Dreamer Highlight Archives - Lamisha Serf-Walls

An Interview With: Veronica Nieves the Soul Desire Coach

May 18, 2015 by Lamisha

***In my work, I come across so many amazing coaches and kindred souls that I just have to start sharing them with you. Today I am introducing you to Veronica Nieves the Soul Desire Coach. I met Veronica a few months ago and I am so excited to share with you an interview I did so you can get to know her a little bit better.

AND-she has so graciously offered to give away 1 Soul Desire Session as well as 1 Reiki session on June 2nd, so make sure you sign up for that! Enjoy!***

Hi Veronica, tell us a little bit about your journey and how you became the Soul Desire Coach.

The awareness of my journey, into listening to my soul, started when my daughter was born. My whole being was in awe of the miracle of birth and I wanted to create a miraculous life for myself and my family, the best life. There was that part of me inviting me to live in a joyful authentic place that was me. Now I have come to realize that it was my soul.

Early on I just felt the longing to live a life I would love, but I didn’t know how. I was bogged down with the day-to-day responsibilities. I did what I thought was the right thing to do at the time. I looked toward the external ideals of success to create that miraculous life. I worked hard to build my career as a teacher, be the best mother I could be and the best wife. Everything in the external world appeared to be in place. I was married, I had a child and a respectable career and approval from family and friends. I was successful. But this restlessness and a longing for more continued.

This is when I discovered Reiki. It opened me up to the idea of the energy body and an internal knowing. Reiki gave me the opportunities to connect with my universal life force, the energy of source and the know that I was part of something greater. It slowly started to provide insights, calm my mental chatter so I could take the necessary action steps. I could feel myself hanging on to what I had known, what seemed good and comfortable. The restlessness began to grow in all areas of my life and Reiki provided a self-care routine as I started to let go of limiting beliefs.

Then my mother passed away of breast cancer and that was a catalyst that shifted me into honoring my soul and living its desires. I knew that I had to help others gain their awareness and live a life that was truly theirs. The pain of living a life that was too small for the soul was something that I knew others where feeling and needed support to transcend.
What does a Soul Desire Coach do?

As a Soul Desire Coach, I help you to connect to the part of you that longs for experiences that would be fulfilling and are truly aligned to what you are meant to do. It is about doing what you are curious about, sharing your gifts, discovering who you truly are and experiencing a life that is authentically you.

What are some ways we typically ignore the calling of our soul & why?

There are 3 ways that most of ignore our soul’s calling

We are conditioned as children to listen to the adults around us instead of learning how to tune in to what we truly desire.
Because we live in social groups like our families, friends and work we often seek approval from our group in making decisions. If our thinking is not in alignment with the particular group that we participate in, we may decide to ignore or soul’s calling in favor for social approval and acceptance.
We often think, if we are living a “good” life, why should we want more? It has to do with our conditioning or programming. For example, simple phrases that we hear over and over again might get stuck in our programming of how we live life. Take the phrase “want not waste not”, if it’s in our programming we may decide to stifle our desires because it is not what we think we “should do”.

What are some ways that we can connect with our soul desire?

One way you can connect with your soul’s desire is to begin to feel and notice sensations. For example, what does it feel like to be in your body? Can you feel the softness of your skin or the firmness of your feet against the ground? Bringing your awareness to your body opens up other ways of interacting with the world instead of just your intellect. The soul is a language that is found in our feelings and sensations and resides in the heart center.

Another way to get in touch with your soul’s desire is to change your relationship to commonly held aspects of living, that affect how we choose to navigate in the world. One such aspect is time. Time presents itself as a reflection to our beliefs about it. If we perceive time in a way, that favors what we want to accomplish, then the desires of what we long for seem possible, instead of out of reach.

(You can also sign up for my 10 Soul Desire Practices for free to learn more of these practices AND get entered to win 1 Soul Desire Session OR 1 Reiki Session.)

You use Reiki in your work too right? Can you tell us a bit about what that is and how it works for those that may not know.

Reiki is life force energy. Is the energy that is part of us and connects to the universe. This energy is stored in our bodies and is around us. But each of us has our own unique life force energy that we are either circulating or blocking.

How does Reiki enhance your work?

Reiki energy works on the idea that we are connected to the universal source, an energy that supports our innate healing abilities. We have energy centers in the body know as charkas and meridians and around our body known as the aura.

When the flow of energy is optimal all the centers are moving the energy in ways that support us with ease. When the energy centers are disrupted, which can happen because of negative thought patterns and experiences, it blocks in our optimal energy flow. Reiki helps to clear the blocks so that our energy can flow optimally again. Reiki influences physical, mental, emotional and soul energy.

You are also using it in moon ceremonies is that right? Where can people learn more about that & maybe sign up to participate?

Reiki connects our body’s life force and uses the energy of the celestial moon, which has it’s own relationship to us in order to create an aligned flow of manifestation of our desires. We can release blocks and manifest our desires with the moon energy. Reiki boost the connection because we connect as our universal source potential, that part of us that knows all is possible and doesn’t entertain limits. I just finished with the New Moon Reiki ceremony on Saturday, but I will be hosting them for each full and new moon. If you would like more information about those ceremonies sign up here and you will be notified of the next ceremony.

And if people want to schedule a Reiki session for themselves how might they go about that?

To schedule a Reiki session you can check out my website or schedule a session here.

What 3 things would you suggest to people that may be struggling with their soul desires?

1. If you are struggling with your soul desires do open stream of consciousness journaling for about 10 minutes. You can start with the phrase I am struggling with my soul desires because… and list everything that comes up for without editing. Pick the one struggle that you can transform in a short time.

For example, when I was thinking of moving to the west coast, I made a list of all the struggles or a con’s list. One of them was, my uncertainty about where to move to. I took this struggle and asked, “how can I figure out where I want to move to?” Through open stream of consciousnesses journaling I came up with a few ideas. One of them was to move close to a friend until I could checkout different areas and that’s exactly what I did.

2. Struggling with your desires means that you are beginning to listen to your soul, but there is a block keeping you from fully committing to your soul’s desires. List 5 things that you would love, but you are not doing. Ask yourself, “if I where on my deathbed reflecting back on my life, would I regret not doing those things I love?” If it’s a “no”, then you need clarity in defining your soul’s desire. If it’s a “yes”, then seek out support so you can begin to live the life of your dreams.

3. The third option is to schedule a free 30 minute consultation by clicking here, to talk about how I can support you in living the desires of your soul

How else can people get in contact with you?

You can find out more about what I do and how to work with me on my website or follow me on Facebook or sign up for the FREE Giveaway (1 Soul Desire Session & 1 Reiki Session will be awarded on June 2nd!)

We Need More Of This In The World…

June 5, 2014 by Lamisha

Being that I am in the business of uplifting and encouraging women to follow their hearts and go for their dreams, I find it extremely difficult to process when I see women (and people in general) poo-pooing on the dreams of others. It infuriates me because while I know that their comments are not about anyone but themselves, I also know words hold a ton of power and our dreams are like delicate flowers. Dream crushing comments (no matter how small) can easily cause dreamers to give up all together.

It is also why I created the Group Coaching Program for Business-Minded Women. I believe women can come together in support of one another without the catty competition and crass comments. Jealousy that someone has something that we want doesn’t have to be how we connect with one another. I have felt this sense of competition in a variety of ways and even in some groups I have been in. One person’s success doesn’t mean another person’s failure. It also doesn’t mean that two people doing similar work have to compete.

What happened to collaborating, community, and compassion for one another?

What about sharing, supporting, and uplifting one another in our desires? I want to celebrate everyone’s success because I know that we are all capable of creating the life of our dreams doing work we love. And each time I see another soul-sister’s dreams come true, I am inspired to keep going, keep dreaming, and keep following my heart.

I just wish everyone felt the same way.

Purchase your own copy here: www.azureassurances.com

The fire and passion I feel as I write this stems from reading a not so nice comment about an extremely talented and amazing woman (also one of our guest teachers for the group program) Crystal Davis. Recently one of Crystal’s amazing dreams came true and she published her book Azure Assurances. ( You can check out an awesome article about their work here.) This book is a collaboration with an equally talented artist Kylie Fogarty to create a masterpiece of poetry and art that is nothing less than gorgeous. I had the opportunity to check it out and as a poet myself, I can tell you it is simply fabulous.

Not only do I love their work, but I also am so incredibly inspired by the powerful collaboration between two talented women with an amazing vision. It reminds me why I am creating a space for community, collaboration, and support for business-minded women to come together. THIS is exactly the kind of thing we need more of in the world.

More sharing, celebrating, and supporting one another.

With that said I want you to know that there is enough room in the world for everyone to succeed. There are infinite possibilities of how your vision can come together and collaboration is the way of the future. We are not on our paths alone and surely aren’t meant to create the thriving life of our dreams by ourselves. They say it takes a village to raise a child and I say the same goes for cultivating a community of dreamers and achievers. Join me in celebrating the success of others and congratulate, connect, and commune with other like-minded souls.

I also encourage you to check out Crystal and Kylie’s masterpiece, Azure Assurances. Buy it, give it as a gift, and support two amazingly talented women who have made their dreams come true.

Dream Changer: Featuring Nancy Pigno of Creative Abundance

May 21, 2014 by Lamisha

****Happy Hump Day Dreamers! Today we have a wonderful Dream Changer piece by the inspirational and very creative Nancy Pigno from Creative Abundance. This is one story that will make you dust off your own idea book and get busy. Enjoy!****

“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” These words were spoken by Thomas Edison years ago, obviously, but they just reached my ears today. When I heard them I stopped dead in my tracks.

Yes.

These words spoke directly to me.

Not that I am a genius. That’s not it.

I get inspired though. You know the phenomenon. You get a great idea, right? And then, you let it go, for there is laundry to be folded and lunches to be made. Life demands a certain amount of effort or it threatens to fall into chaos. And it is easy to move your dreams and ideas aside to tend to your daily responsibilities. The idea is forgotten, until weeks, months, maybe years later, when you suddenly remember it. What a good idea that was! You wonder what would have happened had you followed it. More laundry. More lunches. Other great ideas come, too. You have lots.

Laundry. Lunches. Life.

We cannot act on all of our great ideas, of course. It isn’t realistic. So, we should not beat ourselves up for letting ideas go. I just read an article about someone who is trying to start a new business every single week for a year. I wonder about this experiment. It doesn’t seem a recipe for success unless he truly has vast resources and can delegate much of the work out. Seems like it would be hard to focus, hard to manage, hard to juggle it all.

We don’t have to act on everything. It’s okay to let ideas go or to store them in a special notebook labeled, “Great Ideas” or whatever strikes your fancy, so that we don’t lose them entirely. Collecting inspiration is good, but the genius is in the action: taking an idea out of that special notebook and bringing it to life.

I am doing a monthly theme over at my blog, the Creative Abundance Café. I have enlisted the help of other creatives and together we are dishing up helpings of Perseverance. Perseverance pep-talks are important because that ninety-nine percent of genius, the sweat-work part, is riddled with moments when giving up seems very attractive.

When I was invited to write this piece, my Dream Changer story, my immediate thought is that I would talk about my journey into becoming a creativity coach, setting up a business, or my book-writing aspirations. But that’s not the essence of it. Simply put, I am changing my life by the simple fact that I am daring to take ideas out of the “Great Idea” notebook and am taking action towards bringing them into being.

This is a big deal to me. It isn’t an easy road. It is full of moments of doubt and discouragement. It takes courage and it takes perseverance. This is the truth of it. It is universal. That is why so many people were eager to rally at the Café. We are cheering one another along because making your dream, changing your life, bringing something new into being, or following a great idea, is worth it.

It is worth every ounce of sweat, all ninety-nine percent.

Having a life of CREATIVE ABUNDANCE is about connecting with and believing in your CREATIVE SPIRIT, the part of you that dreams big and believes that you can do whatever you set your mind and heart to. Nancy J. Pigno brings her training as a Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coach, in Kaizen-Creative NLP and as a Modern-Day Muse Facilitator together with her Masters in Dance Education, Massage Therapy training and Certificate in Somatics Movement Therapy, to offer 1:1 coaching, workshops, and writings, designed especially for creative people with big dreams.

Website: http://www.creative-abundance.net/

Blogsite (The Café): http://www.creative-abundance.net/blog/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/creativea

Email: nanodance@creative-abundance.net

Dream Changer: Featuring Karma Dreamwalker

May 14, 2014 by Lamisha

***We are back with another Dream Changer post from the lovely Karma Dreamwalker. If you have ever had a dream that you didn’t quite understand or was so weird you wouldn’t dare speak of it to anyone, Karma is the one to chat with. Her story is one that may make you rethink the purpose and meaning behind your dreams and your power to understand, shape, and use dreams in your waking life. Take it away Karma!****

My dream-changing moment was the moment that I chose to go after what I really wanted to do in life; Dreamwork. I always hoped that what I ended up doing in my life would be something like this, however, I wasn’t sure if there was an interest in it.

I had my first “out-of-body” experience at the age of 5, which left a lasting impression on me. I still remember every detail of the experience, and although many people do not understand the subject, it turns out it is actually fairly common.

I was intensely curious, I could not ignore my own experience and I wanted to learn more.

As it turns out, OBE’s and Dreaming are related. I have always had incredibly vivid dreams in my life. Dreams that often felt as solid as being awake. It is difficult to live out these kinds of meaningful experiences and not be able to speak about it. The other night, I dreamt that I was in a tornado; I became the wind, and felt the air. I have dreamt that I went inside the earth; dreamt that I swam through the ocean and felt the water on my skin; dreamt that I took a deep peaceful breath and felt the oxygen in my lungs. The depth of these experiences is amazing, considering you are just lying in your bed.

When you talk about dreams like that to a stranger, they are likely to give you a funny look. This leads to people ignoring their dreams for fear of “sounding crazy” because they do not have anyone to discuss it with who understands. Without support, people often ignore their dreams or become afraid of their experiences. When I ignored my dreams, they got louder and became nightmares that kept me awake at night and caused me to wake in the morning feeling intensely anxious.

I made the decision to volunteer, because I thought that it would help me to do something to help others. I volunteered for a center for women healing from trauma. While I was there, the subject of dreams got brought up, and a woman was telling me about someone she knew, who was having nightmares that kept her awake and from enjoying her life, although it was “just a dream” they very much affected her. That was the moment that I realized I was not the only one who has been afraid of their dream experiences, and I decided I had to go for it.

I made the decision to concentrate on my own dreams again, so that I could heal and transform myself and my life from the inside-out.

Instead of running from my nightmares, I went to bed with the intention to immerse myself fully in them. I ran directly into my own storm so that I could find out what was really happening with me. I was having nightmares of a man chasing me and trying to kill me. When I made this decision, I dreamt of him again, but this time, I turned around and laughed at him. I asked “Why are you here?”

This led to a series of dreams in which I was running through my dreamscape until I found him and asked every question I could. It wasn’t easy, actually, and was a pretty intense experience all its own, however through this experience I found that I became empowered. I was working through the various levels of fear that I had built up over the years. One night, I realized that I was no longer afraid of him, and he had no power in my dreams. I stopped dreaming about him, but then I walked around my dreamscape and saw that the imagery still wasn’t very happy. The anxiety, stress, worry that I had collected over the years was visible in my mind.

I decided that I was done having nightmares at that point. I felt I had expressed and healed the parts of me that needed to be acknowledged enough. I was ready to move forward with my life. With this intention, I had another dream; one that was intense and unexpected. Because my entire dreamscape was made up of nightmare imagery, there was only one thing to do – my dreamscape collapsed. In an earthquake, the water flooded and the ground shook, and then I was in a void.

Elephants appeared and walked me out of the void, they each had an earth on their back, and there was several of them. They walked somewhere there was water, and trees growing out of the water. I felt peace. I had collapsed my nightmare dreamscape, and pulled myself into a new one.

It was an intense experience, even though it happened in the realms of my dreams; it transformed my entire life, my attitude, it helped bring me clarity and most of all, it helped empower me again. I haven’t had a nightmare since, although sometimes my dreams can be intense, I am not fearful of my experiences anymore. This feeling reflects out in other parts of my life as well. Actions that you take while awake are reflected in your dreams, but also, when you take an action in a dream, it is reflected into the waking world.

I want others to feel comfortable expressing their dream experiences, talk to me about the weird stuff! Consider me a friend that has been through it, lets see if we can make some sense out of the nonsense, or perhaps, just explore, transform, and empower.

Sweet Dreams,

Karma Dreamwalker

Karma Dreamwalker is a 22 year old Spiritual Dreamwork Artist, Intuitive Health coach, and Teacher of Magickal Arts. She lives in California and focuses on inspiring transformation through the art of lucid dreaming, dream interpretation, and dream divination. Visit her website www.KarmaDreamwalker.com or her blog www.theartofdreamwalking.com to learn more.

Dream Changer-Featuring Petra Monaco

April 30, 2014 by Lamisha

***Happy Hump Day Dreamers! It’s Wednesday and it is time for another wonderful Dream Changer post! This week I am excited to share with you a woman who has overcome great obstacles in life to find her true calling and as we all know life’s path is rarely a straight line and many times a topsy turvy wonderful world of lessons, growth, and evolution and Petra Monaco’s story is amazing. She is doing wonderful work in the world and I know you will enjoy her story. Take it away Petra!***

It’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly what moment in my life directly led me to this path because in the big picture of it all it all relates in some way.

I grew up in Germany in foster homes since the age of two until I graduated high school at the age of 15. Throughout the years I was exposed to trauma and abuse, neglect, rejection, unable to believe in myself and looking for love in all the wrong places. During all my struggles of trying to find out who I am, I never quit. I was pregnant with my first born at 17, engaged to an American, who I would not marry until later. I moved cross the ocean to find a different life and was left to continue to figure it all out on my own. I married the father of my son and a few years later, we had another child together. We would not work out however due to move beyond our parens dysfunction, but we are friends nonetheless.

Life still wasn’t easy and I continued to move forward believing there is something out there but never quite finding what I needed. I singled parented for awhile, remarried my husband just to once again learn that this is not working out for us. I earned a degree in accounting with the potential of making good money but I was unable to be satisfied or feel happy about it. I wanted more. I loved psychology, I loved learning about the FBI and toyed with the idea of becoming a profiler. But it still did not sit with me.

I learned about life coaching from a television show and thought to myself, now that …that looks interesting.

firefighter — One of Petra’s amazing pieces!

I began to find solace in my creations and crochet and wood burned whenever I could. I started my first business Hippie’s Creations. I find it therapeutic to create with fibers or burn on wood. It’s been my tool towards healing where I look within, analyze my situations and figure out a way to move forward.

In my 30’s I gave birth to my fourth child who at the age of four was diagnosed with a rare metabolic genetic disorder. I think that this ultimately tipped me over to follow my dreams and pursue what I wanted out of life. But it appeared I was not ready to acknowledge what I wanted and had a few more things to learn. I opened a brick and mortar store but closed it a year later still not feeling good about life. I left a relationship that did me more harm than good and my growth was huge.

I wrote a book about what I remembered of my life which helped me move forward, create boundaries, and live a much healthier life. I still have some work to do but I am enjoying the path I have taken.

In 2010 I started working as an intensive in-home counselor and I LOVED my work. I am still with the same company and continue to help children figure it all out providing them with therapy as they need. But as a mom with a child who has disabilities and remembering the life coaching show I started to explore it more.

I am in the process of writing a book, sharing my son’s inspirational story of survival and his incredible will to live. I have also started Fostered Life, in which I help individuals find the time to balance work, family and live the life they have envisioned. I am offering pro bono coaching sessions to foster children who are aging out and need a little help reaching their goals!

Petra

Petra is a former foster child ready to change the world one pebble at a time. She’s the author of Betrayal: The Journey: Childhood Memories and the Adult Awakening. She is a mother of a special needs child and is in the process of writing a book about his journey of rare genetic disorder and surviving three liver transplants. You can get a glimpse of his life at www.lennonsworld.com . Petra is also a crochet and pyrographic artist and shares this world over at Hippie’s Creations . In addition to sharing the arts with the world, she is helping individuals foster their dreams by creating new thoughts and habits along the way to be come the person we should be and live the live we want! Connect with her at www.fosteredlife.com .