Meet Melody LeBaron

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Melody LeBaron. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Melody below.

Melody, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
I believe many women have imposter syndrome because of our cultural patriarchal indoctrination. I overcame imposter syndrome during my priestess training, when I discovered the parts of my own consciousness that were upholding patriarchy. During a shadow work exercise, we were asked to get in touch with our own “Inner Patriarch” and then with the inner female part who upheld the patriarchy, our “Inner Matriarch.” WOW! I got to hear and feel where my self sabotage was coming from! The women who now participate in my priestess circles all agree: this process changes everything!

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’ve been blessed to live in 30 homes around the US and Canada. The oldest of 7 children, I worked with my mother to pack, unpack, and organize each home. We moved every few years; the one constant was “going home” to my grandparents who lived in small prairie towns in southern Alberta. I loved our trips to the Canadian Rockies and as a child, I believed that everyone felt the hum of the mountains in their body. My deep connection to nature led to a natural sensitivity to environment: early on, I realized that in some homes I felt that same peaceful, positive power that I felt outside in nature—but in other homes I sensed only stuck, stagnant, sometimes even disturbing energy.

At 12 years old, excited to babysit for other families (and get paid for my work!), I’d alphabetize the spices and canned goods after the kids were in bed; their thrilled moms booked me months in advance. As a teen, I had an innate ability to de-clutter and organize rooms, to get the life-force energy flowing again. But in my late 20s, as a mother of 3 preschoolers during a time of stress, I found myself living in a home with clutter in every room. I had to mature my skill set from “having a place for everything” to learning to create systems that grow and evolve. I made a commitment to get organized for good, and in the 45 minutes a day that all 3 kids were napping, I implemented a systems approach. In just 6 months, I’d permanently de-cluttered and organized my home and work space, my time and my life.

In 2000, I was the first professional organizer in the US to train with Australian author and Space and Personal Clearing teacher Eric Dowsett. The Space and Personal Clearing training gave me a language to understand—and tools to clear—the subtle and not-so-subtle stresses affecting us and our environments. My clients and I were getting amazing results; soon my clients requested a Space Clearing and Personal Clearing before we began the decluttering sessions, which made the process so much easier! I learned Feng Shui and 9 Star Ki (the ‘feng shui of the birthdate’), so that I could train my clients and students how to partner more effectively with their environments.

For the last 30 years, I’ve been called on to attend the dying. At 35, I midwifed my mother’s conscious death process, partnering with her room to create a peaceful environment, and creating an evolving set of altars in her room to support her moving from denial to acceptance. I’ve now midwifed the deaths of 13 of my close loved ones, and coached countless others through the dying process.

In my 40s, I graduated myself from the Mormon patriarchal system. I have great gratitude for much of what I learned in my youth, AND I needed to expand beyond the limitations. During my spiritual deconstruction, I was blessed my many mentors and processes in which I trained:
* after training in NLP, I synthesized a Retrieval Strategy System so clients will be able to find information they’ve stored,
* my Kundalini yoga and pranayama training helps me (and my clients!) release stuck energy in the body.
* after my coaching training, I was blessed to study with ALisa Starkweather (founder of the Red Tent Temple movement), and receive priestess training in the Nicole Christine lineage.

My decluttering and organizing students and clients get great results (some of them had tried for years with other methods before working with me!). My coaching clients work with me to get specific positive results in their lives, then they graduate, returning to coaching when they are going through a loss, or they are ready to achieve another big goal. I love working with the dying (and their caregivers) to bring more ease, spaciousness and beauty into their graduation out of this life. Once or twice a year, I facilitate community grief rituals (in person and online); I was blessed to trained with Francis Weller, author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow. And most of all, I love working with women in my priestess circles.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The three qualities that have most blessed my journey were: CURIOSITY, COURAGE, COMPASSION. If you are curious about how your life can improve and if you have the courage to take your next right action, and if you are able to be compassionate with yourself, you’ll find the mentor or process that can help you release your old (clutter, habits, fears, identity) and expand into the best possible version of YOU!

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
I believe the biggest obstacle most of us in the US face is the daily weariness of living in a fragile, fraying democracy with constant news of political corruption, genocide and devastating yearly climate catastrophes. Way too many of us are dealing with depression and anxiety, stress and burnout. But as soon I dip down below my resilience zone, I take action!

I realize my attention is my most precious resource, so I don’t look at my phone in the morning. I start my day with a spiritual practice: I go outside barefoot in the sunlight and face the directions as I pray for guidance and support for myself and my loved ones. I do a morning yoga practice. I work out 3 times a week; at 69 years old, I’m stronger now than I’ve ever been! I cultivate a fulfilling relationship with my beloved. I keep a prayer altar: when I write my prayers and put them on my altar and light a candle, I release all stress and worry.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
photos by Lucinda Rae

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