Creating From a Space of Authenticity and Embodiment with Amanda Stone
The Jordan Lang Podcast: Episode 13
Welcome to Episode 13 of the Jordan Lang Podcast! We are continuing Season 2’s theme of Conscious Business with this conversation with Amanda Stone.
Amanda is the founder of Awakened Creators, a spiritually-minded creative community devoted to calling creators home to their hearts to manifest their best work and best life. She is a writer, painter, and living room dancer. You can find her on YouTube and Instagram sharing heart-felt advice to help you realign with what you love.
I hope you find great value in this conversation with Amanda on Creating From a Space of Authenticity and Embodiment with Amanda Stone and Conscious Busines.
Can you share a bit about yourself?
Amanda: Hi everyone. I'm glad to be here. Thank you Jordan so much for welcoming me onto your beautiful podcast. I am a writer, I'm a painter, I'm all things creative and the owner and founder of Awakened Creators, which is my little baby, my spiritually-minded community that, I'm hoping can one day change the world and we're doing it one person at a time.
Jordan: Awesome! So beautiful and so exciting. I am really looking forward to chatting with you today. So let's go ahead and dive right in. This season is all about conscious business. So I would love to know Amanda…
What does Conscious Business mean to you?
Amanda: So I did some thinking about this and really for me, Conscious Business is all about alignment and authenticity. When I first started Awakened Creators, I knew that it had a mission and it was really powerful and capable of having a big impact. But I think I was still unclear about what that looked like and how I would reach the people that I wanted to reach. And so it really took me aligning more and more with my own authentic voice to get at the heart of what my business is trying to do. So along that path, there's been a lot of awareness that I've had to cultivate to sense into that alignment and that authenticity. I feel like when you start a business, you get a lot of outside influence starting to come in and advice over here, that conflicts with advice over here, and then you get confused about: well, what do I do? What does this mean for me and my mission? So it really does require you to cultivate that ability to hear and tune in to your own authentic truth.
Jordan: Absolutely. And a word that popped into my head as you were saying that is comparison. I feel like that's like a big thing that we, we compare. And so if we don't stay in alignment and aware, it's so easy to slip into comparing yourself with other people. And like you said, the conflicting, do this, do this. Everyone's gonna say something different because we are all different.
So how then do you embody consciousness within your own business?
Amanda: So I started this journey really, actually like offering services just last year. Prior to that, it was more of like a social media channel where I would share things from my heart and what I was feeling. And I try to do my own kind of branding and whatnot. But last year I really kind of honed in on what I felt was the message and spent that year cultivating that, but through that process I have had to time and again, return to center. So I have a meditation practice and a practice of really sincere, deep prayer that I go into every day; really just trying to attune and align to the highest and greatest vibration of what I can bring forward, whether it's through day to day interactions with people and through my business.
So it does, for me, require a lot of checking in, constantly checking in, and attuning and just coming back to that center point where I feel like I am speaking from a place of great and immense love, which is really at the heart of the Awakened Creators message.
Jordan: So beautiful. I agree with you on that with checking in. I think that that's like a really big piece on all of that, especially with the work that you do as a creative.
Did you always know that you were a creator? What brought you to where you are today?
Amanda: Yeah, so my creative journey has been very bumpy and full of ups and downs. I'm sure a lot of folks listening can relate. I would say that yes, from a young age, I was always attracted to creating things, whether it was making up stories or songs or drawing, painting - I kind of wanted to do it all. But as I got older and I kind of fell into that adolescent comparison, you know, “fitting in” kind of mode of thinking, I lost my way a little bit. I let my visual art kind of sit to the side and I took up my writing a little bit more since it was a little more private and I could kind of hold it in and no one could see it. Right? But then after experiencing the death of my best friend and first love in high school, I was just done.
I just stopped opening my heart really to anyone, and anything that I felt would leave me vulnerable to loss. So it took me quite a while to get back into what I enjoyed. I dove into school; I dove into climbing the corporate ladder; sort of doing everything the right way, and ultimately fell into further and further depression and anxiety and suicidal ideation and alcoholism – it just started snowballing, until 2017 when I had this very powerful spiritual experience that just turned my heart back on. And I instantly knew that the missing piece for me this whole time was my creativity. So I dove right back into it. I started writing again, joining writers groups, really just trying to embrace that part of myself. And so far it's paid off and it wasn't long after that that Awakened Creators, sprouts started popping up here and there. And I felt like, wow, I have the opportunity to share my journey with others who maybe have a similar path, and really need to return to that place inside of themselves that loving, heart-centered place. So that's what I'm hoping to do with the business.
Jordan: Thank you for sharing that. I often hear people talk about like “the dark night of the soul” where they have like their spiritual awakening and then once they do, it's like this beautiful journey that before you're like, well, what, what is the point of all of this, right? Like, why am I experiencing all of this? So, it sounds like that's what it was for you, and being able to have that clarity of this is the piece that's missing. This creativity, and then being able then to start your business and, and be able to share that with others in such a beautiful way, that you were able to take such a shitty life experience and be able to turn it into something beautiful, to be able to share that with other people. So thank you for sharing that.
Amanda: Yeah. And it's still been a process. It definitely wasn't like one and done, like that was just the start. And I'm still learning and still growing.
Jordan: Absolutely. And that's where the next point that I wanna touch on, I feel like you've already alluded to this, but…
What part does inner work play when it comes to creating from a space of authenticity and embodiment?
Amanda: It's huge. It really is because if you're not aware of those aspects of yourself that you're still operating from at a reactionary level, it's really hard to dismantle them and reprogram them to align with your heart. So cultivating that self-awareness, whether it's through a journaling practice or even therapy; I've had great success with EMDR therapy in dealing with some more potent PTSD-type symptoms. And just talking to people - my partner is someone who I rely on a lot to digest my emotions and just sort of think out loud, and put things into a better perspective. And then of course, just doing a lot of communing with nature, with Creator, with just your inner being, you know, in whatever way that feels comfortable. For some folks it's just being outside for others, it's meditation for others, it's prayer. And I do it all. So I hit all the bases, but it requires having that awareness so that you can really tackle things as they come up.
What do you feel stops people from doing that inner work?
Amanda: It's scary. You know like when you find something in the back of your fridge that's been in there for you're like, mm, you don't wanna open it, but you kind of need to know what it is, but it's really scary. And especially I feel like our society has not been very great at cultivating a sense of like, it's okay to look at those things, and it doesn't mean bad stuff about you. We do a lot of kind of glossing over, a lot of covering up, which is what I did for a long time with the alcohol and just ignoring, just repressing my emotions altogether through that process. So there's a lack of visible guidance; although it's changing, and I feel like there's a lot more awareness now than there was, but if you like me, didn't grow up with very good role models in terms of dealing with your emotions, it's hard to know how, and so it feels easier to just like, let it go, flip on some Netflix and drink another glass of wine rather than actually deal with the issue.
Jordan: Yeah. I keep seeing - there's two different sides for things. I see people bringing to light trauma, like what trauma is, how collectively we experience trauma and how on a personal level we experience trauma, and bringing this awareness. But then I also see people going like, well, not everything is trauma; not everything is as it is, but we all experience life in such a different way that something that might be traumatic for me may not have affected my siblings in the same way. Even though we had the same upbringing, the same parents, the same experiences, everything. And so I know I would call myself a creator, like in certain ways, maybe not in like the traditional sense. So like I like music and I like singing and I am not great with drawing, but I will, you know, like there's all different mediums of art and being a creator.
And I do find that when I'm not doing…like the times I feel stuck in my business, it's because I'm not doing the inner work. I'm not like uncovering, like, why do you feel this way? Or what's really going on? Or like you said, it's easier to just turn on Netflix, disassociate and just like, which every now and then it's not a bad thing to do those as you process emotions. But in the work that you do with Awakened Creators, are you creating a safe space for creators to come? Are you kind of sharing all different sides of things?
Please share with us about the work that you do.
Amanda: Yeah. So one of the main pieces that I've discovered throughout this whole developing a business process is the role that I play right as the business owner. I'm actually in the process of working with the brand designer right now. And so this is very timely in that we've been really focused on, okay, what does the brand mean and what are our core values? And I feel like my role that's been revealed to me is really that of this kind of Divine Mothering energy and that resonates, and I think will resonate with a lot of other business owners that are trying to create these spaces where people feel accepted, they feel nurtured, they feel loved, right? And so when I'm creating content or when I'm creating digital courses or whatever it is, I'm wanting to approach it from this space of Mothering energy, and how can I best do that? Which for me is really offering a lot of more so perspective opportunities for people to look at things a little bit differently. Of course, a lot of encouragement, a lot of love, “you can do this!” energy, but then too really giving people the space to feel what they're feeling and not feel bad about that. Because again, we do a lot of covering up, and of course it doesn't have to be like fixing yourself 24/7.That's not all that life is meant to be, but it is an important piece, and I think if people feel like they have that safe space to do that in, even if it's just a little packet on the internet that they can go to that that's really important. And especially too I think for creators, because it could be a very isolating experience.
Like when I'm painting, I'm not painting in a room full of people. There are folks who do that, who do communal style paintings and things. But in general it's usually a solitary experience, and for people whose families don't support what they're doing and what they're trying to create in this world, whether it's a business or a painting or a film, whatever it is, it can be really isolating. It can feel very lonely. So I think it's important that Awakened Creators is making a space for family. A safe family.
Jordan: Absolutely. That's so beautiful. And I do think that we all need a space where we feel that love, that support, that community. So I think that's so beautiful that you're creating that for creators.
Do you feel like there’s a specific type of person who is attracted to the work that you’re doing? Who is the work that you do for?
Amanda: So, I mean there's a couple ways you can look at that, right? You can look at the analytics and say like, who is my audience, which right now tends to be mid-twenties to mid-forties, generally female. However, I really make a concerted effort to express my idea of a creator as really being just someone who's heart-aligned, and who's actively wanting to, or already expressing that heart alignment. So whether that's they're creating a business or they're creating a fashion line or they're, you know, a sculptor or they're a digital artist, like whatever it is, I really don't care. I think it's all fascinating. There are shows on Netflix that I watch, like people forging metal. I think it's so cool.
”Whatever you are into, if you're passionate about it, I'm behind you 100% because I feel like this world will benefit so much from having more heart-aligned people walking around on it.” - Amanda Stone
We come up with better ideas, ideas that serve more people more ethically.
“When we live from our heart-spaces, we really do create a better world around us, and so one by one, we just start all doing that, then I feel like you, you have the better world that we are striving towards.” - Amanda Stone
So I hope that through the work that I'm doing, that people feel welcome to pursue whatever that it is. And that's how my mom was, she's a pretty big inspiration for me, and she did everything. She created with toilet paper rolls and string and she sewed and she crocheted and she painted like she did it all, and I think that it's all valid and it's all worthy, whatever it is that you wanna do.
Jordan: Yes, I love that. What comes to me is so, and I mean, I even said it I'm like, I don't, I guess I would call myself a creator.
What are some things that people can do to begin shifting out of what’s deemed “normal” ways of creating and into that authentic and embodied way of creating?
Amanda: Mm. Well, and when you said that, I was like, mm mm. That's that mothering energy, right? Like, let us let us correct you. But you are right, and in fact, even right now, I’m trying to think of a tagline for Awakened Creators and I'm tapping a couple of my friends and they're like, I don't know if the word “artist” might be too exclusive or people might feel like they're left out. So we're working on that, but
“Really it's all about just tapping into that joy, right? Like what in your life brings you the most joy? And truly, I believe our lives, our whole lives are our greatest works of art. Our whole lives is our biggest masterpiece, and the one that I hope we all look back on and think, damn I did good.” - Amanda Stone
You know, I really did good. And I think that that feeling of accomplishment is all gonna come from: Was I doing what brought me joy? Was I living from the heart or not? Cause I mean, you could be on your deathbed with billions of dollars and have not lived a single day or having really enjoyed your life. And I don't think that, you know, you, you would have that, ah, as you looked back, no matter how much money you had, right?
But you could also be there with not a penny to your name and having experienced every single day in the most joyful space possible and really have that. Ah, I did it, I lived, I really lived. So just that living, like tap into what lights you up, what turns you on, what just really gets you like gabbing and wanting to like, oh, I gotta share this with someone. Follow those little breadcrumbs, cause I think they will lead you towards your truth and your, your authentic expression.
Jordan: Mm. I so resonate with that. And my word for this year is joyful
Amanda: Good word!
Jordan: Yeah. At first, like when it came through, I was like joyful, really?? But the more that I have sat with that, the more I'm just like, okay, this is the year that I meant to really tap into the joy and the playfulness and everything else just…I'm so serious most of the time. I have a lot of Capricorn and earth energy in my chart, like a lot. And just growing up the way that I did, I felt like I had to mature very quickly. So a lot of it is I have to sit with: what brings me joy? What are those things?
So yesterday, I actually recorded myself; I wanted to do karaoke like real life, like in person karaoke forever, but I'm like way too nervous to do it. So I was just listening to, or like doing it on YouTube and I was recording myself, but I just kept laughing because like I'm so off pitch and I'm like, not very good. I'm so out of practice, but by the end of it, I was having so much fun, and so much joy. So even just something so small, I mean, it was like 20 minutes of me just messing around singing karaoke, I just felt so inspired after to create more pockets of joy throughout my day.
So I love that that's your advice with like, if you wanna create, do it from a space of joy and find what lights you up and it's gonna be different for everybody, right? We're all different and it doesn't mean one is right and one is wrong. It's just, we're all different, and that's, what's gonna make the whole experience unique and beautiful for everybody.
Amanda: Absolutely. I'm so proud of you, first of all, that's amazing that you honored that desire that you had to just let go and have fun. I know I've in the past had this kind of contentious relationship with exercise, and it's gotten better through the years and I enjoy walking, but more recently I was like, I just really like to dance. I really like to move, put on music, and just goof around. I tend to get sweatier doing that than being on the treadmill. So I was like, I'm buying me some ballet slippers and I'm just going to dance all around. And I did. And you know, aside from just the physical benefits, which okay, cool. You get that. But it's really all about being in that heart space and being able to express freely, it’s so fulfilling. So fulfilling. And I feel like little tweaks like that and just adding, like you said, little pockets of joy to your day and to your routine is gonna benefit everyone.
Jordan: Yeah. And the thing is, is like, this is such a simple thing to do. Right? But we're, so we're taught the opposite. I think with like, as children, I look at my son who's five and he finds joy in like the smallest little things and we have that as children. So it is tapping into that inner child doing the inner work to heal the inner child, to be able to bring that playfulness and that joy to the surface. So I love that you brought up that your role is as the, like the mother. So many of us need that. I know for me, with having kids, the more that I parent in a gentle way, I'm reparenting myself too, and I'm nurturing that inner child and giving her things that she needed when she was little. So children are often our greatest teachers, I think.
Amanda: Absolutely, especially with regards to tapping into that creativity inside. And like you mentioned earlier, just having that sense of wonder about all of life. Kids are fantastic teachers with regards to that.
Jordan: Absolutely. Yes. All right. Well Amanda, thank you so much for this beautiful conversation.
Is there anything we didn’t bring up that you would like to share?
Amanda: Yes. I just want to share my love and encouragement to everyone who is on this crazy business creation journey. It's not easy. It's definitely challenging, and I feel like one of the most challenging things that I've had to do, but it's also been one of the most fulfilling, life-affirming experiences where all parts of yourself really get to be put to service to help other people. So I would just encourage you all to keep following your joy, keep aligning, performing whatever practice get you back into that space, and keep going and keep growing. And be patient; just really, really be patient with yourself. As your growing pains make you uncomfortable, be even more patient with yourself. You will get there, and you can make a beautiful difference in this world. I truly believe that.
Jordan: Thank you so much!
How can people connect with you? Where can they find you?
Amanda: So I'm primarily on YouTube. I have the Awakened Creator’s YouTube channel providing weekly videos, inspiring conversations there. And also on Instagram at @awakened.creators. Those are the two primary places. Then I do have my website at, weareawakenedcreators.com which is going under a little rehaul as we rebrand, but the URL will still remain the same because I truly do believe that we are awakened creators, all of us. So that's where you can find me, and connect with me and all the beautiful creative souls in our community.
Jordan: Awesome. Thank you again so much, Amanda!
Amanda: Thank you.
To wrap things up…
Another big THANK YOU to Amanda for this conversation! If you enjoyed this episode, I would love to hear from you! You can email me or send me a message on Instagram. Sending you lots of love!
