Asha= Raining Hope Vie= Life   Raining Hope for Life.
My hope is to share healing & creative arts with you!

I was given this name by children in India during a volunteer experience at a Hindustani music ashram Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya.  It was through the influence of children, that I developed as a teacher of yoga. I have embraced this name Vie in remembrance that with each breath that I take, each sunrise and sunset, moon rise and moon set, I continue to live in this life of darkness and light.  It is my hope in life to continue to spread the light and love from within and all around through the practice of yoga.

I am a Creative & Healing Artist, living and sharing my skills:

Healing & Living Arts services of personalized yoga instruction, nutrition & healthful living coaching & support, adventure tourism, travel & retreat coordination.

Creative Arts services of artistic representation through design, social media marketing, promotions, productions, & coordination of events.  Through the organization BanyanTri, these and other skills related to fundraising and event coordination can be viewed.

Current Works & Daily Life

Focusing on what I can bring to the local community is most important to me, it keeps me integrated and creative.  Having children has allowed me the time to reflect more deeply on the areas of my life that are most important, and those which I need to relinquish into a space that no longer serves me.  I aspire to compile a book of these life experiences which have shaped my existance, stories of triumphs beyond the devastating pitfalls of life, with anticipation that the words will speak to other women struggling to find purpose for their lives, and be a clear voice for the children.   I will continue to live artistically among those who appreciate and produce creative works for a better community and life.

Living the Artist Life

I have lived a life of artistic creation from playing piano since I was age 8, writing since I was old enough to capture my thoughts in a diary, and in my youth exploring my emotions through painting and photography.  My recent desire to produce written works and expand my photography are what I feel is a natural progression of my life as an artist.

Photography

I always had a camera to shoot with, though, I preferred being behind the camera on many family vacations or friend gatherings, not wanting to be photographed.  Photography existed for me as a marker of time of the moments that some day would be long gone from memory and would need a reminder.  My current projects are to utilize the skills of other artists and photographers in a collaborative self-portrait/ bio for an intended photo essay book, hopefully to be completed end of this year.  This will be one of the first times I’ve been in front of the camera [minus the hair modeling stint in college for free hair cuts].

Writing

Activist, Artist, Crash-prone Yogi Writings – pretty much sums it up.  My writings over the years started with  creating a travel blog in 2008 crashyogi.blogspot which in 2011 transformed into www.crashyogiland.wordpress.com I started to write about my explorations through the streets of India and moves between Phoenix and Seattle.  My first yoga website built in 2007, yogawithashley.com, was changed to this current site and has become a blog for health, nutrition and life thoughts.  In addition to my personal writings, I started an artist collaborative and website www.banyantri.org which is used to blog about local artist events and development aspects of this emerging nonprofit.  Since 2007 I have maintained 3 websites and 4 blogs.  

Being a Mother
It wasn’t until I had a child growing inside of me that I would understand true love. As they say, having a child has changed my life for the better.   Bringing life into this world, the phases of creation and current development, has reframed my own existence, deep seated memories of being a child, perhaps what set my future up for relationship attachment, coping mechanisms, personality and interest in skills, I now have the opportunity to observe in my son.  Much of what I currently write is a reflection on the past, trying to make sense of the life I lived.  In contradiction to the historic thoughts, I attempt to remain present with appreciation of new life and new experiences that my son is having daily.  As a parent,  I have the opportunity to change my history by reacting in a supportive way for his emotional and cognitive growth.   Despite the obstacles of parenting, I have not experienced a day of depression. I have reason for living every moment that I share with my son: to feel a long awaited joy and give unconditional love in return.