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I’m really excited to share this interview and giveaway with you today! I recently met Carol Woodliff and immediately felt a soul connection with her. She had just released her book, From Scared to Sacred: Lessons in Learning to Dance with Life, and I couldn’t wait to read it.

Her book is beautifully written and soulfully shared. In it, Carol talks about her own journey of being afraid to open up to a voice that was speaking to her – through her. A voice that needed so badly for her to share its message of love and hope and warmth. After some (entirely understandable) resistance, she began writing down everything she heard and her life changed because of it.

In her book, Carol shares the guidance that she received as well as offers her own insights and stories. She (like all of us) is still on the journey – and one moment she is dancing with the sacred within her and the next she is dancing with fear. It’s a constant moving in and out, which we all do. The magic of this beautiful universe can really be felt when we open ourselves up to experiencing it fully. Carol does exactly that and invites each of us to join her.

Please read our interview below and then be sure to enter the giveaway – you can win a copy of this wonderful book!

Before I begin the interview, I wanted to share this note that I wrote to Carol, so you can get an inside peek into a beautiful lesson that this book taught me.

Jodi:

I have to be completely honest and share that I had a bit of a meltdown when I first began to read your book. It seemed that you were telling my story, which I write about in my upcoming book, Coming Back to Life: How An Unlikely Friend Helped Me Reclaim My True Spirit. I had just completed my first draft and was so excited about finishing it and taking the next steps to get it out into the world. And then your book arrived. And you had a very similar message and told it in a very similar way. During this meltdown (that of course came 100% from my ego), I wondered why I had completely changed my life to follow this guidance that I was receiving and stretched way beyond my comfort zone to write this book and share a message that I was told needed to be heard – what was the point of my doing all of that when your book already did that?

After I sat with that and calmed down (keep in mind, this is before I had even gotten more than a few pages in with your book), I remembered something:

At the core, our messages are all the same. They may be packaged differently, but they are all the same. The messenger may look different or sound different or go about sharing things differently, but when you really get to the heart of it all, we are all the same and so are our messages.

So it was okay that our books and messages are similar. Once I began reading it and diving into it, I realized that you were drawing upon your personal experience. And that’s what I do in my book. And that’s what we all do – our own experiences are all that we have. And so no two deliveries of the message are going to be the same. That’s why we are each needed – every single one of us. Because we are sharing our love and light in a way that no one else ever could.

So thank you for sharing your beautiful message with me and for reminding me of this powerful lesson.

Carol:

Thank you for being so honest.  I fought using my own personal experiences.  I didn’t want to be that vulnerable and naked!  But Spirit kept pushing me, saying “people need to hear your story.” I think that we are supposed to be sharing from that vulnerable beautiful human place because the world is out of practice at doing so.  I’m sure you will say something in a way that will get the message to different people than the way I say it.  The world needs all of us right now, doesn’t it?  The more people share their stories, the less alone we all will feel.   Your book is important or you wouldn’t have gotten that strong of message to deliver it.  There is no new information–just information packaged in a way that different people can hear.  And maybe they need to read both books to lock it deeper in their consciousness.

***

Can you tell us more about The Voice and how you first heard it – experienced it? Did you embrace it right away or were you freaked out?

In the introduction to the book, I describe feeling like I was missing something big, something important.  I had been searching for answers for a long time and wasn’t any closer to finding them.  I threw my hands in the air and asked the Universe “What do You Want Me to DO?” like a bratty child   It was a not-so-elegant moment of surrender.

I decided to get my journal out and write down everything that was flowing through my mind.  I began writing what all the familiar voices of doubt and worry were saying to me and then there was this shift and The Voice came forward.  Hard to describe it felt like someone new was whispering inside my head.  I got chills and tears filled my eyes as I wrote:  “We have many books to write, many stories to tell many miracles to perform and we want to use you!”  I was both amazed and incredulous at the same time, and yes, a little freaked out.   I wondered if I were delusional and at the same time felt a connection to something that was so pure I couldn’t deny it.

The first three months or so of writing, only a few close friends knew what I was going through.  Thankfully they were supportive.   I was testing the connection. I had moments where I felt very uncomfortable,  moments where I felt much joy, moments where I felt like I was being guided by something so much bigger than me and moments where I thought—“Perhaps you are making this all up.”   I kept wondering what it all meant. In the book I jokingly call it feeling “spiritually bi-polar.”  I would feel so good as I took down the messages and then later I’d crash because I didn’t feel up to the challenge of living them.  In retrospect, I can see that I had been being guided at different times before the book but the experience of writing everyday was where I learned how to tune in regularly and trust it.

This was my favorite passage from the book:

Life isn’t a test. It is an opportunity for our spirits to experience our humanness in this wonderful dance we call life! It is a continual dance of becoming – not a destination. It has taken me a lifetime (maybe many lifetimes) to come to this point, where I can listen and step forward into unknown, the mystery, the connection and let the beauty of it take my breath away. There is no destination named “sacred” but there is a magical journey of choosing to be led by the highest connection within. When we do this we are at our most sacred. It is a reclaiming and a rediscovery of what is already there. We remember and we forget. We come in and out of the dance with that part of ourselves. Fortunately, our spirits are very forgiving partners; they always welcome us back to the dance with open arms.

I love how you never pretend to be someone who has this whole spiritual practice/living the sacred life thing all figured out. You are in and out of the dance – practicing and going within and continuing to show up for yourself. That’s so refreshing and inspiring.

Thank you.  I knew if I was going to put the book out there, I had to be completely authentic about the journey.  It would too hard to walk around pretending I had it all figured out.

If you could only share one way that you’ve grown throughout this journey, what would it be?

I’m much more compassionate for my own and everyone else’s humanness.  I learned not to look at the ego human self as though it was defective but part of the “operating equipment” I needed to learn to use. I am much more willing to say, “I don’t know” and be okay with things unfolding without me knowing how it is all going to work out.

I love how Scared becomes Sacred just by switching two letters around. It feels that way to me in life – I frequently say that spirit/life/love are just a breath away. And sometimes they feel so far away, but really they are just a conscious choice and a remembering away. How were you able to shift from Scared to Sacred in your own life?

I don’t have it completely mastered. I think it is something we have to keep choosing over and over again, every day of our lives.  It can be very easy to lose focus.  I used to beat myself up for “going there”– focusing on fear based thoughts or projections, judging others etc.   But I found the doorway for me is to as Byron Katie would say is to “Love What Is.”  When I’m in fear, the way to the Sacred is to “to hold the fear like a child,” meaning not to try to talk myself out of it but to really hear it and love it. The Buddhist compassion meditation practice called Tonglen has been very helpful.  It is a very simple practice that helps me shift to heart space very quickly.  You sit and as you breathe in you accept the feeling and then you breathe out compassion.  After several rounds of accepting your own feeling you connect to all others who may be having as similar human experience and breathe out compassion for them.  You said in your question that love is really only a breath away and I love that!    I believe in asking for assistance from the Divine Presence of the Universe to help me see things differently. I think the willingness to ask for that shift is one of the key things we can do.

Our experiences with meditation were very similar – neither of us wanted to sit still. I love how you eased into it by not calling it meditation – it was just a time where you were going to sit and listen to some soothing music. It was a way to sort of trick your mind into showing up. How did your life change after you showed up for yourself every day for 6 months? 

I found that I was more connected to myself and my own internal knowing.  I was able to put things in perspective easier because I was checking in with myself every day. I also felt my intuitive gifts become clearer.

Do you still “sit still” on a daily basis?

I wish I could say I’m always consistent.  But I’m not. I do well for weeks or months at a time.  Then the part of me that is the “doer” likes to tell me that there are other things that are more important.  I start feeling disconnected and out of sorts and I realize it has been days since I sat.  I recently had to recommit to sitting every day again.  All I can do is begin again and laugh at myself.   It is another one of those great parts about being human, we often know what to do but it takes discipline and commitment to stick with it.

You have taken a complete leap of faith to live the life that your soul was urging you to live. You quit your job. You wrote this book. You are sharing this message. How does it feel to be freefalling and floating and soaring?

Most days it feels great. Life is this big mystery unfolding in front of me and I’m excited to be on the journey. I look at my life now and can’t believe how different things are now than a little over four years ago when I started to take down the Messages of The Voice.  I’ve been guided to study ancient wisdom and energy healing techniques and traveled to Peru to receive Rites from a tribe called the Q’ero.  I never would have thought I’d be studying shamanic techniques and holding ceremonies around a fire for people.  Yet it feels like something I have done forever. There are times when I become aware of how big of a leap of faith I took. I’m really fortunate to have many supportive people who will hold space for me when I begin to doubt or fear.   I think we all need that if we are going to step into the best version of ourselves.

Do you still hear The Voice as often as you used to? If so, are you continuing to write down what it is sharing? If not, do you miss it at all?

The Voice is more integrated into my everyday life now.  I don’t have to stop and write to hear it.  I connect with it in my healing and intuitive work with clients, and when I’m trying to figure out what do in my own life.  Most days I can tune in and hear it without much effort.

I just recommitted to sitting down for that hour of listening with my journal after many months of not doing it.   It was like coming home. I am open to where I’m going to be led next by the process.

What would you like someone who reads your book to take away with them? What is the message that you want to shine through and reach from your heart into theirs?

Funny I think the paragraph that you picked out as your favorite, is my take away.  We are here to experience everything being human has to offer and to love ourselves and others as we all are dancing the dance of life.  I want to encourage readers to take their own journey. It is why I added the questions at the end of each chapter.  I’ve already been blessed with some beautiful emails from readers sharing their experiences with the book and Spirit. As the voice said, “You are the place where heaven and earth meet,”  I think it is imperative right now that we all ask ourselves this question, “What can I do to add more heaven here on earth today?

Carol is graciously giving away 1 copy of From Scared to Sacred: Lessons in Learning to Dance with Life!

Entering is super easy!

1. Follow Carol Woodliff and Soul Speak on Facebook.
2. Leave a comment below sharing what you are most looking forward to about Carol’s book.  (If you’re reading via a reader or email, please click here to be taken to the post.)

One lucky winner will be chosen randomly on 8/31 at 11:59 pm pst.

Good luck!

If you order From Scared to Sacred by 8/31, you’ll receive some amazing bonus gifts – including session time with Carol, recorded medtitations, ebooks and free music! All of the details are here: http://fromscaredtosacred.com

P.S. – Just a few more days to save $20 off of my Coming Back to Life Ecourse! Please click on the banner below to read all about it and sign up. I can’t wait to take this journey together! (Carol shares her heart in the course, too!)