COURAGE + VULNERABILITY: A LEO NEW MOON

After the portals from the last two moons, this New Moon in Leo brings a big birth.

What’s it been for you?  The birth of a relationship? The birth of a deeper relationship with yourself?  The birth of a being, a business, a creative project?  The brith of awareness, realization, consciousness, self knowledge, forgiveness, acceptance?

Many of us avoid death and rebirth of ourselves because it means we have to walk on the edge of the unknown as we surrender to what desires to emerge (within ourselves, within our purpose, within our bodies or within our lives). 

But if we look to nature to be reminded (and reassured) of our natural rhythms, we that see she’s continuously going through cycles of creation and destruction ... and she's urging us to do the same. 

Every act of creation is first an act of destruction. Picasso

And just like her, in between each creation phase of of B E C O M I N G, we have to be willing to let go of what we think should happen in order to allow what desires to happen to happen.  

The thing about brith is, whether it’s a creative birth or the physical birth of another being … while you might know it’s coming … you have no idea how it will unfold, or in what ways that birth (or rebirth) will actually affect your life.  

The element of creation comes from a sacred space of kinetic potential - one that has an energy and life of it’s own - and because that new life is something you have no control over - it’s a risk you have to be willing to take. 

It’s messy and sacred and powerful . . . and when we go through a birth or rebirth of the self, it means we enter into the world with a fresh set of eyes and an open heart . . . and an open heart is a vulnerable heart.  

So, what this moon wants to know is, where can you find the courage to be more vulnerable?  To be more vulnerably you?  To show up more?  To give more?  To be more?  To share more?  

Because yes we need courage, but we need vulnerability just as much.

So where can you soften more deeply into your new skin?  

Where can you continue to drop your armor?  And then choose to drop it again … and again … and again?

“Nature loves courage. You make the commitment and nature will respond to that commitment by removing impossible obstacles. Dream the impossible dream and the world will not grind you under, it will lift you up. This is the trick. This is what all these teachers and philosophers who really counted, who really touched the alchemical gold, this is what they understood. This is the shamanic dance in the waterfall. This is how magic is done. By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering its a feather bed.” Terence McKenna

So often we wish for courage in a way that will fortify us, to give us strength or walls or protection, when what we really need is the courage to be real without walls.  The courage to say YES to who we really are by allowing ourselves to be vulnerable enough to figure it out.  

Even Oprah agree’s: in a great talk with Dr. Brené Brown on vulnerability being your greatest strength, she says, "unless you can take the risk, to be open, to live as a whole hearted person, you recognize you are just like every body else, and that gives you the confidence to be yourself: which is all you really need in life, is to be more of yourself."

And that is what this moon is all about: leading you to a deeper and truer YOU.

“For a star to be born, there is one thing that must happen; a gaseous nebula must collapse.  So collapse, crumble.  This is not your destruction.  This is your birth.”

As you approach yourself or your circumstances anew: be curious, stay open and trust the wisdom of your heart. 

Birth requires nourishment: nutrients, love, trust.  So if this is unknown territory for you, how can you welcome it, breathe into it, celebrate it, have a sense of wonder for it, nourish it?

Nature has an inherent reverence for new life … so revere yourself a little bit, you radiant, resilient creature you ...  because sometimes it's good to roar, to connect to your core and to fight for what you love ... but also remember to stay soft and celebrate how far you've come :)

What's this mean for me?  Well, this month I've been busy giving birth to a new project with my best friend called CONSCIOUS TALKS (click here to watch Episode 1!), discovering the deeper role between feminine sexuality, physiology and psychology in Femme Rising’s evolution (no big deal!) ... and I've also been feeling a lot of vulnerability myself with the emergence of all this awareness, creation and simultaneously allowing myself to feel (and heal) past pain as a part of opening my heart to what desires to emerge.

So, in alignment with feeding the more raw, receptive and vulnerable aspects of ourselves, this month's playlist is a bit slower than usual.  It's still sexy but it's a bit softer ... and it's designed to help you soften into your strength by honoring your edges so that you can breathe into the new life that's ready for you to welcome it ...  you can get it here :)

Lots of love to who you are + who you’ll continue to become,

Ashly

YOU GET TO CHOOSE + A CAPRICORN FULL MOON

Okay party people, if you were on the ride from the last Full Moon (aka the Solstice and Full Moon Blue Moon) up to this Full Moon in Capricorn, it was probably an intense month for you!  And when I say intense, I mean it in a full spectrum, in every sense of the word kind of way.  

Amazingly intense as in: some super gorgeous, revealing and illuminating kind of ways … and intense in some super come to Jesus kind of ways ... and if you were anything like me this month, you had lots of both :)

The past month has been big in terms of release, so maybe you’ve been on a cleanse (emotionally, technically, spiritually, physically), maybe you had to say goodbye or let something die in your life (old ways of being or a relationship you’ve outgrown), maybe you realized you need to massively get your shit together or you need to release control for a while.

Whatever your experience with the intensity has been, the beautiful thing about it is that it lets us dive deep, going quickly and powerfully where we need to go, and it also gives us the tools to resurface and shift with just as much speed.

And that’s what this Full Moon in Capricorn is about - shifting.  Specifically, following through with whatever emerged for you between the Solstice and the powerful (aka innnntenssse!) New Moon we just had in Cancer.  The Solstice last month created a super charged container of energy that allowed us to move through something, to realize something or to become something.  Whatever it was for you, there was shift.  And then the last New Moon had you diving deep into it.  

These shifts can feel really heavy, and for some of us the intensity seems like too much and so we try avoid or suppress them. 

But right now it's time to ready your ship and stay the course, because chances are, what came up for you recently was significant .... really significant ... like a lighting bolt that jolts you back to the reality of what really matters to you. 

Significant in a wow, this one thing is actually really important to me and might actually change the trajectory of my life and I need to give it some major priority in my life kind of way.  And whatever it was, I’m guessing it was significant in a way that will allow your life to be significantly better. 

Maybe for you that means cultivating more people in your life that are on a similar wavelength.  Maybe it means moving cities.  Maybe it means healthier personal boundaries. Maybe it means deepening into your spiritual practice.  Maybe it means getting your financial situation together.  Maybe it means holding out for the thing you know you really want.  Maybe it means it’s time to get your ass in gear with your health or your purpose or taking a big fucking chance.

The thing is, you will never have the life you truly desire unit you are willing to go out there and get it.  And I’m not going to sugar coat it and say it’s all cupcakes and rainbows.  It’s not.  

Living in alignment with ourselves is a tremendous challenge we have to choose to rise to again and again and again.  It requires you to feel more and be more present with what’s real (which is usually super uncomfortable).  It requires you to have discipline and patience for what you really want (which is difficult in an instant gratification society).  

But your soul is not in a rush.  Your soul wants you to do that thing you know you need to do for yourself, and your soul really doesn’t give a shit about how long it takes.  The only thing that your soul really cares about is that you DO IT.  Because, yes truthfully, the more powerfully you show up for yourself, the more uncomfortable the shifts will be.  But, the catch is, the more uncomfortable you can allow yourself to be, the quicker things can shift and the more you are able to continue evolving into who you desire to be.

This moon is asking you to show up for yourself and use this time to DO THE WORK (and have some fun while you do it).  Because of the intensity of what’s been going on up in the sky, we have a tremendous advantage working with us to stay in the flow, to guide us where we need to go, and to undergo some pretty rapid transformations … if we allow it to :)

This is the shindig: Capricorn is incredibly grounded, stable and goal oriented.  Cap climbs the mountain, gets back to the bottom and decides to summit it again just because he can.  Capricorn is stubborn, incredibly dedicated and isn’t afraid to fight for what he wants or take the risky route.  What really matters to Cap is that he continues to rise.  Most of all, Cap is about action: so based on what came through for you last month, this is the time to MAKE YOUR MOVE, where the rubber really has the opportunity to meet the road for you …. BUT THIS IS THE CAVEAT!! 

Capricorn is pretty serious - so I want to know how much you can implement this change with a sense of lightness.  Because, right now, you might still be feeling some heaviness that came through the shift from the Solstice/New Moon.  But, it’s time to take that awareness and action and let yourself lighten up while you do it!

A new cycle is upon us, and just like the moon and the wind and the waves, we’ve got to keep flowing.  And right now, it’s time to BOUNCE.  Just like Cap billy goats up and down the mountain, so too can we infuse this buoyancy into the journey.

If you're still feeling heaviness that's okay ... but I want to know how your newfound awareness can be incorporated into your life with a sense of CURIOSITY AND PLEASURE?  With an open sense of wonder of what life looks like when you are willing to show up in a new way?

Because the truth is, Capricorn can be annoyingly stern and serious.  So: using the benefits of the stabilizing, grounding energy Cap provides, how easy and enjoyable can you let it be??  Yes life is hard sometimes, yes growth is painful, yes we love and we lose, yes we get lost and confused.  

But underneath it all, we get to choose how we show up.  Our lives are our choice.  And right now, I ask you to consciously CHOOSE MORE JOY, MORE LIGHTNESS, MORE CURIOSITY. 

The hard times are portals of beauty for us to explore what it means to be fully human.  If you’ve already been through the ringer this month, then EMBRACE this time with open heartedness: be open to what this shift means for you and what it means to fully feel.  

How much flow, joy and ease can you infuse into this shift?  HOW MUCH FUN CAN YOU HAVE?  Because yes, change can be overwhelming, annoying, debilitating and stressful.  But it can also be really fun and exciting if we can let go of how serious it feels.

So this month’s playlist is here to help you bounce through it!  CLICK HERE TO GET IT!

I’ve listened to this song about 5 million times this week ... if you need a pick me up, this is your jam.  Listen to the words :) 

Cap is Earth based, so move your body outside and connect to the Earth. Go hiking, jump around, walk barefoot on the grass, do squats, visualize yourself being grounded and supported by Mama Earth. 

Keep feeling, keep releasing if you need to - but keep moving, find your flow and have some freaking FUN while you do it!

ALSO!! I have a SHAKTI FLOW FULL MOON CLASS is happening THIS WEDNESDAY! If you are a Denver based babe, get your booty over here + bring your friends + connect with an amazing community of women within the space of music + movement + shakti + sisterhood!

We'll groove through a Moon Based sensual yoga flow to a super sexy playlist with movements that are in sync with the sky!   This Full Moon in Capricorn is here to ground you with a sense of lightness, sensuality and strength ... come connect with your core and explore expressing the ritual of movement through your body.

This class is great for strengthening your abs + ass and dropping into your sensual center!  Hope you can join, you can sign up HERE!

Lots of love!
Ashly

ROLLING IN THE DEEP + A CANCER NEW MOON

So many of us seek growth or healing, but when the moment arrives, when we are faced with the true opportunity to jump in and FEEL what will allow us to BE (who we really are) but have yet to become, we back down.  

We put it off.  And the moment passes.  

But this is not the time to avoid the waters of this New Moon - this is the time to be carried by the current.

Usually New Moons are about setting intentions.  Getting really clear on how you want to feel so that you can plant that dream in the darkness and allow it to spout with the waxing light of the growing moon.  But this moon is a bit different. It's emotionally charged and if you are deep in it, it's bringing up a lot that needs to be released. 

So use this time to feel (AKA free) whatever is taking up space in your psyche or your life.  

Use this time to let go of what has held power over you for too long.  Instead of setting new intentions, give yourself permission FEEL and to be free with what is.  To just be.  To feel powerfully what you need to feel and to let it to lead you where you need to go.  And then, allow yourself to be there however long you need to stay.

We carry so much cellular data in our systems.  Records of lifetimes carried in a vast network of energy (which often lay beyond our human comprehension).  So perhaps you know exactly what it is you need to let go of.  Maybe you have no idea ... it’s often the things that defy logic that demand our attention the most.

Either way - you’ll likely be feeling it.  And that’s all you need to do. 

Let yourself feel it and fall gorgeously apart if that’s what needs to happen.

Cancer is a water sign. Deeply emotional, deeply intuitive, deeply receptive.  Cancer is feeling and transformative, she is the sign of the mother, and in the womb of life, this month stands as a powerful portal between death and rebirth.  This is the feminine.  This is also the shadow side of the feminine that we tend to try to ignore or avoid because it is uncomfortable, raw and uncertain.

But it reminds us of our true and wild nature.  That we are untamable.  That we are unpredictable.  That we are so much more than we could ever imagine.  That when we connect to this knowing, and when we allow it to unfold rather than control it - that this is how we regain alignment with our own inner alchemical process.  

Each person’s descent into the darkness of the feminine is different.  Each death carries different levels, reasons and initiations.  But all new beginnings come from endings.  Rebirth requires a death.  And in the alchemical process of this moon, you are undergoing changes that may defy the logic of your mind but that are being processed deeply by your emotional body. 

The emotional body processes all the energetic imprints of our experience (known and unknown) and just like the feminine, your emotional body is not one dimensional or easily understandable.   

The thing about death is - as women, every month we go through a death.  This is reflected in our bodies and amplified by the moon.  It also represents a fertile opportunity for new growth.  There is always a cycle.  Nature is cyclical.  YOU are cyclical.  There is wisdom and power and healing found in each cycle, you just have to allow yourself to go there.

As my lovely friend Sarah Durham Wilson says: 

“In a culture that doesn’t honor death, we don’t know who to honor our own personal death’s.  Which as the creative feminine come fast and often.  So many of us get stuck between death and life, feeling dead or alive.  Until we can fully allow the death of what needs to die in us and in our lives, we cannot fully allow the birth of what longs to live in us and our lives.”

So use this time to LET GO of what it's time to be free from. 

This is the realm where pure potential lives.  Let the inner knowing beyond your logic lead you home.  

Let yourself FEEL and then get even more real with how you feel.  

This takes courage.  I know it isn't easy to let go.  What I want to know is, how quickly and deeply can you let yourself sink?  How fully can you honor and accept this?

Drop the invisible weight, let yourself swim deeper, feel more and find the freedom that comes from feeling.

As always, the New Moon Playlist is here to help you get though CLICK HERE FOR IT!  

Big love to you and your courageous heart,
Ashly

 

FIRE IN THE SKY + A SAGITTARIUS BLUE MOON

Today, the second Full Moon of the month falls on the Summer Solstice (Happy Solstice!) … which means the sun and moon can be seen high in the sky at the same time (and this is a pretty significant event as the last time it happened was 74 years ago and it won't happen again until 2094)!!  

Two planets beaming down on us at full illumination means there A LOT OF LIGHT in the sky and there is no way to avoid the amplification of photons (aka literal light beams) affecting us.  

So, today is a big day, not just as a once in a lifetime event in the sky, but also in our lives.  And in addition to this cosmic event, we have some other pretty significant energies affecting us.  

There is a LOT going on energetically this month and it’s helpful to understand it, so let me take you through it …

Today we enter into another Sagittarius Full / Blue Moon (a blue moon is when you have two full moons in one month) … both being in the sign of Sagittarius meaning there has been a lot of fiery energy, movement, vision (visionary ideas or ideals), activity and growth (growth that is, if you’ve chosen to embrace it).  Additionally today we also have the Summer Solstice (the longest day of the year, when we experience the zenith of sunlight on our planet), paired with the climax of the light of the Full Moon ... so as far as light emanating in the sky goes, this is the years fullest expression.

This double exposure has far reaching effects.  Our planet is drastically affected on electromagnetic levels by the light of the sun and the moon; plants receive more light, there is more heat generated within our atmosphere, and on subtle, unseen but measurable sub atomic levels, our bodies as beings are literally being blasted within higher levels of light (photons) than any other time of the year (and with the cosmic conjunction of the Summer Solstice and Full Moon, any other time of our lives).

In addition to all that jazz, the last New Moon in Gemini had us standing on the threshold of the unknown with transition sweeping through our lives in order to prepare us for the current amplification of light in the sky and our lives.

So, not only have we been dealing with the properties of the unknown in Gemini, we also have had Mars and Scorpio to add intensity to the process.  Mars brings our issues to the surface, Scorpio helps us alchemize them.  Then, add the amplification of the light of the Sun and Moon in the sky at the same time, and it means that all of it can be going one of two ways for you.

If you’ve been present with what’s been going on for you this month (dealing with your shit so to speak) then moving into this Summer Solstice Full Moon could feel really good for you.  New awareness has the ability to literally make your life new, and so you may be deeply in the exciting (and dare I say ecstatic?) transformation and rebirth that Scorpio offers us.  

But if you felt the urge to jump off into the abyss and didn’t - then all this solar and lunar energy might have you feeling pretty hot and bothered.  

When we avoid our own growth and choose to keep playing small, we can fall into the negative, obsessive, angry, limiting thoughts and behaviors that have been holding us back.  So, if you didn’t choose to experience the growing pains by getting a little (or a lot) uncomfortable the past few weeks, it may all be coming up to slap you in the face right now.

And if that’s the case, let it.  THIS MOON IS HERE TO WAKE YOU UP.  Let it shake you from your slumber and let yourself go where you need to go, knowing that this light and fire is here to help TRANSFORM YOU.

This is a fiery time.  Not only do we have the heat of summer, the sun and moon literally hitting us with LIGHT BEAMS but we are in our second Sagittarius Full Moon and the message of this moon is to FEEL THE FIRE and LET IT BURN.  

Yes it might get a little steamy.  Yes you might singe some skin.  Yes you might have to face some hard truth. Yes you might “lose” something (something that has been holding you back, something you love or someone you thought you were).   And yes, you might also have jaw dropping, gorgeous realizations that allow you to SET YOURSELF FREE.

This is an incredibly powerful time for you to get to the CORE of what it means to be YOU!  You’ll also likely have higher energy, more desire and more drive so USE THIS to your advantage!  That’s what the light in the sky is here to help us do right now. It’s our choice if we want to work WITH or AGAINST the energy.  So yes you might still have to walk through the fire, but you can get through it a lot quicker if you choose to follow the flow of the flames instead of avoiding them. 

And yes, during times of transition and transformation, you might have that sneaky little voice creeping in saying:

Who are you to want what you want?  Who are you to do what it takes for you to stand FULLY IN THE LIGHT AND TRUTH OF WHO YOU ARE?

Well let me ask you this ... WHO ARE YOU NOT TO?  Don’t let fear or playing small get in your way. 

You came here to SHINE and this is what the energy can offer you right now if you choose to stand up, and OWN WHAT YOU WANT AND WHO YOU WANT TO BE.

ALL THIS FIRE AND LIGHT is here to give you the choice.  WILL YOU RISE out of the flames to become the HEROINE OF YOUR OWN LIFE?  Or will you choose to fall back down into the fire and keep getting burned?  

This moment is here to WAKE YOU UP … to strip away your vanities, your insecurities, your fears, your fantasies, your narcissism, your vanities, anywhere you have been avoiding your truth or living as a victim.  Use this moon to GET REAL WITH WHAT YOU ARE READY TO RELEASE.  

Full moons REVEAL and RELESE.  They reveal our edges, our shadows, our desires and serve as deep times of reflection.  All of the revealing elements that come through the full illumination of the moon allow us to see where we've come from and to get real what's working for us and what's not so that we can    c o n s c i o u s l y  release what we no longer need ... and this moon is here to let you SET YOURSELF FREE.  

Embracing change and freedom isn’t easy but it’s always worth it.  The first step in change is awareness, so get a piece of paper and write down everything that is keeping you from being the HEROINE OF YOUR OWN LIFE.  Once you feel like your release is complete, take the paper outside tonight and literally burn it under the light of the Full Moon (click here for a more in depth run down of how to do a Full Moon Fire Releasing Ceremony).

If things get heated or you want to retreat from your the power of your light this next week, call on the energy of Sagittarius to get you through.  

As Chani Nicolas says, Sag is the archer, ‘she is the rambler, the gambler, the one who bets on hope and runs on faith. Sagittarius moves. Swiftly. Sagittarius seeks. Endlessly. Seeks meaning. Seeks experience. Seeks the horizon. The archer can’t stop for fear of missing out on the next adventure. This is the sign that wants to run with the big questions. The ones that are sure to send us on the most open-ended quests.” 

Sag is a curious and optimistic fire sign who is CLEAR ON THE VISION FOR HER LIFE and who she needs to continue BEING in order to live the life she's meant to live.  Let her energy spark your inner fire and give you the courage and curiosity to take aim and allow your transformation transpire.  

With the energy of this Full Moon and the Summer Solstice, you'll be feeling it in your body, so you'll need some BIG MOVEMENT to keep the energy moving, evolving and alchemizing through you.  Hiking, dancing, generating heat, sweating, building strength, connecting to your core (literally building core strength), cleansing (think light, nourishing whole foods in addition to veggie juices, lots of purified lemon water, think light + nourishing but not depriving!) ... this is what your body might be craving right now.

Because of all the energy this circulating, this month’s playlist is here to get you TO MOVE. 

Because it's the second Full Moon of the month, and I think you might need more music to get you grooving through, so I'm simply adding this moon's playlist onto the last, so scroll down for the new songs if you've already been listening to it this month ((CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FULL MOON PLAYLIST))!

Also, as you might know, transformation is amazing when you come out on the other end, but while you are going through it, it is a naturally destructive process.  So know this and be okay with what wants to fall away from your life.  Be okay with what wants to emerge out of your ashes.  Be okay not having expectations.  Most of all, be gentle with yourself but keep moving.

Make sure you stay VERY HYDRATED but also let yourself experience the heat that wants to be transmuted and released.  

At the heart of it all, the most simple interpretation for this moon?  

Let the fire to burn through you, let it melt away everything you are not so that you can BECOME EVERYTHING THAT YOU ARE.  

Show up, do the work, take action and ALSO CELEBRATE HOW FAR YOU’VE COME and continue to celebrate every single victory that comes your way.  

Also make sure your remember to have fun + LIGHTEN UP (pun intended ;) .... both some very helpful ingredients in learning how to successfully and joyfully set yourself free!

Ashly xx.