Shining Mentor Magazine | Issue 7

Inside

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Letter From Melissa Zoske

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Interview with The Simply Sacred Company

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Feng Shui for Entrepreneurs:

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The Heart-Centered Guide to Zen Branding

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Why Creativity is the Key to Self Love‌ and Vice Versa

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Soul Filled Recipes for Busy Entrepreneurs

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5 Ways To Welcome Inspiration And Thrive As An Entrepreneur

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How to be a Radiant Mother and Business Owner

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Stop Rushing! 4 Simple Steps to Prevent Burnout From Busyness

How to Skyrocket your Success & Invite Massive Abundance and Flow

Cover Photo by Sole Sister Media Cover Design by Melissa Zoske Editor In Chief Melissa Zoske

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Copy Editor Silvia Bianco

L E T T E R from M E L I S S A Burnout…As an entrepreneur, I’m sure you’ve heard that word from time to time. It refers to that time and place where you’ve done too much, for too long and it shows. It leaves you feeling overwhelmed, frozen and ready to give up on all you’ve worked so hard to accomplish. Sometimes we don’t even know we’re close to that burnout place until we’re in way over our heads and in danger of drowning and doing something rash!

Do you know this place? If you’re an entrepreneur and business owner no doubt you’re like me and many of my friends and clients who have experienced this dark, scary place. That’s okay and it’s actually good news because from this place your business growth and success can get a new awakening and purpose.

This vulnerable place gives you the time and space to really think about what you want and how you want to feel in your entrepreneurial experience. It allows you to dial in what your true mission or the big “Why” you’re doing the work you’re doing. Are you living your life to your fullest or wasting time on social media? Are you sharing your gifts with people that are fully getting the benefits of your business? Are you following the Biz guru’s blueprints and not your own heart? Or are your efforts to run your business and share your gifts leaving you feeling drained energetically?

Before you do something you may regret…take heart! This is the BEST time for some necessary changes in your business that will bring it more in alignment with why you started your business in the first place. This is the time and place where you can dial into your soul’s deepest wishes to create the balance you want in your life and business. From this place you can rewrite the recipe for your business; the time spent working, the team you work with, or even a whole new direction to where you want your business to go.

Sometimes we have to visit places we’d really like in order to determine if we want to live there. It’s no different with our businesses. We think we know what we want and aim for carefully crafted goals that once reached and reality hits, we realize that this isn’t what we bargained for at all and we’re devastated. We realize that all the hard work may have gotten us to the destination, but it isn’t what we imagined once we got

there and suddenly we’re in crisis mode. But if we’re a conscious entrepreneur we know that a crisis often precedes a breakthrough!

Imagine if you could tap into your inner guidance system (IGS) and wake every day knowing what you need to do to feel great about everything you’re doing; to feel excited and driven by your heart instead of your head filled with some social media guru’s old way of thinking? From this place you can start to unlock your intuition and cultivate a new way of working simply by incorporating some simple practices into your everyday routine; practices such as meditation, The Healing Codes, Qigong, gratitude, and journaling. Choose what works for you. Any of these tried and true tools will help you get on a new track where you feel amazing about where you are and what you’re doing. Incorporating one or more of these practices into your morning routine can bring you to new horizons and perspectives. But this new energized you can only be achieved by committing to taking care of YOU first thing every day instead of tending to yourself last with the crumbs of leftover time at the end of the day.

Tend to your needs first and you’ll see your life start to shift. Making “you time” a priority tells every cell of your body, “Hey, I’m important and I am taking care of my needs first.” Your body and soul soak up that love and expands sending it out to all around you in ripples of wellbeing that surrounds you in its magic. The energy around you starts to vibrate, shift and align making you feel expansive and in the flow while sending out good feeling broadcasts to everyone around you.

Opportunities show up easily. Meaningful collaborations blossom. New clients appear out of nowhere and you FEEL like you just stepped into a new world…and in a sense you have…a new world of your creation.

Listening to your own needs, desires and dreams, and following your heart rather than the old way of doing business will take you, your life and business there…to new heights you haven’t reached before. This is not just about avoiding burnout, it’s about using your discomfort to make necessary changes that will take your life and business to a whole new level of fulfillment. The only question left to ask is…are you ready?

xx

Melissa 2018 SPRING EDITION

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Photographer: Sole Sister Media

Interview with

Simply Sacred Company FOUNDERS

Elena Lipson, Lindsay Pera and Celia Ward-Wallace

When I first met these 3 women powerhouses I was blown away by their deep connection to each other as well as to those in their circles.

Elena Lipson, Lindsay Pera, and Celia WardWallace found a way to come together and have more impact, joy, and fun by collaborating and creating the balance most entrepreneurs crave and actually is necessary to have a fulfilled life and business. Read on to find out how they built their retreats, masterminds, and friendship in a way that we can all learn from.

There is power in numbers and these 3 women

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have used that in incredible ways!

SMM: Thanks so much for being here with Shining Mentor Magazine. I’m so excited to have you on the cover. I’ve followed you forever and I think I first met you all at the BE GREAT conference in Seattle. You have such a great vibe working together with a special kind of magic. I enjoyed just being in your presence at that conference. It was amazing.

You seem so natural with each other, and I was curious about when and how you met and

what made you decide to collaborate and work together?

Elena: Shall I start it? We’ve been online for about the same time. I know for me, I started the online world with B-School and that whole process was about four and a half, five years ago now.

Lindsay was actually one of the first people I met through B-School, and she invited me to be interviewed for The Chronic Wellness series around my topic of self-care which was my

healing journey.

From there, it was like a really interesting, fortunate series of events where she and I were both invited into a mastermind. It was my first ever women’s mastermind. I hadn’t done anything like that before, but I said yes and we connected instantly and became friends through the mastermind and beyond.

At the same time, Celia and Lindsay were actually working together. Celia was coaching Lindsay through some transitions that she was

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going through in her work and her business.

Then we both ended up joining Lindsay’s mastermind which involved all things magic, business, and transformation. We just said yes without knowing why, which is kind of the magnetic energy that brings us together.

We’re like, “We don’t know why, but this just works and it feels so good and is so much fun, let’s just do it.”

Marriage takes whole people coming to the table, and that’s kind of how we felt about each other. Through working together at masterminds, Celia had this moment of, “Why don’t we just support each other in a weekly mastermind, the three of us? Because it seems like every time we get together, it’s just like magic, and we help create ideas for each other,” we just made it more formal.

So, we did that, for probably more than a year, closer to two years. It was a little like dating, and then moved onto marriage, and we said, “Well, why don’t we make this more formal and actually create something together because it feels like the natural next step.”

So here we are. We’re in our third year of working together. We’ve been through a lot of iterations, and that’s kind of how we jam.

We’re like, “All right. Is this working? What’s next?”

We each bring something very different to the table, which was impetus to say, “Well, we do sort of similar things in general, but when it gets down to the more detailed elements,

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we do bring something very different and complementary to the table.” I’ll let Celia share from her perspective how we came to be.

Celia: You talked about that really beautifully. I can just say that when we got to the stage of supporting each other in our own little private, informal mastermind, we weren’t paying each other, we were business besties at that point.

Then we started to realize what ended up becoming our first framework, which is called the Women’s Way Triangle, which focuses on the inner, outer, and higher. It basically says as a woman, we believe that no matter where you are in your life, we want to make sure that you’re bringing all of your self into your life and you’re really activating all of the aspects of yourself, so you’re looking at your inner self, your outer self, and your higher self, or your inner power, your outer power, and your higher power.

As we got really excited about that concept, we started realizing that very naturally, each of our work fell into those categories. So, Elena working with the self-care work, really focusing on helping women be their best selves and step into their prioritizing themselves as the number one thing in their life. That was the inner work.

Then me, as working with women on finding their purpose and becoming entrepreneurs, and really stepping into their power and using their voice, and leaving a legacy, and being out there in their outer work. Then Lindsay with all of

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her work around mysticism and spirituality, and really helping people find magic and meaning in daily life really brought in that higher power, higher workpiece.

So, the three of us together was like, “Holy crap, even though each one of us teaches all of those three things, what would it be like if we were able to say, ‘Elena’s going to talk about inner work right now. Lindsay’s going to talk about higher work. Celia’s going to talk about outer work,’ and we can each sort of step back and allow each other to shine different philosophies?” I think that was one of the moments where we were like, this felt like a real hell yes to us because it meant that we could co-create together and allow each other to take different aspects of the work, and still really deliver beyond what we could be doing individually.

That’s where we decided one of the things that we, all three, wanted to be doing in our individual businesses was creating a destination retreat. And our communities, my Super Fly community, Elena’s Divine Self-Care community, and Lindsay’s Mystic community, we’re all saying, “We want a retreat! We want a retreat! We want to see you in person. We want to have this luxury and this destination experience, but we also want high-end mentorship and coaching with you.”

That was when we realized, “Look, we could either all be planning an individual retreat right now, or this could be the first thing that

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we decide we’re going to do together to sort of dip our toe in the water with this collaboration and co-creation and decide, if this is going to be a real thing.” That’s how we created the Sacred CEO mastermind and retreat, immersion experience that we’ve done. We’re coming up on our third annual Sacred CEO retreat and mastermind. That’s going to take place in Tulum, Mexico.

So once we did that for the first time, and we packed the place, we sold out, everybody came, we got to be in our favorite zones of genius, we had all of these amazing spiritual and soulful leaders from around the world coming to study with us, and we got this amazing location where it was the most beautiful place we’d ever been, tapped into ancient wisdom, and we got to run around wearing bathing suits and bare feet all day long, making great money, we’re like, “Hell yes! This is what we’re doing sisters.”

That was really the impetus to the kickoff. And here we are almost three years later, and we’re continuing to evolve as a partnership, but that’s where the Simply Sacred Company was born, because we knew we had this drive to really help women step into being their Sacred CEO, which is really about that inner power, that divine power within them to know that they can live life on their own terms and be in the driver’s seat of their life, whether it’s at home or in their community or in their work, that they can call the shots and be the boss and be a Sacred CEO, not be a traditional CEO based on the old paradigm of a male paradigm based

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in patriarchy, but a new paradigm based on women’s leadership and integrating all of what we said, the inner, outer, higher, and into your daily life. So that’s where the Sacred CEO was birthed.

We wanted women to be able to simplify their life and really find the things that are bringing them joy, purpose, meaning, and magic in their life, and we wanted them to have the tools and resources to have the sacred in every minute of their life as well, no matter what their circumstances or where they’re living.

That’s the big picture and the background of where it all came to be.

SMM: Oh my gosh, you just answered all the questions I had! I was like, “Wow!” Basically, one of the questions I had was, has this made your whole work experience a lot more fun? I mean, this just has to be so much more fun than working by yourself, right?

Lindsay: Absolutely and It’s beautiful hearing the story come from your lips and yeah, the cocreation piece is kind of addictive. Once you get a little taste of it, you realize that you have an intolerance to doing things completely by yourself and it’s so much more delightful to be able to look at a plan or strategy together and say, “Here, you do this piece. You’re really good at that piece. How does this other piece feel? None of us want to do this other thing.

How should we get that solved?” And hold that

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basket with each of our hands holding a piece, and not holding it all ourselves.

I think at the end of the day, one of the things I’m most proud of is the way in which we are modeling those alternatives. I heard Celia say this thing of finding new besties at 40, it’s really true. There are a lot of women out there who are still on the journey of, “Can I fully trust women? Can I fully be myself ? Is it safe to say what I mean? And what I desire?”

So to be able to be in a position where we’re modeling safe friendships, safe co-creation, sharing what works in terms of helping keep that kind of connection healthy and strong, doing that from a place where we’re not advocating ourselves or our families or our kiddos, that feels to me like the great legacy, not just of the good work we’re doing and the experiences we’re creating, but I hope that we’re also opening the door of the permissions of what’s possible for women leaders, and really for everyone.

I think the idea of the Sacred CEO is one that really resonates with women, but ultimately, it’s increasingly resonating for anyone who is kind of tuning into wanting to learn more about their heart, and wanting it to be more about what’s meaningful for them and moving beyond just the traditional bottom line and into a space where we’re honoring ourselves and each other and the planet.

It’s a type of co-creation and body of work that

feels really good in the heart and soul. I just feel incredibly grateful that we found our way to it.

SMM: You are amazing. I’m getting goosebumps just hearing this. I think we need to have some kind of entrepreneurial match. com or something like that where you can match people up because your energy together is just incredible. It makes me want to go to your next program or your next event. When is that? When is your next event?

Celia: We invite everybody who is reading or listening to this to come join us in the Sacred CEO Mastermind and Retreat. This is an immersion experience for people who are looking to step into their leadership, into that sacred CEO side of themselves where they can truly embody that divine power and path. Whether you’re an entrepreneur or you’re working in a corporate environment or you’re a momma, or you’re a 9-to-5er, or you’re a community organizer, this would be our number one place to come be with us.

Love the interview so far? Catch the entire interview HERE and learn more about stepping into your own Sacred CEO and how to connect to your inner, outer and higher work to create the most fulfilling life and business ever.

What do you get when you combine a Self-Care

Mentor + a Modern Mystic + a Visionary Leader?

You get a sacred partnership between 3 women who have created thriving, resonant, and prosperous lives

and businesses which are deeply rooted in compassion, courage, collaboration, and connection.

Together, we’re creating a new model for women,

leadership, and wealth - one that goes beyond the broken model, created for us, by us! Together, we

help ALL women to make MONEY and make a DIFFERENCE.

Founders Elena Lipson, the Divine Self-Care Mentor and the founder of the Divine Self-Care Circle. Celia

Ward-Wallace, entrepreneur & activist and the founder of the Super Fly Soulful Business Program and The

Coaching Academy. Lindsay Pera an Intuitive Business Strategist and founder of the Mystics Society and Mastermind.

You can learn more about The Sacred CEO Mastermind & Immersion Retreat: HERE

THEIR GIFT TO YOU! The Simply Sacred SWAG BAG Click HERE

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Feng Shui

FOR ENTREPRENEURS:

How to Skyrocket your Success & Invite Massive Abundance and Flow

Tanja Jahnke Photography by Sydney Alexis

When people hear that I’m a Feng Shui Expert, they typically have one of two reactions: they either dismiss it as superstitious nonsense or they’re completely enthralled and want to know how they can optimize their home to improve their life! Oftentimes they’ve read a Feng Shui book out of curiosity but felt paralyzed with where to begin.

Allow me to demystify it for you. Feng Shui is a 5,000-year-old practice that infuses ancient wisdom with intentional design to create nourishing, harmonious environments. In my version of Feng Shui, your home tells your story and holds space for your beautiful unfolding.

Modern Feng Shui uses your home as a 3D vision board for your best life. By actively engaging and transforming the energy of your home, you can obliterate all blocks to abundance, success, and

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happiness. Feng Shui allows us to manifest our deepest desires by fostering an intentional relationship with our home. Feng Shui is also a powerful tool to add to your Entrepreneurial Toolbox.

Feng Shui is the secret weapon of the ultra-successful--Tory Burch, Apple, and Donald Trump have all employed Feng Shui Masters. Luckily, Feng Shui is now accessible to anyone longing to create greater success and increased prosperity as they build their dream business.

Major Feng Shui culprits in your home that could be blocking money, clients, and business flow: Hidden front door or never using the front door.

Front door in alignment with the back door.

Leaks.

Burnt out light bulbs.

Staircase facing the front door.

Lack of Command Position for bed/ desk/stove.

Desk facing a wall or without access to both sides.

Clutter and broken/unused/unloved items.

Obstructions of flow in hallways, paths and living spaces.

Lack of Water Element overall.

Easy Feng Shui fixes to boost wealth + success:

Pay attention to your front door! It’s where all opportunities, health, abundance and positive energy enters your home and life! Your front door is your energetic first impression to the World and it speaks

volumes about how willing you are to receive the bounty, connections, and possibilities that it can provide. Make sure your address and front door are visible and accessible via clear, defined pathways. Paint your front door an eye-catching color that you LOVE, add a new welcome mat, WD 40 the door hinges and most importantly, open the front door regularly to welcome fresh energy and exciting new opportunities.

Make sure that your desk is in the Command Position. Ideally, you want to be able to see the door, with a solid wall behind you for support and open space in front of you. The Command Position puts you in charge and allows you to embrace opportunities, climb the corporate ladder, positively influence co-workers and clients and feel at ease while working. Your office represents how you feel about your professional life. Your desk is the symbolic foundation of your business.

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Bagua—Feng Shui Map: Add Water Element to your home for greater flow, ease, opportunities, and prosperity. You can add Water to the Career & Life Path area or the Abundance area to enhance cash flow & profits. Water Element items: a small tabletop fountain, watercolor art, blue & black colors, imagery or art with moving water, undulating shapes, glass, crystal and flowy curtains or fabrics.

Add Wood Element to foster growth, inspire action, boost your goals & create an expansive vision for your future. Wood Element items: plants, green and blue/ green colors, essential oils, wooden accessories, patterns with florals or vertical stripes, paper, cotton, wicker items, books and tall furniture.

Add light, framed awards or accolades, positive affirmations, symbols of your life purpose and your passions to the Fame & Reputation area of your home or office to boost your business’ reputation, as well as your self-confidence.

Assess the Abundance area of your

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home. Does it feel resonant with your dream life? Are the qualities of wealth, success, and joy on display? What story is your home telling about the people that live there? Add movement to uplift this area and transmute money blocks. A circulating fountain, music that makes you want to dance, bells, healthy plants— anything that circulates the energy to break through stuck energy and encourage healthily, uplifting energy is great in the Wealth area.

HERE ARE THE TWO FENG SHUI CURES:

1. 9 Red Candle Cure to Boost Fame & Reputation:

It’s super easy: find the Fame/Reputation area of your home or office (back middle area, when standing at your front door, looking into your house).

Buy 9 red candles (any size or shade of red) and write your specific intention related to your business, visibility, PR/ Sales/Marketing/Advertising, Business reputation, accomplishments & accolades, self-esteem, and recognition. Light each candle and once you’ve lit all 9, hold the vision of your intention and blow them out, one by one=Feng Shui Magic+Manifesting!

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2.

Mountain of Wealth Cure

We are creating a symbolic Mountain of Wealth at your front door with this cure:

Tanya Jahnke is a Feng Shui Expert, Designer, Energy Alchemist & sought-after Teacher.

Over the last 21 years, Tanya has helped

thousands of clients to create nourishing,

uplifting & harmonious environments--

that resonate with their Highest Self. Tanya’s

Feng Shui approach is empowering, intuitive & inspiring, without any Fear Shui or

superstition! Tanya’s Soul Purpose is to help her clients design a dream life with simple shifts,

positive vibes & deep gratitude. Your home is

a 3D vision board for your life–allow Tanya to

Spray 8 river rocks or large stones GOLD, stack them up at the right side of your front door (when looking at your house from the outside). Visualize your own Pot O’Gold and infinite abundance coming your way!!

PS--8 is the vibration of abundance...so I usually say a money affirmation or mantra as I stack each of the 8 rocks, which amplifies the power of the cure!

Once you begin to see your home as a tool for co-creation, everything changes.

Feng Shui gives you a voice, a vision and a plan to mold the energies of your space to support every endeavor and to nourish every area of your life!

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help you tell a new story through your space!

www.fengshui4theom.com Facebook: Feng Shui for the OM Instagram: tjahnke

You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him.

Audrey Hepburn

The Heart-Centered Guide to Zen Branding 4 STEPS TO CREATING A VISUAL PRESENCE THAT’S BALANCED, AUTHENTIC AND MAGNETIC TO YOUR DREAM CLIENTS

By Briena Sash of Wellness Stock Shop

PHOTOGRAPHY BY WELLNESS STOCK SHOP

A new year often fills us with inspiration to revive our branding.

But if you’re feeling scattered and directionless with your visual presence because you love so many different looks and styles and you just can’t figure out which one is “right” for you, this is where to start.

The look and feel of your business is the warm, cozy meeting place for you and your dream client. It needs to be a space you both love and feel comfortable in.

If you’re not taking your dream client into consideration and asking yourself “how can I be attractive to her?” when choosing your branding elements, you’re not only making the branding process harder on yourself – you’re missing an entire piece of the branding balance equation.

At the same time, it’s equally important that you feel confident about your visual presence and loves it so much that you’re excited to send people to your website or social media. Our visual presence is often perceived as a direct reflection of the confidence we have in ourselves and our ability to help our clients – our prospects instantly judge the quality of our product/service based on that.

Here are 5 steps to help you align with your mission, your message, and

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your dream client when preparing to design your heart-centered brand.

Cla rify Your Message Before you can translate your message into visuals, you need to know what that message is. Do this by tuning into your ideal client - her struggles and desires. Then tune into your heart to formulate a message for her.

Step 1: Write a letter to your dream client acknowledging her struggles and frustrations. Let her know how you can help, why you’re the best solution for her, what makes your product/service unique, what you can’t stand about the way others in your industry are doing things and what you do differently that gets better results. Let her know what her life is going to be like after working with you.

Summon A Feeling It’s time to translate your message into a brand feeling. Successful brands connect with their audience through emotion. The best way to do this is to choose a set of four descriptive “mood words” in order to establish clarity around which feeling we’re aiming to summon up. These four descriptive “mood words” will be a reference point to guide you in your branding process.

Step 2: Let’s relay your brand feeling through your visuals. Choose 4 “mood words” that embody how you want your ideal client to feel when she lands on your website or interacts with your brand. Example: Empowered, Playful, Soothed, Inspired.

Always meditate on your mood words when you’re choosing any branding elements, posting a photo or creating a design to use for your business. This will help to weave your underlying message through your branding.

Stay Balanced With Feng Shui According to Feng Shui, the key to purposefully decorating a space is to display only what’s truly meaningful and inspirational to you. It’s important to design a visual presence your clients will be attracted to, but it’s equally important to design a brand you love. Use this rule of Feng Shui to be sure you’re staying in alignment with your authentic self.

Step 3: It’s time to remove any fonts, colors or images that you don’t absolutely love and give yourself permission to replace them with visuals that inspire you.

Give Yourself Permission To Upgrade As money mindset guru Denise Duffield

Thomas teaches, it’s important to “upgrade” your business… by allowing yourself to invest in a visual presence you love and feel confident about.

Find the ways in which you’re being “unnecessarily cheap”. Trying to save a few dollars here and there can expend a lot of creative energy – and can be the factor preventing you from achieving a stunning brand that excels your business and relays your message.

Step 4: If visuals and design are not a strong point for you, it’s time to give yourself permission to upgrade your branding by tapping into professional resources, such as a professional brand designer, a quality stock photography source, a graphic designer or even a logo designer.

Briena Sash is a professional pho-

tographer, award-winning artist, and the creator of Wellness Stock Shop – “the world’s most soulful source for wellness imagery”. She seeks to promote natural, holistic living by making her beautiful, soothing imagery accessible to wellness business owners and bloggers around the world.

You can visit her site and download a free sample of wellness-themed photos at wellnessstockshop. com.

Join me in this three-part mini video training designed to help you ditch the scatter and find clarity around the perfect look that’s best for your brand. Click HERE

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Why Creativity is the Key to Self-Love… and Vice Versa

by Sarah Love McCoy

Photography by Debbie Baxter

The inner demons that block our Creativity say things like “You’re not a real artist”, “No one cares what you write about”, “Who do you think you are?”. They’re the same voices that always try to feed us BS about ourselves in other areas of our lives (“You’re too old”, “You’re not as good as they are, so just give up.” “Why did you do that?”)

Sound familiar?

Even after 20+ years of being on my SelfLoving journey, those voices still try to shut me down. There is always more loving to do.

A few years ago, I was invited to the Joshua Tree Music Festival as a guest teacher and artist. Everywhere I turned there was amazing art, brilliant people teaching beautiful wisdom, fantastic musicians playing fabulous music ~ it was the perfect playground… for Self-Doubt and Comparisonitis!

With so much going on, I felt the opportunities all around me to either be in Love or Fear. Some very old wheels turning on their familiar ruts began to steer me right into Comparison Land. (Oh, so tempting!) Comparison + ego tripping = the road to personal hell. No, thank you!

The only thing I could do to not give in to crazy-making was to surrender to the

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making of the art… and learn a whole new level of Love.

As I watched the other artists and their process, I could feel the creeping in of comparisons. They all seemed like they had it totally going on, while I had no idea what I was going to paint.

So, I breathed. I danced.

Instead of worrying that I wasn’t good enough, I walked around and truly soaked up the creativity and beauty around me without judging myself against it.

Instead of fearing the blank canvas, I painted my heart out. I took it one moment at a time. I focused on how much fun I could have. I dedicated myself to unlocking my Creativity and practicing PURE CREATION (no judgment). It was a liberating experience to say the least.

Through embracing my ability to be Creative, I fell deeper in love with the person I am.

What a miraculous experience!

Today, whenever I get cornered by those self-loathing thoughts, I make something with my hands and pour my heart into it.

And when those creativity demons rear their ugly heads while I’m making art… I turn on

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my Self-Love talk… and keep painting.

It’s a beautiful, self-nourishing cycle.

Creativity + Self Love… forever.

If you feel the pull of comparisons, just breathe. Know that your worth is unquantifiable and your life is SO precious!

Know that allowing yourself to be Creative is practicing Self Love. Know that you are a Divine creation in itself. You are irreplaceable! ...and you can TRUST that.

Sarah Love McCoy is an inspirational artist, outrageous optimist, and the founder of the I Stand For Love movement.

She created the “Life is Beautiful and So are YOU!” calendar to uplift and inspire you every day with morsels of wisdom and radiant color.

Now in its 15th year of production, the calendar has impacted human hearts worldwide!

Sarah believes that a more loving world starts from the inside and works its way out. That’s why self-love is front and center in all she creates and shares.

Say hello to Sarah and download your Alchemy of Self Love packet at www.istandforlove.com 2018 SPRING EDITION

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Soul Filled Recipes for Busy Entrepreneurs Asian Chicken Salad w/ Sauteed Veggies & Udon Noodles

By Silvia Bianco I’m a big fan of big, flavorful, a meal in bowl salads. I also love combining sautéed ingredients with raw ingredients to add to fresh, crisp greens. Hot over cold; different textures and a mix of flavors. The possibilities are endless so salads can be some of the most creative and fuss free meals one can make.

And then there are the dressings! Every time I whip up a new dressing, I feel like a true alchemist in the kitchen. This dressing is a perfect example of the magic that can happen with a few turns of your whisk… orange ginger vinaigrette.

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Ingredients 4 cups of mixed greens 2 per person or thereabouts Cooked chicken tenders or any cooked chicken 1 zucchini cut in half moon 1/4 in slices 1 carrot spiralized or cut into very thin strips (I used a gourmet yellow carrot above) 1/2 small red bell pepper cut into thin strips 4 oz or so shiitake mushrooms sliced 4 oz of udon noodles cooked and drained 1 scallion diced 1 few grape tomatoes cut in half Olive oil for sautĂŠing Salt and pepper to taste

Dressing 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon dijon mustard I small garlic clove finely chopped 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger 1 tablespoon fresh grated orange zest 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley Juice of 1/2 lemon

Instruction Add your choice of greens to a large salad bowl and toss with a bit of the dressing. Don’t overdress. A little goes a long way. Season with salt and pepper.

Place a medium skillet over high heat and lightly cover the bottom of the pan with olive oil (about 3 tablespoons) and heat until hot but not smoking.

Add the zucchini and cook until tender and brown on both sides. About 2 to 3 minutes. Add the zucchini to the greens.

Add more oil to the pan (a little more than before) to cover the bottom of the pan. Heat until hot but not smoking. Add the mushrooms and cook until browned and tender but crisp followed by the chicken to warm (about 3 minutes). Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, just until it starts to color, remove the pan from the heat, season and add the mushrooms and the chicken to the greens.

In the meantime, cook the noodles according to package directions. Rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Drain and set aside.

Add to the salad along with the carrots, the scallions, and the bell pepper strips.

Watch the video on how to prepare this wonderful dish HERE.

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Ways To Welcome Inspiration And Thrive As An Entrepreneur

by Maria Flynn Artist and Photographer: Nina Flynn

Whether you acknowledge it or not, you’re a spiritual being. Until you get this, you’re leaving a BIG PART of yourself untapped, ignored and creating a larger gap between you and a purposeful life as a thriving entrepreneur.

The origin of the word inspiration means to “breathe life into.” Inspiration was used to describe The Divine Being or Divine Guidance that has imparted truth to you. In essence, breathed truth into you.

What inspires us usually isn’t new, but more of a truth we knew all along.

Inspiration brings your truth from the dormant state up to the surface for you to be awakened by it. It’s why it feels so good.

Inspiration Isn’t Enough When you’re inspired (when the truth has been breathed into you), it’s up to you to continue to breathe life into it. If you don’t, then inspiration falls flat and life and your business stagnate.

Inspiration gives you direction. It’ll play a large part in your entrepreneurial journey— influencing the decisions you make.

Here are 4 ways you can welcome more inspiration and thrive as an entrepreneur:

1. Meditation.

Some of the most successful entrepreneurs include a daily routine of meditation. It’s a daily scheduled non-negotiable.

Oprah Winfrey refers to meditation as one of the most significant things she’s done to achieving over a BILLION dollars.

2. Do ALL THINGS with excellence in mind.

“How you do anything is how you do everything.” T. Harv Eker.

Execute all things (in as many ways as you can) with excellence in mind. You’ll raise your energy and “can do” attitude, and it’ll prepare you.

A growing business doesn’t come with less struggle. So, if you can handle what you’ve got going on now with excellence in mind, 34

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you’ll be better prepared to handle what a bigger business brings, too.

3. Remove overwhelm.

Look at your surroundings without excuses…

Is it cluttered?

Is your schedule overloaded?

Are you being everything for everybody else?

Overwhelm clouds inspiration and leads to making reactive business decisions versus creating a thriving business.

Your surroundings are a reflection of you and what’s going on within you. Remove overwhelm so that you become a clear vessel to receive the inspiration that’ll drive your business forward.

4. Respect your own growth and development We love our family and friends, but they’re not necessarily the same people who understand your entrepreneurial journey.

Their well-intended efforts often keep success at bay especially if they are the same people who think your ideas are “crazy”

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and keep you “too busy” and that it’s “too much work.”

Place yourself in a circle of people who are doing what you want to do. One conversation with the right person can spark massive inspiration in a way working alone never can.

5. Think of investing not spending.

The more you invest your time, energy and money in the things that support your entrepreneurial journey, the better.

Invest in coaches, mentors, programs, and mastermind groups. Invest in a team that will support you so that you can do the work that matters.

Make investments with the big picture in mind. Early on, when I realized how much time I was spending on cleaning, laundry, etc… I invested in a housekeeper.

I freed up to take inspired action to success because I had the time and energy to do it.

Get creative about where you can free up your time and invest in the areas that’ll

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support you.

Your inspiration is your truth that has been breathed into you. It’s where successful entrepreneurs listen and take inspired action to become game-changers in this world like Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, and Walt Disney. Imagine if they had not acted on what inspired them?

For inspiration to work, you must continue to breathe life into it with action.

And if you’re not breathing life into what inspires you, then it begs the question— what then—are you breathing life into?

Maria Flynn is the Operations Manager for Your Digital Formula, the owner of OneWiseLife.com and co-founder of Mojo Mastery.

With over 263K Facebook fans and a daily Facebook show reaching over 25,000 views weekly, Maria has fostered a dedicated community spanning the globe who have implemented what she has shared in this article…and it’s what keeps them coming back.

Maria believes that social media is a powerful tool for heartcentered entrepreneurs to grow their business and change the world.

She believes that living life with meaning and purpose is not only fulfilling and part of an entrepreneur’s journey, it is your unique spiritual expression of the Universe and the very reason that answers why you’re here.

I wrote an ebook called Funk To Freedom: The One Exercise That Changed My Life Forever. The ebook redirects your energy from a state of funk to freedom with an exercise a mentor taught me years ago (and it’s still an exercise I use today). Click HERE.

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How to be a Radiant Mother and Business Owner

3 shifts to set you free in balancing motherhood and business by

Catarina Andrade Photography by abigailk.com

A few months after my son was born I knew I had to leave my job. Curled up on my cold bathroom floor, I cried as the words “I’m failing” repeated themselves in my head.

For nearly a decade I led multi-million dollar maternal and child health programs globally.

All of a sudden my time was precious and work felt suffocating. I wanted the flexibility to spend more time with my son and recover from burnout. A year later I launched two businesses and found myself juggling motherhood and entrepreneurship.

I’ve since had many women ask me what the secret sauce is to releasing the hustle and accessing flow while being a conscious mother and business owner.

It’s a daily practice that begins with three unconventional yet fundamental shifts.

3 Key Shifts for More Ease, Space, and Grace Motherhood is a spiritual journey and so is running a business. Together they are an initiation into staying calm, confident, and connected to ourselves amidst chaos and uncertainty. Finding balance begins within.

1. Choose Presence over Productivity One of our main downfalls is the prevailing

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belief that the answer lies in becoming more productive. This sets us up for failure and perpetuates “not enoughness” because it is rooted in time scarcity. There’s always more we feel we could and should do.

It’s only when we detach from the pressure to get all the things done that we can access mama flow. Experiencing more ease begins first and foremost with the presence we bring to everything we do amplifying our focus, intuition, creativity, contentment, and ability to bend time.

2. Move Beyond Self Care We’re biologically programmed as mothers to put our children first and socially programmed as entrepreneurs to put our business first. The truth?

Energetically we’re deeply interconnected with everything we birth into the world including our children and business offerings.

Everything we do for self-care benefits our family and our business, so it’s not just self-care is it? We set the energetic frequency of our home and business, and anything we do for the “me” we’re also doing for the “we.” When we move beyond the limiting concept of “self ” care and replace it with this more expansive

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and inclusive understanding of “whole” care, we can release guilt and create space for self-reverence and soul care daily.

3. Open To Receiving For those who are Givers, asking for support can feel like admitting to weakness. Surrendering our need to be perfect and in control while cultivating our ability to trust, ask for, and receive support from others and the universe blesses us with the gifts of peace of mind, space, and grace.

Motherhood is a spiritual journey and so is running a business. Together they’re an initiation into staying calm, confident, and connected to ourselves amidst chaos and uncertainty.

When we embody these three shifts we can go from feeling overwhelmed, guilty, and spread too thin to feeling more balanced juggling motherhood and business.

Access a free 3-minute meditation to open you up to receiving here.

Catarina Andrade supports women feeling

guilty, exhausted, and all over the place on their journey from woman to mother. She helps them tap into their intuition, create balance in their lives, and cultivate a feeling of calm, confidence and connection – to themselves, their loved ones, and the contribution they’re here to make in the world. In addition to being a mother, Catarina is a certified coach, international speaker, and conscious living mentor for mothers as well as a KRI-certified kundalini yoga and laughter yoga teacher.

Learn more about her at www.catarinaandrade.com.

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STOP RUSHING! 4 Simple Steps to Prevent Burnout From Busyness

BY TEJAL PATEL

PHOTOGRAPH Y BY JULIE ELLIOT T

Have you ever had one of those days where you’re rushing from one task to the next, looking forward to crossing off items from your to-do list to feel accomplished?

But then an unexpected delay throws you off your tightly wound schedule and, panic sets in.

“I’m going to look bad. I’m going to fall behind… My business will fail.”

And these perceived worst-case scenario fears skew our ability to think clearly and work efficiently.

I know every passionate entrepreneur has been there.

The thing is when you’re rushing around, trying to do it all, we try to control everything and that’s when that strung out version of you that nobody likes comes out… you know the stressed out one.

So what can we do when we feel overworked, there is never enough time and you’re stretched to the max?

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Simple. You learn how to slow down.

I know when you have a full schedule and you’re juggling work, being healthy, deadlines and family- the last thing you want to hear about is the benefit of slowing down.

Slowing down can feel impossible if you’re afraid you won’t live up to fulfilling all your obligations and your self-worth is secretly tied into how much you do.

Fortunately, there’s an easy way to make sure slowing down feels doable, you’ll be productive and move at a steady pace.

I like to call it being “mindfully swift”.

Being mindfully swift isn’t simply a matter of pace: it’s about making sure your mind is focused on the task you are doing right at this moment.

I prefer to keep things simple and straightforward so when learning to slow down I focus on four key steps.

STEP 1. Check-In- Being mindful isn’t hard, it’s remembering to check-in when our mind goes on auto-pilot. To help me remember to check in, I set 3 daily “check-

in” reminders on my phone (morning, mid-day and evening) during my most hectic hours and I ask myself “Am I rushing? Do I feel calm or overwhelmed?”

If the answer is “yes”, I move to step 2.

STEP 2: Call Yourself Out- This is about acknowledging our power to choose how we show up in life. I remind myself that I am consciously choosing to rush in this moment. Rather than blaming our external situations for our busyness, we reclaim our power and can consciously choose to slow down by consciously choosing to slow down. To quickly slow down I put my hand on my heart, close my eyes and three times I repeat in my mind or out life “It is safe to slow down.” feel safe and repeat to myself “I choose to slow down”. Then I move on to step 3.

STEP 3: Slow down Your Breath- Stress from rushing happens because our mind starts to move faster than what our body can actually do in this moment. Once we are disconnected from the moment we invite anxiety and overwhelm to keep in.

The easiest way to stop your racing mind is to slow down your breath with Box Breath.

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Inhale deeply through your nose for 4 counts. Hold and suspend the breath for 4 counts. Exhale the breath either through your nose or mouth for 4 counts. And hold out the breath for 4 counts before you breathe in. Do this breath for 1-3 minutes until your mind settles down.

what you do feel inspired to do and do that instead.

** Note: If you have a lot of pent-up anxiety and frustration, breathing through the mouth helps to quickly dispel that energy.

Usually, you should feel calm enough to return to your work with clarity and focus but if you still feel anxious, then it’s important that you move to step 4.

STEP 4: Am I Inspired To Do This Task?

Anytime you’re forcing, rushing or trying to “make” things happen on your timeline, ask yourself “Am I inspired to do this or am I doing this because I think I “should” be doing it?” If you’re not inspired, don’t do it.

It will take you more time to complete the task. There is time and place for ALL the tasks on your to-do-list to be completed in the least minimum time (yes, even writing checks has a divine time.) If you’re not inspired, then the energy and effort you put forth in the work aren’t for the highest good of all. It’s time to check in and get clear

TEJAL is a former divorce attorney turned mindfulness advocate for moms and kids.

She’s the creator of The Mindful Mama Experience course 7 Day Ditch Stress Detox and Mindful Kids Masterclass Through her online courses, guided meditations, and live events, Tejal is a sought after mindfulness expert who has helped thousands of moms learn simple ways to better manage stress, live more mindfully and raise mindful children too. Tejal resides with her husband and son in South Jersey.

You can learn more about her and her work at www.

TejalVPatel.com and connect with her personally in her private Mindful Mama FB tribe. Sign up to learn her 90 sec stress relief tool everyone raves about at www. tejalvpatel.com/stress-freebie

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The universe isn’t conspiring for you, or against you, it’s always working with you based on the vibrational frequency of who you’re choosing to be.

Louise Danielle

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Please contact Support@shiningmentor.com We’re looking for conscious mentors, entrepreneurs, thought leaders and business owners to share their wisdom and gifts with a community of people wanting to grow an enlightened business, practice or platform.

I AM ALIGNED. May I stay open to the Simply Sacred in my life, to my inner-voice, to my own pace and the grace of my divine guidance.

- THE SIMPLY SACRED COMPANY