Rising Women Leaders

Just days ago this amazing woman, Katie Burke gave birth to her second child. I was lucky to sit down with Katie in early September when she was 32 weeks pregnant to hear about her role as a Priestess, the birth of her first child, and navigating marriage, a business, and family all while being on a personal growth journey of ascension and awakening.

Sitting down to talk with Katie felt like reuniting with an old friend. I decided to share the video of our conversation today as well so you can get a behind-the-scenes look into our intimate conversation.

In this episode we discussed:

• The magic of conceiving and giving birth to her first child
• What it means (to Katie) to be a Priestess
• Moving through fear and doubt around claiming the role of the Priestess
• Mary Magdalene, Isis and the guides that came to Katie during her awakening 
• How to navigate your personal growth while being in a marriage
• Tips on making it through hard times in a relationship while being on an awakening path together
• How to connect with your guides and open your own channels of communication with divine guidance and intuition
• What's to come in Katie's business 

Stay in touch with Katie:

• Katie's Website
• Instagram

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Formally a digital marketing guru and graduate student of strategic communication, Katie Burke began her Divine Feminine Awakening and remembering when she conceived her daughter. This journey of self-healing and radical self-worth led to the Modern Priestess Movement and her own self-actualization.

Katie administers the Feminine expression of Christ Consciousness coming from the spiritual traditions of Mary Magdalene, and the Ancient Egyptian Teachings of Isis & Hathor.  She currently is pregnant with her second child and enjoying the summer with her daughter and leading bi-monthly meditations with her partner, Ben Burke. 

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

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

"As mothers, we are the baseline frequency of the nation. I strongly believe that everything that is conceived of on planet Earth is because of the mother."

I'm so grateful to introduce you today to Myrah Peñaloza, clothing designer, mother, and Kundalini yoga teacher.  I first discovered Myrah on instagram @myrahpenaloza and quickly fell in love with the intention, beauty and authenticity of her posts. 

I followed along on the journey of her pregnancy and excitedly read her birth story after her daughter Soleil was born. 

Myrah reminds us of the power we have to create change in the world as women and mothers  and I'm excited to share her wisdom with you all today. 

"Becoming a mother showed me what a BIG responsibility we have on planet Earth."

In the episode we discuss:

• How Myrah found kundalini yoga and how it changed her life
• The importance of personal practice as a yoga teacher
• What Myrah learned from her teacher Gurumukh
• The biggest lesson Myrah has learned from becoming a mother
• Balancing having a biz and a new baby
• How she navigated post-partum depression
• What women’s circles have brought to her life
• What's coming in her new line of  Kundalini yoga gowns

Stay in touch with Myrah:

• Watch Bloom Festival on RAMA tv
• The Bloom Retreat in Spain this February

Websites:

• www.myrah.yoga - Clothing Line
• www.itstimetobloom.com - Festival
• www.lalunasocial.com - Women’s Circles

Social:

• @myrahpenaloza
• @lalunasocial
• @itstimetobloom

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Myrah recently followed her heart from California to Canada. She is a Clothing designer, Kundalini Yoga lover & educator, she is obsessed with banana pancakes, sharing tea, her 7 month old (on the 20th) daughter Soleil & women's circles. Myrah is the co-founder of  Edmonton, AB based BLOOM Festival which is celebrating its 5th Annual production October 5th-8th. Her Kundalini Yoga inspired clothing line has been adorned by woman across the entire globe. She has also founded a women’s circle network that is in 5 different countries called La Luna Social. Myrah has been teaching Kundalini Yoga for close to 10 years and has taken over 900hrs of Yoga Teacher Training. She has led retreats around the world and is currently planning a retreat in Spain called The Bloom Retreat in February 2017. Her mission is to create space, opportunities and experiences to empower woman. 

Read more at http://meredithrom.com

After three years of making very little money in her business as a psychic,  Anastasia Holland got serious about learning business strategy and putting herself out there. 

She had an idea: to have conscious conversations with women about their relationship to money. She was genuinely curious about how these women she admired got to where they were. How did they make it all work?

 So she launched her  first summit, "Worthy" and within a few weeks her business catapulted. 

The clients started coming in more than ever before. She announced a mentorship program and watched her income skyrocket. 

But it wasn't all easy. There were upper limits Anastasia had to learn to navigate. Then there was some serious burnout she had to recover from.  

But along the way, she discovered what brought her true joy...

From Anastasia:

"My whole perspective of life has changed because as I gained success financially in my career and I finally had this total freedom that I craved for so long,  I realized that I didn't feel that different.

That has catapulted me into finding out what really gives me joy. What really gives me peace. What really gives me freedom. And love and connection.

I think if I didn't have that success I would always be chasing and never be able to face the part of myself that was still in a lot of pain and had all these desires other than money and career."

In this episode we discussed:

• How Anastasia first discovered her psychic abilities (and how you can too)
• Anastasia's story of selling everything she owned to start fresh and up-level her life and business
• Doing business your own way and finding balance with feminine flow in business (aka avoiding burnout)
• Anastasia's story of leading her first summit, Worthy. How it catapulted her business, brought her to new upper limits and what she learned about herself and how  she wants to do business along the way
• Beyond money and success, what Anastasia learned brought her  true joy
• The throat chakra - how Anastasia has honored her voice
• Anastasia's growth edge and how she is showing up to face her fears
• The self-worth demon Anastasia still works with and how she keeps showing up despite her fears

More links: 

• Book a psychic session with Anastasia
• Go to Tulum on retreat with Anastasia & Jillian!

Enjoy the episode :) 

With love, 
Meredith

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Anastasia Holland is a Psychic Strategist, Business Mentor, Writer And Self Worth Warrior For women. Through her 1:1 psychic sessions, mentorship programs, and workshops she reminds her clients of the work they are meant to do in the world and help them do it in a way that is strategic, effective, and most aligned based off of their unique blue print, purpose, desires, and path. She believes that self-compassion is magic, that we don’t need to be fixed, but instead nurtured, encouraged, and let loose. Her work is committed to reminding you of your power and that you can absolutely do business and life in whatever way you choose. 

To book a session with her, or find out more about her work head to her website www.anastasiaholland.com

Podcast by- Rising Women Leaders | Spirituality | Personal Growth | Yoga | Entrepreneurship - 

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

In the midst of all the events happening in our world, again and againwhat I keep coming back to for healing is feeling our feelings. Letting the grief, the anger, the fear come to the surface to be loved. 

And that's what today's episode on the Rising Women Leaders podcast is all about.

It wasa joy to sit down with another sensitive soul and kindred spirit Erin Telford to speak about healing our hearts, honoring our emotions and listening to our "soul whispers."  I hope you enjoy it. 

"Healing is not about calming down. It’s not about blunting your feelings. It’s about moving the lifetime of pain energy out of the body. "

In this episode we discussed:

• What ignited Erin's healing journey
• The experience of her first breathwork ceremony 
• Listening to her soul whispers and her decision to leave NYC
• An inside peek of the book she is ready to birth!
• Healing the heart ~ Erin's experiences with heartbreak and her thoughts on healing the heart when letting go of someone you love
• What Erin attributes to her success as a spiritual business woman

"When you know your value is not negotiable by outside situations, that's when you know you're pretty solid."

Links in this episode:

• 7 Minute Guided Breathwork Meditation
• Follow Erin on instagram

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Erin Telford is a certified Breathwork teacher, acupuncturist, Reiki Master, and herbalist.  Her mission is to guide people to look within, open their hearts and heal their relationship with themselves.  She holds safe, sacred space for change through therapeutic conversation and lifestyle counseling.  She is fiercely committed to doing her own personal work because she knows that she can only take her clients as deep and as far as she is willing to go.  Her one on one sessions and workshops empower her clients to connect to their intuition so that they can find the answers they are looking for.  She has been featured in Shape Magazine, Nylon, NY Magazine, Well + Good, The Numinous and in Refinery 29 as one of “6 Women Who Are Redefining Wellness in New York City.”

Rising Women Leaders | Spirituality | Personal Growth | Yoga | Entrepreneurship

-personal growth, intuition, stories, voice, women, yoga, feminine, leadership, spirituality, personal growth, online business, meditation

Have you ever met one of those people you instantly feel so calm and centered in their presence? That's how I felt talking to Cait. She is a vibrant soul who followed her heart leaving "the grind" behind in New England to embody inner radiance in Bali, Indonesia. 

You'll feel yourself transported to Bali as you listen to this episode - you'll even hear the roosters crowing outside with the sun rise!

"There's a difference between angular commitment and a just as powerful force of fierce devotion. I see fierce devotion as the fuel for courage." 

In this episode we discussed:

• Trusting in the divine flow 
• The courage it takes to own and embody our gifts, to live our light out loud 
• How to handle the muck (not being afraid of it, learning to befriend and expand self-love massively during these times) 
• Taking the leapand  being okay with not-knowing 
• Radiance and what it means to live aligned, in truth and on fire 

Learn about Cait's Radiance Rising Retreat Coming up in Bali inMarch 2018 

Cait Scudder, MAT, RYT-500, is a lit-up transformation catalyst that empowers women to uncover, embrace and embody the most dazzling version of themselves. She is a radiant living coach, writer, speaker, and yoga & meditation teacher living in Bali, and is also founder of the Radiant Living School. Cait holds programs, workshops, and retreats around the globe for soul-centered women on a mission to shine. Connect with her at caitscudder.com and learn more about her Radiant Living School program here.

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!

Lately I’ve been reflecting on what it means to have “enough.” 

Last month I was lucky to sit down with a founding partner of Abacus Wealth Partners, an investment company that focuses on making the world a better place, Spencer Sherman.

I found it really interesting when he shared, “Giving and saving are two ways to tell your body and mind, ‘I have enough.’” 

Mindfulness and meditation have greatly helped me shift my relationship to money.  

I remember even just a few years ago when I had accumulated a large amount of savings, yet my mindset was solely focused on what I didn’t have. Because of that, I didn’t take a moment to reflect on everything around me. Instead I kept pushing myself. 

Now, I do my best to remind myself of what I have, with gratitude. A mantra I use often is, “I have everything I need, and I welcome so much more.”  (Thanks to Gabrielle Bernstein for that one)

Shifting my mindset around money and focusing more on generosity than on scarcity has helped me let go of the need to grasp on to the next prospective client, the bigger house, or next new item for my wardrobe.

And I have to say, it’s been so relaxing to take that pressure off. 

The funny thing is, the more I soften and rest into the trust that I have everything I need, I feel like so much more abundance is coming to me.

I’ve consciously been letting go of the grasping, the feeling of “getting the short end of the stick” and really honoring where I am at and what I have. 

It’s not an easy practice, I know, and sometimes I still get stuck in the mindset of “I don’t have enough.” So that’s why I’m excited to share with you my latest podcast episode all about Money and Mindfulness with Spencer Sherman. 

“The less attached I have been, the more ease I have found with money, the more it comes to me.” ~ Spencer Sherman

A few months ago it became clear to me that I’d like create a “Mindful Men Series”  to honor the perspective of the divine masculine and share the voices of men I see around me honoring their gifts and purpose while giving back to the world. 

After listening to the episode, I’d love to hear, what does enough look like for you? How do you cultivate a feeling of enough?  Let me know in the comments over on instagram. 

I’m also excited to share that this Fall Spencer and I are collaborating in an 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program locally in Sebastopol.

Save the date September 5, 6:30 - 9 pm at The dhyana Center for a free orientation to learn about the program.

In this episode we discuss: 

• Discovering your true net worth 
• The best day/worst day of Spencer’s life 
• The missing piece one of his clients discovered to living a joyful life after having “made it” in the financial world
• Meditation and how that has affected Spencer’s relationship to money and how he relates to clients in his business
• The first step to take to bringing more awareness to your finances 
• Abacus’ approach to wealth management and sustainable investing 
• Our upcoming course, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (Save the date for Sept. 5 for a free orientation)
• Spencer's book, The Cure for Money Madness

I hope you enjoy today’s show. It may be just what you need to earn more money, start saving and giving, or maybe to just cultivate more peace of mind.

With love,
Meredith

P.S. Join me this coming Wednesday August 9th for my next webinar, The Art of Feminine Abundance where I’ll be sharing more about my insights on wealth, joy and abundance. Click here to sign up.

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Spencer Sherman is a financial expert, public speaker, teacher and author. Spencer has taught classes and spoken to audiences across the U.S., including at Esalen and Kripalu. He has practiced meditation since 1983 and is a qualified teacher of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). He is a founding partner of Abacus Wealth Partners, an investment company that focuses on making the world a better place. Spencer and his wife Janine live in Sebastopol, CA with their 2 children.

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 month I took myself on a trip to Kauai to attend a gathering called Singing Alive. 

I decided to attend after being with my grandmother as she was passing in the hospital. I found song to be such a soothing and sacred way to connect with her during that difficult time and I wanted to immerse myself in an environment of song in the weeks after she passed.

On one afternoon I experienced a surreal moment when the women gathered to all sing together.  After anchoring and opening the space, our facilitator invited any woman to teach a song to us. The first woman to stand up called in a sister in spirit - hundreds of miles away - one of my dearest friends for the past four years, Mackenzie Myers.

She then led us in call and response to sing one of Mackenzies songs, a song I have heard my friend sing many times. In that moment my skin was covered with goosebumps and tears streamed down my face because of what a powerful song it is. I was thinking about my friend, who only a few years ago was holding fear around stepping up to share her voice.

In that moment her song was reaching the ears and voices of fifty or sixty women, and it truly unified us together and opened our hearts. 

It is moments like these that remind me why it is so important for women to face their fears and share their gifts, especially their voice. 

The song that my friend Mackenzie had written was pure medicine for all the women in our circle. I felt so proud of her for facing her fears and sharing her voice so her songs could spread and be experienced by more and more people.

In today's podcast episode I share Mackenzie's song from our women's circle as well as three more powerful songs for you to sing along to.

My hope is they create a safe and nurturing space for YOU to open up and share your voice.

With love, 
Meredith

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