Today we’d like to introduce you to Leigh Aschoff

Leigh, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?

My story began with imagination and continues to evolve through embodied heart consciousness. This version of my story reflects some of my personal healing journey and my professional growth.

Since my conception, change and movement were big themes for me that were lasting through my childhood and much of my adult life. My gifts of creativity, connection and balance are directly related.

My childhood was profound in that I was separated from my mother on a regular basis since the tender age of five weeks old, in addition to long term separation from my father since the age of one year.

What supported me during this early life separation was imagination and the village of spiritual families I stayed with while my mother raised me as a “single parent” while working a job that had her traveling internationally on a regular basis.

Imagination and playing outside were my most steady allies throughout my early years. I had a strong heart connection to nature and the non-physical realm. I continued enjoying this companionship as it offered me so much presence, possibility and joy.

Non-physical energy, imagination and creativity have been ever present and supportive relational experiences for me throughout my entire life.

As I grew into my teenage years, my creative gifts flourished and when pressed to choose a profession, the one thing I could see myself doing all day every day was developing film and making prints in a darkroom.

I pursued this to the fullest at the high school I attended, taking all the photography classes I could and spending a lot of time in the basement darkroom. I became friends with my photography teacher Susie Forrester and am joyful in heart to say we are still friends today.

I applied to a variety of colleges that offered photography degrees. I was accepted into the School of Visual Arts on Valentine’s Day in 1998 and chose to go there.

It was an incredible experience to focus four years primarily on my creative gifts in one of the most amazing cities in the world. I was very much at home in the darkrooms there. I graduated with honors. I met one of my lifelong mentors there, Darryl A. Turner, and his beloved friend Hilton Als. These two profoundly creative and heart centered beings have had a powerful and long-lasting impact on my awareness of culture, art, style and love. I could not be more grateful for this time in my life which had many chapters and cycles of creative expansion.

Considering the somatic healing sessions I now offer, there is a symbolic resonance to the darkroom. I was most drawn to photography because of the developing and printing aspect of the process. I really loved being in the darkrooms because there was so much creative potential and anticipation of seeing the negatives and the prints from the negatives. Much like a darkroom, somatic healing sessions have a way of shining light on the past. Through a somatic healing process, images appear and many of them can shift the physiology of a person, their experience of themselves and the world. Many of the images (often arising as memory yet also sometimes as body sensation, color, texture, temperature or shape) that come forward in sessions are held, from the past and into the light of the present moment for contemplation, insights, processing and integration. It is powerful healing work and like photography, there is often a present moment connection to a past event, the shining of light in various moments, in creative ways, of the whole process and often a lasting impression (beyond the session) or exposure to something seen, felt and honored in a new way.

Beyond art school, I held various jobs in photography and painting. I expanded my creative pursuits into video, video editing and music. Years passed and I became less interested in the gallery shows and how little people at the art gallery openings engaged in dialogue about the work. I was drawn towards music very much and began to move in that direction creatively.

I started going to music shows and enjoyed the energy of connection there very much. It was different than gallery shows in that the experiences I was having had a richer texture of creative, energetic exchange. Eventually, I was asked to join for a performance of an acoustic set of friend’s musical works. I played the flute and sang. It was an amazing experience and I loved it completely.

Music is very different as a creative experience. There is more relational creative exchange happening. I was no longer working solo on photographs and videos. I was immersed in an ongoing, present moment creative exchange. This exchange occurred during practice, during the shows, within myself, with the other musicians and the people who came to the shows. There was a live resonance that called my heart and body. The resonance of the music and the gathering of people live transmitted something different than the silent works and conversations at most gallery shows. The music shows were often more raw. There can be an intensity to live music that has an impact on our physical and energy bodies. I felt this and I loved it.

Over the years, I was in a few different bands. In one band, we wrote songs with pockets of improvisation. This was and continues to be my favorite part of playing music. Pockets of improvisation meant that we wrote a song that had structure yet there were specific moments in the song where we were playing moment to moment, in relation to one another, our bodies, our heart, our instruments and the creative energy that was present. What unfolded in these pockets of improvisation was different every time.

Here I see more symbolism with the somatic healing sessions I offer now. All the healing sessions I offer have a day, a time, a parameter of the length of the session, an intention and a takeaway action. The healing approach is offered and this creates more structure yet the actual unfolding is entirely determined by the neurophysiology, biology, emotional body, energy body and the content of what is arising in the present moment of the person coming to the session. No session is the same and what unfolds could not be known in advance.

Throughout the years of writing music, playing music and performing, I became very interested in human biology and neuroscience. I had a deep craving to understand my own neurobiology in relation to my emotions and suffering. This eventually led me to pursue a masters in neuroscience and education with a long-term intention of becoming a psychotherapist.

It was both my own emotional challenges and those of many people I knew and loved in the art and music community that inspired me to learn about this more. Additionally, I was in therapy myself at the time and learned from my therapist that she saw herself and the client as the instruments of healing in the relational exchange in therapy sessions. This very much inspired me to see therapy as a creative, collaborative exchange.

I contemplated how a therapist never knows exactly what a client will bring to explore and in that, every session is profoundly creative in it’s unfolding. My insight at the time was that therapy inherently hosts a great amount of improvisation. The symbolic awareness of the therapist and the client being the instruments of healing in this authentic, therapeutic relational exchange inspired me very much. Improvisation includes active trust, faith and a present moment commitment to what is unfolding in the present moment.

This was a turning point for me. That I could translate years of creative practice and collaborations to a profession that yielded healing was immensely exciting for me. So began my journey into learning about neuroscience, yoga, energy healing and trauma-informed somatic counseling.

This journey unfolded over many years. I chose to pursue a 200 hour yoga teacher training while getting my masters in neuroscience and education. This was my way of balancing a deepening of my understanding of the brain along with a deepening of my understanding of being embodied and more conscious of my breath. It was a powerful combination that yielded a lot of transformation for me.

Not having had an undergraduate degree in science or neuroscience, the masters degree was a challenge for me. In addition to the complexity of neuroscience I was also reminded of how testing can be based on memorization rather than a true knowing. This frustrated me deeply yet I persisted and with much spunk, completed my masters in neuroscience and education. I also completed my 200 hour teacher training in Hatha Yoga. Over time, I also trained and certified as a Therapeutic Yoga Teacher and self-taught myself Yin Yoga.

Yoga had a deeply, powerful, healing impact on me. It was one of the practices that brought me into conscious connection with my breath and body. It opened the channels and chakras in my energy body. I began to feel alive again in ways I had not experienced since I was a child. I made a commitment at the time to go to yoga class five to seven days a week. This supported me in letting go of antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication. It was a powerful time of my life, a true awakening of my body and energy. It was also an awakening of my own power through choice. I had found something to practice that I loved and that worked for me to be and feel well in my body and in the world.

For years I taught yoga, grew my photography business and held various other jobs to support myself financially. Eventually, I took a full time position as a special projects coordinator that included quite a lot of over time. Though this was an amazing life chapter, I reached burn out after three years. It was at this time in my life that I had started to receive Akashic Record Readings and was experiencing a deep urge in my heart body to honor my gifts in a new way and to return to the calling of shifting my creative gifts into therapeutic relational exchanges resulting in healing.

In some ways this full time job could be seen as a major detour yet the messages I was receiving from the Akashic Records Sessions I was having were informing me of how I was showing up in servitude rather than in alignment with my gifts in sacred service (gratitude to Dra. Rosales Meza for teaching me this very important distinction). This was a lesson my soul clearly chose to learn in this incarnation and it stays with me to this day.

I pursued Akashic Records Practitioner Trainings because I was called to deeper healing within myself. During the trainings I received messages, images and information so clearly and so effortlessly, I was naturally called to continue training and eventually offered sessions for others. I cherish remembering my first training taught by my beloved teacher Helen Vonderheide.

The Akashic Records have had a deeply healing impact on my life and how I see my life experiences. The Akashic Records supported me to see how, despite some of my developmental needs not being met, my parents were the perfect selection by my soul for the lessons chosen. Though this did not and does not change what happened in the past, it offered clear insight which shifted my heart body consciousness in relation to some of my life experiences. This shift has and continues to open up my awareness in ways that continue to lead to greater freedom in my day to day experiences.

I was also called to deepen my training and become certified in Intuitive Energy Healing and Transpersonal Energy Healing. Both of these trainings led me through an experiential learning journey of the energy body and deeper into transpersonal healing possibilities. Intuitive Energy Healing expanded my awareness of the energy body I had practiced and studied through yoga. Transpersonal Energy Healing taught me the somatic and counseling facets of healing sessions.

Though the Transpersonal Energy Healing certification included trauma-informed counseling training, I was called to deepen my skills in this area. For years I had been interested in Gabor Maté’s work partly because my childhood experiences were similar to his. I also dig the way Gabor talks about trauma. It is relatable and much of our world has clearly been ready for it.

I received enthusiastic encouragement from my non-physical team to apply for the Compassionate Inquiry training. It was such a rich, dynamic training that after completing the year long professional training, I went on to complete the Mentorship Program and Mentor in Training Program. Today I am a certified Compassionate Inquiry Practitioner and Certified Compassionate Inquiry Private Mentor. Thank you Gabor Maté, one of my teachers, and thank you Stephen Brown, my private mentor, for all the support and wisdom you have shared with me.

My lifelong companionship with non-physical energy, creativity and Mother Earth has supported me to know and embody my gifts. I continue to grow more and more aware of my gifts and how best to share them in this world. I experience my connection to non-physical energy, creativity and Mother Earth as integral to how I show up as a person and as a person and as a healing practitioner. I am deeply grateful to offer my gifts in the way I do. I am deeply humbled and inspired to share the healing approaches with the profoundly courageous beings I share with in sessions.

I am a student of the course of “The Path of Living Aloha” with Kit Kanohoaloha Wynkoop. My daily meditation practice is an essential part of my spiritual emotional work. Connecting with a community and a teacher has deepened my understanding of meditation and Aloha. Daily meditation practice has enhanced my capacity to practice meditation in action, every day, in all my relationships, imperfectly yet wholeheartedly.

My unlearning with Dra. Rosales Meza is unparalleled and essential for me as a white bodied human. I do and will continue to sit with her and receive her healing guidance. Through her medicine I have learned to deepen my relationship with Mother Earth, continue divesting from the harmful white colonial approaches to life and being alive, to name my teachers with respect and reverence, to celebrate and amplify the voices of BIPOC and to continue embodying possibilities and planting seeds for a New Earth. Thank you Dra. Rosales Meza for reminding me to embody my gifts and honor my needs so that I may be in sacred service.

Other more internal aspects of how I got to where I am today have been through deep heart body listening, honoring suffering, engaging in an active, ongoing healing process and a humble honoring of being called to expand my experiences with ongoing unlearning and learning.

Being open to contemplation, insights and life unfolding is an intention of mine. Embodying my gifts of creativity, connection and balance is another sacred intention of mine. Being with what is arising in the present moment with the courageous folx in the sessions is a deep honor for me. I honor my life and all beings, all of life. That I am here and able to offer this healing work is an honor and a gift. May all beings experience heart peace, love, embodied belonging and liberation.

Aloha

Leigh Heart Peace

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

Yes, there have been and are obstacles and challenges. I choose to see obstacles and challenges as opportunities to grow down deeper into connection with my heart body and Essence by way of compassion and truth. Obstacles and challenges are great entry points for healing and I shine light on this here.

The biggest challenges for me have been visibility, connecting with people in need of the healing approaches I offer, financial stability and at times, loneliness.

Compassionate Inquiry supports me in seeing a common theme in these challenges that is rooted in some of my experiences when I was very young. The challenges I mention here are true for me and I am also able to be curious about the beliefs within me that drive the perceptions aligned with these challenges.

This is one way CI becomes a paradigm shift. I have been a client in many CI sessions and now I am able to weave it into my day to day awareness. This consistently allows for curiosity and an openness to possibilities and choices otherwise veiled. My experience of myself and the world shifts when I am willing to be in relationship with my perceptions, especially those around obstacles and challenges.

Suffering is a part of being alive. It is common that we forget we are in the experience of suffering together. We do not suffer alone yet often times we have that perception that we do.

My practice is to offer my best when suffering and struggles present so that I can show up and be curious of how best to lead myself through. Aligning with my heart body, Self and Essence is also a large support (thank you Gabor Maté and Richard Schwartz).

There is so much possibility when considering learning opportunities during struggle. And, we all have the right to own our struggle as part of our process too. It is okay to experience suffering. It is a part of life. Having healthy relationships, especially with all parts of ourselves, can be a support in this area.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?

My work is inviting wisdom to be felt, seen, heard, held and cherished by asking questions with compassion and presence. I am a loving companion and guardian of Mother Earth, a human, an artist, a wisdom inviter and a a trauma integrating somatic healing practitioner.

I work with folx who have experienced heart wounding in the areas of separation, loss, othering, childhood neglect, childhood abandonment and/or those who have been asked to bear the unbearable. I work with heart warriors returning to wholeness.

Other areas of focus I support folx with are trauma, anxiety, depression, stress, self-esteem, self-worth, grief, embodiment, energy body awareness, emotional processing and integration.

I work with people worldwide. All sessions are currently through zoom.

I am known for my creative spirit, my connection to non-physical energy, my passion for healing trauma, energy body awareness, playfulness and love rooted in compassionate heart body awareness.

Healing is a creative unfolding in embodied connection and balance. I honor my being an artist first and acknowledge the powerful supportive role it plays in how I embody and offer my gifts through the healing approaches. It is one level to complete trainings and gain certifications. It is another level to honor and embody the gifts I have been given to share.

Embodying my gifts of creativity, connection and balance is part of how I offer the healing approaches. It is also who I am as a human being. I dedicate my life to being well so that I offer this work to others with integrity. My gifts are offered genuinely in sacred service to the resonant folx who are drawn to work with me. It is my authenticity, gentle heart, openness and gifts of creativity, connection and balance that make me a unique healing practitioner.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?

Having an ongoing relationship with Mother Earth and non-physical energy, aligning with Essence, heart body awareness, breath and embodying the qualities of Self in presence (perspective, presence, patience, playfulness, persistence, curiosity, creativity, calm, clarity, caring, connectedness, confidence, compassion) are without question the most important for my experience of success.

When I am aligned with and embodying these qualities, I am present, open to connection with others and myself, and able to listen with my whole heart body. From this place, I am able to be clear, centered, discerning, receiving and offering. My relationship with myself, others and my environment are all impacted with presence, curiosity and compassion.

Pricing:

• The monetary exchanges I offer for Compassionate Inquiry Sessions, Compassionate Inquiry Private Mentoring and Akashic Records are all listed on my website. For Compassionate Inquiry sessions, I offer a wide sliding scale range. Please be aware this is my primary source of income and my full time job. If the sliding scale offerings are beyond your financial capacity at this time, I invite you to bring this to my attention. I offer a complimentary phone call for those interested in connecting prior to experience Compassionate Inquiry with me. www.heartpeacehealing.com

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.heartpeacehealing.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heartpeacehealing
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heartpeacehealing
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@heartbodywisdom
• Other: https://achten.bandcamp.com/album/powns

Image Credits

All images and graphic design are by me – Leigh Aschoff