5 things to do with your hands while doing a digital detox.

This past week I sort of went on a unintentional digital detox.

I do my absolute best to stay connected online and on social media, its very important while you are building a brand and a business, especially a new one. I woke up Saturday morning thinking that I want to allow myself just to enjoy my life on the weekends.

It’s Summer, I want to feel free to sit and gaze on the water and not think about what comments I need to reply to or what emails I need to check. If I stay true to my brand and ‘bliss vibes only’, if something doesn’t feel right, I need to listen.

Lately, I have been feeling so much pressure to create so much content for so many platforms I just felt a huge burn out. Not to mention, my baby boy started walking and the joy I felt from that far surpassed the desire to look at my Instagram accounts. I knew it was time for a break. So, I took it.

But then I felt this odd addiction to going to my phone and I noticed it was like a habit to scroll and check apps. Which begged the questions, was it an actual addiction to these apps or was it deeper than that? Then I felt this voice inside of me say………………………………..what do I do with my hands?

OMG. This whole thing started an entire revolution in my life. First, I realized actually how much time I created for myself when I am not messing around on my phone.

#1 : GRAB A JOURNAL

I went straight for my 30 day Blissful Living Journal. I do this journal all the time and it always serves me well. It helps me reach my next level. Every time I go through the prompted questions, my responses are always different. It makes me feel like I make a quantum leap in life every single time. I am a big fan of workbooks like this, they make journaling and self help easy, fun and practical. Here are a few I really like:

#2: FOCUS ON YOUR SKIN CARE ROUTINE

Okay, so have you ever just actually sit and tried to whip up a DIY face mask? or hair mask? OMG its so much fun. While I was in my detox, I went through my bathroom to declutter all my beauty products. I tried on everything, serums, glosses and face sprays.

I love testing mixing perfumes. I found some old vitamins and added them to my vitamin planner so I would actually take them. (If you don’t have a vitamin planner yet, get one now. It will change your life) I combined some face masks and made them for my family, too. I was like a little beauty scientist. It reminded me how important my skin health is.

image source

#3: ORGANIZE YOUR FRIDGE

I am also obsessed with fruit organization. Maybe I should do a post on this? Once I get all my berries home,I wash them, pat them dry and prepare them for eating. Like with strawberries I cut off the green part. Then I store them in pretty pink tupperware. It’s so gratifying and so much fun.

Plus, they will last longer. I like to organize all my drinks, too. There is nothing as gorgeous as a La Croix filled fridge. It really is so much fun to see all of your foods looking pretty in your fridge. Doing this really does wonders for your life.

#4: MAKE A FLOWER ARRANGEMENT

Sure you can just go grab yourself a dozen beautiful blush pink roses but have you ever tried to make a gorgeous bouquet? It’s totally therapeutic, it feels so good and it will boost the vibe in your home. If you need help, watch this video for a little inspiration. Go to the store and see what colors and blooms you are attracted to. Don’t just buy a pre-made arrangement. Love will go into them and the energy will totally bring you bliss.

#5 MAKE A VISION BOARD

If you haven’t made on yet, what are you waiting for? I love to make vision boards, I even created a downloadable guide to help you make one effectively. Grab your favorite magazines, cut out some images that speak to your soul. Then creatively place them on a board, in a book or in your new Blissful Living Journal. Inside there is space to create your vision board for the 30 days.

I’m starting back digitally today. After 5 days away from my phone, I was able to do so much more than ever. I also gave my mind the space to download some amazing insights and ideas for my brand and business. It’s so important to keep a vision toward where you want to go and the detox helped me see farther in a much clearer way.

25+ inspiring vision board ideas

Hope you have a fabulous and productive day.

Love, Ashlina

For more, listen to this episode of the Blissfully Ambitious podcast.

HOW EMBRACING MY FEMININITY HELPED ME FLOURISH & THRIVE IN MY ONLINE BUSINESS

This blog post is all about why I made the switch to a more feminine approach to doing online business.

Being in business for yourself is NOT for the faint of heart.

You’ve got to have an incredible amount of strength and resilience to start, run, build and grow any sort of personal endeavor. Just ask anyone who is an entrepreneur and they will tell you that it isn’t as glamorous as it looks. This is also why I think moms make the most incredible entrepreneurs…they know what it takes to be strong and resilient.

I’ve been in business for myself for over 15 years. It was always my dream to have the time and financial freedom that being an entrepreneur provides for you. I’m so grateful that I’ve created my own path in business that has me feeling beyond blessed, I love being my own boss.

You might enjoy listening to this episode of my podcast, Blissfully Ambitious.

HOW BOSS BABE CULTURE IS BLOCKING YOUR BLESSINGS:

However, I think there is a big misconception about being a woman in business. There is this whole ‘boss babe’ phenomenon that has an entire generation of women in a choke hold of being in a constant state of hustle.

Women buying into the luxury aesthetic, to keep them ‘chasing’ as a constant state of being ( keeping up with the latest handbags, clothes, style, labels, certifications ) instead of being in a state of ‘pursing’ the true luxuries ( peace of mind, wellness, time freedom, financial freedom ).

It’s almost like a subconscious belief system rooted in unworthiness that keeps women in the constant state of stress, struggle, chasing success by any means necessary…masculine ways of being that women simply aren’t built for.

Fun Fact: Women run on a 28 day hormonal cycle where as men have a 24 hour hormonal cycle, men are built for this way of being. So, when women are out of their natural state ( hustling, burning out, etc), they are blocking their innate blessings and gifts.

By being in this constant state of chasing success, women disconnect themselves from the natural ease of being in alignment with the divine. This connection with the divine is the state that allows inspired ideas, inner brilliance, divine downloads, higher wisdom and aligned action to flow through. It is THIS where the magic to running your business really is.

MY SECRET WEAPON IN MY BUSINESS IS MY LIVING IN THE DIVINE FEMININE

For so many years, I prioritized what other people said worked for them and I am still seeing my clients do it all the time. “Well, this millionaire said to do this” “That successful coach is doing that, I want to try it too”.

I’ll give you a personal example. Even though, I knew I was ready to shift out of interior designing for clients, I still felt like it didn’t make sense for me to do what it was that I really wanted to do (shifting into full time coaching, content creating, course creation, growing my online business, etc) and because I allowed other people to influence me, I pursued working in the real estate industry. I can also thank the show ‘selling sunset’ for painting a very glamorous picture of the business, again outside media influence. It made perfect sense to me and everyone around me to shift into real estate from interior design. “It’s a smart move” and “very logical next step” , two phrases I heard often from almost everyone in my life.

However, I stuffed down every desire, intuitive knowing, divine message, etc. All of them. I ignored them and pursued the ‘logical path’ that made ‘logical sense’. So, as I should have known, I found myself stressed out, unfulfilled and disconnected from myself. While on the outside, I was successful and making great money, I even manifested aka landed a coveted athlete client … I was experiencing a complete disconnection on the inside, in my heart and soul.

Several months later, my loved ones began to tell me “I think you’ve lost your shine”…and I just knew I had to take the leap and get back to doing what my heart and soul really longs to do in this world. And within weeks, I was out earning what I was making in real estate. That was the moment I knew that the spiritual law of divine compensation is A REAL THING and I would never, ever, ever, ever suppress my feminine intuitive wisdom again.

HOW I USED MY FEMININE ENERGY TO FLOURISH IN MY BUSINESS (and you can do it too)

1. Get to know your feminine energy cycle. As a woman, you have 4 weeks of hormonal pattern changes, Menstrual phase, Follicular phase, Ovulation phase, Luteal phase. In each phase, you have different hormones working at different levels. Knowing what week you are in can really help you navigate how to best use your energy in your business. Not every day are you meant to be going full force, there are times you are meant to rest and reflect without feeling guilty. (p.s. You can google this, learn more on Pinterest and I also break all of this down for you in detail inside my course, The Goddess Glow Up.)

2. Make peace with your past. Next, I had to forgive myself for falling into the trap of prioritizing what others say to do, over my heart & higher wisdom. I also had to make peace with the fear of what others might think about me and what I am doing with my life. Peace became a priority for me because I understood that in order to live in my innate energy and hear my inner wisdom, I had to be in a state of peace. When your mind is too busy warring with all the mental chatter, your intuition and divine wisdom gets very, very faint and hard to hear. Feminine energy is very soft, calm and sometimes silent so that the heart and soul has space to be heard and followed.

3. Build trust within yourself & your body. You’ve got to start trusting yourself completely over anyone or anything outside of yourself. You can begin to do this by making promises and commitments to yourself and following through with them. You also can practice trusting your intuition by journaling and reflection. Grab a notebook and ask yourself “What does my heart really want to experience in this life?” Write it out and reflect on your answers. See how they feel to your soul.

   Hot tip: Practice locating your thoughts/desires in your body. When you create from fear, it comes from your root chakra (the very bottom of your spine). When you create from your intuition, it comes from your sacral & heart chakra (just under your belly button, all the way up to your heart). So, you can usually have a body experience to tell you where your thoughts/emotions are coming from.

Here are a few more questions to ask yourself in regards to the work you are doing…..

“What do I truly, deeply want to do with my time on this planet?”

“How does my heart long to show up in the world?”

“What wisdom makes me feel good to share with others?”

“Is what I am currently doing with my life showcasing the best of me, my gifts and talents?”

See what comes up for you when asking yourself these questions, sometimes we are able to receive the wisdom more clearly from our higher self when we journal it out on paper.

4. Take action immediately. I really had to learn how to STOP second guessing myself. Once you have determined that your intuition has spoken to you through a desire, inspired action step or a creative idea…you must take action ASAP! Because the mind/ego will always do everything it can to keep in stuck in what feels safe and comfortable. Following your divine knowing isn’t always easy, it takes quick action & definite decisions. You’ve got to be willing to push through fear and hesitation will just give room for fear to step in and take over. For me, that meant I needed to be able to make quick decisions on my own without going to anyone else but God/the divine for feedback and advice.

So, practice taking quick action without second guessing yourself or asking anyone else’s opinion.

Hot tip: If I ever took an action that had me over thinking “what if i did the wrong thing?”, I reminded myself of my divine connection, I always recommend to shift into your spiritual side when taking these actions. You will want to shift into a few of these inner beliefs….

✨ EVERYTHING IS ALWAYS WORKING OUT IN MY FAVOR ✨

✨ THE UNIVERSE IS WORKING BEHIND THE SCENES, EVEN IF I CAN’T SEE IT ✨

✨ I NEVER MAKE A WRONG DECISION WHEN I TRUST MY GUT ✨

I believe that your soul came to this on purpose, with a purpose. And as a woman, we have so many intuitive gifts we are meant to be serving the world with. Brilliant ideas, creativity, empathy, sensitivity, wisdom…there is so much that you naturally have to offer this world. You are meant to put it to use.

We can’t fully receive what is meant for us when we are hiding out in our jobs and playing small in the world. You are meant to and will be rewarded for radically and unapologetically taking up space by owning who you are and fully living up to your potential.

A reminder…you don’t have to be, act or live a certain way to be anointed by the divine/God and there is nothing you haven’t done yet that is required for you to be worthy of what you want in this life.

It’s all already yours and it is waiting for YOU, to step up a claim it.

If you are looking for more inspiration/guidance around leveling up and sharing your gifts online….join me inside my business community… ONLINE BOSS.