August Check-In

In this episode of Spiritual Unraveling, Ashley and Nate engage in a candid check-in about the current state of the world and their personal experiences. They discuss the importance of cultivating inner peace amidst chaos, the courage to follow one's intuition, and the significance of sovereignty in reclaiming personal power. The conversation emphasizes the need for self-awareness, forgiveness, and the acceptance of life's complexities as pathways to a more fulfilling spiritual life.

Transcript

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Ashley Henderson (00:02.915)
Welcome to Spiritual Unraveling with Ashley and Nate. And on today's episode, we are gonna do a little check-in. It's been a while since Ashley and I have chatted, and there is a lot going on in the world, in case you haven't noticed. And we thought instead of having a specific topic today, we would just check in with each other and talk about how.

Some of these big both world events and interpersonal events and what's happening in our sphere, how they're all playing out for us, and maybe with a specific eye towards what for us is working right now. because there is a lot going on. And as I was saying to Ashley in the in the summer.

Time the routine in my family's life is all up in the air with vacations and kids are out of school and the routine is very disrupted, so it becomes important. What are kind of the things that are really working for me? And then we are also discussing the fact that in our lives as well, there's a lot of people who are experiencing just big life changes and shakeups.

And then when you look at the news, literally the West Coast is on fire, more fire. So we have just this earthquakes, war. There's a lot going on. And how do you stay in your center amidst all of this stuff that can kind of pull you off your center? So this is really the heart of why we have this podcast is to live.

a spiritual life, not just talk about it, not just a strive for these things, but how do we actually embody w presence and awareness in the midst of a lot of turmoil? I don't know. Ash, what do you think?

Ashley (02:12.021)
Yeah, I I that was a good introduction. I when I think about what's working for me right now, when I think about where I'm really putting my attention, it's really on cultivating peace inside of myself. And I that sounds like either

maybe super complicated or super too simple. But but really that if if I'm prioritizing peace, I'm making choices that really have some pretty major consequences, like positive consequences. Like what am I watching? What am what you know what

Media am I taking in? what food am I putting in my body? What how much nature time am I getting? how much quiet time am I getting? And all of those things are mostly in my control about you know how much space I'm making for myself. And and part of that is really paying attention to how I feel. So I had an example recently where I had

sort of felt my peace disrupted in a moment. It was like a really drastic

shift when I started I I kind of can't even remember the specifics, but it was, it was I noticed that being in a certain space with a certain person, I really got triggered. I got this like massive thing. And it was it was amazing to sort of see it and address it in real time and really work with it and and find that peace again.

Ashley (04:04.246)
Right, so that we don't need these big drama. I'm feeling like I don't need sort of to make a drama around things. Like I'm actually kind of moving away from drama and finding so much positive feedback from prioritizing peace. And then the other theme.

That I feel like is coming up with me and then also with a lot of the people in my life right now is this courage to follow intuition, even if it upsets people. And there's sort of a breaking of a very entrenched codependency of people pleasing, where there's this tension between, gosh, I really want this thing, but it's gonna upset the people around me.

Really allowing yourself to be in that tension and not try to squash or fix or deny. So those are the two sort of themes that I feel like are up in my world right now.

Ashley Henderson (05:15.621)
Yeah, I hear that. the particularly I resonate with

Becoming aware of

not getting enmeshed in other people's energy, which we've talked about before as a kind of higher level or like once you really get into trying to dismantle codependency, you realize how much of it is energy enmeshment. And I have just spent a lot of time with family and was both

Proud of myself and also aware of the work I still am engaged in around watching other people's energy ebb and flow, becoming more consciously aware of it than I was in the past, which I think is a big benefit in terms of trying to identify when you move into codependent patterns or behaviors.

Is just saying, okay, the first thing is I see that someone else is distressed or upset because not because you're just reading emotional cues, but because you're actually feeling the energy and like getting in touch with that and then holding your center in a different way. I've noticed that I I I notice the choice point and I can actually say to myself, Okay, do you want to do something?

Ashley Henderson (06:51.203)
Or can you be in the discomfort of the other person's discomfort? And that was really fascinating for me. You know, I did I did a week long vacation with in laws and there was a couple of moments where I went into problem solving and pumped the brakes in my own psyche and just said, wait a minute, this doesn't need to be your problem.

You could just let this play out. And that was a really fascinating experience to kind of sit in. And I think it's really on an energetic level, I just noticed that it provides you a lot more space to be clean in terms of what's mine, what's yours, and then as you were discussing, making decisions that move you towards peace.

And if you're hooking into other people's energy, you're not gonna move towards peace. Unless they're a very peaceful person. But you know, even that has its own problems. So yeah, I was very aware of that. And then I was also aware of making decisions and and this has kind of been a thing that's happened for me this summer with all the break in the routine and the disruption and excitement of camping trips and

Different kind of things is choosing to move out of peace or make decisions that are a little more roller coaster-y, feel the consequences of those, and then come back to center, which has been fascinating. in trying to give myself grace and reduce judgment and move more into a neutral neutral way of viewing kind of those choices where

Yeah, let's let's talk politics for an hour or let's r like get into an argument about AI, which I normally am like, well, that's kind of mental masturbation. And it can also often it's so intellectual. It can, you know, that's just one example. But like having choices where I'm like, I know that this isn't probably gonna be for my highest good, but also I just want to engage in it. And then

Ashley Henderson (09:12.266)
reflecting back on it and being like, okay, that's good. I'm probably good for another six months on that thing. So I have also noticed in me this this has been a time of strategically or you know, knowingly going into a little bit of the chaos so that I can become more clear about the peace that I want to achieve. If that makes sense.

Ashley (09:37.487)
Totally. And I'm so glad you brought up the the judgment part. I I'm so glad you brought that up. Like that you can step out of what you know is gonna bring you peace and really if you're paying attention, you know, see what's you know, see it for what it is. And and if we don't bring judgment.

To it, then it's just more information, it's an experience, it doesn't have to be something where we drop into shame, and I'm really really seeing this a lot in my world is the decrease in shame being

a a big part of the picture. Let me see if I can articulate this. Like that people are starting to

Forgive themselves and love themselves. And I'll say I'll say it for myself that I have gotten to a place in myself where I can love myself and make room for myself and forgive myself to the point where I can really trust my life experiences. I actually don't need to judge what's happening in my life. I don't need to judge myself. I don't need to go into shame in the same kind of way. And man is that life changing. It's it's just a

completely different paradigm to see myself, to see the world in. And I think that I'm connecting these dots right now, but that's a big part of why peace is more possible.

Ashley (11:19.468)
Because a big disruptor of peace is judgment. It's just, you can't, it's really hard to be in peace and judgment at the same time. And I think we live in such a judgmental culture. We just, and mostly we're all judging ourselves so harshly. so the more forgiveness and grace I give myself, the more I have available for my.

kids, my family, my friends, my husband. It's it's amazing to see the shift in that. And what it feels like is that there's kind of an opening right now because you know from my vantage point what's getting revealed on a on a global scale is this kind of mass corruption like mass

Hmm, I was conspiracy is not the right word, but like, you know, t that that that the pe the people in power don't don't necessarily have our well-being in mind. And in a way, I mean that's so disheartening and and it creates a lot of pain and grief and hurt and anger. But it also opens you up to sort of a almost like taking your power back.

you know, feeling feeling more empowered to create the life in the world that you want. And in a way it puts that that it gives you more of a choice about how you want to see how you are in the world. I don't know if that makes sense at all, but maybe you can rephrase it and make it make sense.

Ashley Henderson (13:09.522)
Yeah, I well I'll go back to the what you were talking about with the the shame and the grace and in the thing that was coming up for me was releasing perfectionism or or correctness or rightness. And I also have experienced because

Again, been doing these s very social outings, and the tone and the tenor of the conversations that I have engaged in have been, I do feel like there is more grace, a little less judgment, a little more willingness for people to.

Know it's almost like the volume has been turned up so high in the world that you're either gonna be fighting against something that's at 10, or you're gonna be like, Well, that's just that thing is just that. That thing is corrupt, or that thing is this, and it really forces you into acceptance and allowance. And that whole process, I think if you can ride it out.

and it's uncomfortable, will create this big space of ease and relaxation because there's this tendency to the judgment is there because of fear, right? The judgment is there because you're trying to kind of control this thing is bad, it shouldn't happen. And I'm trying to like protect myself from the effects of something bad happening by being super judgmental. I think that's kind of the psyche around it.

And it obviously doesn't do that. What it does is it just makes it it really activates you and it can bring up this really strong energy in you and it's not all that helpful. Whereas acceptance, allowance, acknowledgement, awareness of deep corruption, power dynamics that are wholly unbalanced moves you into this place of well, that is all happening.

Ashley (15:04.162)
Yeah.

Ashley Henderson (15:26.992)
And it's out there in the world. And how do I want to sit with it? That's that's the work. That's this is the only thing I can do, because as annoying as it all is, I can't do anything about Pete Hasgeth, unfortunately. You know, so I have to make peace with the feelings that come up with someone like that doing things in the world. And there is always gonna be someone like that.

In your world, they're gonna be in your office, they're gonna be in your family, they're gonna be in politics, and so yeah, it's this yeah, I don't know, moving into a place of acceptance again. Going back to what you said, where are we choosing peace? Where are we choosing to carve out our peace? Where is our control? And some of these places are asking us to relinquish control so that we can open up to peace.

open up to yeah less judgment and more you know we've talked about this neutrality has a bit of a it's it's kind of a hard word I think amidst so much as you pointed out corruption and kind of just wrongness there's a lot of wrongness happening in the world I think that's a lot of people can see that and

Neutrality can feel like a bit of a stretch, I think, amidst that, because it's almost like you're saying, Well, I am endorsing it or I am okay with it. And I think that that is a miss on on what we're talking about with neutrality. What we're really talking about is just saying it's happening, it's out of my control. And what is my relationship to these big

Things happening that are out of my control. W where do I want to be with them? Do I want to have an internal battle with them, or do I want to say I have to release and relinquish what isn't mine and choose to be in a harmonious relationship with life and say, you know, all the ups in life come come with downs. And this is just a very heightened moment in humanity.

Ashley Henderson (17:51.274)
Where we're seeing tons of ups and downs right next to each other. I don't know. I don't know if I clarified, but I tried.

Ashley (17:58.48)
No, that was that was interesting. Like the you know, it it makes me think that this is the the more chaotic the world gets, I mean it's I think o almost some somehow we've normalized chaos. I mean it's just so normal to to sort of wake up to

to more chaos you know I mean I I so so the more we are living in a in a reality that's that's almost mm creating a a baseline of

Kind of fear-based chaos. I mean, we're just inundated with fear around everything. You mentioned a couple topics. We don't even need to go into the content. I mean, there's just there's so much changing right now. And there's so many ways to get distracted. And what I was picking out of what you were saying is that or or this was kind of what I was trying to say is that there's like

Almost like the more chaotic it gets, to me, that's more of an invitation to go inward and decide where do I want to put my attention. Because it seems like the second I really tune in to that chaos, it wants to hijack my peace. You know, in any given moment, my piece can get very hijacked. I mean, there's really real things happening in the world that are.

Deeply upsetting. And so there's almost this, like, yeah, it's not like spiritual bypassing, it's a really going inward and paying and and recognizing that I do have control over where I put my attention. What do I value? How am I treating myself? What's my internal dialogue? What how am I treating my family? You know, because usually that's where your trigger points are, like.

Ashley (20:14.297)
How am I, you know, moving through the world? So to me, there's some, there's a real gift in the chaos. This is what this is a hard thing to talk about because it's it's awful what's happening in the world, a lot of the things are happening. But there's this gift in in a realization of empowerment. Because there's, you know, who are we gonna give our power away?

too. We're not being protected. It's it we're not being saved. It's not it's not a world where we feel like if I give my power away I'm going to be protected and safe. It's actually the opposite. And so I'm looking inward for that safety for that sense of belonging or

Sense of purpose or that sense of okayness. And I think that's an amazing, amazing gift. It's an amazing gift. When the culture stops working for you, you get to be a creative human. You know, you get to discover maybe the original birthright, which is your own.

Sovereignty, you know, your own intuitive guide, your own, like what are you doing here? You know, what what did you come here to do? Like, who do you want to be? Like, how do you want to be in the world? You know, what do you want to create? You know, and I think that's that's amazing. I think that's an amazing gift right now. It's not easy though.

Ashley Henderson (22:00.89)
Yeah. I knew sovereignty was coming. I could feel it. Sovereignty lives in the in the fabric of this podcast. When are we gonna say that word? Yeah, absolutely. because the other thing too that I think I don't know, I I also just wanted to point this out that we've been talking about kind of how crazy the world is and the chaos that we're seeing. And I and I want for me

And you don't have to agree with this, but my personal opinion is that a lot of that is not any worse than other moments in the world. But what this what we're in right now is this really heightened place of how we're being manipulated by what we're we're shown, and often like w visually it's like forced on us in multiple ways. So it's like very hard to control.

That stuff you have to be super diligent to not be in like a state of triggered by this kind of heightened narrative with visuals and music and sound. It's crazy. and and also this moment where I feel that there is a really, really extreme everything that was hidden before that was I I totally believe was all happening. corruption.

Horrible things happening that we weren't seeing. It's all very exposed right now. And so it's this really intense moment of heightened exposure to truths that we have all not been wanting to look at for a very long time. And at that moment is that invitation to it. So here it all is. Here's that false foundation that we've all been working with. Now you know.

And are you still gonna give your power away or are you gonna claim it? And I I believe that that I mean that's what you were talking about there, that what are we here for? This this is the moment and I feel like the kind of the universe is source is is presenting us with this

Ashley Henderson (24:21.986)
Confluence and this awareness at the same time. So these confluence of events and different things, and this really beautiful access to intuition and conscious energy, and saying that here's your choice point. You could go further down the ostrich, sticking your head in the sand, or you can take back control, take back sovereignty, and

As you had said, find your peace. And it doesn't have to look the same for everybody. It won't look the same. There's gonna be multiple ways to do it, but it will not be given to you by somebody else. It's an inside job. And so that that is this really kind of intense moment. And and also we will see people we love.

be presented with these opportunities and some of them won't choose it. And that's gonna be hard. That is hard. It's actively hard right now. And then and then we are are in this place of kind of forced surrender that we've been talking about, but it's also a beautiful choice point. And I think, I believe, I hope that the other side of this

Confluence of events and this influx of consciousness and energy is that the stepping up of humanity will eventually lead to you know, more light on the planet, less places for corruption to hide, more access to sovereignty and inner peace. And we I just believe we're right in the middle of it. And what a time. I don't know.

Ashley (26:15.187)
So well said, so well said, and I I really, really feel like you just really articulated my reality right now. And it's you know, on the one hand, it's really challenging to get off the train that you've been on your whole life and to unpack.

the patterns that have given you sort of this perceived safety because it's all you knew, you know, and to really start listening deeply. And I think that everything that we've talked about in this podcast is about listening deeply and unraveling.

the old patterns to be in the new and the new way or the new the possibility the potential is is like

Really amazing because it it allows for everything to be here. You know, there's no there's nothing that isn't allowed to be here, and that's peace. You know, that's peace, that's presence. Once you don't need things to be different than they are, you can be present. And when you're present, you're gonna feel more alive, you're gonna feel more joy. You might also feel more pain.

But somehow, if it's allowed, it's okay.

Ashley (27:55.918)
And then life is like super interesting. It's like, what's gonna happen next? You know, presence doesn't you don't need control in in the ways that you used to. So it's there's so many implications of this like going inward. This this really taking ownership and responsibility for your own.

attention, your own consciousness, your own awareness, your own emotions.

the releasing judgment of any of it. Realizing that judgment was never really real. It's like a construct. Just like anything else. There's no right or wrong.

Then you start to really get into there's like that deeper voice, that deeper impulse. You know, it's so exciting. It's exciting to be here watching the unraveling to reveal something that I didn't think I would ever get to in my life, in this lifetime. I mean, no way did I think that.

We would be on a cultural level where we are now and and then on a personal level that I would arrive at a place in myself where I didn't have where I I'm kind to myself in my own mind. Not in ego way, not in I'm telling myself I'm so great all day.

Ashley (29:38.553)
But I just don't feel afraid to be, to feel what I feel, to know what I know, and to be myself. That's amazing. What a gift.

Ashley Henderson (29:51.323)
Absolutely. Yeah, I feel like that that sums it up really well. I mean, that's what we're we're moving towards, and we've said it in other podcasts, we'll say it again. Moving towards wholeness, living fully as yourself and honoring all the parts of yourself and being fully in this life, right? Not not letting

Others or norms or different things dictate who we are or how we are in the world, but using your own inner compass to navigate this existence. I mean, this is this is what is talked about in all the books. This is what the ascended masters talk about. You know, it's like it it requires you to grab life with both hands and really

Take ownership over all the parts of it. And then as you said, it's the it's beautiful. You know, it's it's a very scary proposition when you're in the midst of the crumble. But as you start to move into the peace and the sovereignty, it's life really opens up and can be, you know, every day can be something beautiful. Yeah.

Ashley (31:27.863)
I think we should leave it there.

Ashley Henderson (31:30.155)
Okay. That works for me. Yeah.

Ashley (31:33.017)
That feels good.