KATIE HESS
Goddesses Share Their Secrets…
What is success to you?
Success to me is engaging in activities that make a difference in people’s lives. Even if only if only ONE person’s life is profoundly and positively affected, that’s worth it. I also love the ability to create beautiful experiences and a vision that people can align with, and have that support myself, my family, my team and the community.
What is magic for you?
Tiny synchronicities. Signs in nature. Flowers + their tremendous, transformative powers. Trees + their wisdom. Mother Earth in her ancient + vast knowingness. Poetry, creative writing + the way the cream (and magical insights) rise to the top if you allow yourself to be as honest as possible. Unavoidable, transformative meetings with people that change you or your life in some way. The way that meditation, meaningful rituals, devotion, prayer + spirituality evolve + deepen our lives in a tangible way.
What is love for you?
Hmmm. True love is unconditional, yet so difficult to truly be without conditions. It’s a constant practice of loving yourself so much that you’re not seeking love from the outside, and subsequently the ability to let people be free to be themselves and do what they do – without expectations and attachments. Harder said than done, but the practice itself is what grows us. Sometimes love breaks our hearts open, so that more light can come in – sometimes it comes like a lightning flash + we don’t understand its power or where it came from. Other times it’s slow-growing and malleable and enduring. Most importantly though, as a starting point, I believe, is this practice of loving ourselves. Our ability to love others is in proportion to our our ability to love + cherish ourselves.
What is your beauty / health practice?
Meditation, breathing, spending time in nature … for inner beauty, which naturally translates into outer beauty without even trying! Experiencing more spaciousness, insights and openness to whatever arises is the best health practice too.
And also I love to:
Take breaks. Go outside. Get fresh air. Drink water. Eat dark chocolate. Focus on the little things that bring joy + beauty. Avoid sugar, wheat, dairy + processed foods. Eat lots of mangos! Put oils on the skin. Experiment with herbs, superfoods + supplements that nourish.
What makes your spirit glow?
Creativity. Making beautiful things or leading beautiful projects. Salsa dancing. Transformative meditation, awareness practices + prayer. The Earth under our feet, the leaves of the dancing trees in the breeze + sunlight. Hot springs. Asian bathhouses. Travel to Asia + eating all kinds of yummy, healthy food. Crazy, exotic, beautiful, transformative flowers! Buddhist monks/nuns chanting + the crazy wisdom yogis + rinpoches that make magic.
How do you stay centered in the middle of chaos?
I embrace the chaos. And try to get as quiet, still + aware within it as possible – the eye of the storm.
More practical everyday actions might include:
Spending time in nature. Meditation. Just taking a minute to breathe outside and feel connected to the trees, flowers, earth and everything around me. Remembering the profound quality of life, how precious and fleeting everything is.
What causes / organizations are you passionate about?
My passions reside quietly within me, in my life as a role model + in all the conversations I have with people. Some things that come to mind are: healthy eating according to the needs of your body, healthy alternatives to medication if desired, the importance of caring for our parents when they are aging or dying, the ability to have babies in a place where there are no sick people if desired, and learning how to work with intense emotions to help transform our lives.
If you could say one thing to the world what would you say?
Mother Earth is absolutely here to support us, if we tune in and open up to it, providing soooooo many forms of nourishment for physical, emotional and spiritual health, in the form of trees, plants, flowers, healing foods, herbs, flower elixirs and magical insights and lessons if we listen. We are not alone – we are always supported in our quest for balance, vitality, growth and transformation of our hearts.
How do you Mother the world?
I care deeply. I create elixirs that help people see their own potential + try to get them in as many hands as possible. I dedicate my activities to the happiness of all sentient beings. I extend gentleness, softness, kindness … and am teaching myself how to also be equally as discerning, fearless and fierce.
Also, we have events called Flowerlounges, in which we create experiences for people to rediscover what’s most important to them. We have a 7-city tour coming up in July ~ would love to see your readers there!
-Katie Hess
Flower Alchemist + Founder
LOTUSWEI
www.lotuswei.com