the desires of your heart, soul and whole self?

So often the “old ways” of society have taught us to always be active – always do something – reach outside one’s self, connect externally – be a full time care-giver for others.

All of this is important, and has its own place and special gifts – but truly we cannot be there in our most helpful capacity if we do not first take care of ourselves.

We are able to be of the highest service when we not only are seeing to our basic needs, but when we are carving out time and space to cultivate and become our highest selves – our most conscious, expanded and aware versions of our already magical beings.

The more you honor your Self, and carve out that time and sacred space for your dreamtime, the more you feel your connection to All – and the more you allow your creativity to flow. From being in a relaxed state of abundance, you are opening to the epiphanies that are ready for you to tap in to.

You are your own well of abundance.

What will you do to create your space today?

Please add your comments here, we’d love to hear from you!
 

Astra Spider & ClareShale Mountain Star: 

THE EMPOWERMENT SHAMANS

Abundant Heart: Breakthrough Success in Your Life and Art

www.abundantheartliving.com

Blog – www.abundantheart.wordpress.com

Twitter – www.twitter.com/abundantheart

Facebook – www.facebook.com/abundantheart

LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/pub/astra-spider-clareshale-mountain-star/35/a05/598

Love Universe-ity

by Astra Spider

If Earth is a school (and she is) – then the Universe-ity is Love.

Love is the finest institute of Higher Learning. Once we get an A++ in the subject of Love, everything else flows effortlessly.

Love has taught me not to judge and not to worry. Love has taught me to love my Self first, and fill up on Love energy so entirely that it has no where left to flow but out.

Love has taught me that animals are the greatest teachers of neutrality – which is the same as Universal Love.

Love has taught me so much! Has it taught me to remember it all, 100% of the time? Nope, because that is MY responsibility! That reminds me: Love has taught me that I am responsible for my life (and no one else’s).

Am I listening to my greatest teacher? I Am.

By talking to my heart, loving my Self, and remembering that I am responsible for my life, I am giving space for others to do the same.

It is a process – and when all is flowing, Woohoo, doesn’t it feel good!

When all is not flowing, I am quick to take a look under the hood and tinker with the equipment; till I remember to simply fill ‘er up with the most powerful and healthy petrol – the all-purpose, neutral, environmentally friendly energy of Universal Love!

What a gas!

LOVE,

Astra

 

Getting Into Character

by ClareShale Mountain Star

Do you know what you want to be for Halloween this year? As I was going through possible ideas – “Fairy”, “Elf”, “Princess Leia” – I suddenly realized that I was missing out on this great opportunity to embody something super-transformational. Halloween is a precious moment in time when adults of all walks of life get together, have parties and look each other in the face dressed as pirates, vampires, bottles of mustard and all other forms of silliness. How awesome is that!?

Halloween is the way our culture celebrates the often unseen and overlooked corners of our collective psyche. It is how we pull what is hidden out into the light so it can be acknowledged, laughed at and released before the dark of winter really does descend…all around…for months…and months (read: Chicago winter).

I wondered…what was deep inside me waiting to be embodied? Would dressing as a Fairy be the most transformational and beneficial thing I could do this year? This is, after all, my opportunity to delve deeply into my soul and air out the dankness in the cellar of my spirit – right?

I decided right then and there to go on a shamanic journey in to my own heart, soul and whole self with the intention of finding out what would be my most beneficial Halloween costume. Let me just say, what I discovered was quite surprising and felt really great. I can’t wait to embody “Ezekiel the Chimpanzee Goddess” this year. Wow – I’m not sure exactly how I’m going to pull it off, but I know there will be fake hair and face paint involved…also something sparkly.

Because I want to support you in finding the Halloween costume of your own soul, I recorded the journey for you here!… http://audioboo.fm/boos/520260-halloween-costume-journey It’s totally free and under five minutes in length. If you do the journey I’d love to hear how it goes for you and what you discover, so feel free to send me a note at clareshale@abundantheartliving.com.

Happy Halloween!

Treasure Digger

This week we find ourselves interested in burrowing within to find our hidden treasures – or uncovering even more of the treasures we already know are here!

It can feel challenging to acknowledge that we even have inner treasures or gifts to share.

Societal patterns have not been set up to be wholly supportive of humans as far as loving the Self, discovering our Gifts and putting them to use.

However, if looked at in the right way, this in and of itself has been a tremendous blessing; for, because of the seeming lack of support from structures outside ourselves, those of us in the process of opening to the treasures in our hearts find it necessary to rely on our inner strength, inner wisdom, and the knowledge that all we need is within.

We have become soul soldiers, warriors of the heart on a mission to open to all the love the Universe has to offer. And in so doing, we discover the funny news that has been here all along – we actually DO have all the support and Love we will ever need “outside” of ourselves as well as within – we always have – because the Universe is happy when we are happy. The Universe expands with delight as we discover our own!

The more of us who open our hearts, and the more we let our inner love shine through, the more we are channels for Universal Love to flow through, around and out in an endless flow.

And we can now look at the people and situations that seemed to stifle our self-esteem, our growth and our purpose – open our hearts – and Love these “external” forces with every fiber of our beings – Because now we know that they, too, are Love – as is All.

Astra Spider & ClareShale Mountain Star

Abundant Heart:

Breakthrough Transformation for Creative Professionals

www.abundantheartliving.com

Blog – www.abundantheart.wordpress.com
Twitter – www.twitter.com/abundantheart
Facebook – www.facebook.com/abundantheart
LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/pub/astra-spider-clareshale-mountain-star/35/a05/598

Independence Day

On this day, Americans celebrate Independence. Here’s what Dictionary.com (one of our favorite sites!) has to say about the word Independent:

• Free from outside control; not depending on another’s authority
• Not influenced or affected by others; impartial
• Capable of thinking or acting for oneself
• Not depending on something else for strength or effectiveness; freestanding

For many people the word “independence” holds mixed associations. On one hand, we value our self-reliance, on the other hand, our lives would not be complete without our dear friends and family. How do we find balance in our lives being connected with others while staying truly connected with ourselves? One aspect of exploring the answer to this question can be found in a surprising place – the backcountry.

Expedition Behavior or “EB” is a term coined in the sixties to describe the proper frame of mind for an individual to hold while on a backcountry expedition. In this setting everything is different – Paul Petzodlt writes in his Wilderness Handbook, “After a few days away from civilization, everyone starts to change. Values change. The veneer, the bluffing, artificiality, and crutch of family wealth or prestige are no longer valid in the natural environment of camping. Suddenly, people must make their place in a new society based upon what they can actually do and what they really are.”

One of the most important things someone can learn on a camping adventure is proper EB. Maintaining good EB is essential for the health, safety and success of any adventure. It is the reason many excellent companies and schools include a wilderness retreat in their orientation and team building programs. There are a number of facets to proper expedition behavior – but the one that is most applicable to the question of finding balance between ourselves and our fellow beings is:  Be as concerned for others as you are for yourself. However, we would say most of us have times when we need to recognize that the statement can and must also be read:  Be as concerned for yourself as you are for others.

It is easy to see in an extreme setting how important self-care is. A dehydrated or injured team member could impact the entire group as they spend valuable resources and time bringing the individual back to health. Each person must make sure they are taking good care of themselves for the success of the entire group.

When applied to a civilized, Abundant Heart lifestyle *Be as concerned for yourself as you are for others* implies the necessity of honoring personal boundaries in order to create a safe place for our hearts to shine. This may mean saying “no thank you” to that party invite, or speaking up at a family gathering if inappropriate comments are being made (and your heart is clearly telling you – this is not ok!).  Being concerned for yourself means reorganizing one’s schedule to create time for adequate rest, nutritious food preparation, joy-bringing exercise and time to just BE.

All this self-care doesn’t mean we don’t need balanced relationships with people we care deeply about.  In fact, what an honor it is to support each other as we live a heart-based life. Honest, loving connections are essential; as we move forward creating our world, we must have other clear hearts surrounding us and reflecting back to us what they see. Independence is truly a thing to celebrate in our lives and those of our friends. An independent person standing up for what their heart is saying adds powerful Truth to the emerging present moment – this benefits us all.

Love,

Astra and ClareShale

http://abundantheartcenter.com/

http://abundantheartalchemy.com/