🐉The Real Cost of Embodying Your True Self | “I Came Here to Be Loved, Not Liked” with Ashley Arasaki

What does it really cost to stop performing and start living as your unapologetic true self? In today's episode, I sit down with Ashley Arasaki to explore what it actually costs to become your unapologetic true self. We talk about the messy, beautiful, and often uncomfortable realities of spiritual growth, from grief and dark nights of the soul to learning how to live in alignment with your truth without abandoning yourself in the process.Ashley shares her journey from connecting with spiritual practices in her youth to the work she does today as a therapist and artist, weaving together grounded healing, creativity, intuition, and embodiment in a way that feels deeply human.Together we explore:✨The cost and immense benefit to embodying your truth✨How to even know who you are and what you value ✨ How grief can become a portal to intuitive gifts and deeper self-trust✨ The truth about dark nights of the soul and spiritual transformation✨ Nature’s role in ritual, healing, and reconnecting to ourselves✨ What authentic wellness looks like beyond surface-level trends✨ Sustainable ways to embody your truest self without burnout✨ How to build community without falling into codependency✨ The intersection of spirituality, nervous system healing, creativity, and real lifeThis episode is for anyone navigating transformation, craving deeper connection, or trying to find themselves again beneath the noise of performance, perfectionism, and expectation.If you’ve ever felt the pull toward a more authentic life, while also grieving what it takes to get there,  this conversation will meet you exactly where you are.Connect with Ashley here. Or on Instagram @yosakigirl.  Ashley Arasaki is a multi-disciplinary artist and healer born to parents of Irish and Panamanian descent just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ashley is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker that specializes in the intersections of psycho-spiritual wellness, mindfulness, Usui reiki, grief + trauma work, eating disorders, and cultural identity. The primary clientele Ashley serves are BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities, and those in recovery from eating disorders and chronic trauma. In addition, Ashley is a passionate artist, dedicating herself to her foundational practices of photography and poetry for over the past 15 years. You can find Ashley’s photography on her website, her writing on Substack and Instagram, and features in MOB magazine, Solis Magazine, Condé Nast Travelor, and more. Lastly, Ashley is the creatrix of Thee Priestess Book Club, a non-hierarchical space designed for collaborative group work that fuels literary discussion to explore and study the crossroads of magic, art, science, whimsy, and responsibility of being in service to collective liberation. She is currently living in Portland, Oregon building a beautiful home and married to her best friend. If you ran into Ashley out and about she would most likely be: cloud watching, decoding her latest dream, speaking to flowers, playing with animals, or cuddled up on the couch with some matcha and a good anime. 🔮 Want to connect with April? Do so here. Join my newsletter!Want to say hi or share how this episode landed? Text me. I actually read them✨