Style with Soul Interviews: Rachel Harmer

We’re in the depths of winter and many of us are also in isolation at the moment, what are some self-care tips you have for women during this time?

Winter is yin, the time of rest, introspection, slow, creative, feminine, when nature retreats to build up its reserves for its next cycle of seasons. It is also, your responsibility to rest and build your reserves. If you ignore this seasonal rhythm, there is consequences within your health. You really have the opportunity in winter to go within, reflect and heal. This allows you to be more dynamic in the yang seasons, such as spring and summer.  Deep meditation and reflective journaling are the perfect spiritual self-care tools this time of year.

Winter is the seeding place of the year. The seeds of your dreams. The more you rest in Winter and allow yourself and the seeds of your dreams to be nourished, the more harvest you can expect in the seasons to come. The seeds of your dreams come directly from your soul. Deep meditation allows you to hear the whispers of your soul. My sacred soul care meditation is created for busy women that need deep rest, support and guidance from their higher self, their soul. It is a beautiful, nurturing meditation and can be easily done in your warm bed on a cold winter’s day. Journaling the seeds of your dreams is another powerful tool in winter. Ask your inner self, what is my deepest heart’s desire? Journal without censoring or knowing how you will do this. Stay open and trust in the process.

Crystals for winter connect with the base and sacral chakra:  Black Tourmaline, Smoky Quartz, Onyx, Obsidian, Carnelian, Garnet.

Essential oils that relate to these chakras for winter are: Cedarwood, ylang ylang, orange, sandalwood, clary sage.

2020 has been a cracker regarding astrology. The next whammy to be aware is the next full moon that is also an eclipse 5^th July. An eclipse gives the opportunity to see the shadow parts of yourself. This can be challenging as it brings those parts of yourself that you supress. It is a potent opportunity for healing and aligning with your whole self. This is a good time to book in for your self-love practices and add in the practices I have listed below.

Tell me about an outfit or colour that makes you feel amazing?

I love comfy clothes. Jumpsuits, flowing kaftans (I have about 6 kaftans.) I love colour and I also love to wear white. I am a lover of sparkles and whenever I hold a retreat, I do love to wear a bit of golden glitter eyeshadow.

I like to wear colour to balance my chakras. Chakras are energy centres that relate to different organs systems and emotions in your body.

• If I am feeling like I need more self-love, I wear pink or green, the colour of the heart chakra.
• If I am needing more grounding, I wear red or brown to activate my base chakra.
• When I need support of being in my power and increasing my confidence, I wear yellow to activate my solar plexus, the power centre.
• Blue is the colour to add when communicating your authentic self and activates the throat chakra, your centre of communication.
• Orange is the colour to add when nourishing your sacral chakra, the chakra for increasing your sensuality and sexuality.
• Purple tones activate your intuition, your third eye chakra.
• White, magenta, or gold are the colour for the crown chakra. The crown chakra is the gateway to your soul. I imagine that is why I wear gold, white, and strong pinks when I work, to set the intention of soul connection.

It is always interesting to see during a weekend women’s soulful retreat the different colours that women wear over the weekend and what they are attracted to. It is always an indicator of what is happening with their chakras and their internal balance.

The women who come to Style with Soul are at such an important point in their life journey – sometimes exciting, sometimes scary, sometimes entering the unknown. Whether it be a milestone birthday, a breakup, returning to work after bubs… It’s really a time for them to reconnect with who they are, their inner selves. What advice do you have for someone to reconnect with themselves?

A pivotal question I ask my clients in Sacred Soul Counselling when they are going through a transition is, “If it was your daughter or best friend going through the same situation as you, what advice would you give them?” Generally, women, as they are natural nurturers and givers, can support others they love, more than themselves. The answer to the question is the remedy they need to give to themselves. It is a way in, back to self-love. My other absolute favourite soul care practices to reconnect back to your whole self are:

• Journal – Keep the communication open with yourself about your feelings. Keep it honest. There needs to be space for you to have your feelings. Other than that, they creep up and can overwhelm you.
• Dance – Put your favourite music on (techno, 80’s) and let your blocked feelings move! E-motion. Keep yourself moving through the feelings in your body, let the sad, angry, uncomfortable feelings be felt and moved. When you let yourself feel your feelings, freedom and connection is created. We do lots of dance meditation in my retreats. It is incredibly powerful and liberating.
• Spend lots of time in nature – take your shoes off and feel the earth. Garden, walk on the beach, hug a tree, go to the local park, get out of the city. Obviously for me living in a valley in Apollo Bay, on 15 acres in the Otway’s, shows how passionate I am about nature and its ability to heal. My soul called for me to move here and it is a constant source of nourishment and healing for me. We also love to see guests sharing our piece of paradise when they stay at our valley view nature retreat accommodation. It is a joy to see others transform over their stay as they reconnect back to themselves, from being immersed in nature. See Rachel’s accommodation here.
• Pray – find out who your spirit allies are and pray. Ask them for healing, support, intervention. Beings such as Jesus, Buddha, Mother Mary, The Universe, your angels, spirit guides, maybe it is the elements or a loved one that has passed that is supporting you in spirit. When you are raw, vulnerable, fearful, scared, unsure, calling on your spirit allies is incredibly powerful and divine intervention is very possible when you open and ask. For myself personally I have an altar I create every season and that is the place I ask my soul family for what I need. I give over what is burdening me and I give them permission to assist. I really honoured this process after my mum died 10 years ago. She still very much supports me. I always call on my angels, especially Archangel Michael.

Connecting with my soul through my Sacred Soul Care meditation is something I have been doing for 20 years. I go to bed early 4 nights a week and meet my soul and soul family. This is where I clear my energy field, I receive the vibration I need for healing and receive guidance from my higher self. I highly recommend this supportive process for others going through big changes and need to truly empower themselves, body, heart, and soul.

Here is the link to the Sacred Soul Care Meditation.  The most divine meditation I have ever done!

If you would like to find out more about Heart Wave Healing and Rachel’s offerings visit her website here.

SPRING AWAKENING PACKAGE

SOUL DISCOVERY (simone) + SACRED SOUL COUNSELLING (rachel)

I’m super exited to be offering a special package for Spring 2020 which includes the Soul Discovery package and a Sacred Soul Counselling Skype session with Rachel.  An opportunity for you to take a deep, deep, deep dive into you. If you’re feeling like you need to reconnect, this is the ideal package for inner reflection and looking to creating a wardrobe that reflects the inner you. Contact me here to find out more.