An Interview with Nisha Moodley

Nisha Moodley is one of my biggest girl crushes. 

She is one of the most beautiful examples of a truly free woman I know, fiercely dedicated to sisterhood, to living life instead of writing or talking about it, and, simultaneously, she always seems to be traveling or doing something just generally epic.

I was introduced to Nisha through Gabrielle Bernstein's herfuture, and have been following her for about a year now. Although I suscribe to many powerful women, her emails + blog posts are without a doubt my favourite reminders on how to live a truly free life. 

For those of you who don't know her, Nisha started off as a holistic health coach, eventually helping women to break the pattern of emotional eating. After years of inward journeying and building extremely successful businesses, she's now a business and lifestyle coach, and is making some serious waves in the world. Watch out for her upcoming bestsellers and speaking tours. This woman is a force.

Please check out www.fiercefabulousfree.com for more on Nisha - and make sure to sign up for her mind blowingly spot on weekly newsletter.

How do you start your mornings?

It depends on the season and it always changes, but lately: I've been having a good long stretch, followed by a short meditation in the teepee (I bought it for my man for Christmas), then a short walk in the neighborhood. Then, kettlebell swings, breakfast and a shower!

What would your advice be to a young woman who is still in her "old life", yet wants to transition to a lifestyle that feels more authentic to her?

Your freedom is in the journey, not the destination. Instead of being frustrated at where you are, notice where you want to go and really, really savor all the little steps. There can be deep pleasure in the moment, if you're open to it.

Also, have amazing girlfriends that you give your full trust to. Share the things you think and feel about yourself that you're ashamed or embarrassed about; you'll find that you're more connected than you think, and these women will serve as your cheerleaders, tear-driers and mirrors throughout your journey. Women thrive in sisterhood.

What was one of your biggest life changing experiences over the last few years?

Divorce. It was the worst thing I've endured in my adult life so far, and it definitely showed me that I'm stronger and more resilient than I gave myself credit for. It also showed me things about myself that I didn't want to acknowledge were there. Shadow and light. I was faced with it all, and thank goodness I had amazing friends to help see me through.

I know you've been to tons of workshops, seminars and trainings. What was the best biz advice you've ever received? The best life advice?

The best business advice AND the best life advice came from my boyfriend. The first time we hung out, he asked me, "If you could do anything and get paid for it, what would you do?". That question sparked my creativity and dedication to living an extraordinary life more than any other question, and I continue to consider what my ultimate desire is in every situation. Choosing to go for what I really want has been game-changing in every area of my life.

What is the secret to a sustainable business?

Having sustainable human beings running it, and a focus on being of service. When we're not sustainable as individuals (healthy body, mind, bank account and relationships), we can easily fall into a what-can-I-get mindset. When we're tending to ourselves as individuals - making sure that we're healthy and sustainable - we can really show up in service of others.

Your current favourite:

-Book? Jitterbug Perfume, by Tom Robbins
-Travel Destination? (Visited or dreaming about) Peru (heading there in April 2013!) ...Can't wait to see the Maldives and Iceland one day.
-Track? This is too hard! Let's say Feather, by Little Dragon
-Food? Again, too hard! I'd say my family's crab curry, made with dungeness crab and coconut flakes. Amaze.

What are your favourite ways to care for yourself?

Eating delicious, healthy food. Dancing. Taking off work for days or weeks at a time (currently on a 1 month trip in Central America). Long talks with girlfriends. Buying myself flowers every week. Pedicures.

Who are your sheroes? (Women role models, girl crushes)

Moms (including mine) who know how to take care of themselves and their families. My clients -- I am totally awe-struck by the stand they're taking in the world, and their dedication to giving and growing. Every single one of my amazing girlfriends.

I have a 'toolbox' that helps me to feel grounded when I get off center - Meditation, Green Juice/Smoothies, Singing, Nature, etc. What's in your toolbox?

Sex. A glass of wine with a girlfriend. A shower. A long walk with some great music in my ears.

What is your future vision for your career? Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?

In 5 years, I'll still be sharing my message of the importance of women's freedom, helping women thought leaders unblock the things in their life that keep them from living in full alignment with their vision and mission. The primary mediums for my work will be books, retreats and my mastermind.

I'll also have some mini humans to care for, and we'll trek around the world with them.

7 More Ways to Get Your Self-Love On

Allright my lady loves - the last week of the Self-Love Challenge is here! But really.. this is actually only the beginning. I tricked you. Now that you're on this self-love path you'll never be able to stop. Tehehehe. OK, if you forgive me for being so sneaky, please read on and discover the final 7 ways to love yourself this week.

Part 3 - The Self-Love Challenge

Day 20 -  Meditate with Mama Gaia

While in human bodies, our spirits need to connect with both the Cosmos and Mother Earth, in order to feel a true sense of satisfaction. Often times, however, we are stuck in the city, with lots of errands to run, and people to meet, and don't get much of a chance to connect with nature. And that's OK, because, while nature walks are great (see last week's self-love post), getting out into the wild isn't the only way to connect. Through meditation, we can invite some of the frequency of the Goddess Gaia, into our lives, calming our days, grounding us, and helping us to live more in tune with our natural cycles.

To do this, simply take 10-15 minutes of uninterrupted time, put on some rain or ocean sounds if you please, and imagine yourself in your perfect paradise - whether that be a tropical rainforest, or on the edge of an white topped mountain. Let your mind create details about this vision, finishing off the meditation by saying aloud "Thank you, Mother Earth, for infusing your essence into this day. I invite you to be a larger part of my life, from this day forward."

Day 21 - Do Something That Scares You

Today's activity is do something that scares you. Not in the way of 'Oh my god, never ever would I want to do that' kinda scary, but the 'Ohhh divine essence of love power holy moly I wish I had the guts'   kinda scary. Maybe it's sky diving, saying hello to a stranger, or rocking some red pants. Whatever it is, I'm challenging you to listen to that still small voice inside, and just DO IT!

To give you a boost, and to take my own advice, I created a video of something that scares me.. but it's what I really love to do - SING!

Day 22 - Create a Sacred Space for Your Jewelry

I don't know about you, but my jewelry is pretty precious to me. Not in the sense that if I lose it I would freak out, but more so in the way that I just love how I feel when I look and wear my pieces.

So today, take a moment to gather your favourite jewelry - the stuff that makes you feel truly amazing, and create a sacred space for it. I choose to keep my crystal necklaces in a black box filled with rice in my bathroom. The rice, and colour black, allows the crystals to have more of a rest, and to ground their energies after I wear them for the day. But really, there are so many fun ways to store and display your jewelry (check out this fun pinterest DIY for example)

Day 23 - Invite Ritual into your Night

Rituals are any activities that vibrate with a sacred essence, something we do for the love of it, while holding the awareness that our actions create powerful ripples that permeate the cosmos. (Yes, they're that deep!) However rituals don't have to be scary or big, in order to be effective. Take this small, yet loving ritual - I burned sweetgrass the other night to invite positive vibrations into my space, while taking the time to observe how truly beautiful the moment was, as the grass mixed with fire and my new clear quartz pendant.

What will your ritual be? A soothing bath followed by pampering yourself with rose body lotion? Perhaps a meditation holding a piece of citrine, a walk in the park while connecting with the trees, or even saying grace before eating a meal with your beloveds. It's up to you!

Day 24 - Create a Heart Opening Elixer

All substances are made of energy, and food is no different. By acknowledging this, we can work with our foods + drinks to create profound healing opportunities at any time. For example, over the last few days I've been soaking organic rose petals and schizandra berries in my water. The result is a water that is loaded with the vibration of these heart opening and purifying substances, creating a heart opening elixer that is truly a treat to drink.

Day 25 - Light a Candle

Man made lighting can sometimes be draining. In fact, Doreen Virtue says that a whole host of new diseases started to appear shortly after the incandescent light bulb was invented. This isn't to say you should live in the darkness every night, but just for today, try lighting a beeswax (the key being non-paraffin) candle, turning everything else off, and soaking up a candle lit evening.

Day 26 - Follow the Self-Love Tour

2 of my fellow entrepreneurs and wellness activists, Alison Leipzig and Natalie Berthold, have created a series that is dedicated to investigating the latest in self-love. Their first episode aired on Valentine's Day, and in it, they interview an expert in skin care, exploring just how you can care for your largest organ. To keep updated with the series, which is super cute and so refreshing, please visit http://selflovetour.tv/

How Will You Love Yourself This Week? Part 2 of the Self-Love Challenge

I have to apologize for this post being so late. It was an act of self-love that caused this to be so, so it is all working out very nicely, even if my ego is telling me I should feel guilty for not posting it on the weekend. (When this happens I just acknowledge it and move on to the feelings of goodness inside)

I was selling at Market Collective this past weekend, a really amazing collaboration of artists and food vendors who come together to support each other  and local. It was a wonderful weekend, (which ended with booking a last minute trip to Hawaii!) but it definitely took it out of me. That coupled with my period (Im very open with these things...), my boyfriend's birthday, and parties and dinners, - I chose to spend my free time having baths and reading, instead of hurrying to the computer and my to-do list.

Now that I'm finally feeling my energy creep back, I am back in action for the month of self-love. So here are some more ideas to help you realize that you do love yourself, that you are wonderful, and that you do deserve an abundance of self-care time. Remember, self-love is all about service - to yourself, and to the world.

Part 2 - The Self-Love Challenge Continues

Day 13 - Switch Out The Old For the New - Body Products Style

Your pores, your hair - all the spaces on your body - are sponges. They drink in whatever you put on them. Therefore, if you wouldn't eat it, you shouldn't be putting it on your body. So many of us do the internal work - we buy the books, we spend time meditating, we might even do yoga, juice or pray - HOWEVER -  there is a major deficiency in terms of translating this type of self-care into body products. 

I can't tell you how many times I've gone into a yoga studio, or a conscious friend's house, and seen name brand, chemical filled body products on their shelves. It's something many of us just don't think about. But switching from Herbal Essences or Aveda to an organic product will not only help you to be happier and clearer, but it will also help the planet in a major way (because animals and the ocean don't like chemicals either). Today, go out to your natural health food store and choose an organic product that speaks to you.

Day 14 - Write the Miracles Down

Miracles happen to us so often. Every single day, miraculous things are happening, yet it's up to us to perceive them. The other day, I followed an intuitive hit to go for a walk before getting into my car, and not 2 minutes later did I discover a mass of feathers on the ground (which are very hard to find in winter since birds need them to keep warm!) - I'd been wanting some to create more dreamcatchers with! It was such a miracle that I decided to take a picture. But SO many miraculous things happened to me that day (like sparrows coming close to me, and discounts at stores being had) - it's just a matter of slowing down enough to honour the little things, that honestly, really aren't so little.

Today, write down everything wonderful that happens to you. As you honour the miracles, watch how many more come into your life, simply because you took the time to say thank you. 

Day 15 - Spend Time in Nature

Most of us realize that nature has an undeniable calming effect on us. The fresh air and open skies help us to feel reinvigorated and renewed, while helping us to feel grounded and alive. The thing is, a lot of us aren't actually getting out there. We might take walks around the neighbourhood, or go for quick runs, but when was the last time you took a solid chunk of time just to explore? To go to a space that felt sacred, and to do nothing other than feel, listen, and breathe?

Today, plan a day that you can take off and head to the mountains, a lake, a beach, a desert - whatever nature paradise is around you that you need to take more advantage of. And just be :) Enjoy, and let Nature do her thang.

Day 16 - Experience a Green Juice

I am obsessed with green juice. It is literally a very potent drug that gives you instant energy, and a fresher perspective on life. Juicing gets rid of the fibrous pulp, so your body doesn't have to anything but absorb the easily digestible minerals + vitamins that it otherwise would have to work much harder for. The green colour also corresponds to the heart chakra, waking it up to the potential of love everywhere it looks. 

If you don't have a juicer, head to the closest juice bars - if you don't know where to find them - ask! Green Juice is becoming very popular these days :)

Day 17 - Write Down Your Core Desired Feelings

Manifesting your dreams starts with manifesting the feelings you'd like to cultivate in your life. And taking some time to get clear on what you really desire in your life is a complete action of self-love. 

Danielle LaPorte calls this process of getting clear: identifying your "Core Desired Feelings" - ask yourself "How do I want to feel?" - Grab your journal, a cup of steaming tea, and get brainstorming!

Day 18 - Get a House Plant

House plants are wonderful - not just because they are pretty to look at, but because they cycle air the way nature intended for us to breathe it. Being inside often, especially if you're in the city, means we're not breathing air that's truly alive. This can be remedied by getting a house plant (or a few!), and keeping them in your kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, etc. Our house is very fond of houseplants - we have more than a dozen!

Day 19 - Buy Yourself Something You Feel Delicious In

There's mindless shopping that you do because you're trying to distract yourself. And then there's self-love shopping that you do because you want to treat yourself to something fun. This day's task is all about the latter. 

I've been wanting a comfy, warm sweater in a great colour for a while now, and I found this chunky red knit at a vintage store down the street from my home recently! Going into the shop and trying on all the different options, touching fabrics, and having fun with options was fun - as was scoring the perfect find. Today, treat yourself to a certain something that you've been putting off, but you really want from a place of truth. 

Happy Self-Loving Friends! Make sure to comment below or on the facebook page with any more ideas you may have on how to love yourself more :)