Kim Powers at Heart Soul Mind Strength LLC

08/24/2025

In the same way that other peoples' behavior is about them...your responses to the world are about you.

So if you want to break the patterns of continued emotional turmoil, you have to start with learning how to check in with you.

Which is why it's important to take a step back regularly to check in take a look at how your "stuff" is impacting your current worldview.

To see where old pain is being projected onto new people & events.

To take inventory of the things and people that really give you energy, and the ones that aren't working for you anymore (and where you need to set some energetic or overt boundaries).

To see how the stories you're telling yourself about who you are and how the world works are impacting you.

To recognize when you're feeling more reactive than usual, and pause to address the deeper needs that aren't being met, or the places that need some rest and care.

And to be aware of when you're feeling calmer, more generous, and happier than usual and to be able to notice what that feels like and what contributes to that state for YOU, so that you can bring it into your life more readily.

For many, we've been taught to disconnect from our own bodies & intuition from a young age, and so we struggle with this kind of self-reflection and self-awareness.
But it's never too late to come back to yourself; to start tuning in to your own body so that you can begin making choices that help you feel more regulated, connected, motivated, and alive.

This reflective process often takes years to figure out when we're doing it on our own, but the 12 month Cycle Breakers program provides a structure in a small group, supportive atmosphere that allows you to start a practice for safely reconnecting with yourself, seeing what gives you energy, setting necessary boundaries, and opening yourself to blindspots. Then learning to start walking toward/creating the life that feels most in alignment with you.
We begin Sept 2, but registration ends August 29 — only a few spots left.
https://theeqschool.co/cycle-breakers

08/19/2025

Anxiety.

08/14/2025

Safe relationships are marked by mutual care. Unsafe people turn your needs into burdens. If someone repeatedly makes you feel guilty for expressing what you need, that’s not love, that’s manipulation.

You’re allowed to ask for what you need. And you’re allowed to walk away when it isn’t honored.

Comment “NEEDS,” to receive a resource that will help you build safer, healthier relationships by recognizing red flags before it's too late.

08/14/2025

If we want our children to be honest with us, we have to create a relationship where honesty feels safe — especially when the truth is hard to hear.

Children don’t stop telling the truth because they don’t know how to be honest. They stop because they learn it’s not always worth the risk.

If their truth is met with explosive reactions, they’ll start to withhold.
If their confessions are met with shame, they’ll start to lie.
If every mistake becomes a moral failure, they’ll choose silence over connection.

They’re not testing boundaries when they lie — they’re protecting themselves from the cost of truth in a space that hasn’t yet proven it can hold it well.

Sometimes our initial reaction feels so big - so urgent - not because of what they said, but because of what it triggers in us...

Our fears. Our projections. The narratives we’ve been taught to believe about what things mean.

But if we give it a moment — if we pause and breathe — we often find that it’s not the end of our world. It’s just a child trying to make sense of theirs.

When we react with fear, disappointment, or anger, we teach them to filter. But when we meet their truth with calm, curiosity, and care, we teach them that love doesn’t hinge on perfection - and that truth, even messy truth, has a home here.

Because honesty can’t take root where the truth is forced, but not welcome. It only grows when we become the kind of parent they feel SAFE telling it to. ❤️

Follow for more

08/13/2025

Check out my undergrad psychology professor’s new shoppe & follow along on her page! She’s the best!

A daily art habit…do you have one? Even 5 mins a day spent artistically creating can have a major positive impact on your mental health throughout the day. It doesn’t have to be fancy, or beautiful, or cost anything, or make any sense. Just the act of stopping to create something counts. Today, we start our Daily Art Habit work at Soul & Story Creative. This is a free activity happening every day the studio is open. From 11-12, the studio tables will be open for you to come in and create, even if you are only here for 10-15 mins. At noon, we will resume the rest of our day. Give it a try and see the positive impact on your mental.health. If you can’t come to the studio, I challenge you to commit to this at home. If you are committing (or recommitting) to a daily creative habit, will you be brave and comment below? Who is in? I’ll post what we make today.

08/08/2025

This is common when you’re setting a boundary or communicating something that you think may disappoint the other person; it can be really hard to advocate for your needs if you believe that disappointing another may lead to disconnection or mean something about who you are.

This is especially important (and hard!) in the early stages of relationships, but it’s how we actually show ourselves to each other to see if we’re compatible.

(This is super hard for those who were raised in co-dependent and enmeshed environments, but it’s such an important skill to start bringing differentiation into your relationships. You can learn to sit with this discomfort, and your relationships will be better for it).

It’s always worse on the receiving end to not know the truth.
To be left feeling confused and unsure about where you stand with someone, or how your behavior impacted them.

But by not being honest about how you really feel, you’re trying to control the outcome of the conversation.
And that is not fair to the other person, and it’s not how healthy, balanced relationships operate.
Each person gets to have their own genuine feelings and reactions, and, as adults, they get to be responsible for those feelings.
This is how we really show up as ourselves in relationship, and find the people who are able to meet us where we are.

The truth is, disappointment is a part of being in relationship with other humans. It can’t be avoided if you want to feel deeply & authentically connected in your relationships. We have to be willing to let other people have their own reactions to our needs, behaviors, and boundaries.

If you're working on going more deeply with yourself and others, the Cycle Breakers year long program begins September 2nd (and early bird pricing ends at the end of this week!).
If you're doing the slow, deep, and often quiet work of meeting yourself in new ways as you shift old patterns and break the cycles that are no longer serving you, then this program is for you.
It's small group, lead by me over the course of a year.
Come practice in small, heart-centered community and keep returning to yourself again and again.
https://theeqschool.co/cycle-breakers

08/01/2025

Keep Laughing.
It’s the best medicine

07/30/2025

I am returning from maternity leave and open to taking new clients. :-)

I specialize in trauma work, anxiety, depression and relationship stresses. I also enjoy working with the family members of those with addiction struggles. I work with individuals and couples 17 and older. If you are looking for services please reach out via my website: www.ashleycastrolmsw.com

I have both - in person and virtual availability!

07/29/2025

Trying out different ideas and styles this week. Felt like I needed a little shake up in the art routine. Small steps matter. Small steps require bravery and courage too. So, cheers to you and all the steps you take today 💛💙

07/29/2025

05/02/2025

Practice
The
Pause

04/22/2025