Reporting on a Spiritual Lifestyle

Donna Ashworth

With her honest and inspiring words touching the hearts of millions of people worldwide, best-selling poet Donna Ashworth recently admitted she’s been following a more spiritual way of life for many years. Here she tells Sue Pritchard why spirituality is vital to her well-being.

Over 1.8 million people follow Scottish poet Donna Ashworth across social media, and like many of us did, I first discovered her wonderful words during the Covid pandemic. I clung to her poetic prose as if it was a glimmering beacon of hope, lighting the way ahead during some of the darkest days of our lives.

And as Donna continued to write, she was giving an insight into my own thoughts on love, grief, self-doubt, and the highs and lows of being a woman. Rewriting the manual about how to make social media a more caring and supportive space, her work rekindled a love for poetry I’d abandoned with my ‘A’level English books over 30 years ago. Indeed, it was Donna’s inspiring words that whispered encouragingly in my ears, daring me to believe in myself, as I started to pen my own thoughts and hope I could share them with the outside world one day too.

So imagine my joy when recently meeting Donna for the first time at Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place Festival. Donna not only remembered who I was from our online communication over the years, but greeted me in such a genuinely warm-hearted way it felt as if we were already friends.

“Oh Sue,” she beamed, embracing me in the biggest of bear hugs, something I’ve come to realise is her signature welcoming note. “It’s lovely to finally meet you. I was so pleased to learn you were coming today,” this famous, best-selling author said to me. 

With people turning around to see who Donna was talking to, my daughter’s amazed face mirrored my own as we both wondered what on earth was happening. All I know is this was one of life’s fulfilling moments, learning that the warmth in Donna’s writing is only amplified when translated into real life.

Book Magic

With hindsight it’s obvious Donna believes in something greater than this life on earth. She’s always spoken about the wonders of what she calls ‘book magic’, where she chooses random pages from her books for those in need. It’s almost like pulling an oracle card to give a reading from her numerous poems. 

And as an aspiring author who’s just written her first book with a helping hand from beyond the grave, I truly understand how much bravery it takes when admitting you believe in something out of the ordinary. So when Donna spoke publicly for the first time about her own spiritual beliefs last year, I felt in good company.

Writing on social media that although she hadn’t kept it from her followers, she hadn’t spoken openly about it before, Donna said it was now the right time to do so.

“I have always been able to read the energy of people near me (and not so near me in fact). I have always been able to feel the presence of those who have passed on, and I have always very much been in touch with the unknown and the truth we can’t yet see,” Donna admitted. Describing it as being complicated and hugely dimensional, she said she just wanted to be more authentic. Realising such an admission may scare some people away, Donna said if it did, it had been lovely having their company, and she would gladly answer the questions anyone had.

So when Donna kindly agreed to my request for an interview,I knew the first thing I had to ask was what spirituality means to her.

“Spirituality is really important to me. Without it I feel lost. I feel bereft and I feel small,” Donna said. “And I don’t mean small in the way of thinking about the universe and how the collective consciousness makes me feel, but small in a very lonely way,” she added.

“For me spirituality is connectivity. It’s the belief we are not individual. We’re never individual, but yet,” she laughs, “we are so individual. We are all part of something so much bigger. Every move we make has an effect in a much bigger capacity for everyone else.”

Adding that spirituality is vital to her well-being, Donna says it constantly serves as a reminder there’s always more and she’s never alone. And I get this because, after all, I believe my dad kept me company with his heavenly presence as I was writing my book. After explaining it was grief along with a midlife crisis that prompted my own spiritual journey, I askedDonna how she’d started out on hers.

“I first embarked upon a spiritual path when I was 17. I got myself in quite a physical, mental, and emotional pickle with an eating disorder. And there are two ways you can go when faced with something that can actually take you down,” Donna admitted, her voice cracking with emotion. “I was very much in the throes of it before my mum and I looked at it very seriously. Back then there wasn’t much we could do on the medical front, and the GP was clueless about how he could help. So we decided we’d look at spirituality and turned to Louise Hay, reiki, and many other teachings and learnings.

“We had to try and figure out why human beings get into these situations. Why had I, somebody so young, lost that fighting spirit of survival?” Donna asks. “Why do some people basically lose the will to stay alive?”

Although her spiritual journey started 33 years ago, Donna admits throughout the decades she’s often wandered from this path, but in recent years has very much been back on it again. 

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she says.

Spiritual Practice

Knowing spirituality often goes hand in hand with practices such as yoga, and as a huge fan of yoga myself, I wondered if Donna incorporated such practices into her life too.

“I’ve always loved yoga for many reasons and there is nothing more wonderful than a good stretch. I look at my cats when they stretch and think, gosh, that’s one of the pleasures in life,” Donna replied. “It’s such a wonderful way to connect with your breathing and your body, remembering all the many parts of you there are in this vessel we inhabit. You can literally shake hands with them all in yoga. It’s a wonderful way of balancing it all out.”

And as someone with “a very, very busy brain”, Donna says that meditation is really important for her too.

“The harder you find it the more valuable it is to you,” she admits. “I’ve always dipped in and out but have recently got into meditation in quite an impactful and intentional way. I find when I feel discombobulated and don’t feel right in my own skin, and when my thoughts are incoherent and everything feels out of sync, the only way to combat this is to sit in it. I have to allow it all to come in and fight around until it finds synchronicity again. It can be really uncomfortable,” she almost sighs, “but it is hugely helpful.”

A Dream Come True

With many of her poetry books becoming best-selling titles, Donna’s words have helped, inspired and comforted millions of people worldwide, but I was intrigued to find out how writing them helps her too.

“Writing is like pulling the messy threads out of my brain and stitching them into a beautiful picture, or at least a coherent one that I can understand. For me it’s a wonderful way of taking all these jumbled up thoughts and feelings, and everything else that’s going around, and putting them into some sort of order. Writing helps me in the way breathing helps me,” she admits.

Over the years, many authors’ books have helped me find my way through life, and Donna has previously admitted it was a gifted copy of a Louise Hay book that “saved her” when she was younger. So I wondered how Donna must feel now, knowing her books have had a similar positive impact on other people too.

“To have my name linked in any capacity with Louise Hay is like a dream come true. She saved my life quite frankly, and without her guidance in those early years I would have been so lost,” Donna says. “She put me on a pathway of such love and self-worth, full of kindness and proper positivity. Nottoxic positivity, but the kind of positivity that only comes from facing your darkness and your fears, and then mixing them with hope and love. 

“It brings me a huge amount of pleasure to think some of my books might do something similar for other people,” she continued. “It’s my reason and it’s my why and it is hugely fulfilling.”

Manifesting

When talking about all things spiritual, I had to cover the magical wonders of manifestation which has become more of a buzz word in recent times, and was even named as Cambridge Dictionary’s Word of the Year for 2024. So, I wanted to know, has Donna manifested many things in her life?

“I have manifested a life in which I get to breathe and I get to rest,” she replied. “I get to play and to love and be around. And I get to have time that’s not always filled with something. I have created that. I know I have because I did that intentionally. It’s what I wanted. I didn’t want to be stressed out and running around so that in 20 years the kids would say to me, you were always busy.” 

And right on cue, Donna had to excuse herself and pause our conversation. One of her children was seeking her attention because she was kindly giving me some of her time throughout the school holidays.

“So I have manifested a life with enough space and grace to slow and grow,” Donna said upon her return, speaking like a true poet. “I manifested my books. I had that dream for a very long time. I think many of us do,” she commented, as I nodded my head knowingly in agreement. “And I went for it and decided that manifesting is all very well and good, but you also have to be in the business of doing. As well as dreaming and imagining and thinking it all up, you have to put one wonky wheel into motion. So yes,” Donna concluded, “I think I manifested my books and the ability to write as a career.”

With our conversation drawing to an end, I was intrigued to know what brings her joy in life.

“Lots of things bring me joy,” Donna said enthusiastically.“I’ve manifested a temperament in which I’m very easily pleased in this life now. I certainly wasn’t before. I was the kind of person who could have everything but still be wanting for something that wasn’t in the room. Or I’d still be feeling empty. So I have very much worked hard in becoming fascinated and overjoyed and completely thrilled by the minutiae.”

Admitting that other people’s laughter and some of life’s funny little moments are the things that bring her joy, Donna marvels at how laughter can quickly change the energy in a room, encouraging people to bond. 

“Even just watching a funny video on the internet, knowing thousands of other people are laughing at the same video brings me a lot of joy,” she added. “Laughter is our soul food. It really is so important.”

And with one of her best-selling books entitled Wild Hope, my final question for Donna had to be about this.

“Nothing gives me greater hope than the fact human beings are mostly good, mostly full of love, and mostly wanting the best for others,” she says. “It gives me hope knowing people will always keep striving for better connection, better love and more kindness.”

If you would like to know more:

Donna Ashworth can be found on Facebook and Instagram. For more information see https://donnaashworth.com/

Sue Pritchard

Writer

https://www.facebook.com/people/Sue-Pritchard-Writer/100094033276235/