E6: Intention + Inspiration with Anastasia Allison, founder of Kula Cloth
Is 2023 the year you prioritize finding your version of Wellness in the Wilderness? Looking for inspiration to weave more intention into all aspects of your life?
This week we're chatting with Anastasia Allison, founder of Kula Cloth, about how her decision to let life be easy has transformed the way she experiences life and continues to innovate in her business. Through the power of shared story, we're excited to tap into the sense of possibilities that a new year brings, and share some rituals and activities that have helped us breathe life into our wildest dreams.
ABOUT OUR GUEST:
Anastasia is the founder of a gear company called Kula Cloth ® , which makes the very first antimicrobial pee cloth for anybody who squats when they pee. As a former park ranger and backpacking instructor, Anastasia was frustrated by the amount of toilet paper that she saw discarded in the wilderness - and she decided to create an intentional piece of gear that could help solve that problem. While Kula Cloth started as a piece of gear, the company now hosts events and has transformed into a global community of artists, dancers and lovers of the outdoors.
A lifelong musician, Anastasia is also the violinist for a duo called The Musical Mountaineers. Alongside pianist Rose Freeman, the two women carry a violin and a keyboard deep into the mountains to play unannounced sunrise serenades for no audience, except an occasional marmot and the Cascade Mountains. The pair has performed at Benaroya Hall in Seattle to benefit the Washington National Parks Fund.
In addition to running a gear company and performing music, Anastasia lives in a cabin on a lake with her husband Aaron and their 3 cats.
IN THIS EPISODE:
Where did the idea for Kula Cloth come from?
Did Anastasia get any resistance to the idea when she shared it with friends and family?
What keeps her going in the face of uncertainty and other people's fear?
Intention is woven into everything Anastasia does at Kula Cloth - was she always this in tune with intention or has building this business given her an opportunity to hone those skills?
How did she start to build a morning routine? What are some of the tools in her toolbox?
How did the Dance Experiment start and what inspires her to keep dancing every day, two years later?
What is coming up in 2023 and how can people get involved
CONNECT WITH ANASTASIA + KULA CLOTH:
Visit the Kula Cloth website
Meet up with the Kula Community at the Kula Abundance Tour
Follow Kula Cloth on Instagram
Follow Anastasia on Instagram
LISTEN HERE:
SHOW TRANSCRIPT:
Please note, we use Otter.ai to transcribe episodes and while the technology is impressive, it’s not completely accurate. Please excuse any missed words, nonsensical sentences, and missed interpretations of foreign language below:
Announcer 00:00
Since 1984, Sawyer has existed to support your wildest adventures. Learn about their advanced insect repellents and family of technical Lightweight Water filters@sawyer.com. Welcome to Wellness in the Wilderness. Come with us on the trail of life as we inspire you to take a step outdoors to disconnect from the distractions and reconnect with yourself. Sydney Williams in our guests will motivate you to get active and get well. Now, here is Sydney.
Sydney Williams 00:38
All right, everybody, welcome to Wellness in the W ilderness. I'm your host Sydney Williams, author and founder of Hiking My Feelings and today I'm broadcasting live from the ancestral lands of the Kumeyaay People now known as Julian California. Last week, we were on Catalina Island and we announced that we're moving there and since then, I am not gonna lie, I have a little bit of an emotional hangover. In the best way. It's been a long time since we've made any kind of announcement that's not just like, Oh, we're doing a retreat or Oh, I feel great today. So it's kind of cool to see some names coming out of the woodwork as far as the support and the highs and the congratulations and all the high fives virtual and in real life from our friends family and the Hiking My Feelings community. So thanks for the love made the holidays feel just lovely and wonderful. So I appreciate you and also happy new year if you are tuning in for the first time. Welcome to Wellness in the Wilderness. This show is all about how we can find just peace and joy and happiness and places to process and feel really good about ourselves and try to make the world a little bit better than we found it outside. And we do that by talking to really epic humans and today's epic human is no exception to the epic human role. Today we're going to be speaking with Anastasia Allison. She is the founder of a gear company called Kula Cloth, which makes the very first anti microbial pee cloth for anybody who squats when they pee. As a former park ranger and backpacking instructor Anastasia was frustrated. Frustrated, I say by the amount of toilet paper she could see discarded in the wilderness, and she decided to create an intentional piece of gear that could help solve that problem. How many of us have been like having the best day ever on the trail and then you're like, well, toilet paper that ruined it. Anastasia is on a mission to reduce that experience. And while Kula Cloth has started as a piece of gear, the company now hosts events and is transformed into a global community of artists, dancers and lovers of the outdoors. A lifelong musician Anastasia is also the violinist for a duo called the Musical Mountaineers, alongside pianists Rose Freeman. The two women carry a violin and a keyboard deep into the mountains to play on announced sunrise serenades for no audience, except for an occasional Marmot and the Cascade Mountains. The parents formed at Benaroya Hall in Seattle and to benefit the Washington National Parks fund. In addition to running a gear company and performing music, Anastasia lives in a cabin on a lake with her husband, Aaron and their three cats, which, if you're following us on social media, you've seen one of the cats majestic and if you were on Zoom doing this interview, like I am right now live with Anastasia, you would see this beautiful cabin that she lives in in the woods. It's so pretty. It's the stuff dreams are made of. And today we're talking about intention and inspiration. And if you haven't met Anastasia yet, sit down, buckle up, bring your notebook, probably some things you're going to want to jot down from this one. Welcome to the show, Anastasia.
Anastasia Allison 03:35
Thank you so much, Sydney.
Sydney Williams 03:38
Jeez, I, I So full disclosure, I every time we chat, I know that it's gonna go great, because you're great. And I'm great. And greatness together is wonderful. Also, I always leave here being more inspired than I was before I started and I'm feeling pretty darn inspired today. So like, my first question to myself is how could this possibly get better? And my first question to you is, I kind of want to take a little trip down memory lane, can we do that?
Anastasia Allison 04:08
Let's do it. The better it gets, the better it gets.
Sydney Williams 04:10
Okay, the better it gets. So we're going to talk about a lot of things today we're going to talk about Anastasia's morning routine. We're going to talk about how she's been dancing every day for two years straight. She calls it an experiment. I call it a revolution. But before we get into that, let's talk about Kula Cloth. Where were you? And what were you doing when you had the idea to create a piece of intentional gear to help folks who squat when they pay?
Anastasia Allison 04:34
I was on a backpacking trip in the Wind River Range in Wyoming. And this is a little embarrassing to admit, but I was actually taking a photograph of my own pee cloth which at the time was the sort of ugly scrap of blue fabric that I was using. And I had had this idea to take a photograph of my pee cloth and all these beautiful environments as a joke. And I was going to make a series of greeting cards with pee cloth images on them to send to a friend as a gift, just to be funny. And it is this spectacular sunset and one of the most beautiful campsites I've ever stayed at in my life. And I'm taking this beautiful photo of my pee cloth when all of a sudden, it was like a little lightning bolt like came into my mind. And it just said, Why isn't that a real piece of gear. And that was sort of the spark that started Kula Cloth for me.
Sydney Williams 05:42
I love it when I find parallels and synchronicities and likenesses between these pivotal moments that I've experienced in my life and the people that I get to interview. And so for you to be in the back country, like the visual of this is just astounding and really fun for us to all process together. So here's Anastasia making art out of something she wipes with, because that doesn't, if that doesn't tell you enough about Anastasia and her mentality and the way she sees the world. I don't know what to tell you. But I, I love this. Synchronicity I'm finding here where like, I was on top of a mountain and I'm like, no, no views. Hmm, I feel good. Sounds like I'm feel like I'm hiking my feelings and eating and drinking them. And you're out here making art out of things you wipe with and you're like, Huh, why isn't this a real thing? Like I this is cool. And I feel like we should do something about it. So you did. And you had this idea. And spoiler alert, I know that you run this with Mare, your sister. But did you experience any kind of resistance when you share this idea with friends and family?
Anastasia Allison 06:47
Initially, before Kula was a real thing that people could touch or see. And I shared the idea with people, I definitely got some eye roles. I remember people thinking like, well, nobody people telling me like nobody's ever gonna buy that, like, why would somebody buy that? Or what are you going to do, and everybody has bought one, and you have nobody left to sell them to or nobody's going to ever want a pee cloth with art on it. I was raised pretty traditionally. And well, my parents have always been like super supportive of everything that I've ever done. My dad is a pretty traditional guy. And so the idea of me quitting my job to start a company that makes a piece of fabric that is essentially reusable toilet paper, I think it it brought up some fears in other people who really cared about me. And in the beginning of an idea, when it's just this tiny seed in your heart, it is easy to take on those fears from other people. But you really sort of have to protect and nurture that seed and trust your own intuition. And, and understand that those people are often coming from a place of love in their fear, but that you know yourself best. And you if you feel inspired to do something, you sort of have to go after it. And it's just all part of the process.
Sydney Williams 08:19
Yeah, I feel like when you get inspired like that, or when you have an idea that is so like I the language I use to describe my moment is this universal two by four smacking me in the face and like, it was consensual and it wasn't violent. It was like more of like a playful tap, perhaps because I don't want to associate something so life changing with something so viscerally not kind. But I feel like when we have these moments, we it's, it's borderline rude for us not to pursue this. And for us not to just give it all we got. So what inspired you to push forward through the eye rolls and the the fears and I to me, and I appreciate you calling that out, too. Like, we're just, we're just all doing the best we can with what we got our parents were like, Hey, I love you. And also, this kind of brings up some stuff for me that I'm not sure what to do with because I wouldn't quit my job to make reusable toilet paper that could also be art. Anastasia, tell us your ways, like what what keeps you going in the face of uncertainty and other people's fear?
Anastasia Allison 09:24
Well, you know, I love that you said that it sort of taps you on the shoulder because I feel like when you've sort of been given a gift like this, like an idea and you know if you have there's like an intensity to it that you can't describe like it doesn't go away. It's there. It keeps coming up. And frankly, the first time that I had the idea for this pee cloth, I did try to push it away. I went home from that backpacking trip and I did a little bit of research on textiles and And right away all of those limiting beliefs that I had carried around for most of my life, like, Oh, you, you can't afford this, or nobody's gonna buy this or somebody else is already doing it, you know, the usual suspects, they all popped up and I listened to them. That was in 2016, I had had the idea, and I did nothing with it. And in January of 2017, I would say that I was at a pretty low spot in my life, I was very negative about my job, I was complaining all the time, I was just sort of hitting this right like dark night of the soul. And it was during that time that I had a, I sort of call it a near death experience. I was driving home from snowshoeing in January of 2017. And our truck hit a patch of black ice and spun across the highway into the path of an oncoming semi truck. And in that moment, it was very surreal. Everything was kind of in slow motion. But there was no fear. It was just this sort of moment that I can't even describe and that incident, and I would never wish anything that dramatic on anybody else who's listening. But that incident just jarred me so much. I went home, and I looked at my life, and realize, like, in the face of my own mortality, there was an absence of fear. And yet, I looked at all of these other things that I wanted to do with my life and realized that fear was the thing that was holding me back from all of them. And I started to question whether or not I was the one manufacturing that fear. And it was really that incident that shook me and was the catalyst for making a decision. Like you have to start changing your life, the more that you focus on everything that you think is wrong with your life, you're missing out on the fact that you actually have a life. And you're you wake up in the morning and your heart beats. And I started doing all these gratitude meditations, and just finding just an absolute appreciation like deep and profound appreciation for life. And it was during that time that I started an online Facebook group, teaching people about hiking about the outdoors. And that is when this idea for the pee cloth came back. Except this time, the difference was, is that I had nothing to be afraid of anymore. Like, you know, what, what was, what was the worst that could happen? People didn't buy my pee cloth. Like,
Sydney Williams 12:58
I'm not getting hit by a semi, right, like,
Anastasia Allison 13:00
oh, well, somebody didn't buy my pee cloth. And it was like just absolute freedom. I went into it with sort of no fear. And I was so excited. And there was this intensity about it that was unstoppable. Like you describe how, you know, people can be sort of the naysayers into your dreams and project their own fears onto you out of love, most likely. But none of that, it was almost like none of that had an effect on me because I could see it, I could see the love that that was at the root of it. And that's what I chose to look at, I didn't choose to listen to the surface fears anymore. I chose to see the love underneath of those fears, and say that's what this is about. And I can feel in my heart that there is such an intensity to want to create this product for whatever reason, I feel so called to do it, that I can't not do it. And that was in 2017 is sort of when I started developing the product itself, and then actually launched the product in 2018. And it has just been the most beautiful adventure.
Sydney Williams 14:21
It's been so much fun to to kind of go back down memory lane and also to have the time and space between like ideas stages in 2016 and the resurfacing of a pushed aside idea or a nudge from the universe. And 2017 It's nice to have the time and space between that especially after a pandemic, especially with all the growth that I've seen from Kula since they since you started, started selling and 2018 and that's when we connected and thinking back about how you got started and how you can't not do it. There's I gotta believe that it's not just you and me, Anastasia that have felt this. So if people are listening and you've had that moment at You're gonna get a phone number on this, like upcoming commercial break, please call in and like, share that moment with us, like, Tell us, what was your universal nudge And like, what have you done with that? Or did you miss one and you're like curious about how to bring it back in or like recognize it next time because like, I, we can't be the only people that have these moments. And it's so profound that I want everybody to be aware of what those look like feel like smell like tastes like, so people don't miss it. Because the thing that I'm hearing from you Anastasia, is you couldn't not do it. And like you were so driven to do it. And what I see on the on the outside, looking in looking at Kula Cloth and everything you guys do. Intention is like, it is like the foundation of things that are happening. Like it's an intentional product, like you saw a problem you intended to solve it. You had this idea you intended to pursue it like, Have you always been so intentional, or is this something that has kind of been a practice through building Kula, where you've had an opportunity to really hone in on this intentionality and how you live your life this way.
Anastasia Allison 16:05
I think it has really gotten more honed in I think when you start a gear company, you think you're starting one thing, right? Like, I'm gonna make gear and I'm gonna sell it to people. And you realize that if that is your only point that you're just constantly like chasing things, right? Like, oh, I need to sell this many of this or I need to sell this many of that. And what I've discovered through Kula is that it's not about that it's about something deeper. And for me finding ways to infuse that intention and connection and love and kindness, like how can I make the product be a vehicle for something more important. And that is what I tried to put into everything that we do with Kula because that that's a business model that doesn't fail, right? Because your goal isn't necessarily like, I want to sell X amount of pee cloths. My goal is, I want to bring goodness to people like it's not necessarily what you do on the journey, but it's how you show up when you're doing it. And you can bring so much kindness and love to every single interaction that you do, and not miss the point of what you're actually doing that it's not the pee cloths that you're selling, that are the most important part. Maybe it's taking two minutes to write a note to a customer and you know, what's the ripple effect of that? And so, for me, Kula has just become so much more meaningful than a piece of gear. And I'm really proud of that.
Sydney Williams 17:55
Yes. Okay. So when we get back from this break, we're going to pick up where we left off. And we're going to talk about how in order to have this be a business that is done differently. And it's not just about selling things like it, it can't fail, because we will don't want it to and we won't allow it to and one of the ways that we don't allow it to is to create time and space for ourselves as people who work as people who produce to be able to recharge so we can keep bringing our best so when we come back we'll talk to Anastasia about how she finds time every single day to bring intention to her life so that she can share it through kula cloth. We'll be right back
Announcer 18:41
Have you ever spoken unkind to yourself? Do you realize when you do? Are you ready to make changes but find yourself completely paralyzed by the choices in front of you. We live in a hyper connected always on world. And frankly, it's exhausting. Let's make time to disconnect from the distractions and reconnect with yourself. Hiking My Feelings exists to help people discover the healing power of nature. kickstart your healing journey and grab a copy of the book that started our movement, Hiking My Feelings, stepping into the healing power of nature, named one of Audible's best hiking audiobooks and available wherever books are sold. Visit hikingmyfeelings.org today to learn more. Sawyer is more than an outdoor company, every Sawyer product you buy, contributes to our common humanity, bringing Sawyer water filtration systems to people in need all around the world. In just 2022 alone. 260,000 households in over 45 countries received clean drinking water through Sawyer filters. Over the past 10 years, we've teamed up with over 140 charities in 80 countries to provide long term sustainable relief domestically, internationally and in disaster situations. Together we're saving millions of lives. Thank you Ready to find your wellness in the wilderness and look no further than Hiking My Feelings through a combination of community and self discovery. Our programs are designed to give you the space and support to connect life starts. If you're looking to figure out who you are underneath the stories you've been given, and are ready to redesign the map of where you're headed, with actionable steps and opportunities to dream big, we're here to walk alongside you. Whether you're a seasoned adventure enthusiast, or brand new to the healing power of nature. We've got your back. Visit hikingmyfeelings.org today to download our free trail bots worksheets and learn more about Hiking My Feelings. It's your world, motivate, change, succeed. Voice America empowerment.com. You're listening to Wellness in the Wilderness with Sydney Williams? Have a question for Sydney and our guests. Join us on the show at 888-346-9141. That's 88834691 for one. Now back to the show with Sydney.
Sydney Williams 21:18
All right, welcome back to Wellness in the Wilderness. I'm your host Sydney Williams and I'm here with Anastasia Allison, the founder of Kula Cloth. Inspiring, intentional, oh man, I wish I had another I word off the top of my head like I feel like three is like the number that makes people happy. And you're a poet you already know it. So I'm sure you can probably help me find one. Before the break we were talking with Anastasia about the early days of Kula Cloth. And for those of you that haven't heard me tell the early days of the Hiking My Feelings story, I also tend to get a little bit choked up because it does really bring back a lot of feelings like that that initial hit of inspiration that has driven these journeys that we've been on, you know, respectively different but kind of same same. And we were also talking about choosing love over fear how Anastasia recognize some of the fears that she had before life death, like a near death experience, were fears that she kind of created. And sure they came from other places. But ultimately, she had a choice. And she decided to choose love. And when she did, things just got really awesome, like more awesome than they already were. So Anastasia, before we left for the break. That's what we were chatting about. Now. I'm curious, one of the things that you said in the last segment was about how these businesses are like they can't fail if we have the right expectation and the right intention and the right idea and heart space that we're operating from within these spaces. I'm curious. When you first started, did you have like this big robust, it's only Anastasia time right now? Or were you like most of us, please say you were like most of us. Were you like obsessively read emails and negative reviews and felt sad or like have you always just been like so empowered and free? Because of your intentional practices, like a morning routine?
Anastasia Allison 23:09
Oh, I definitely had had none of that.
Sydney Williams 23:13
Thank God, She's real everybody. She's real.
Anastasia Allison 23:16
I'm real. I was like Doom scrolling internet before Doom scrolling. The internet was a thing. I mean, I remember reading some of the first like, you know, especially when Kula first launched and people were hearing about this pee cloth. Some of the emails that I got. I mean, I would really take them to heart. I couldn't even go into Facebook groups if I knew that Kula Cloth had been mentioned, because it would give me such anxiety. I'm like, Don't they know that they're literally like piercing a knife in my heart right now? Don't they know. And so I did not have a really like regular morning routine. I will say after the Near Death incident that I mentioned earlier, that's really sort of what kind of shifted me into deciding to start a meditation practice. I started it really, really small. And that's honestly what I would recommend for most people because trying to do some elaborate morning routine right off the bat is just not going to stick. And for the most part, most people I would say live in somewhat of a state of like busyness and stress and a little bit of overwhelm. And what happens is we're always like pushing off that piece right? Like I'll be at peace or at ease once this next thing is done. Or once I've achieved this or once I get through this semester or once this project is done at work, then I'll find peace and I was the same way it was always, like, once I get through this, then I'll then I'll, you know, calm down and settle down. And it was weird. But like the busier things got, the more stressed out I got, the more negative I got, it just seemed like it just kept getting worse and worse. And when I had that near death experience, it was like the brakes sort of got put on a little bit. And suddenly, I didn't try to go out and change my life situation right away, I decided to just start from within. And of course, we all will eventually come to the realization that that is the place where change is made, you start within, you start changing within you start finding peace within, and then your outside life situation, external conditions start to rearrange themselves to match the peace you feel inside, it's not the other way around. You don't need the spa, to find peace, you need to find peace first. And then you're gonna get an invite to the spa. And so what happened I started with like one minute meditations, one minute gratitude practices, because I knew that that was something I could stick with. And it was wild. But I started doing it and my life started to change. Like I was still doing the same stuff. But it just nothing seemed to bother me as much anymore. Like I just had, like such a different sense of stillness and contentment and satisfaction with where I was, and people seemed like they were being nicer. And I just thought, was everybody being nicer? Or is this just me, right? Like, but because I was generating more peace and happiness from within myself. That was my attraction point. So I was sort of moving through life finding similar things like, I'm a magnet to what I feel inside. And so I started out very, very small. And then over the years, as my life situation has continued to change, and has continued to open up and expand, I've been able to develop that morning routine, I now have much more time to devote to it. And I have recognized also that it's the most important part of my day, the most important part of my day is not waking up at 4 am and answering emails, I don't do that, like, I see my job at Kula Cloth as sort of maintaining a really high energy of creativity, and abundance and love and just connection to to to life itself. And the way that I do that is by spending that time intentionally every day connecting with myself connecting with nature, I often liken it to laying out my welcome mat for the day, like, what do I want to attract into my life today? And what do I want my welcome not to look like and it started small and it has turned into quite a process now. But it is like my favorite part of my day is is waking up and, and doing my morning routine?
Sydney Williams 28:16
Well, I there's so many things I want to kind of pull out of that. So deal with me while I do. First one. One of the best things that I heard in 2022 Like I've been doing meditation in some way, shape or form for a while now. But like last year, specifically, I heard words that made sense to me on like a cellular level. And it was at our retreat on Catalina Island and our C0-creator Kaleo Wassman. He's a musician. He's the lead vocalist and plays guitar for a band called Pepper. Him and his wife run Rebel & Muse and they partner with us on retreats, they host retreats of their own. And he said during a like mindfulness meditation breathworky kind of workshop at our retreat on Catalina. He said, quite simply, meditation, for me is my opportunity to meet myself each morning. And I was like, oh, okay, so for me, meeting myself isn't necessarily sitting on my tuffet with my legs crossed in my hands and like some kind of like, meditation looking position based on what I've seen on the internet. Meditation for me is like when I journal and I literally asked myself, like, what does Sydney need today? And that's meditation. And I love what you were saying about starting one minute at a time. And also, you know, throwing me a softball and saying connecting with nature, because I think for folks that are listening, especially this is like week one of January 2023. Like, if we're doing right, if we're on the resolution train, we're in it like we're doing it so if meditation or mindfulness or something is on the minds and hearts of people that are listening right now, do you have a tip for how to like What's one thing they could start tomorrow morning that would help them build a practice that feels good to them?
Anastasia Allison 30:00
They could start, they could start tomorrow morning, or honestly, they could start in the next five seconds by just taking a breath and noticing that you're breathing, and taking an intentional breath. And just feeling that and noticing it, putting your hand on your heart, noticing your heartbeat, and noticing that you're alive. And, you know, so often, we just sort of move through life on autopilot from one thing to the next to the next. And as we're doing those things, we're thinking about what we need to do next. And we're never truly here. We're always lost in our heads. Thinking about things that have happened in the past, or worrying or planning for the future or having imaginary conversations. And a definition of meditation that I've heard that really resonated with me is that meditation is the practice of coming back. It's just coming back to ourselves over and over again. And so just sitting for 10 seconds, and watching your breath come in and out. And when I say watching, I mean just noticing it, feeling it being aware of it. That can be a meditation, or putting a song on your phone and dancing for a couple minutes, going for a walk. And instead of thinking about everything that you have to do that day, like taking slow, intentional steps, noticing your breathing, feeling the air temperature on your skin, stopping and closing your eyes, and just noticing the sensation of air coming in and out of you. It is a life changing practice. And it does not have to be exactly as you said, Sydney, it does not. Meditation does not need to be this idea of somebody who's sitting for hours and hours and hours contemplating or you know, in silence. Meditation can be whatever you want it to be wherever you feel like you are truly connecting with yourself and getting out of out of your head. An easy way to get started, there is an app called Insight Timer, you can download that it's free. And there are literally 1000s and 1000s of meditations, I'd probably recommend finding some that are under three minutes long. Because I really believe that starting really small is the way to make a habit stick. Start small, just do it every day. And remember that consistency is the most important thing when it comes to meditation. Meditation is one of those things that's really easy to do. But it's also easy not to do. And just making it a habit, finding a time every day that you'd like to do it. I like doing it in the morning, because like I said, it's sort of like my welcome mat. Finding whatever works for you. And making it as simple as possible.
Sydney Williams 33:05
I think that there's some really incredible nuggets there. And I think one of them is that the word of consistency, because like we hear a lot of people using the word consistency is their word for 2023. And I love consistency as the word. And I also love that it can be whatever you want it to be. So if consistency is key, that doesn't mean that every single day, you have to sit down and do the exact same thing that consistency could be showing up. The consistency can be the commitment to doing something like I used to think that if I wasn't journaling all day, every day that I wasn't getting the benefits of a journaling practice. It's like sometimes I journal 30 pages at a time sometimes I don't journal for six months. But in the absence or presence of journaling, there are other tools in my toolbox that helped me have this time and space to myself. So I can I love the visual of like my welcome mat for the day. So I can roll out my welcome mat for my day. That's such a beautiful metaphor.
Anastasia Allison 34:06
It is and and you can really see and feel that like in the morning, think about a morning where you wake up and the first thing that you do is hop on the social media and doom scroll or check email, right like ask yourself what is that energy and everybody knows what that is right? It's busyness it's, I need to get more done. Or it's a lack of time. I don't have enough time in the day. So I need to like quickly get through emails, right like and right from the absolute start of your day. What is your energetic set point of attraction, its busyness its urgency, its lack of time. Instead, I would say that most people, right and we train ourselves to think the more that I do, the more emails that I answer the more stuff I get done in And you know, then I can relax. And the key to this is that it's the other way around. It's you find that sense of peace and stillness within yourself, I promise you, all the emails will get answered, everything will get handled, but it will flow so much more smoothly. If the energy that you're starting your day with is one of peace and love and connection and joy, right? Like, if you actually ask people, What energy would you like to lay out on your welcome mat for the day, nobody's going to be like I choose overwhelm give me chaos, give me chaos, nobody wants that. And it's funny because we create it in our attempt to not have it. And really what it is, is like, No, I want to I'm going to cultivate and create peace from within myself. And as a result of that my life situation will change to reflect this inner feeling that I have. And that's something that all of us can do. It is not just me. It's not just somebody who's been meditating on a mountain for six years. It's, it's all of us. And knowing that is so powerful.
Sydney Williams 36:13
Indeed. And I think that one of the other things that we're kind of batting around back and forth, like when you were giving examples, you know, you can go have your meditation, you can do your journaling, you can go for a walk, you can listen to your footsteps, you can turn on music, and you can dance. For those of you that aren't aware, Anastasia, who would not and correct me if I'm wrong, prior to this, and maybe even still present day would not refer to herself as a dancer in the classically trained sense, or the performative space, if you could see the face of Anastasia's making, while I described this, you'll love it. This dancing became a tool in your toolbox, and one that you haven't put down for over two years. Now. When we get back from the break, we're going to talk with Anastasia about that first moment. Because we've all had those moments and maybe you're like reliving a movie scene in your living room. Maybe Shake It Off comes on. This is my personal story. And you're on the phone with your best friend shaking it off because you had a terrible day. Whatever it is for you. What was the thing that put this seed of an idea of an experiment into Anastasia's heart? What was the song that she put on? And how after two years of dancing every single day, like everybody's watching, not just like nobody's watching? Like the entire world can see it? What has this brought to her life? If you're curious, and or if you have questions, give us a call. 1-888-346-9141 That's 888-346-9141 call, talk to Anastasia, talk to me ask us some silly questions. PS she wants to like answer questions about soup. So if you've been like really feeling soupy, just call and ask her. But when we get back, we'll talk about the dance experiment, why it's awesome how you can get involved and what else is going on for Kool Clott in 2023 We'll be right back.
Announcer 38:15
Ready to find your wellness in the wilderness and look no further than Hiking My Feelings through a combination of community and self discovery. Our programs are designed to give you the space and support to connect life starts. If you're looking to figure out who you are underneath the stories you've been given, and are ready to redesign the map of where you're headed. With actionable steps and opportunities to dream big. We're here to walk alongside you. Whether you're a seasoned adventure enthusiast, or brand new to the healing power of nature. We've got your back. Visit hikingmyfeelings.org today to download our free trail thoughts worksheets and learn more about Hiking My Feelings. Sawyer is more than an outdoor company. Every solar product you buy contributes to our common humanity, bringing Sawyer water filtration systems to people in need all around the world. In just 2022 alone. 260,000 households in over 45 countries received clean drinking water through Sawyer filters. Over the past 10 years, we've teamed up with over 140 charities in 80 countries to provide long term sustainable relief, domestically, internationally and in disaster situations. Together we're saving millions of lives. Thank you. Have you ever spoken unkindly to yourself? Do you realize when you do, are you ready to make changes but find yourself completely paralyzed by the choices in front of you? We live in a hyper connected always on world and frankly, it's exhausting. Let's make time to disconnect from the distractions and reconnect with yourself. Hiking My Feelings exists to help people discover the healing power of nature. kickstart your healing journey and grab a copy of the book that started our movement, Hiking My Feelings, Stepping into the Healing Power of Nature, named one of Audible's best hiking audiobooks and available wherever books are sold. Visit hikingmyfeelings.org today to learn more. It's your world, motivate, change, succeed. Voice America empowerment.com. You're listening to Wellness in the Wilderness with Sydney Williams.Have a question for Sydney and our guests? Join us on the show at 888-346-9141. That's 888-346-9141. Now back to the show with Sydney.
Sydney Williams 40:52
All right, welcome back to Wellness in the Wilderness. I'm your host Sydney Williams, and I'm back with Anastasia Allison, founder of Kulu Cloth dancer extraordinaire. An inspiring person who weaves intention into everything she does, whether that's her business, her morning routine, the way she prepares food the way she moves in her body. I don't know I'm sure it's like all of it. So let's get into it. We were talking about how dancing is one of the tools in Anastasia's toolbox for helping her find her version of wellness sometimes in the wilderness. Sometimes in our backyard, sometimes in our bedroom sometimes in a vehicle, who knows where she's finding it, Anastasia, how did this dance experiment get started? And like walk us know, dance us through it.
Anastasia Allison 41:35
I'm ready to dance you through it. So first off, I will say that I quit ballet when I was two years old. So for anybody who might think like, Oh, Anastasia probably had a lot of dance experience prior to this. The answer to that was No, I did not. I was always the person who would specifically tell everybody, oh, I can't dance. And I would sort of be the awkward wallflower at weddings, never wanting to get out on the dance floor. I was bullied as a kid. And so I think I have a lot of lingering fears about what people might think of me or you know, am I doing it wrong? Or do I look dumb. And so the idea of dancing in front of people was actually pretty, pretty horrific to me. But Kula Cloth has really brought out so much in me. And I was filming a little video for our event side of Kula Cloth, we have a sort of a school called the Kula Academy where we run classes and host events. And I was filming a little video as a joke, pretending to be somebody who had taken a class with a Kula Academy. And because of taking that class, they suddenly applied to and were accepted as a Britney Spears, backup dancer. And I filmed this silly video wearing all of my rain gear, dancing to a Britney Spears song. And it was so much fun. I just felt so energized and silly and goofy, like I just really let loose. And it was again, it was like this spark, right? Like, what I talked about the beginning of the show how this idea just seemingly came out of nowhere. And it was this time, it was a question it was, what would happen if you danced every day? And I didn't know the answer to that, because I had never danced every day in my life. In fact, I had danced very little in my life. And so on January 1 of 2021, I decided, You know what, I'm going to just try this, maybe for like a month, it was not a resolution or anything. It was just an experiment. And I'm going to dance for a month, and I'm going to see what happens. And at the very beginning of the dance experiment, I don't know what possessed me to do this, but I shared the videos of myself dancing on my personal Instagram account. And I, of course, was pretty self conscious about it. And I remember thinking, Well, everybody's going to be laughing at me dancing anyway. So what I'm going to do is I'll be listening to sort of this pop dance music in my headphones. But on Instagram stories, I will set the song for that particular story clip to smooth jazz so that it looks funny, right? Like nobody could criticize me dancing. And it's like I was beating them to the punch, right? Like I knew that they were going to be making fun of me anyway. So why don't I just go ahead and make fun of myself ahead of everybody else making fun of me. And it was really silly and I had a lot of fun doing it and I realized maybe about a week or two in like Wow, what is this feeling is this joy? I don't know. Like, I feel so good. It's I feel happy. And I feel this like lightness. Like, I remember being in Trader Joe's. And I was like kind of bopping to the music. And I found myself like dancing in Trader Joe's and dancing at the gas pump. And I just felt this like lightness in my life that I had never experienced before. And so I decided to keep going, and I just danced every single day and never stopped. And today is Day 733 of my my personal dance experiment. I decided last year, or Yeah, I guess it is last year now on January 9 of 2022. I decided, as part of the dance experiment to open up the dance experiment to the Kula Cloth community. So I invited other people to join me and said, hey, we'll do group dance parties together in the morning. And I remember thinking, well, maybe this will last, like, you know, a month or so we'll see how it goes. Well, that was a year ago. And we are still going we are about to celebrate our year anniversary of the dance experiment through Kula Cloth. This is our group dance experiment on January ninth, and in the past year, since I kind of opened up with this group program, I believe close to about 1000 people have danced with me, people from all over the world we have held in person dance parties, we hold virtual dance parties all the time. And it has been the most unexpected and beautiful and fun experience. I mean, when I started a pee cloth company, I never expected that I would be dancing. You know, it's like, I remember, early on in my business, somebody, one of those sort of naysayers in the beginning was like, Well, what's your business plan? How are you going to make money and I just sort of like, look at my business now. And I'm like, how could I have ever come up with this wacky, this wacky of a business plan. And I think it's just being open to like, wherever those little universal nudges have wanted me to go has been so much fun, because it's led me to the most beautiful things like this morning on our virtual dance party. It was somebody's birthday, I actually have five people now who helped me lead these dance classes. And it was one of we call them joy facilitators, and it was one of their birthday. And we had 57 people on a dance party at 6:30am singing Happy Birthday to this woman and we have shared tears together, we dance every morning. And it just turned into something really beautiful and special.
Sydney Williams 48:13
So this is just to make sure I got my headphones on write. This happens every morning?
Anastasia Allison 48:20
Every morning, we have a group dance experiment happens at 6:30am pacific time every morning, I'm in the process of like trying to add some East Coast morning times. But every single morning, we have a group session. Now the thing about the dance experiment is that you don't have to join our group sessions to do a dance experiment. Like you can literally stop listening to the radio show. I mean, don't but like you can literally you can literally go put on a song right now and dance to it and be like, I just started my own dance experiment. I'm going to dance every day. And I'm just going to see what happens. I think the community aspect of it really keeps people going. It keeps people motivated. It creates like a cumulative energy that is really indescribable. Like the community that we have through this dancing is unbelievably special. It anybody who shows up to one of our virtual dance parties, is instantly just, like wrapped up in love and acceptance from this group of humans and it's very, it's wonderful. I can't say enough good things about it. But the cool thing about the dance experiment is you don't need special equipment. You know, you can do this in your bedroom wearing your underwear if you want to. You don't have to buy any anything. It's just about connecting with yourself and the music and, and being open to all the possibilities. Like instead of saying I'm going to dance every day because I want XYZ results. Were saying I'm going to dance every day just to see what happens and Now all of a sudden, you're open to anything, right? Like, had I started dancing and said, I'm going to dance to get in shape, right? Like, that's one possible result that could have happened. But I think because I said, I'm going to dance every day, and I'm going to just be open to whatever happens. All of a sudden, it's like, your, your receptors, right? You're like antennas of ideas are so much more receptive to the infinite ways in which this could translate into something even so much cooler than, like, oh, I got in shape through dancing. And it's been really fun to like, let go of those expectations, and just see what happens. I never thought I'd be doing dance tutorials on YouTube. But I've done like three of them.
Sydney Williams 50:54
Well, I think there's something so special about, like, just being silly and reintroducing play into our lives and doing something for the curiosity of it for the possibility of it rather than the results or how we're measuring it or what is like some kind of metric that we're putting on success for this particular experiment. And I think there's I think there, it for folks that are listening, if they want to get involved. This is just like the gateway drug to manifesting and finding joy. Like if you allow yourself to show up every day, maybe you're dancing, maybe you're not. But if you allow yourself to show up for yourself, every day without fail, no matter what that looks like, after that, like it's pretty hard to not continue and like you build self trust, and you have this relationship with self. And in the case of a Kula dance experiment, you've got this awesome community to dance with. So for anybody that's listening, and they're like nodding aggressively, and their fist pumping, and they're like, Oh, my God, I want this in my life and 2023 and forever. What do you guys have going on in 2023? And how can folks get involved Anastasia?
Anastasia Allison 52:02
so everything is on our website, which is Kulacloth.com. And there is a little tab that says events. And you can look at all the classes and all the events that we have. And we are actually going on a tour here in Washington state of eight different state parks. We're calling it the Kula Abundance Tour, we are going to be dancing, doing treasure hunts giving away free gear, I'm going to be making custom Kulas for everybody that shows up. So I personally, I'm just excited about finding more ways to connect with people through Kula, right, like they they come to me for the pee cloth. And then I sort of like get them on the dancing. You know, like I get, I have so many people and it just makes me laugh and delights me so much when people will message me and they'll say, you know, I came here to buy a pee cloth. And now I'm dancing every single day, like what happened? And hearing those types of stories like you come for one thing, but you're open to something else, like what type of magic can come into your life that way. And I think it's just so cool that we've been able to facilitate that type of connection and specialness in people's lives.
Sydney Williams 53:34
Oh, Anastasia, thank you so much for joining us this week on Wellness in the Wilderness. It has been an absolute pleasure and for anybody listening, make sure you visit Kulacloth.com To see all the cool upcoming events. Follow Anastasia and Kula on Instagram will have their links in the show notes. And next week we're going to be chatting with Drew Peterson. He is a professional skier, mental health advocate, filmmaker and speaker whose recent film Ups and Downs took my breath away. Ups and Downs is the story that he tells and our conversation next week will be around how he came to be able to tell that story. So to keep the conversation going, please follow us on Instagram we're @hikingmyfeelings and you can join the Hiking My Feelings Family at family.hikingmyfeelings.org if you're new here, the Hiking My Feelings Family is our own private social network. It's kind of like a Facebook group but without the ads your odd uncle or that chick you haven't talked to since middle school. So it's a great place to find like minded adventure buddy learn more about our programs and upcoming retreats and stay connected with the community. So we hope to see you there. And from the bottom of my heart from the depths of my soul from every fiber in my being and this new year with this new energy this sense of possibilities. Thank you so much for joining us for this week's dose of Wellness in the Wilderness. I hope that today's conversation with Anastasia was a breath of fresh air and I look forward to connecting with you again next Tuesday at 1pm Pacific on the voice America empowerment channel. Until next week, be good to yourself be good to each other dream big Be kind, and we'll see you next time.
Announcer 55:08
Thanks for joining us on this week's show. We hope this episode has been a breath of fresh air for you and has inspired you to find your wellness in the wilderness. We will reconnect with nature and new again next week. Since 1984 Sawyer has existed to support your wildest adventures, learn about their advanced insect repellents and family of technical Lightweight Water filters at sawyer.com