New Website for EMERGE!

Hello Lovely Readers!

I want to share with you that I have a new website and blog over at: http://emerge-embrace.com/

If you go there and go to the Contact page, email me from there to receive a $50 credit towards your first service with me. Any service!

Please mention this special offer in your email.

I appreciate you!

Looking forward to working with you and supporting you in creating your dream enterprise!

Love,

Astra Spider

Shaman and Mentor

EMERGE: Embrace Your Truth

Business Mentoring for Spiritually Aware Entrepreneurs

Are You Meant to Work for Yourself? 2012 is the Year!

The time has come when, really, we all are able to work for ourselves. We are shedding the old paradigms that have often been associated with corporate or hierarchical business situations.

Even those of you who still do have full or part-time jobs working for others – I want you to know that you do have gifts and talents within you that are marketable!

So perhaps the question is: To what degree and in what capacity are you meant to work for yourself?

Go ahead and ponder the following questionnaire – really feel into your answers – things will start to come clear.

• Do you currently have a job working for someone else?
• If you answered yes to the above question, how do you feel when you are getting ready to head into work? Content? Fulfilled? Happy? Restless? Anxious? Worried? Neutral? Dull? Exhausted? Heavy?
• What do you consider to be your marketable skills?  Are they better applied to group projects and group settings, or in a one-on-one situation?
• Do you have talents, gifts and potential that you are currently not putting into use? If not, why not? If not now, when?
• Does the thought of embarking on a new career adventure bring feelings of excitement? Neutrality? Stress?
• Fill in the blank: “If I were my own boss, I would feel ______, ______, and ______.”
• Get a pen and journal, and write down in detail your description of your perfect, joy-filled J O B (whether it be working for someone else or as your own boss). What does your day look like? How is your week structured? What do you do from hour to hour? Do you have more time to relax? How many days a week do you work? How many hours do you work on your workdays? What are you doing during these hours? How do you feel while you work? How much money are you attracting per month? Per year? Really picture yourself in this situation. Get as detailed as possible in your description.
• After writing out your perfect job description, how do you feel? Different than when you started?
• Read your perfect job description back to yourself. How does it compare/contrast with your current work situation?

Your answers should give you a more solid foundation from which to begin, and an idea for the direction you’d like to take as a Joyous Entrepreneur or business owner.

I’d love to hear what you took away from this exercise! Feel free to share your results in the comments here, or connect with me on Facebook, Twitter or via email!

Astra Spider

The Joyous Business Shaman

EMERGE Shamanic Business Coaching

astra@emergesbc.com

Website: http://emergesbc.com/

Follow EmergeSBC on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EmergeSBC

Like EmergeSBC on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emerge-Shamanic-Business-Coaching/271132079593742?sk=page_getting_started

“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” -The Dalai Lama

“The purpose of our businesses is to be happy.” -Astra Spider

The Heart of Joyous Business Coaching

I am a shaman, intuitive, Master Healer and artist as well as a business coach – and there are many branches to my magic business tree, as you can imagine!

Over time, my businesses have transformed and evolved as I have incorporated a more heart-centered way of being, and I occasionally like to go back and read old articles, blog posts and newsletters to see where I’ve been and where I am going.

I am extremely tickled to have come across a post from September, 2010 which has enabled me to note the time when the creative seed for EMERGE Shamanic Business Coaching was planted! Back then, the name came through as “Abundant Heart Holistic Business Coaching.” This is so funny, because Abundant Heart then became the name for Evanston’s amazing healing center which I created with my awesome business partner, ClareShale Mountain Star!

It took about a year for my biz coaching to be fully developed, and for me to build the website around it. I absolutely love my business coaching biz, and I feel so happy to be able to share with you here that first blog post – the creative seed from which EMERGE emerged. This article explains the heart of where I come from in business – and in business coaching! Enjoy!

…

September, 2010:

“Now I know the times they are a-changing – because a new aspect of my business is here, and I don’t even feel moved to build a website for it! At least not at this juncture….

This is very interesting to me. The energy of this new part of who I am in business is feeling very back-to-basics. Very “Ma and Pa.” I have been seeing for some time the vision of the New World (as we move into the famed “2012″ energy) as being very much low to Earth, community-oriented – very “small village-y.”

And I have for some time been feeling what “business” now feels like and is moving towards. And I am so happy about it! For we are moving into a time when “doing what we love” is no longer a luxury or a distant day-dream. Doing what we love – with the gifts of our soul – from our very hearts – is what business IS. Now when I say “Let’s get down to business,” I experience a shiver of excitement and a warming of the soul that a few years ago I didn’t even know was possible!

We do come here for a reason, with a purpose – and we are finally getting it. We are finally getting that the true purpose is to be happy. We have learned that struggling is not “It.” We are not meant to work very hard for very little, exhausted to the bone, weary and frustrated at the end of each day.

WE GOT IT. We are picking ourselves up from that strange and dark part of the journey, dusting ourselves off, looking around, and seeing the world almost as if for the first time. Colors seem brighter. The air is more communicative. There is energy coursing everywhere and bouncing with excitement as it watches us feeling it – watches us come closer. (I just had an image of Flubber! HA!)

Working from the heart. Doing what we love. It is new. It is change. And we know the only thing that does not change is the fact that everything is changing!

Some of us need help adjusting to this new life of doing what we love. Adjusting to the change. Opening, welcoming the love that is this very exciting energy – it has really always been here, waiting for us – it is Love that is so excited to see us all coming! Love is the energy that is bouncing excitedly, watching us watch it – Love is here, ready for us as we approach like small children, our hearts opening and expanding with Joy.

I have done this in several capacities, in many of my shamanic coaching and counseling sessions – that is, I have many times already coached folks shamanically in their heart-centered small businesses, and in their abundance, prosperity, joy and love.

As opening up to what we love is becoming (hallelujah!) the “norm,” I am moved to grow a Whole Branch from my Tree for just this purpose:

Abundant Heart Holistic Business Coaching

This is for folks just starting out in the business or entrepreneurial endeavor of their heart’s love – and also for folks currently in their businesses who know in their souls it is time to expand and/or shift what they do – working FROM THE HEART!”

…

And from there, of course, has sprung EMERGE Shamanic Business Coaching!

Are you feeling it?

Love!

Astra Spider

The Joyous Business Shaman

EMERGE Shamanic Business Coaching

Website: http://emergesbc.com/

Follow EmergeSBC on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EmergeSBC

Like EmergeSBC on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emerge-Shamanic-Business-Coaching/271132079593742?sk=page_getting_started

“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” -The Dalai Lama

“The purpose of our businesses is to be happy.” -Astra Spider

Talk to Your Business

Your business began as a twinkle in your eye. Now it has been (or is preparing to be!) born. It is an entity, living, breathing, full of endless possibility and wonder.

Create an excellent relationship with your business by telling it that you love it, and that you promise to stand by it and take care of it.

Now – ask it what it needs! What do you, my precious business, need in order to be happy, abundant and full of life?

Close your eyes, relax your body and listen for the answers. They will come.

Your business is a beautiful creation that will sustain you – reciprocate by giving it what it needs and desires in order to remain thriving!

I’d love to hear what your business had to say – what will make it happy? How will you feed your business and show it gratitude for sustaining you?

Astra Spider

The Joyous Business Shaman

EMERGE Shamanic Business Coaching

Website: http://emergesbc.com/

Follow EmergeSBC on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EmergeSBC

Like EmergeSBC on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emerge-Shamanic-Business-Coaching/271132079593742?sk=page_getting_started

“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” -The Dalai Lama

“The purpose of our businesses is to be happy.” -Astra Spider

Leave

2012 – Your Year of Joy in Business

I am so tickled, sitting here feeling the energy of joy in my own businesses. Yesterday was the first day of the new year and I literally rested – all day, and all night.

As I lay under a warm blanket, cuddling with my two awesome Boston Terriers, Donovan and Starla, as well as with one or two of my amazing cats, I thought about the concept of Abundance, and how to generate more of it this year.

What came to me was the following:

3 Steps to More Abundance in 2012

• Work less
• Kiss my animals more
• Sleep

What I love about this list is that it encompasses two of the most important aspects in opening to your abundance – engaging in what brings you joy (for me, that is quality time with my animal-babies) and loving the self (which is encapsulated in working less, and sleeping/resting more).

When we are taking care of ourselves and when we are happy, our businesses thrive.

Add some action – engaging in your favorite joy-filled marketing strategies, starting your biz blog, hiring a fabulous, fun mentor to keep your energy on track – and you are WELL ON YOUR WAY to enjoying your most fruitful year in business – and isn’t it about time?

Love yourself, take care of you, and activate your powerful business mojo magic!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Astra Spider

The Joyous Business Shaman

EMERGE Shamanic Business Coaching

Website: http://emergesbc.com/

Follow EmergeSBC on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EmergeSBC

Like EmergeSBC on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emerge-Shamanic-Business-Coaching/271132079593742?sk=page_getting_started

“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” -The Dalai Lama

“The purpose of our businesses is to be happy.” -Astra Spider

Joy in Business: Permission Granted!

I just had a Joyous Business epiphany, and I’m so excited I simply must take a chunk of my Sunday to write it down and share it with you! If you want to have a truly joyous business, you must learn the art of permission.

This could mean something as simple as allowing yourself to rest when you are feeling low energy, or something as powerful as completely re-working your schedule to give yourself optimum play-time for complete vibrancy in your life and work!

I will admit that today I am feeling quite low-energy. My business partner (in my other business, Abundant Heart) and I are coming down off an extremely busy week of completing the writing of our latest e-book, and while I am very happy to have it done, I have to admit the pressure of the deadline really got to me. I learned some valuable lessons about the need to work on a smart schedule to ease last minute pressure, and all in all it was a really great experience! But today it caught up with me and I am feeling it in my body. I am just about out of gas.

So, when I started thinking about the marketing and work I am to do this coming week, both for Abundant Heart and EMERGE, I experienced a shutting down of my brain. I thought to myself, OK, let’s get this thing figured out. I absolutely LOVE my businesses and am totally joyous in both. This mental shut-down is showing me there is an imbalance that needs addressing now!

So I tapped in to a great tool that I have been working with since the beginning of 2011 – I talked with my heart. I asked it what it needed. Or, more specifically, what I needed to be in my joy with my businesses. Here is what my heart said in reply: “ONLY WORK THREE DAYS A WEEK.” Whew! Up until now I have given myself just one day off each week! For a moment I started to argue back with all sorts of old mind-set/belief system arguments. “What? Only work three days a week? That’s impossible! What about seeing clients? What about all that marketing? What about social media? How will people remember who I am if I am not communicating with them every day several times a day?” And on and on it went.

My heart, luckily, put that all to a stop and said: “What makes you happy?”

I responded: “Sharing my message.”

“And how do you enjoy doing this?” Asked my wise heart.

“By writing,” I responded immediately, “And through client sessions.”

I saw that my primary Joyous Marketing style was sharing my message through writing! And I saw that, if I am in my joy while sharing my message, that is what attracts my clients in for amazing sessions. This has always been the case. Always! The times that my marketing has NOT been effective is when I have been employing strategies that feel like something I HAVE to do, rather than something I WANT to do. Oh my wise heart! How I love ya!

So, does this mean I will stop tweeting and posting and emailing and planning workshops and networking? Oh, no – I will continue to do these things! But, I will do them when and how it feels good in my heart – and I will do them generally on my three “working” days! And my primary marketing focus – Hallelujah! – will once again be writing!

So, coming back to my heart’s original message, “Only work three days a week,” I looked at it more deeply. Did it mean, literally, three days on and four days off, each week? The answer I received was “Yes.”

My innate wisdom tells me that my giving myself real permission to rest and play four days a week will open up my world to allow even more abundance – Love, Joy and Money – to come pouring in!

And now, a final check-in with my heart – does only working three days a week mean I can’t write or see clients on the other days? “No,” says my heart. For, writing and having amazing client sessions both open me to my joy, and therefore neither one is “Work.”

Hurrah!

What opens you to your joy in business? How can you start giving your Self permission? I’d love to hear your feelings!

Astra Spider

The Joyous Business Shaman

EMERGE Shamanic Business Coaching

Website: http://emergesbc.com/

Follow EmergeSBC on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EmergeSBC

Like EmergeSBC on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emerge-Shamanic-Business-Coaching/271132079593742?sk=page_getting_started

“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” -The Dalai Lama

“The purpose of our businesses is to be happy.” -Astra Spider

You, You, You, It’s All About You – For Reals!

I have so often seen business owners get lost in the crowd when they don’t honor who they truly are. They look at what others in their field are doing and then pretty much copy that – from the look of their websites to the style of how they present their materials to the fees they charge. And their own truth is drowned out, because they are not honoring their own unique imprint in this all-connected, fully magical Universe.

As humans we are all born fully connected to each other, as well as to the Universal Abundance that is always here. This plays an important role in knowing you will attract your ideal clients and customers. But equally as important, we are each born with a unique purpose and a dream to fulfill. If you have gone in to business for yourself, you are already ahead of the game – you have already begun to honor your unique gifts, knowing that you have something inside yourself that needs to come out and be shared with your ideal customers and clients. You know there is a reason for your presence on the planet. So why smirch that truth by looking to do things just like, or similarly to, others in your field?

 

Instead, ask yourself: 

What are my unique reasons for creating my business?

What life experiences have led me to this exact place in my life?

What knowledge do I hold inside myself that will be just the thing my ideal clients will learn and benefit from?

In what way can I present my gifts and my knowledge; how can I package them so that they can be of the highest value to my clients and customers?

What marketing techniques excite and stimulate me/how do I best connect with my ideal clients? Do I best spread the word about my business by speaking in public and giving workshops? By attending networking events? By writing blogs, articles and newsletters? By giving tele-seminars/webinars? By cold-calling potential clients? By connecting through social media? (Hint: The marketing techniques that make you happy inside are the same marketing techniques that will connect you on the highest level to your potential clients.)

So, YES, while you have gone in to business to support your clients, you truly cannot support them unless your business is fully supportive of you – the true, unique you. Who You Are. The Reason You Are Here.

Through knowing your soul’s purpose, discovering what makes you happy, and taking stock of the knowledge you hold through what you have learned along your path, you are well on your way to being fully in Your Joyous Business!

Astra Spider

The Joyous Business Shaman

EMERGE Shamanic Business Coaching

Website: http://emergesbc.com/

Follow EmergeSBC on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EmergeSBC

Like EmergeSBC on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emerge-Shamanic-Business-Coaching/271132079593742?sk=page_getting_started

“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” -The Dalai Lama

“The purpose of our businesses is to be happy.” -Astra Spider

Golden New You – Abundance is Yours

The Golden New You is not really new. We are all born with Abundance – but in this lifetime, somewhere along the line we have had the experience of being covered with layers of other things – fear-based energies which stem from old patterns of our families, ancestors and society, and which have taken the focus away of the true meaning of having a life on Earth.

It is time to let go of those ancient layers. You have come here to fulfill your soul purpose in your life and in your business. You have come here to be happy. You have come here to be a light for others so they may also learn to shine.

I know anyone who is reading this was led here by divine forces and your inner knowing – knowing deep within you are ready to let go of those old energies and residues – knowing that those are not yours and they are not true. The old blocks that have been keeping you from your Abundance are necessary no longer. Clinging to the ancestral belief systems of struggle, dis-empowerment and poverty – that lesson is done, over.

The new lesson is not a lesson. It is a powerful return to the Truth.

That you are awesome. That you are part of this miraculous Universe and you represent a unique piece of the magic that makes the whole.

Magic! Let’s open our arms and dance with the amazement of it all! Knowing we have the power to create our world as the Beauty it is meant to Be!

Astra Spider

The Joyous Business Shaman

EMERGE Shamanic Business Coaching

Website: http://emergesbc.com/

Follow EmergeSBC on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EmergeSBC

Like EmergeSBC on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emerge-Shamanic-Business-Coaching/271132079593742?sk=page_getting_started

“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” -The Dalai Lama

“The purpose of our businesses is to be happy.” -Astra Spider

Be Bold – You are Amazing

You are an inventor, a creator, a magician. Because you have grown your own business from a seed planted in your heart, you are amazing!

So what about that is not translating in to how you market, and how you feel about attracting clients?

For some business owners, there seems to be a perpetual gauze or veil between how amazing you are and how powerful your business is, and how you are communicating this to the outside world.

The good news is, the veil is also being created by you – so you are the one with the power to remove it.

Some reasons you may have created your veil:

Reason Number One) Removing the veil doesn’t feel safe. If you show the outside world who you truly are, they will become angry and they won’t want what you are selling – because who are you to be so amazing? 

My Joyous Business Shaman Reply: This is not a problem. If anyone who glimpses your amazingness does become angry or jealous, the good news is you know you are no longer afraid to show your full beauty. Their anger has nothing to do with you – it is indicative that they are processing through their own fears and reasons they have had for not showing their own amazingness to the world.

By being your True Amazing Self, you may cause others’ outer protective layers to begin cracking. This is OK. It is a natural, “pebble-in-the-pond” ripple effect. Also, you are not responsible for making them comfortable or happy – only they can do this for themselves. And only You can do this for Your Self.

More often than not, by being your True Amazing Self, rather than cause anger, you simply inspire others to be their own True Amazing Selves. The lifting of your veil and the cracking of their layers serves only to open up and let in the light that is always there, always available.

Reason Number Two) Even though you are a creator and inventor and must express your creativity, it feels like there is a part of you who still won’t believe in yourself no matter how awesome your products or services may be.

My Joyous Business Shaman Reply: This is understandable and we have all gone through it. Just know this: That part of you that feels like it doesn’t believe in yourself – that is not the True You! That is an energy that is left over from an old belief system or structure that has come before you, either from your ancestral line or from society. We have all gone through carrying these unhelpful energies for those who came before us, and there is no judgment on this at all. The relief is in knowing that it is not the True You, and you can choose to release these old energies at any time. The True You is an amazing, multi-dimensional, colorful creator who astounds the Universe with each step you take.

Reason Number Three) You are afraid people will think your products or services are crazy, or do not work (translation – you are afraid people will think YOU are crazy).

My Joyous Business Shaman Reply: Get over it! How can you be an inventor, a creator and amazing, and still care about what people think? I mean, you can, but you are only holding yourself back from your joyous business. Think of the first people who ever invented “flying machines” for humans. If they had let what others think stop them, there would be no airlines. Right? Plus, your ideal clients are the ones who will “get” what you are about. So spread your wings and SOAR.

And for the record, if you still care what people think, know this: I THINK YOU ARE AMAZING!

So Much Love!

Astra Spider

The Joyous Business Shaman

EMERGE Shamanic Business Coaching

Website: http://emergesbc.com/

Follow EmergeSBC on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EmergeSBC

Like EmergeSBC on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emerge-Shamanic-Business-Coaching/271132079593742?sk=page_getting_started

“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” -The Dalai Lama

“The purpose of our businesses is to be happy.” -Astra Spider

The Time Has Come in Business: Self-Care

The time has come in business that we look at the wellness of all our parts so that they may be integrated as a whole.

Your business starts inside you and grows outward – and when you tend to all your layers – your energy, your heart, spirit, soul, thoughts and body – you see that your business takes on a whole new feel. It casts a golden glow about you that shines out from within. It becomes fun – even the challenges are exciting and spur you to new growth.

Our businesses, if we let them, can be some of our greatest teachers. If we are well, our businesses are well. If something feels off in business, what can we change within ourselves to step back in to the flow?

I will start by asking: What can I do today for my business life to ensure a golden flow of energy, prosperity, success and joy?

Here are the answers I receive:

• Rest
• Enjoy my day
• Do what feels good
• Share what inspires me
• Eat food that is delicious and satisfying
• Spend time with those that I love
• Take care of my heart, my soul, my spirit
• Take a relaxing shower with lovely scented products
• Enjoy having a physical body/do what makes my body happy.

There, for starters, are some wonderful tips I now pass on to you. The truth is, if you are happy, your business is happy. As an entrepreneur, your business is a beautiful tree that grows from a seed planted in your heart. What can you do to tend to and cultivate your amazing creation – your business – today?

I’d love to know what you think of this article! Please share from your heart with me on Twitter, Facebook, by leaving comments here, or by emailing: astra@emergesbc.com

Thank you!

Astra Spider

The Joyous Business Shaman

EMERGE Shamanic Business Coaching

Website: http://emergesbc.com/

Follow EmergeSBC on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EmergeSBC

Like EmergeSBC on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emerge-Shamanic-Business-Coaching/271132079593742?sk=page_getting_started

“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” -The Dalai Lama

“The purpose of our businesses is to be happy.” -Astra Spider