I'm Ashley, the heart and soul behind Soft Sacred Self.

I'd like to briefly take you back to where spirituality began for me, so you can get to know me and my story a little better, and understand how Soft Sacred Self came to be.

For as long as I can remember, I've been someone who is very sensitive to energy (or 'presences'). When I talked about this with my mum, I was of course told it was fantasy or imagination, because yes, children often have a lot of imagination (a quick aside: children often have more imagination because they are still so connected to Above. Only after a few years does a child lose touch with this, encouraged by being taught at school that it's just imagination. The younger a child, the closer they still are to incarnation, hence an even stronger connection).

I've always been a true feeler. I quickly sensed other people's intentions, I felt how they were feeling. I always noticed the details of a conversation, like body language, and whether that body language matched what was actually being said. I often felt other people's emotions.

I grew up while my parents were going through a fierce, bitter divorce. At school I always felt too different to belong anywhere. This wasn't just a feeling, it was simply the reality. From my first year of secondary school, I came to know what it was like to be bullied. Even after changing schools twice, the bullying didn't stop. The divorce, puberty, searching so hard for myself and the bullying were the perfect ingredients for no longer wanting to be on this earth. Because of this, at the age of 14, I was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for self-harm and suicidal thoughts.

After staying there for a few weeks, I went back to school. The bullies were suspended or expelled. I met new people and started going to parties (or 'raves'). Back then I convinced myself this was a group where I belonged. I was still searching so much for myself, for who I was. In the nightlife scene I soon stumbled into an environment where people experimented with drugs. The self-love I lacked at the time made me an easy victim. It felt as if I lived through the whole nightlife scene at high speed, so that after 3 to 4 years I had completely outgrown going out and the people connected to it.

Through this experience, my connection with the supernatural and with energy was gently rekindled. The belief (which is really more of a knowing) was always there, but it was suppressed or held back by myself and others, and so never had the chance to develop further.

At school I started getting better grades, and as I got older I also saw the point of studying more. I even started to enjoy it (who would have thought!).

When I got my secondary school diploma, I had to decide whether to keep studying or start working. According to my teachers at the time, I had the potential to continue studying. They advised me to choose an HBO5 programme, since I had ended up in vocational education because of the circumstances above. For them, HBO5 seemed the most logical and achievable next step after my vocational diploma.

When I visited the open day at VIVES University of Applied Sciences, I didn't find a single HBO5 programme that interested me. So I went to have a look at all the bachelor's programmes as well. The last stand I ended up at was for a bachelor's programme called 'Wellbeing and Vitality Management'. I immediately felt: 'this is it!'. I was convinced this was the programme I was going to study. On my mum's advice I slept on it for one more night, but as soon as the next day came, I enrolled as quickly as possible.

This 3-year programme was the greatest revelation of my life. The timetable included subjects like mindfulness, kinesiology, sauna studies, aromatherapy, nutrition, classes on body & mind and many classes with a spiritual angle. Thanks to the many self-reflection assignments, I faced the traumatised Ashley. This is where my path of awakening began. Since then, everything has accelerated. I can proudly say that I graduated without resits and with distinction.

I had truly caught the study bug and have since also completed a Healing course, 4 Reiki attunements, a 2-year training in Aura Reading and Chakra Healing, and a course in Hand Reflexology. At the end of April 2026 I start a new training: Ayurvedic nutrition coach, since healthy food has been an important part of my life for a long time and is now coming prominently to the foreground.

With Aries as my sun sign, I'm a true leader, an entrepreneur, an adventurer. So it was really inevitable that one day I would take the leap into self-employment.

And how grateful I am that my soul chose this path for me.

As you may (or may not) have noticed, my business is going through a rebranding.

After almost 6 years, I changed my business name from Practice Soul Lumina to Soft Sacred Self. A lot has changed within me over those years, so in a way it's inevitable that my business evolves with me.

External circumstances in my life led me to (unconsciously) start distancing myself from my own business in 2025, only (I realise now) so that I could deepen my relationship with it in 2026.

The dreams I have for my future led me to want to review my offerings, and so I decided to gently phase out massages and energy healing. This creates more space and time for (online) card readings.

I want to be able to run my business without being tied to one place, which is why I'm focusing more on working remotely. So right now you can come to me for online card readings and, for the women among us, also for feminine photography (on Instagram at @softsacredstudios).