I am so soooo excited to announce my new blog today!!

SOUL AND SPICE.

Wiiiiihaaaa!!!

Go visit today and discover what it is all about…

Every day of AEDM I will drop a new post to feed your wild soul…  and I just cannot wait to meet you there!!

rrrrrrrrRRRAAAWWW!!

Nele

HOLD IT RIGHT THERE.

People, this one is really worth thinking through. Because it has so much to do with self-love and self-esteem. And it counters self-loathing and despair.  Now let that be the core issue of most struggles-with-the-self   So take a moment with me here to dive in.

First of all, the mere idea that we are here to learn, gives us an endless playfield to play, try, fail and try again. Who ever expected from first grade kids that they would know how to write and how to add 42 to 65?
The idea is so ridiculous, right?  But IT’S WHAT WE ALL DO on the level of life lessons.
Once we graduate from school, we think we have seen it all and we switch off the learning button. From that moment on, no more mistakes are to be made and no learning curve is to be allowed. We’re adults now, goddammit, we know how to do stuff.

And that unconscious assumption gives us the right to mentally beat ourselves up for every mistake we make. I think it’s a very interesting perspective to look upon our inner critic. Because it offers us a valuable alternative: the teacher. Or even better: the coach. One who knows that our whole life is a learning curve. One who knows that making mistakes is the best way to grow and integrate lessons. And one who reminds us of that when we fail or blunder.

You feel the relief and the space…?

A loving space to grow and play… it’s what we want to give our kids and so often forget to give ourselves  .

Now there’s more. (I told you it was worth standing still for!)

You can use this saying to take a fresh look at your relationships in life. Here’s a fun thing to do that will entirely change your perspective. Think of someone who plays an important role in your life right now, for better or for worse. (The exercise gets extra interesting when you take the for worse part). Let your thoughts come up and listen. Then ask yourself the question: what is he or she for in my life? What can he/she teach me? And what can I teach him/her?

(It will always be an and/and-situation. You can always AND learn from AND teach someone. That’s one of the utter beauties and utter meanings of living together.)

Now listen again.  And tell me what you’ve experienced!  You can do this with anyone in your life but it especially helps to reframe relationships that feel wrong or icky or threatening.

Ask yourself every day this week: what did I teach today?  what did I learn today?  It’ll be like a fresh autumn breeze blowing through your mind and soul…

Aaaah…breathe…

How have you been, dear souls?  How did you spend your summer?  Have you been wandering around the world?  Have you met new people?  Did you surf on waves of inspiration?  Did you dance and laugh your ass off?  Or was it just all different for you?

Cause we are like light switches…we can choose to let the waves of the season in or out.  We can choose to bask in summer glow and glory.  Or we can choose to listen to other urges within us.

Personally, I have ridden the wild summer donkey this time.  I have turned myself inside out and have thrown my soul through every open door.  I travelled, partied, danced, laughed, wept, chattered, walked the earth, said hell yeah to every opportunity, went out out out.  Outside.  Outside myself and my limits.  I really pushed some limits this summer.

And it felt damn good.  I’m closing up a time lapse of withholding myself.  Of being in fall-mode all year long.  I’m talking 4-5 years here.

It-feels-so-damn-good to open up.

It was necessary for me to retreat for such a long time, there is no negative resonance in the words “retreat” or “withdraw” whatsoever.  This is really a pet topic of mine: the right to retreat, the undoing of the insane notion that we should always be up and running and out there, performing at our top level.

The world goes up and down, the seasons fluctuate through it, it’s good to feel the change in the air at the end of the summer.  In our times, this is the hardest change to give in to: going within, pacing down, giving in to the downward movement.

let’s go down
sweet souls
let’s all sink into the earth
into her soft and aromatic darkness
and let us rest
let us be healed

With love,

Nele

I’ve been so busy conceiving my business plans but I never dropped my creative practice -thank god! ;-)  It is so important to keep up a strong creative practice when you dive into one of life’s big adventures.  It keeps me sane, present and in touch with my natural flow of creativity.

So I’ve been writing (here, obviously ;-)), dancing, painting, crocheting and dreamboarding!

PHOTO UPDATE TIME!!!  YIPPEEE!

I made these adorable crochet pieces for an encouragement/support swap.  The little hanging bag carries love messages and the little treasure bag holds a rough rose quartz.  They were sent of to Australia!!!  It hasn’t arrived yet so I’m still hoping that I’ll make someone very happy very soon!!

A summer dreamboard, to remind myself of what qualities I want this summer…

eye of Kali

I painted this one after a stormy Kali-meditation (the Releasing your Fears meditation of goddess Leonie).  Only when finished I saw it had become an eye :-)  And this is where I painted it, on family vacation in the south of the country, after my daughter knocked herself out with purple acrylic paint :-)

And to close in utter beauty: this is my favorite song lately to create my body-to-floor dance moves…  Enjoy!

Love,

Nele

(password = winner)

Congratulaaaations!!!

AND…

I have a little SURPRISE for those who revealed their life questions…

I did a mini-reading for you!!

I couldn’t just leave you standing there with those important questions, RIGHT??!!

So be prepared to receive the mini-reading in your mailbox!!  Yippeeeeee!!

This has been so much fun, thank you so much ladies!

Extra big besos for you all!!

Nele

I’m recovering from a medicine intoxication I got because of an incorrect prescription. During two days I have been taking double the permitted dose of a highly toxic medicine… I’ve spent the last 24h with endless nausea and have been vomiting my heart out.
I’m starting to feel a little better since I’ve been able to sleep for 2 hours but I’m postponing the drawing of lots til I’m fully recovered. Cause I wanna be there, you know. Right now it’s all toxic mist in my head…

Thanx for understanding,
Nele

Confetti! Party!

I’m so excited!!!

I’m celebrating with a GIVEAWAY ——————————————————–>>>>

(password = oracle)

Sweet souls,

Sweet business goddesses,

Today I want to share a powerful tool with you courageous business women: goddess oracle reading.  In the videopost above I share my thoughts on oracle cards (what is it, why+how use it) and do a live reading for my business.

WHY share it with you, you ask?  

Because, being a business goddess myself, I know how hard it is: how many times we doubt our intuition or we don’t know which way to turn.  

Oracle cards are a wonderful and very goddessy way to heal those moments and reconnect with our own needs ànd our natural business insight.  It takes about 10 minutes or even less and in that short amount of time your energy gets shuffled and…

everything is put back into it’s true place instead of flying around in pieces above your head

Problems are turned upside down and from that new perspective you suddenly know how to handle or solve them.

I really really recommend it.  I think we should support eachother in this exciting but sometimes overwhelming journey.  That’s why I wanted to share this powerful tool with you!

Well, I truely hope this can mean something to you, let me know! And feel invited to share your thoughts on business intuition, oracle cards and other great weapons to re-center in times of stuckness and doubt!

Lots of goddess love&light,

Nele

PS: additional info: in the Right-Brainers in Business Video Summit (http://rightbrainersinbusiness.com/ or http://www.rightbrainbusinessplan.com/) I heard Laura West from joyfulbusiness.com announcing that she is working on a Business Goddess oracle set! That would be the top of the bill of course, Goddess oracle cards completely focused on business questions…

Roger Waters in concert, Antwerp, Belgium. Copyright TNC

Roger Waters, Antwerp, copyright TNC

You know how this 2month newbie in entrepreneur-land moved forward til now? One HUGE EXTRAVAGANZA step forward, two steps back :-)

Let’s say I’m trying to move to a pattern of going forward babystep by babystep.  How do I do that?  The pattern above is the story of my life.  I’m a high sensation seeker, a speed burner.  My body burns up food at a terrifying speed.  My mind does the same with experiences and lessons.  And every time there is a wall standing there, just quietly patiently  waiting for me to bang into it.    And there’s no judgement in this wall.  He’s so zen.  And sooo patient.  I thank this wall for being that patient teacher and I know it will be there as long as I need it.

But… I do intent to get rid of it :-)  By slowing down my pace and taking care of myself, by patrolling my borders and keeping watch over my energy levels.

I feel like this whole self-employed thing is the ultimate life exercise for me to get rid of the old pattern.  And I will not run away from it.  In fact, I have been facing it intensely the last two months, trying out different paces and ways.  I’ve tried the over the top enthusiastic way, surfing on waves of spirit highs.  Turns out the wind eventually dies down.  I’ve tried the strictly scheduling way, making lists and strictly scheduling in my work and relax time.  Turns out I didn’t want to work when my schedule announced WORK and I didn’t feel like relaxing when it said RELAX.  Hahaha, this is all quite hilarious, afterwards.

So the new way is: growing a strong FUNDAMENT, by meditating daily to

stay in close contact with my soul, my truth and the natural way of the Universe

If the Universe wants to go right on the crosspath and I am going left because I didn’t have the time and the silence to listen to the flows that are bigger then me, where will I eventually end up?  Big fat flu land?  No man’s land?  Frustroland?

If my soul needs rest in it’s path and I’m rushing through it because I don’t have a clue of what my soul needs cozz I’m simply not taking time to listen to it: same scenario.

So change is on it’s way, actually it’s here right now :)  I create silence, I listen.  And then I move on to work or play or whatever is needed.

Did I mention that this weekend I attended the fabulous concert of Roger Waters (Pink Floyd)? Guess how it was named??  The Wall…

During the concert a giant wall was built between the band and the audience.  It was mind blowing.

My favourite part was at the end: where the wall came crushing down…

Inspiring!

Love,

Nele

Yes sweethearts, it struck me hard, the big fat flu.  And it had too, because there was no other way of making me listen…  I thought I wasn’t the stubborn kind but hey, I can be.

As happens a lot with people who carry the element FIRE inside (Sagittarius!), I burned out in all my enthousiasm.  From zero to the top and smashing back, baby.  If your other element is AIR, you’re screwed ;-)  Even more oxygen to blaze the fire…  So allright, my life is about finding the grounding and centering powers of EARTH and the smooth gentle surrendering moves of WATER.  It’s like an e-course I run at the Life School.  Lovely Professor Universe keeps sending me lessons to learn and exercises to practice.

Thanks for all the patience, Life, I love you.

So here I am, back with my feet on the ground and keeping an eye on my energy.  Seeing things in perspective.  I don’t need to be self-employed and making thousands of bucks tomorrow.  Couple of weeks ago I wrote: I’m having the time of my life.  Today I add: and I have a lifetime to experience and grow it.

So all options are open now.  Starting in september, starting in january, starting never, starting fulltime self-employed, starting halftime self-employed, etc.  All is well as long as I feel good about it.  I go with the flow.

I lay down in the water, I listen to the river and try to feel where it wants to take me.  

Instead of sitting on a military boat and feverishly rowing this or that way, blowing a mad horn.

And I have the intention to try not to let that balance break down in a week’s time.  I have the intention to take care for myself, to sustain myself.  Because I love me.

Nele