Ashanna Solaris answers the question:

What is the nicest thing a non-family member has ever done for you?

Well, I had a really nice experience back in, I guess it was around the year 2000. And I just want to say first, I love the question, "What is the nicest thing?" Because nice things go a really long way as you know. And difficult things, or not so nice things, can imprint us for a very long time.

So this was a major healing for me. It was through two women, who I won't say their first names, but I will say they were a couple. And one of them had ancestors that were literally named Angel. That was their last name, the ancestors. So I'm just going to call these two women that came into my life as incredible angels to help usher me into my career as a healer. I'll just refer to them as the Angels.

So I was living on Maui, and I'd been living there for about seven years, and I was starting to feel like Maui was a beautiful, wrapped-up gift with nothing inside of it for me anymore. And it was time for me to make a change. And yet I was very attached to Maui. And so things started to fall apart, which they often do when I need to make a change. So, financially I was really struggling. And I went to a John Gray workshop at a friend's house, the John Gray, and he was saying that healers and women in particular, that we can, because we're giving out so much positive energy, that we can take on negative energy. And that that will show up in our lives as illness or financial hardship or accidents. And he said women, we used to be much more connected to the earth, so we could let go of that energy much more easily, but nowadays we weren't. And I thought that was what was happening in my financial life.

So I went home that day and I practiced for hours what John taught us, which was this mantra. I think it's in one of his books, how to have what you want and keep what you want, something like that. So I did the practice, which was, "Dear God, please come sit in my heart. Take away the stress and negative energy around..." And I decided to do it around finances. So for hours I was sitting there saying, "Dear God, please come sit in my heart. Please take the stress and negative energy away from finances... and bring me $10,000," I added. So all day, I'm saying, "Bring me $10,000." And I actually had a list. My coach helped me write a list of 25 ways that I could make $10,000. And it had all these ways I could have clients, ways I could have a retreat — this was in the early days of my practice so I was still very early at it.

I even do a Marilyn Monroe impersonation, because someone had done my makeup for Halloween so well that my boyfriend didn't recognize me. So I had this crazy list. I did this process. And later that day I was talking to the Angels and I said, "I really need to move. And I really need financial support." And they said, "Well, we have this amazing condo that we're not going to be using for nine months. And it has incredible ocean views." It's called the Grand Champions on Maui. So for nine months I lived at the Grand Champions on Maui rent-free. And for me, no one had ever done anything for me, kindness-wise like that. Just like, my parents would give you like $50 maybe, maybe $100 at the most. But I had never really had anyone say, "Here, here is this level of support."

So for me, living in this condo for nine months, and I realized, well, that's well over $10,000, but I still needed money. And I was with my friend Lavinda on the beach on Maui, and I was telling her, and she started praying for me. And she started saying to "na kupuna," which is the guardians, guides, and ancestors. "Na kupuna, Ashanna needs your help. Ashanna is making a change in her life and she needs financial abundance and she needs your help and you need to help her." And she was praying on my behalf, which I would say is another kind act. And when I got home that day, I think it was that very day I got home, and in the mailbox at the condo was a check from the Angels for a thousand dollars. And again, no one had ever given me a thousand dollars, which was unbelievable to me. So, there was another act of kindness.

Time went on and I realized I really needed to leave Maui, and I decided to go to CIIS [California Institute of Integral Studies] to finish my degree. And this is a big change for me. So, the Angels helped me work on my application, my scholarship application, and CIIS said they would give two 30% scholarships, and I wanted that 30% scholarship. And so I wrote this application. I remember I was 33 at the time because I remember writing my story, and that I'm 33 and I'm ready to expand my awareness and launch my career and complete my education. And the Angels took me to this heiau on Maui, where there was a kahuna named Lei’ohu Ryder — many of you have heard of her now, she's quite well known. And Lei’ohu, there's a whole other story around Lei'ohu as a school teacher getting guidance to restore this ancient Hawaiian healing temple, this heiau, with her students. And this was a stunning place in the West Maui mountains, overlooking the ocean and this beautiful rock altar. And so, with the Angels’ help, Lei’ohu took my scholarship application, went over to the rock and she started praying, "Na kupuna, ke Akua. Bless Ashanna. Take care of Ashanna. Give her a scholarship. Help her move forward." And CIIS gave me a 50% scholarship, which they had never given before, and the way was made open.

So now we're getting to New Year's Eve, 1999. Seems like so long ago now, but it was almost 2000. And I was staying at the Angels' house because I had moved out of the condo and I was getting ready to move to the Bay Area. And I thought, I still don't feel like I have enough money to make this move. And I was driving in my car on the Piilani Highway, scared. And then I thought, wait a minute, there's no order of difficulty in miracles. That's what Course in Miracles says. There is enough money for me, there's enough abundance.

So I started to pray. And I started to imagine money raining down in my car, piling up on my car seats, filling my bank account. I just visualized the money. I got home that night on New Year's Eve, and on my pillow in my room, in a beautiful envelope, it said, "Tee-hee-hee, we thought giving you $2,000 on 2000 would be so fun." And it was a check for $2,000 from the Angels. And I just cried thinking, I am supported; here it is. And these were true angels in my life.

And then the last piece was, I still had to make this huge move, give up my practice, which had diminished anyway... move to the Bay Area, get a car, get an apartment, start my life over. And so again, my friend Lavinda said, "You need to ask them for a loan." And I thought, I can't ask them for a loan. They've given me so much. And she said, "No, they really want to help you. So you have to ask them for a loan." And she again, asked ke akua to help me. So I asked them for a loan, which was a very big deal for me because, I remember asking my father at one point, may he rest in peace, if he would help pay my student loans, and he just laughed at me. So for someone to help me and loan me money was a big paradigm shift in my mind.

So I went to them and I asked them if they would consider it. And they said, "We will loan you $8,000 to make your move, but it is a co-creative loan agreement." And I remember the font was so cute. It was, "A co-creative loan agreement for Ashanna to make the shift into true abundance and a successful life." Because they believed in my energy healing and all the work that I was doing at that time to make that shift. So they loaned me $8,000. Every month I would send them a check for $222 and I would write them a beautiful card and thank them. And I paid off that loan many years ago and have managed to become successful as a healer and a teacher and a leader. And to grow my own brand, along with my colleague, Dana Dharma Devi, of Clarity Breathwork, and it worked; the co-creative loan agreement worked. And the Angels launched me into my new life. And I'm just forever grateful.

And it's just only a part of the story because I just want to say their friendship, the quality of their love, the way they would listen and share, of the way we would sit together. The land, they later developed properties in different places and invited me with such love and such consciousness. I'm just forever, forever grateful. And I'm grateful to remember in this moment while I'm on another huge transformational journey, that the universe is kind and that the universe is abundant, and that the universe supports us in living life in a good way and doing what's ours to do. So thank you so much for the question.
 

Ashanna Solaris co-founded the profound practice of Clarity Breathwork, and currently teaches this gentle, nurturing, feminine approach to healing, transformation, and embodiment. Ashanna has led hundreds of trainings, workshops, and retreats around the world. She leads individuals through a powerful path of releasing their blocks, so they can open to and live their greater potential. Many of her students go on to become practitioners, bringing all of their sacred gifts into the work.

Since 1990, Ashanna has brought forth a wealth of experience and training in the healing arts — integrating breathwork, Light Body meditation and transmission, reiki and energy healing, somatic experiencing, ritual, dance, and movement. Ashanna has a deep passion to inspire others to live their fullest potential and give their greatest offering.

She is also a gifted public speaker, officiant of ceremonies, and presenter at many conferences, seminars, and festivals. She is well-known for her inspired meditation CDs and audio downloads.

Click here to visit Ashanna’s Clarity Breathwork website.