With the Summer Solstice Solar Eclipse just around the corner, our planet has been elevating into higher states of consciousness as the dark is being brought into the light.

In this episode I share more about the power of the heart, the golden age upon us, anti-racism work, amplifying voices of color and tools to navigate these potent times.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Yin Yoga Videos
• Rising Women Leaders Website
• Instagram
• Patreon

Let’s take time to learn directly from Black, Indigenous, People of Color. Here are some of our favorite Episodes from Rising Women Leaders:

Episode 20 with Lyla June Johnston 

Episode 27 with Vyana Ma

Episode 44 with Maga Ayala 

Episode 47 with Michelle Johnson

Episode 50 with Mackenzie Green

Episode 55 with Tiffani Lloyd

Episode 66 with Jedaya Barboza

Episode 77 with Lara Rose Duong

Episode 78 with Nikki Silvestri

Episode 80 with Jumakae

Episode 89 with Veladya Chapman

Resources For Further Study:

Holistic Resistance - Anti-racism workshops, trainings, coaching, and singing circles

Layla F. Saad - Me and White Supremacy book and workshops

Michelle Johnson - Intersection of Yoga and Social Justice Trainings

Rachel Ricketts - Spiritual Activism Webinars

Lyla June Johnston - Indigenous Rights, Climate Change & Activism

Jedaya Barboza - Divine Feminine Spiritual Guidance & Awakening

As time slows down during quarantine I’ve been so much more observant of the world outside my doorstep. I’ve noticed how the flowers change each day, which plants the bees are most drawn to, new life sprouting from seeds, and how alive and changing the natural world really is when we are still enough to witness.

Today’s episode with Gabriella Takutzima takes us inside the practices of honoring the seasons and cycles of Mother Earth, the importance of ceremony and how to harness our innate inner magic by connecting more deeply with the natural world…

In this episode we discussed:

• Why do we practice ceremony? Where does it come from?

• Why is it so important for the modern woman?

• Shamanism + Paganism and what drew Gabriella to these paths

• Human history with these ancient religions - specifically the woman's role 

• Earth Embodiment + Women's Wellness

• How connection to our Bodies and Desires is the ultimate act of worship to the Goddess

• Connection of our cycles to the Seasons

• Witchcraft + Women's Magic - the importance of the Witch in modern society

• How to reclaim our inner Witch + harness our innate magic

•  Circling with the Seasons - Gabriella’s course to attune to the Wheel of the Seasons as women

Stay in Touch with Gabriella:

Website

Instagram

Gabriella Takutzima is a Pagan ceremonialist, animist, and an initiated Dianic Witch. She worships the Goddess and celebrates her Celtic heritage as she walks the Wheel of the Year. She is also a BIrth Keeper, Massage Therapist, Energyworker, and Wife. She seeks to serve Life by serving Women in the passages of blood, birth, and death. She is 25 years young, and has had the privilege of hosting/participating in ceremonies for five years, including sacred plant ceremonies. She has been studying the tradition of healing and ritual from both her Elders in the Craft as well as from a Marekame Medicine Man from the Huichol Tribe. She is devoted to carrying on Earth religion as the Ancient Ones once did. She and her husband are starting a business in Oregon to grow herbal medicines for Women’s health, as well as crafting Yoni Stools, and will be creating a worship space to gather the community to heal and learn. Gabriella is passionate about praising the Earth, celebrating the Seasons, connecting to the Ancestors

By this time, I imagine a lot of you are “sheltering in place” at home because of the coronavirus. Like many of you, I’ve navigated the ups, the downs and the fears of these uncertain times.  My heart is with you.  As I’ve gone through all the feelings, coming back to my center through meditation practices, I’ve begun to find the gifts of what is being asked of us right now. Here are 8 messages I’ve received that I feel are the true gifts and invitations of this time…

Available for a Limited Time: Healing the Womb: 1:1 Sessions to Heal the Past and Activate Your Manifestation Power: http://www.risingwomenleaders.com/womb

A few weeks ago I visited Maui, considered the Sacral Chakra of the islands and heard the voice of Gaia say, “Heal their wombs to heal the planet.”

And I realized there’s a skill I have that I haven’t been sharing with you.

When I began offering somatic healing modalities in my work, I discovered almost all the women I was working with had experienced some form of sexual abuse or trauma related to the womb in their life.

I saw how when we addressed those old wounds and brought love and healing to the memories, these women were so much more confident, excited and ready to move forward with their dreams.

Over the past three years I’ve worked with women who’ve experienced traumatic hospital birth experiences, abortion, miscarriage, and physical or sexual abuse. As we healed these memories, both big and small, I watched as they began to shine ever more brightly.

I now know 1 out of every 2 women has experienced some form of sexual abuse or womb violation in her life.

These experiences directly affect our ability to feel like we matter, we are worthy, and that what we have to say is of importance. It hinders our self-esteem, makes us want to play small and hide away from the world.

As a certified Matrix Re-imprinting practitioner, EFT facilitator, trained coach, initiated Priestess and compassionate listener, it is my mission to reach more women who are holding on to these difficult memories that are holding them back from taking courageous steps and living at their highest potential.

Some challenges you may be experiencing if you you’ve had a violation:

• not able to hold boundaries
• not feeling like your voice matters
• unable to charge what you’re really worth
• questioning and doubting your creative projects
• feeling stuck or stagnant
• disconnected from the energy of creation and your inherent power

When the womb is violated and we feel a trauma we often disconnect from this sacred power center because there is just too much pain or shame.

Do you struggle with feeling safe to receive or experience pleasure?

Do you yearn to feel more confident?

To have better boundaries?

To tap into your feminine power of creation?

To deeply believe in yourself?

In the month of November I’m offering 1:1 sessions to

HEAL PAST TRAUMA + ACTIVATE YOUR MANIFESTATION POWER - learn more at http://risingwomenleaders.com/womb

I’ve been doing this work for a long time now and last week I was doing a client review of what’s happened in the last year for my past clients in the world of feminine entrepreneurship… I was happily surprised to discover that many of them have been able to 

• Increase their income to $3-10k per month in their spiritually centered business
• Use their voice with confidence to share their message
• Help more people and make a bigger impact because they finally have the time and freedom to focus on it!

I’ve been so busy helping THEM grow their dream businesses that I haven’t taken the time to share with YOU how you can earn more money and finally put yourself out there to do the work your heart has been calling out for you to do.

For that, I apologize.

All the time I’m hearing from women that they're struggling to get by in their business, that they deeply feel they have a calling, a sacred mission to fulfill, but are having to work multiple jobs and burning out trying to make it all work…

…A phone call with someone who lacks the confidence to put herself out there and share her message.

…A Facebook message from someone who is afraid to raise her prices because she’s afraid no one will sign up.

…A DM from a sister who’s been spending her time growing her instagram following but behind-the-scenes is not earning anywhere near the kind of income she would like to make.

The truth is, you CAN earn more money AND live life on your own terms (with a flexible schedule, time for family, self-care, and spiritual practices)… It’s just that I haven’t been focusing on helping YOU with those kinds of results.

I’ve been waking up to the fact that if ANYONE in the world is meant to be earning more money, it is spiritual, heart-centered women like you.

That’s where we need more power. More femininity in leadership. More women owning and earning their worth.

And you know what?

When you are owning the true value of what you have to offer, you will actually have more TIME to focus on spreading your sacred work, your voice, your message, your soul gifts in such a bigger way…

So many more people will benefit from what you have to share.

So even though earning great money is part of it, underneath that, I really want you to make the impact your soul came here to make.

To break through the fears.

The self-doubts.

The limiting beliefs.

The old stories saying you can’t.

It’s time to honor your voice. Your soul callings.

No more hiding.

I know I’ve been offering value to you through the podcast, and I’ll keep doing that, but I’m realizing it’s not the same as taking you by the hand to make the shifts I think you would really love to see in your life.

No more.

I’ve opened up some time in the next week to speak to a select number of committed women about how they can increase their impact and income without letting go of their spiritual and feminine values.

There’s no charge for this and it’s totally free.

But it’s not for everyone.

Here are the kinds of women I can help:

• Feminine entrepreneurs who have an existing business and want to grow their work online
• Those who are committed, show up and take action
• Those who have a deep soul desire to make a positive impact through their work
• Those who are willing to step outside their comfort zone to grow

If you’re tired of playing small in your business and you’re ready to start seeing results, then I’m making the time to show you how to get there.

Click here to book your session.

With love,

Meredith

PS: This podcast is going out to thousands of people today. Spaces WILL fill up fast (and there’s only one of me)!

Click here now and book your session before they fill up!

It’s been three years since I last had my dear friend Karen Prosen on the Rising Women Leaders podcast, and so much has happened!

I’ve walked by Karen’s side as I’ve watched her life dismantle and rebuild from the ground up. From break-up, loss, a kundalini crisis and awakening to traveling the world and aligning with her soul’s work, there is so much we cover in this intimate conversation.

Karen is one of the most pure, devotional people I know, and I am so excited to introduce you to her and her work today.

To listen to Karen’s last episode on the show, click here.

In this episode we discussed:

• Kali Ma ~ How the power of destruction can give birth to your most aligned life
• Kundalini awakening ~ Karen’s story, what it is, why it happens and how to support yourself through it
• Celibacy & desire ~ Why Karen decided to make a year-long vow of celibacy and sobriety and how it impacted her life
• The voice of the womb ~ How Karen connected to this inner voice and how it supported her through her hardest times
• Mary Magdalene & Jesus ~ What these ascended masters are here to teach us and how we can connect to their unconditional love
• The Feminine Christ ~ What it is and how we can embody this divine energy in our life and leadershipStay in Touch with Karen:

Stay in Touch with Karen:

Website
Instagram

Karen Prosen is a womxn’s witness, a Daughter of Devotion and an artist. She guides rising fem leaders into self-initiation and remembrance with her many offerings in person and online. Trained as a Clinical Mental Health Therapist with emphasis on social justice, somatics, mindfulness and trauma healing, she serves as a student first and foremost.

Karen supports womxn to treat their bodies as temples, become living vessels and pour their magic forth on the pilgrimage of leadership, love and liberation. She believes that life is a gift, and even so, no one should ever have to do it alone.

*Note* This episode has some explicit language so be mindful if you have little ones around!

I’ve been loving Alexandra Roxo’s raw, real & personal stories on instagram and am so excited to have her on the podcast to share with you today!

I was curious to hear about Alexandra’s journey finding the spiritual path, what tantra means to her, how she supports women through her work, what fears she’s been facing and especially her advice on being the most REAL and authentic version of YOU, despite the fear of what others may think of it.

Get ready to step into and OWN your personal power in 2019…

In this episode we discussed:

• What Alexandra’s “wake up” moment was and how she found herself on a spiritual path
• Alexandra’s reflections on her recent trip to India
• The different forms of Tantra and what it was like to study with the Dalai Lama
• The fears Alexandra has faced in the last year
• How to navigate being your whole (sensual, flirty, fun, out-there) self - even when you know your family is reading your newsletters!
• Friend detoxing - and how to compassionately create more space to find your soul family
• Stepping into and owning your personal power
• Alexandra’s upcoming book being published with Sounds True
• Alexandra’s collaboration with Ruby Warrington, Moon Club

SPECIAL OFFER:
Join for a FREE month of Moon Club!

STAY IN TOUCH WITH ALEXANDRA:
Follow on instagram @alexandraroxo and @wearemoonclub
Website: alexandraroxo.com / moonclub.co

Alexandra Roxo is a transformational mentor, healer, writer, and artist who is extremely passionate about empowering women. Her writing on personal growth and female empowerment, the divine feminine resurgence, moon ritual, and modern spirituality can be read on Girl Boss.com. Teen Vogue, Mind Body Green, and Playboy. She has been featured in many publications for her deep, sensual, and raw approach to healing and transformation, and has also been named a "modern spiritual leader" by Well + Good.

She was called to find a way to share her spiritual work with women in places in the world where there is less access to workshops and classes and retreats so together with Ruby Warrington she created the online community Moon Club, which consists of hundreds of women worldwide who attend monthly online rituals, empowerment talks, and are guided by in journey and breathwork practices.

Alexandra has been called to help women find their voices, release limiting beliefs imposed by society, and come home to their true nature for as long as she can remember. She currently works with clients one on one and in groups, empowering and guiding them on their spiritual paths, leading events and retreats across the world, and writing daily empowering messages online. She has helped and inspired thousands of women to radically claim themselves and lead more passionate and conscious lives and it brings her great joy!

Prior to that she directed documentaries, a web show, and a feature film, wrote plays and created art along the same topics of what it means to be modern woman and what spiritual awakening feels like, which have been viewed by millions of people and featured in international press.

Her first spiritual mentorship began when she met her first teacher at age 12 whom she studied with annually until his passing in 2015. She began studying yoga and meditation at age 19 when she lived and studied with monastics abroad. Through her studies at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where she earned a BFA she learned how to use theatre, embodiment work, breathwork, movement, and storytelling for healing and personal transformation. She went on to study shamanic journey practice, sacred intimacy work, Earth based spiritual practice, Reiki, and plant medicine ceremonial traditions with many teachers around the world. Her 15 years of meditation practice and moon ritual is what inspired her to create Moon Club as a place to gather for deep sharing and deep practice relating to the internal spiritual journey.

She is working on her first book with the publisher Sounds True, out in early 2020 and will be leading retreats in 2019 at 1440 Multiversity, Kripalu Center, and Maha Rose Mexico and enjoying life between NYC and LA!

Renee is one of those people I feel like I was destined to meet. We found each other through our publisher, She Writes Press after Renee signed to publish her book with them. We had an immediate connection and soon after I had the honor of being a coach and guide for Renee the year leading up to her book launch.

In The Burn Zone, Renee openly and honestly shares her story — of losing her father at a young age, growing up with an abusive and alcoholic mother, to creating a successful career as a model and dancer, only to join a spiritual group “cult” that led her to burn everything that reminded her of her past (clothes, photos, everything), learn computer programming, get an MBA and create a life that felt the opposite of authentic to her.

After years of having a toxic relationship with her spiritual teacher, a near-death experience in a snowboarding accident finally gave her the "Wake Up” she needed to leave and start her life anew.

After picking up the pieces and going through her own personal healing from anger to forgiveness, she decided to share her story in her new memoir, The Burn Zone.

This thrilling tale leaves us with a powerful message of how to own our differences and liberate ourselves from the shame we carry from our past.

In this episode we discussed:

• What Renee learned on her first month-long book tour

• All about Renee’s new book, The Burn Zone

• Renee’s story of being brainwashed and joining a cult and how she found herself again on the other side

• The pattern of repeated trauma with empaths and narcissists

• The vulnerable journey of having people read her writing

• The liberation that comes with “Letting our skeletons out of the closet”

• How to release shame and hiding about our past

• What’s on the horizon for Renee next

"Loving ourselves means stop making excuses for not giving ourselves the things we want in this life. Our life is so short."

Stay in Touch with Renee:

• Website

• Facebook

• Buy the Book

About The Burn Zone:

After seven years of faithfully following her spiritual teacher, Renee Linnell finally realized she was in a cult and had been severely brainwashed. But how did that happen to someone like her? She had graduated magna cum laude with a double degree. She had traveled to nearly fifty countries alone before she turned thirty-five. She was a surf model and a professional Argentine tango dancer. She had started five different companies and had an MBA from NYU. How could someone like her end up brainwashed and in a cult? 

The Burn Zone is an exploration of how we give up our power―how what started out as a need to heal from the loss of her parents and to understand the big questions in life could leave a young woman fighting for her sanity and her sense of self. In the years following her departure from the cult, Linnell struggled to reclaim herself, to stand in her truth, and to rebuild her life. And eventually, after battling depression and isolation, she found a way to come out the other side stronger than ever. Part inspirational story, part cautionary tale, this is a memoir for spiritual seekers and those who feel lost in a world that makes them feel less than perfect.

Podcast by Meredith Rom - Rising Women Leaders | Spirituality | Personal Growth | Yoga.

Intuition, stories, and voices

Entrepreneurship - Personal growth, intuition, stories, voice, women, yoga, feminine leadership, spirituality, online business, and meditation

About Renee

Have you ever wondered what message your future children may have for you?

Or what deeper meaning may be there if you are having trouble getting pregnant? Or lost a baby in the womb?

Today’s guest, Sarah Naia Soleil is a birth doula, student midwife and spirit baby communicator.

After hearing Sarah’s name come up in 3 different conversations I had in the same month, I knew we had to sit down and connect here on the podcast.

In this episode Sarah shares her powerful story of birthing her own children and how she came to support other women in moving through the powerful rite of passage of pregnancy and birth.

"We know biologically, that a woman can experience and taste enlightenment, just hormonally, in labor. So what is it then, to encode our children with this enlightenment as they come in; to welcome them truly for who they are and why they are here - to be connected to the gifts they bring humanity and be stewards of that right from the beginning.”

In this episode we discussed:

• How Sarah came to discover her connection to the dream world, the spirit of her child while pregnant, and clairvoyant abilities

• Sarah's powerful birth stories and how she came to help women through birth

• The Art of Pre-Conception: How to prepare for a conscious conception

• The Significance of Hathor's Temple in Dendara, Egypt and Hathor's role in childbirth, pregnancy and blood mysteries

• Conscious Conception: What it is and how to prepare for the spirit of your child

• What is Spirit Baby Communication? and connecting to the spirit of a child 

Sarah Naia Soleil is a gifted clairvoyant. She's a mother of 2 & has been practicing as a Birth Doula & Student Midwife since 2008. She specializes in Preconception Mentorship, Spirit Baby Communication & Supporting Pregnancy/Birth as a Spiritual Rite of Passage. To Learn More Visit: www.SarahNaiaSoleil.com  // IG: @propagatelove

Podcast by Meredith Rom - Rising Women Leaders | Spirituality | Personal Growth | Yoga

Intuition, stories, and voices 

On August 29th I’ll be joining together with friends Sena Shellenberger and Denell Nawrocki to lead a women’s circle and cacao ceremony in honor of the release of my book, Just Be: A Search for Self-Love in India. 

A few weeks ago I had the honor of sitting down with Sena to talk about her journey of leaving her job in Silicon Valley, traveling for 8 months to rediscover her freedom and relocating to Sonoma County where she shares the magic of cacao in ceremonies and online courses.

In this episode we talk about:

• How sena found cacao and the cosmic experience of her first ceremony in Mexico
• Listening to our Intuition - how Sena gathered up the courage to leave her job at Google to follow her heart on an 8-month journey in Peru and Costa Rica before starting her own business where she now shares the magic of cacao with others
• How important our dreams are and how they can guide us
• What it really means to surrender to our divinely guided messages
• Sensuality practices to tap into the feminine
• Sena’s online course: Open Your Heart with Cacao

Sena and I have an event coming up on Tuesday August 29th details are right here.

Other links I mentioned in this episode:

• Where you can buy my book: http://bit.ly/mr-justbe
• My Latest Program, The Sovereign Circle: http://risingwomenleaders.com 

And be sure to follow Sena on instagram here!

I love when I see a woman merge her love of design with spirituality in her business. Today I'd like to introduce you to one of these women, Mari Sierra. 

I first met Mari at Erica Jago's yoga retreat in Yosemite. Mari led us through a Five Rhythms dance practice as well as a workshop to connect to our five senses. At the time, she was newly married and spent much of her time working with start up companies in San Francisco. 

Flash forward a couple years, and Mari has now led several of her own retreats around the world, moved back where she grew up in Mexico, left a partnership that was no longer serving her or her husband and studied for months at a dance intensive in Berlin. 

What changed? How did she make a leap to follow her heart, even if it took her in an unexpected direction?

In this episode Mari shares:

• Her story of leaving her marriage and business to follow her heart and become a nomad 
• Her experience of dance and how she uses it to cultivate a deeper state of spirit flow
• The intention behind La Mar, her yoga retreat created with Erica Jago
• Second and third chakra studies - How to tap into your sensuality, creativity and will power
• Archetypes and the future female - how we can use female archetypes to learn more about ourselves
• How she overcomes her fears
• Rituals and practices to connect to self, sensuality, and the earth
• The upcoming LA MAR yoga retreat in Sayulita, Mexico!

Links in this episode:

• Mari's website
• La Mar Yoga Retreat July 16-22, 2017
• Rising Women Leader's Live Lead Launch Free Webinar - May 24

Mari Sierra is a curious explorer of the mind-body connection and our collective evolution. She designs learning experiences for groups around the world, to explore the depths of the creative mind through yoga, meditation, dance, ritual, mysticism and self-expression. Her passion is to inspire people to inquire within, to open sensitivity to the subtle energy body, with nature elements and the principle of interconnectedness. Originally from Mexico city, she experimented with a myriad of dance schools, shamanic and yogic practices, then moved to San Francisco to work in design and social innovation, where she facilitates creative sessions with technology companies, coaches, and visionary leaders to find the song of their hearts and realign their work with higher intentions. 

This week I've been feeling kind of messy. I went on a trip to Kauai last week, and coming home I'm finding myself a little lost at times and unsure of where to put my energy next.

But I'm learning to love the mess. To love everything as it is arising. 

And this is something I love about today's podcast interview with Adriana Rizzolo.  I've always admired how Adriana carries herself with love and respect, no matter what the circumstances. 

In the episode Adriana shares about some pretty difficult hardships she's faced, including her story of healing from addiction and what happened when she lost everything she owned when her car was stolen.

Sometimes bad things happen, and Adriana shows us how we can more fully love ourselves, even through the mess.

In this episode you'll learn:

• Adriana's story of addiction and sobriety and what role yoga and meditation played in her healing journey
• How losing all her belongings and having her car stolen ended up as a divine intervention
• Tips Adriana has for women who are finding their voice 
• The role kirtan and chanting has played in her life
• Adriana's thoughts on facing fears and stepping into a more loving and courageous life

“Often what I find underneath my fear is a genuine desire, and that’s okay.” 

Adriana is an intuitive healer, yoga and meditation teacher, kirtan and voice guide, spiritual mentor, reiki master, hair stylist, writer and creative wild woman. Her passion is in helping others connect to the wild sacredness of their bodies, tender hearts, pelvic wisdom, authentic voices, and to their immense healing power of love. She helps others find their unique fire and build a strong connection to Spirit. She supports specifically in healing addiction and anxiety. She has studies extensively in India and with David Harshada Wagner and Living Meditation. She loves to nurture community, intimacy and connection to Spirit in a fun, powerful and practical way. Adriana trains individuals and leads sacred circles in New York City , Los Angeles and everywhere online. To find out more visit www.adrianarizzolo.com or on instagram @artofloving

Some of you may remember Luna Love from an episode where she interviewed me for her show - The Ladies Who Lead Podcast - where I shared my 4 Keys to Feminine Leadership. 

I invited Luna on RWL to share about creative entrepreneurship, how she uses the muse to go for her dreams and about the process of inner marriage and how we can use it to come into wholeness to attract a loving partner.

One of the things I admire about this woman is her ability to accomplish so much - while nurturing a feminine way of being and living - one of the values I hold so dear in my own business. In this episode she shares some of her secrets to "getting it all done" while creating space for what matters most.

“Our capacity to receive as women is really not about other people giving us things but about our willingness to receive our unlimited potential and through the receptivity of that greatness lies the energy to create more and be of greater service…” ~ Luna Love

In this episode Luna shares about:

• The “I can” vs. “I can’t” voice and how she came to be a women’s leadership mentor
• How to decipher and tune into intuition
• Tips on how we can find our purpose
• Creativity and the muse - what it is and how to use it to go after your dreams
• Luna’s secret to “getting it all done!”
• Inner marriage, personal responsibility and the list you need to write if you want to call in and attract a loving partnership
• The relationship tool Luna uses to use to cut through illusion and deepen connection
• Luna’s take on when it’s time to “feel the fear and do it anyway” and how to go about it

—

Luna is a Women’s Leadership Mentor, assisting those called to be change-makers in the world, in achieving clear vision for their lives by providing supportive, life-promoting experiences, practical tools and spiritual wisdom to align one’s divine essence, authentic expression and life-purpose. She creates transformative experiences for her clients through the power of self-awareness and self-love.

Luna facilitates online courses, group coaching, workshops, immersion programs and retreats to support her clients in devoting themselves to themselves, and serving the world from that place. Additionally she works as a counselor at a leading holistic drug and alcohol rehabilitation center and writes for numerous online publications. Most of all Luna is devoted to walking her path in the beauty way.

Today we are lucky to receive a transmission from Vyana Ma on the Rising Women Leaders Podcast. Vyana is another soul sister I first met through the world of instagram where we soon connected, met in person, and I learned of her work as an energy medicine teacher, devotee, musician and activist. 

I sat down to speak with her a couple months ago for the podcast when she had just come back from a bhakti yoga immersion in Mexico and was making a plan to travel to Standing Rock.  

I re-listened to this episode on my birthday in the bathtub and as soon as I heard her soothing voice, I knew there was no where else I would rather be. Her words brought me right back to my truth, reminding me of the power of being, loving and giving to ourselves in order to give back as teachers and healers, and the profound impact forgiveness can have on our lives. 

Re-listening to her story of healing from childhood abuse to become such a compassionate and strong woman leader helps me remember what I know in the core of my being - that really, anything is possible. 

"Humility and gratitude give us the freedom to experience the divinity that we are."

"...And if we always return to these principles of being and humbling ourselves and being grateful for what we have we will never be lost, no matter how confusing or painful it may feel. When we come back to humility and gratitude we will always find our way." ~Vyana Ma

In this episode you’ll learn about:

• When to listen to the inner call - letting go of what “makes sense” to the rational mind in order to follow the heart
• Vyana’s travels through Mexico and beyond
• Her story of finding balance between giving and receiving as a healer and teacher
• Her sadhana practice and experience with the Gayatri Mantra 
• How she moves through resistance to spiritual practice 
• Vyana’s story of awakening, rising above and healing childhood abuse to heal herself and others
• Vyana's story of sharing her voice as a singer and teacher
• Her experience of opening the portal to become a mother 
• How we can open to forgiveness and the difference between 'letting go' and 'letting live'

Links in this episode:

• Vyana's instagram
• Vyana's website
• Tribe De Mama

Vyana Ma is a woman who lives on the earth and breathes the air. 

She is also an international energy medicine teacher & speaker based out of Ojai, Ca. She blends her journey through childhood sexual & physical abuse, addiction, and self abuse with trainings in Eastern & Western healing modalities. Using these tools, Vyana guides her clients & students through the shadowed and disempowered aspects of themselves to reach a place of trust and truth.

"For me, astrology is about enchantment...When I am looking at someone's birth chart, I am looking at their soul's patterning. I am looking at the moment they were born and the heavens froze, and this special moment becomes someone's soul process."

"It tells me about their evolution as a soul, it tells me about where their challenges are, what their relational patterns are, how they can self-soothe with their emotions, how they can take care of themselves better. It gives a sense of enchantment with the self, letting you understand you are a part of this huge cosmic thing and you have an important role to play..."

There is a very specific reason you are here. Consciousness is shifting so quickly at this time and you are needed...

In this episode you'll discover:

• What is the sun, moon and rising sign and what do they mean about yourself?
• The magic and mystery of the witch and priestess feminine archetypes 
• Embracing our weird & wild ways
• How feminine archetypes show up in astrology 
• How Rebecca uses the asteroids in her birth chart readings and how it affects our charts 
• What to look out for in 2017 and how astrology is affecting the times we are in - calling us into social justice and revolution
• How Rebecca uses ritual in her life to honor different times of the year and phases of the moon
• Rebecca's journey with self-worth, facing fears, leaving a  full-time job and allowing herself to claim authority in her field and in her life

To learn more about Rebecca's birth chart readings, astro-locality readings, and to join her email list with tips and rituals for the full and new moon, visit her website, wildwitchwest.com. 

Rebecca M. Farrar, M.A. is an astro-priestess, wild woman, writer, and lover who lives in San Francisco (or Man Franpsycho as she likes to call it). She provides astrological guidance with a down-to-Earth approach utilizing her studies on the evolution of consciousness and psychology. Before coming out of the "broom" closet, she worked for more than a decade in PR and marketing and had brief forays as TV reporter, speed dating hostess, spokesmodel, yoga instructor, and world traveler. In 2013, she completed her M.A. In Philosophy at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Her thesis, titled “Stargazing: Re-enchantment Through Language,” combines philology, consciousness studies, and enchantment with the stars. (Warning: She will talk your ear off if you ask about it.) When not staring at her transits she can be found "force" cuddling her cat, posting on Instagram, or curled up with a good book. Read more on her site: www.wildwitchwest.com

Want to win a free 75-minute coaching session with our host?

Rising Women Leaders is running a New Year Giveaway between now and February 11, 2017 for a free 75-minute online coaching session with our host, Meredith Rom.

In this video call we will take the space to reflect on what you want to cultivate for the new year, how you want to show up to take care of yourself, your spiritual practice, and your service and contribution to the world.

Meredith will also answer any questions you have about starting or growing your business, branding, leading workshops, podcasting, finding your voice, or crafting and sharing your story.

To enter, write us a review on iTunes!

• Follow  this link
• Click the blue button on the side bar that says, "View in iTunes"
• Click "Subscribe" under the Podcast Image then Click "Ratings and Reviews"
• Click "Write a Review" where you can choose your rating, write your review and click "Submit"(you may be asked to login with your Apple ID)

You can also search for "Rising Women Leaders" in iTunes on your desktop or on the Podcast app on your iPhone to write a review.  

Positive reviews on iTunes will support our community to grow, thrive and reach the women who are seeking the powerful wisdom shared by the ladies featured on this show.

The winner will be announced on the podcast just after February 11! Thank you for participating, Good luck!!

On the first day of 2016 I took off my clothes and jumped into a freezing cold body of water.

For so long I had avoided cold water, knowing that my body already runs on the cold side and I wanted to do everything I could to stay comfortable.  But on New Year's Day, when I was on a hike with a group of friends and we came upon a gorgeous pond, I just knew I had to do it.  

I felt amazing afterwards. 

But a week ago I went up to Orr Hotsprings with my partner and found myself avoiding the cold plunge at all costs.

I watched as my partner jumped in the icy cold pool on the first night and wondered how he could do it when it was already so cold outside.  Even though I knew I would feel amazing afterwards, I was still avoiding it.

Until one moment I just knew I needed to jump in. It was time to stop procrastinating and just go for it. 

So I did.

And what I noticed as I jumped out was that I could suddenly fully sustain being in the cold air outside.  My body was warming up more quickly from the inside.  

Suddenly I stood a little taller, spread my collarbones a little wider and walked with confidence upon the cool, hard Earth. 

So often in life, we do everything we can to avoid the "cold plunge."  Those things that scare us, those things that feel difficult or challenging.  We procrastinate and put them off...

But the thing is, as soon as we stop avoiding it, we feel bigger and stronger than ever before. 

This is what the past year has been like for me - continuously jumping into a cold pool of water.  It has not always been easy, and at times it has felt like too much...

But as I sat interviewing Achintya Devi for the Rising Women Leaders podcast and hearing her speak of finding the gifts in our challenges and difficulties in life, and how relieved and powerful we feel when we face them head on, I knew it has all been worth it.

Achintya spoke:

"It is the medicine of your pain or fear to walk towards it.  If we keep turning away from it's going to keep perpetuating in our lives...and when we can look that challenge in the mirror...and when it is fully felt through the body, something shifts, energetically, in our DNA in our brain structure, in our cells and in our hearts and we understand there is a deeper truth that lies underneath it. "

As we close out 2016, I knew this was the perfect episode to leave you with.

Achintya speaks so powerfully of what is happening in our world right now, how women are being called to embody their divine feminine sovereign power and how we can fully activate and align on our path.

Listen to the episode here.

For this episode especially, I urge you to listen all the way to the end.

About three quarters of the way through we touch on some deeply meaningful topics that I think you will want to hear. You may want to have a tissue on hand.

From Achintya:

"We really need you right now...

Every single one of us is completely unique.  There is a grand tapestry being woven right now and each and every one of us has a unique color and frequency... it is going to be incomplete without your thread."

I invite you to trust that your presence matters.  You chose to come to this earth for a reason.  You are holding a particular frequency that is medicine for someone or something..."

And we need you.

In this episode we discuss:

• Achintya's recent visit with the spiritual teacher Amma
• Rising above times of darkness and challenge - how to see the gifts in our difficulties
• The call of the goddess and what is happening at this pivotal time
• How Achintya left a relationship that was no longer serving her, followed the call of her heart to move to Maui and create her dream business and partnership
• The advice Achintya has for YOU if you feel the calling of the feminine rising but ever find yourself held back by fear or self-doubt from fully stepping into your power
• Moon Temple Offerings in 2017! More info here

Tomorrow I will be entering ten days of silence at a Vipassana meditation retreat with my friend Karen.  I know there may be some challenge and difficulty that arises with meditating for ten hours a day, ten days straight, but I am willing to face it head on.  I welcome any good thoughts coming my way (I will be in silence and away from all technology December 20 - 31).

Know that I am wishing you an empowered and loving end of 2016 and I deeply look forward to connecting and sharing more inspiring content with you in the New Year.

With love, 
Meredith

Achintya Devi is the Founder of Goddess Rising, a Global Sisterhood and School of Women’s Wisdom & Moon Mysteries, dedicated to activating and empowering the Wild Sacred Feminine within women worldwide through Moon Priestess Trainings and Leadership Certifications, Wild Sacred Women Retreats, a HerStory Rising Publication and an Online Global Moon Sisters Temple.

As a Women’s Wisdom Guide & Teacher, Ordained Priestess, Wholistic Health Practitioner, Acupressure Therapist and Kundalini Yoga & Meditation Teacher, she is especially passionate about women reclaiming and embodying the rhythm of their Womb Moon Wisdom and rising together in sisterhood to reawaken the collective Feminine Power for lasting transformation within and to serve as Sacred Feminine Leaders in this era of great Planetary Awakening.

Achintya is from British Colombia, teaches and travels internationally and is based on the island of Maui.

www.goddessrising.org

Hello beautiful sisters,

I have a new podcast episode for you today with goddess Ashly Rose Wolf of Femme Rising.  I have been admiring Ashly's luscious images and designs on her instagram feed for some time now so was *over the moon* excited to sit down with her and ask my questions about shakti, cycle syncing, sensuality and feminine wisdom.  

Here's what you'll find in today's episode:

• Releasing shame around sexuality and letting go of "numbing out" that is so prevalent in our culture

• Tips to tap into your natural, sensual, feminine nature

• How to access the magic that lives in your hips!  

• Why sensuality + cycle syncing + shakti are key ingredients for self-love and living an empowered, confident, feminine life

• Tips on what to eat and how to plan your lifestyle around your body's natural rhythms throughout the month

• Tuning into the cycles of the moon and how to use that energy to feel empowered around your own natural cycles as a woman

I hope you enjoy today's episode!  If you're traveling you can listen to it on the iTunes podcast app on any iPhone for easy listening.  

Wishing you all lots of rest, self-care, self-love & time to tap into your sensual nature this long holiday weekend... <3 

With love, 
Meredith

Bio: Ashly Rose Wolf is a Women’s Health and Sensuality Coach who helps women reprogram their relationship with their bodies so they can live healthy, sexy, beautiful lives.

Using cycle syncing, sensuality practices, holistic nutrition and an ancient yogic science, Ashly helps women activate their sensual and cyclical wisdom to unlock their full feminine potential.

When she’s not leading the sensual revolution with Femme Rising, you can find her doing sensual yoga, playing outside with her little adventure dog Zuri Girl, soaking up Vitamin Sea and always, always, always stopping to smell the roses!

You can find her on instagram @femme.rising and on her website here.

When I first watched Lyla June Johnston's music video, "All Nations Rise," it gave me  chills and I felt an immediate calling  to interview her for the Rising Women Leaders podcast.  

Lyla's video  soon went viral on Facebook, with over 1.6 million views, providing a powerful platform for Lyla to share her message of compassion, peace and prayer during turbulent times. 

I spoke with Lyla just days after she returned from Standing Rock last month.   I left this interview feeling filled with so much hope, passion, and devotion to our Mother Earth as well as my own dreams and ambitions.  I hope you will find the same.

Please take the time this week to listen to the  full episode, and I encourage you to share it with your friends.   The time has come for us all  to rise together.

Love, 
Meredith

"What you think of as failure is actually a success ...because you tried... Creator doesn't want you to be  perfect, Creator just wants you to try."

In this episode Lyla shares:

• Her experience at Sacred Stone Camp at Standing Rock
• Her powerful story of overcoming  dark times of drugs, numbing and sexual abuse to find her light and power to be of service in this life
• A powerful prayer circle where she received clear messages from her guides
• The message she has for women who believe they have something powerful to share and give in their lives
• What we can do to cleanse ourselves of fear
• The role of prayer plays  in moving through turbulent times
• How the Purification Lodge Ceremony has affected her life
• A closing prayer in her native language

Links in this episode:

• Lyla's Artist Fan Page
• Lyla's Music
• Lyla's Website and Writings
• Women At Standing Rock

Lyla is calling in assistance,  management and administrative support in organizing her performances and speaking opportunities.  If you feel called to learn more, please contact her here.

Lyla's Bio:

Lyla June Johnston was raised in Taos, New Mexico and is a descendent of Diné (Navajo) and Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) lineages. Her personal mission in life is to grow closer to Creator by learning how to love deeper. This prayer has taken her on many journeys and materializes in diverse ways.

She is a student of global cycles of violence that eventually gave rise to The Native American Holocaust and the destruction of many cyclic relationships between human beings and nature. This exploration birthed her passion for revitalizing spiritual relationships with Mother Earth and cultivating spaces for forgiveness and reconciliation to occur between cultural groups. She is a co-founder of The Taos Peace and Reconciliation Council, which works to heal intergenerational trauma and ethnic division in the northern New Mexico. She is a walker within the Nihigaal Bee Iiná Movement, a 1,000-mile prayer walk through Diné Tah (the Navajo homeland) that is exposing the exploitation of Diné land and people by uranium, coal, oil and gas industries. She is the lead organizer of the Black Hill Unity Concert which gathers native and nonnative musicians to pray for the return of guardianship of the Black Hills to the Lakota, Nakota and Dakota nations. She is the also the founder of Regeneration Festival, an annual celebration of children that occurs in 13 countries around the world every September.

In 2012, she graduated with honors from Stanford University with a degree in Environmental Anthropology. During her time there she wrote the award winning papers: Nature and the Supernatural: The Role of Culture and Spirituality in Sustaining Primate Populations in Manu National Park, Peru and Chonos Pom: Ethnic Endemism Among the Winnemem Wintu and the Cultural Impacts of Enlarging Shasta Reservoir. She is a musician, public speaker and internationally recognized performance poet. Lyla June ultimately attributes any achievements to Creator who gave her the tools and resources she uses to serve humanity.

She currently lives in Diné Tah, the Navajo ancestral homeland which spans what is now called New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona. She spends her free time learning her engendered mother tongue, planting corn, beans and squash and spending time with elders who retain traditional spiritual and ecological knowledge.

In today's book reading of Synchronicity I take you back to my first month in India where I recount my time at Amma's ashram in Kerala.  Amma gives a speech on the beach at the Arabian Sea on how we can give back to the whole of humanity and collaborate between religions.  I then volunteer teaching English at an orphanage, and I tell the story of how I first found my voice as a yoga teacher.  To learn more about the book, visit the Kickstarter campaign: http://kck.st/2dTEZpS! 

Love, 
Meredith

I believe we all have the power to transform our greatest moments of pain and suffering into our greatest moments of awakening.

But I know from personal experience it is so hard to see the light when it feels like the world is crumbling beneath our feet. Today I want to share with you one of my more difficult moments in the first reading of my book, Synchronicity. (Watch the full video about it here! http://kck.st/2dTEZpS)

I take you back to over six years ago where I found myself sobbing on the floor after going through total heartbreak (something that I know so many of us are familiar with).

I share about the challenges and hardships I faced that eventually led me into my greatest moments of awakening...the moments where I began to live beyond my fears and follow my intuition first across the country and then to the other side of the world to India.

This book is a story of finding forgiveness, of transformation, of healing and ultimately of finding love within.

I look back and see my hardships as profound gifts.  It was these moments that prompted my greatest awakening, and I hold them in my heart with gratitude.

But today I wanted to share with you where I was and what my life was like before I found the inner peace I speak of now.

If you feel called to hold the book in your hands and read the whole story of transformation, I invite you to watch the kickstarter video and contribute to the campaign : http://kck.st/2dTEZpS

Supporters have a chance to receive an early signed copy of the book, coaching sessions for women on a heroine's quest, a self-care gift box, and 40 day meditation practice, among many other rewards.  Check them all out right here!

I hope you enjoy this podcast and opportunity to learn more about my story. 

Stay tuned for more podcast episodes and sneak previews of the book coming soon...

With love, 
Meredith