Ep 17 – What Dying Taught a Business Leader About True Wealth and Abundance with Jonathan Ashford

Summary

In this episode of WooBiz, host Andy Walker talks with Jonathan Ashford, a former tech executive who had a near-death experience (NDE) that completely transformed his outlook on life, work, and abundance. Once driven by money, status, and achievement, Jonathan died for three hours and came back with profound spiritual insight. Now, he teaches others how to find peace, purpose, and self-love without chasing external success.

WooBiz+ extended episode

Jonathan Ashford expands on the theme of manifestation, revealing that the real secret to attracting what you desire lies in setting an intention and then releasing it. He explains that true creation comes from alignment with the divine, not control or effort. When you let go of the need to chase outcomes and instead trust the process, life arranges the right opportunities in perfect timing. He likens it to walking up a staircase that forms only as you’re ready to take each step. Jonathan emphasizes that genuine abundance arises when intentions are rooted in love, service, and connection to others—because what we create is always meant to uplift the collective, not just ourselves.

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Detailed Summary

Jonathan’s Near-Death Experience and Awakening
Jonathan shares how a sudden medical emergency caused his organs to fail, leading to clinical death for three hours. During this time, he experienced what he calls “the long blink” — transitioning into a velvety darkness, then a life review and profound encounters with divine beings. Upon returning, he realized that his previous life of ambition and materialism had been driven by a lack of self-love.

From Executive to Spiritual Messenger
Before his NDE, Jonathan was a 46-year-old C-suite executive in tech and marketing, living a high-consumption lifestyle. After returning, he walked away from everything—career, possessions, and status—and began living simply, offering spiritual guidance on a donation basis.

Key Lessons on Life, Love, and Money
Jonathan reveals that love and self-acceptance are at the core of human existence. He learned that judgment is the absence of love and that self-forgiveness is essential. He explains that money is merely a tool for experience—not a measure of worth—and true abundance comes when one is ready to receive it.

Spiritual Insights and Psychic Abilities
Since his experience, Jonathan reports enhanced psychic perception—clairvoyance, clairaudience, and even clairalience (psychic smell). He discusses how everyone has these intuitive abilities but must “tune the radio” of awareness through calm, gratitude, and connection to nature.

On Angels, Spirit Guides, and the Divine
Jonathan describes encounters with divine energies and spirits, explaining that angels and guides appear in whatever form we most need—sometimes as pets or loved ones. He emphasizes that no one is ever truly alone; spiritual support is constant and omnipresent.

Practical Guidance: The 14-Day Nature Challenge
He encourages listeners to spend 15 minutes a day in nature for two weeks—walking mindfully, expressing gratitude, and recognizing the consciousness of the natural world. This practice, he says, opens the heart to love and deep peace.

WooBiz+ Extended Segment – Manifestation and Intention
In the extended WooBiz+ segment, Jonathan shares his perspective on manifestation. Contrary to common self-help teachings, he advises setting an intention and then letting it go—allowing divine alignment to bring outcomes naturally. He likens it to a staircase that appears one step at a time: you must trust the process and not force results.

He also reminds listeners that all intentions should serve the collective good. When you help others, abundance flows naturally. As Andy notes, “If you help a billion people, you make a billion dollars.”

Jonathan’s Mission and Upcoming Book
Jonathan now dedicates his life to helping others awaken spiritually. He offers one-on-one sessions, group talks, and is currently preparing a book expected in 2026. His message: “You don’t need to die to wake up. Everything you’re looking for is already within you.”

Jonathan’s Website

https://jonathanashford.com

Jonathan’s Bio

Jonathan Ashford is a former C-suite technology executive whose life took a profound turn after a near-death experience that lasted three hours. Once driven by status, ambition, and material success, he returned from clinical death with a radically transformed understanding of existence, consciousness, and love. Today, Jonathan is a spiritual messenger, intuitive guide, and speaker who helps others awaken to their inner truth, heal emotional wounds, and find meaning beyond achievement. Drawing on the insights he received during his near-death experience, he offers one-on-one sessions, workshops, and talks focused on self-love, gratitude, and conscious living. Jonathan shares that true abundance arises from surrender, service, and alignment with the divine rather than external striving. He lives simply, working on a donation basis, and is currently preparing his first book, expected in 2026. Learn more at jonathanashford.com.

Transcript:

[00:00] Andy Walker: What if you died and came back?

[00:02] How would that change the way you see your work,

[00:05] your life,

[00:06] money and abundance?

[00:08] Today on Woo Biz, we talk to someone who had a near death experience and returned with powerful lessons about what really matters.

[00:32] Foreign hello and welcome to Woo Biz. My name’s Andy Walker and this is the show where we investigate the mysterious,

[00:45] the intuitive,

[00:47] and all kinds of supernatural powers that you can actually learn and bring into your business. That’s because you’re probably a business leader, an entrepreneur, an innovator,

[00:57] or a creative.

[00:59] And on today’s show, I’ve got something really special for you.

[01:03] We’re joined by Jonathan Ashford, a successful tech executive whose life and perspective changed completely after a near death experience.

[01:13] During a medical emergency, Jonathan’s heart stopped. When he was revived,

[01:18] everything about how he viewed life, work and purpose shifted.

[01:22] Before that moment,

[01:23] Jonathan had built a career as a successful tech executive.

[01:27] But his near death experience set him on an entirely new path.

[01:31] One focused on consciousness, meaning and personal transformation.

[01:36] Today,

[01:37] he describes himself as a near death experiencer, messenger and spiritual guide devoted to helping others understand the profound truths of existence.

[01:48] In this conversation, he shares how his near death experience reshaped his understanding of success,

[01:55] money and creativity and how those insights can guide entrepreneurs, innovators and leaders toward a more conscious and fulfilling way to live and work. And hello Jonathan. I’ve been really excited about this interview this week, so thanks for joining me.

[02:11] Jonathan Ashford: Hi Andy, thanks for having me.

[02:13] Andy Walker: So tell me a bit about your nde,

[02:17] your near death experience. I wanted to bring you on because I really feel like you have a message here for somebody who maybe have their head down in their career focusing on money and being driven.

[02:30] And I get the sense that’s who you were before you died and you have a new perspective. So maybe take us back first, what happened to you? How did you come to actually have a near death experience?

[02:44] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah, it was a freak, you could say a freak accident.

[02:48] I ended up having a gallstone that got stuck in a duct which led to sepsis and then eventually to organ failure and happened to find out I had a DNA mutation to pain.

[02:59] So I didn’t know what was going on, couldn’t feel it,

[03:02] and I passed. Um,

[03:04] the funny thing is I always say when it’s your time to go, it’s your time to go. The dominoes kind of line up.

[03:10] So I ended up on the other side for three hours and it changed me profoundly.

[03:16] I went from a 46 year old C level executive chasing success to somebody who does not chase Anything at all and meditates and has no desire. So it changed me quite a bit.

[03:31] Andy Walker: Wow, that’s amazing.

[03:33] So while you were dead then they were trying to revive you, I would imagine. And. But your experience was it felt like it was a three hour departure and.

[03:41] Jonathan Ashford: Then, yeah, I was,

[03:42] I was gone for three hours. It actually happened in my home and I was unaware that I had died, which, which is interesting. I was gifted something on the other side which told me that I had died.

[03:55] In addition to a couple of the near death studies that I take a part in a couple of the research studies. You won’t know when you pass.

[04:02] We’re all greeted to be told that we’ve passed. So it’s kind of like even though on this side you may know you have died,

[04:09] on the other side when you quote, unquote, wake up, you won’t know that you have passed.

[04:14] Andy Walker: So the, so what was like the moment by moment experience? So, so you’re, you’re sitting there, suddenly you have pain or you have an, a physical experience and then, and then what happens?

[04:24] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah, I call it the long blink. I had an experience where I woke up early in the morning, 4:30 in the morning, and struggled to make it to the bathroom. My legs were no longer working properly, I couldn’t see properly and had no balance.

[04:37] And I managed to make it to the bathroom and look in a mirror.

[04:41] At which point I say there’s a part in death that just clicks. Like your body is already prepared, it’s built in.

[04:50] And once that click happens, it’s a freeing moment where all your worries kind of get put to the side so that death can become graceful.

[05:00] And I call it the long blink because it’s. You’re there, you blink and you’re somewhere else. And that blink,

[05:08] it doesn’t really register as time,

[05:11] but it’s,

[05:12] it feels like it, it feels like it’s just a long blink and then you open your eyes and you’re somewhere else.

[05:18] Andy Walker: And did you have then the sort of the traditional near death experience experiences like the long tunnel and greeting loved ones and that sort of thing? Or, or, or what was what happened next?

[05:32] Jonathan Ashford: I did. Some of us have a transition through darkness instead of the lighted tunnel that we all think of.

[05:38] Um, I think it’s like 30% of us.

[05:41] So I went through what I call a velvety darkness where you’re just, if you can remember back to being a baby swaddled and cradled against a loved one, that’s kind of the feeling that you travel or pass through and then, yes, I woke up in a landscape.

[05:59] We will all wake up into something that welcomes us. In my case, it was a landscape. And then I went into a life review and I actually had the tunnel on the return.

[06:09] So yes, I had those typical near death experience moments.

[06:12] Andy Walker: Wow. So you’re gone for three hours. What did you experience during that time once you got over there?

[06:22] Jonathan Ashford: So I,

[06:23] I experienced quite a bit in my life review. I was not the greatest guy in the world, so there was a lot to review.

[06:30] I learned.

[06:32] I learned quite a bit about our existence here. And then it was given the choice to return and at which time I chose to return here.

[06:41] I went and had a second half to a near death experience, which was information,

[06:46] spiritual information about existence, time, all things really.

[06:50] And that’s what I came back with, an understanding of things that I didn’t have before I left. So I didn’t have much spiritual understanding.

[07:01] And then three hours later I had quite a bit. So it was quite the experience.

[07:06] Andy Walker: So you’re driving a nice car, you’re probably having parties on the weekend. You were living a life of Riley. I’m gathering you weren’t married. So you probably were having all kinds of wonderful times with the members of the opposite sex.

[07:20] And without going into the gory details, probably a bit of a party boy back before it happened. Would that be fair?

[07:27] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah, absolutely. I was the kind of guy that moved to an area that had a lake. So I bought a boat, I put it in a slip on one side and I said, well, why not buy a second boat to have on the other side of the lake and would take one boat to the other and then realize I didn’t like either boat because they weren’t big enough.

[07:44] So it was this constant striving for something more. There was a hole I was trying to fill that I didn’t realize what it was.

[07:52] Andy Walker: Yeah, yeah, did. Do you know what that hole was, is now that you needed to fill?

[07:58] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah, I do now.

[07:59] It was love, honestly. It’s when you. When you simplify your life down to the very basics of why we’re here and what we’re here for.

[08:09] It’s to love yourself and also to love everybody around you, in a sense. And I did not love myself. I.

[08:16] You could say I hated myself, which is why I drove myself so hard to achieve.

[08:21] But at the end of the day, when I can see the two sides now after coming back, I know that I was just seeking to be loved.

[08:27] I was just seeking acceptance from myself.

[08:30] Andy Walker: And did you use Money as validation before.

[08:35] Jonathan Ashford: Absolutely money.

[08:36] The country clubs, the parties.

[08:40] The statement that I used to love is when people asked me what I did for a living. And I was very happy to tell them that I was a C level executive and I’d made it to the top of the food chain.

[08:51] So yes,

[08:52] enjoyed that quite a bit.

[08:53] Andy Walker: Wow. And you are in the tech sector is. Did I read that right somewhere or.

[08:58] Jonathan Ashford: Yep, I worked in marketing and technology for about 25 years. Amazing.

[09:02] Andy Walker: Amazing. Right?

[09:03] And then. Okay, so let’s talk about what happened when you came back.

[09:08] So tell me, tell me first the experience of coming back and then let’s jump into what happened to you.

[09:17] Jonathan Ashford: Okay. The experience.

[09:19] Yeah,

[09:20] the experience coming back was rather painful.

[09:24] My body had been deceased for three hours. And it’s kind of like your body is not meant to stop.

[09:30] And starting the body up, I felt every drop of fluid have to move again. I felt the struggle to have a singular heartbeat,

[09:41] to breathe, the gasp, to breathe.

[09:44] But the comeback physically was not fun.

[09:48] Mentally and spiritually, it was rather enlightening to come back,

[09:55] see all the toys that I had,

[09:57] all the material items and. And immediately ask myself, why do I even have these?

[10:03] So there was a switch from I need more to I don’t eat anything.

[10:10] So that was the biggest thing. The next part was desire. I found that I had no desire for anything,

[10:17] money or fame or even women, anything. And it was freeing in a sense and it put my previous existence in perspective to try and show me how strongly our desires pull us away from who we really are.

[10:35] And it was interesting because I just walked away from my career that day. I never went back. I never tried to go back. I had no interest in going back.

[10:46] And I just ended up selling everything and slowly shifted years to living off donations and doing spiritual work.

[10:55] Andy Walker: Wow. Like. Like a complete 180 degree switch, right?

[11:02] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah. It couldn’t be more different because that person really wanted to conquer the world. You know, I wanted the James Bond lifesty style. I sought it every day.

[11:12] Andy Walker: Yeah.

[11:14] Jonathan Ashford: And didn’t care who got in the way I was going to get it or who I had to use to get there.

[11:21] And then to come back and recognize that all those desires and actions were nothing but trying to fill in the void of love that I was missing in my life.

[11:30] Right.

[11:31] Andy Walker: So would it be fair to say that you’re. You then started to change your behavior to.

[11:38] To actually get love or to find self love? Would that. Is that true?

[11:44] Jonathan Ashford: Absolutely. You could say the behavior changed. But I was lucky enough to come back with it so I could recognize that person,

[11:53] that driven type A executive, and love the person for who they were because they were just unknowingly seeking love and didn’t know how to find it,

[12:02] you know, at least within themselves.

[12:05] So I have the contrast of the two existences now,

[12:10] and I don’t judge the other one. I simply love it for what it was. And it’s a good marker for how we can all travel through this existence is everyone is just trying to find their way.

[12:22] There really isn’t anything to judge.

[12:24] And if we can remember that life becomes a little bit more magical.

[12:29] Andy Walker: Yeah. Oh, no, Absolutely. Judgment, I think, is one of the biggest.

[12:33] Jonathan Ashford: What’s the word?

[12:35] Andy Walker: Weights perhaps that we all bear absolutely on ourselves and on others. And it’s a real shame that makes. Breaks my heart.

[12:42] And especially when I look back when I’ve judged others and been wrong,

[12:46] which is often,

[12:48] you know,

[12:49] you know, and I haven’t gone through the same experience as you, but as I’ve developed my own intuition, I’ve been on a journey to develop my intuition to understand some of this stuff.

[12:58] Uh, myself, I was a tech journalist for years,

[13:00] technology journalist, and have been pursuing entrepreneurship for a long time.

[13:06] And you know, there is this happy middle ground, I think, between like self love,

[13:11] a feeling of accomplishment,

[13:13] but it’s holistic in the sense that it has to be self. The self love and the spiritual seem to be intertwined, I think.

[13:21] Um, and when you find a little bit of self love for yourself, things change drastically.

[13:27] I, at least that’s in my opinion. And it sounds to me like that was the pivot for you, like before. No self love. And I’m gathering that you found a way to love yourself now.

[13:36] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah,

[13:37] yeah. It’s.

[13:39] You’re not judged on the other side.

[13:41] So when you experience that, you know, you think of the worst day and the worst thing you’ve ever done, and you could say that there’s shame hidden in you somewhere because you knew it was something you shouldn’t have done.

[13:54] But when you get to the other side, you realize you’re loved through all of it. You’re not judged for any of it.

[13:59] So the self love part,

[14:01] for me, it was shown to me by example. It was shown.

[14:06] It was shown to me in a way that we’re just children here trying to,

[14:10] you know, make a mess of things and experience what we experience.

[14:14] And if you can understand that judgment is the absence of love and your free will, choice is judgment versus love,

[14:22] then you can cut yourself a break. You’re not judged on the other side. So there’s no reason to judge yourself here.

[14:27] Andy Walker: Very good.

[14:29] Jonathan Ashford: We’re taught to constantly seek, right? We. We help drive the existence of many things in our existence by seeking.

[14:39] But the first part I would say is contentment is finding yourself and knowing you are full. You have what you need.

[14:47] There’s nothing you need outside of yourself.

[14:50] But also recognizing that when you do seek things out of yourself again,

[14:55] not to judge yourself, right? Not to not too easily slip in and say, oh, I’m looking again. I shouldn’t do that. There is no should or should not. There’s just the experience itself.

[15:06] So it’s forgiveness. If you can forgive yourself for having the bad day, for being grumpy today, or being whatever you’re being, that’s just part of the experience.

[15:16] There’s nothing to judge.

[15:17] Andy Walker: Amazing. Amazing. What are your daily practices now that you’ve come to this?

[15:24] Jonathan Ashford: The best one for me that I have found has been gratitude.

[15:29] I have this connection. I seem to have this connection with the divine that exists daily. And the thing that gets me in tune with it is being grateful for what I have and what I’m experiencing.

[15:40] We’re all just experiencing life as this array of chaos that we’re trying to find our way through.

[15:47] And if you understand that the chaos is actually a gift, it’s something that you can be grateful for every day, whatever happens in your existence.

[15:56] Andy Walker: Wow.

[15:57] Jonathan Ashford: So a gratitude practice, just a few minutes in the morning, say, thank you for allowing me to wake up today. Thank you for the sun, thank you for the clouds, whatever comes to mind.

[16:07] It’s not preferential in that way. It really just wants your acknowledgement. Wow.

[16:12] Andy Walker: Yeah.

[16:13] Really good.

[16:14] And then.

[16:15] So you don’t work now, I think you on your website sort of, you do readings and you just take donations if somebody’s willing. And is that how you fill your pantry and fill your gas tank?

[16:27] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah. It’s amazing.

[16:30] I just know that the information I received on the other side is not to be used for gain.

[16:35] So when I share it with others, if I give readings or advice or whatnot, I’m not looking for anything.

[16:42] And if somebody wants to leave a donation, they do. And divinely, you could say that it just works out.

[16:50] The books balance every month and I just happen to have enough to continue my existence.

[16:57] Andy Walker: How do you relate to money now? What do you like looking back? I mean, you obviously had a lot of it before and you have enough now.

[17:04] Like what. What message would you say to people about money? Because I think that’s sort of a big driver for a lot of people. And I’m not sure if it’s a good driver because I think it makes people a little crazy.

[17:14] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah, I think money,

[17:16] the way I looked at money before was it was.

[17:19] It was freedom or it was something to be collected,

[17:25] something to be stashed away.

[17:28] Now I see money as nothing more than a tool.

[17:31] Whether it’s a dollar or a thousand dollars or a hundred dollars, it’s just a tool to get you to experience something in this existence of what you need to experience.

[17:42] So you could say that everything you want to achieve with your money is something that you need to experience and hopefully can see it through a different perception,

[17:51] which is what provides you the opening to understanding.

[17:54] Andy Walker: I got it.

[17:56] And what about somebody who has ambition and they’re being driven?

[18:02] You know, in your case, you drove yourself up the ladder into the C suite.

[18:07] Right. And may people might be driving themselves. Cause they just want that sense of achievement at work or to prove something.

[18:15] What would you say to them?

[18:16] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah,

[18:17] I would say that there’s a. There’s a reflective piece of that that everybody should have.

[18:22] I sought that level because I figured the view was always better from the top and there were fewer people to bother me up there.

[18:31] There was also the bragging rates. But,

[18:35] you know, knowing what I know now, it’s.

[18:38] It’s more of a reflective practice. Why are you seeking it? You know, can you answer that question honestly, truthfully?

[18:46] Why are you seeking what you are seeking? And if it’s for.

[18:51] For good, then I would say, hey, go after it.

[18:54] But if it’s just for the reasons that I had, you know, try to walk away from it, maybe.

[19:00] But that’s everybody’s journey here.

[19:02] That’s everybody’s question. That’s everything. Whether you’re ambitious or not, that’s the question. Why do we seek what we’re seeking?

[19:10] Andy Walker: It’s reflective and often it’s not because I want to start a company and be somebody in the world.

[19:17] It’s usually rooted in your.

[19:19] Probably your childhood or your teenage years.

[19:21] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah,

[19:22] yeah, yeah, yeah.

[19:24] It’s funny how I was shown what my career meant to my childhood and why I sought the things I sought.

[19:35] You know, there’s the. I want to be accepted.

[19:38] So the only way I really felt like being accepted was climbing to that place where I had a title that people would say, oh, we accept you because of your title.

[19:49] Andy Walker: So, yeah, it’s like artificial validation that obviously.

[19:53] Jonathan Ashford: Absolutely.

[19:54] Andy Walker: Yeah, it meant something to you or meant something to society. But really in, in the grand scheme of thing doesn’t really mean anything, does it?

[20:01] Jonathan Ashford: No, not on the other side. It’s funny,

[20:03] you can achieve all the material existence in the world, you can trillions if you want. And it means absolutely nothing on the other side.

[20:13] So that’s something to remember,

[20:15] really does not weigh into how your existence is viewed when you review it.

[20:22] Andy Walker: So what does matter to them on the other side?

[20:26] Jonathan Ashford: How you treat others is the number one.

[20:30] And then how you treat yourself.

[20:32] You know,

[20:33] I drove myself to 80 hour work weeks,

[20:37] you know, sometimes took a bottle of wine, a night to go to sleep, you know, to shut down. And it was not self love,

[20:44] it was, I will run this machine into the ground to get me where I need to go.

[20:49] And when you get to the other side and you realize how you treat your employees, how you treat your clients, how you interact with people,

[20:58] we usually see business people,

[21:00] but they’re not. Everybody is just people.

[21:03] And we forget that because we’re ambitious or we’re seeking something.

[21:08] So really what matters is, can you just keep that in the back of your head that we’re all here to experience what we need to experience for the better.

[21:17] And when you’re trying to really take from others,

[21:21] that’s what matters.

[21:23] Andy Walker: Amazing. Amazing. What about abundance? Do you get any messages about abundance or what abundance means or what it maybe should mean or. Tell me about abundance.

[21:34] Jonathan Ashford: Yes.

[21:36] So abundance is very different, well, slightly different from what we think here. Abundance is the everything around us holds abundance.

[21:44] You will get abundance when you’re ready to receive abundance. So a lot of people seek abundance as the child seeking the cookie from mom, but mom says you’re not ready for the cookie.

[21:57] So at the end of the day,

[21:59] abundance is everywhere.

[22:01] But really it plays into what we’re supposed to experience here. Some people get it because they can only experience what they need to experience through abundance.

[22:10] Others feel it through the lack of abundance.

[22:13] But really at the end of the day, there’s no shortage of abundance around us. It’s more about positioning ourselves to receive it.

[22:19] Andy Walker: Right. Wow, that’s, that’s an interesting take on that, you know. Cause I think you’re right. I think there is. I mean, you just need to look around. I once coached somebody, I do some business coaching and I once somebody was suffering like there’s nobody out there who wants to buy my stuff.

[22:34] And I said, well, you have a track record that you’ve sold it before. And if you count the houses on the way home tonight,

[22:40] figure out that each one of those Homes is worth between half a million and a million dollars.

[22:43] You know, in a block you’re going to drive by $10 million worth of value.

[22:48] So don’t tell me there’s no abundance in the world because it’s, it is all around you.

[22:52] And that’s, you know, from a quantification of a money perspective. But honestly I think, you know, I’d prefer to have an abundant life where I feel satisfied, abundant satisfaction,

[23:04] you know,

[23:05] like.

[23:06] And that I think is the most elusive thing in life. I think you can eventually figure out how to make money. I don’t think that’s really that difficult.

[23:14] And you can throw yourself at whatever and if you throw your morals out the door, you can make all kinds of money. But having abundant self love, having love for other people, having feeling like you’re whole and complete, I think that’s the great missing in the world.

[23:30] Would you, would you agree?

[23:32] Jonathan Ashford: Absolutely. It’s, that’s what you feel when you pass. You, you get to feel the abundance and the fullness of yourself and it’s a bliss that I can’t quite explain.

[23:42] Um, but I also tell people you don’t need to wait till you pass to feel it.

[23:46] It’s intention and attention. You know, if you can recognize it and you can focus on it every once in a while,

[23:53] you’ll get there and you’ll eventually feel it.

[23:55] Andy Walker: Got it.

[23:57] So let me ask you this. I’m going to create a hypothetical situation for you and forgive me that it’s hypothetical, but you’ll understand what I’m talking about in a second.

[24:05] So you walk in, let’s say to a Walmart and you run into a 16 year old cashier. Male or female, doesn’t matter.

[24:14] And they say, oh, you’re Jonathan Ashford.

[24:16] Tell me,

[24:18] I want,

[24:19] I. What do I. Should I do with my life? How should I do that? What advice would you give that kid?

[24:27] Jonathan Ashford: Well, knowing who I am now and the inside joke of what this existence is, immediately I would tell that child to love themselves.

[24:36] And I know what the reply would be because nobody’s taught that anymore.

[24:41] So it’s interesting that I know that the second you start loving yourself, all things change in your existence.

[24:49] And unfortunately we’re all taught not to love ourselves in a way. We’re taught to beat ourselves into the shape of the object we’re seeking.

[24:58] So it’s kind of, it’s reversed.

[25:01] You’ll learn this when you pass, but it’s reverse, the reverse of what we think it is.

[25:06] We think that everything is outside of Us. And we constantly reach for it versus it’s already inside of you. You just need to attune yourself to it and it will present itself.

[25:17] You don’t have to reach for it.

[25:20] So in a. In a short conversation like that, I would start with love.

[25:23] Andy Walker: Honestly, love yourself, love everything around you. You know, just start.

[25:30] Jonathan Ashford: Just start with loving yourself. Everything else falls into that category.

[25:35] Andy Walker: Yeah, amazing. Amazing. Yeah. Very good. And is anything that they told you on the other side that kind of floored you? They went, I had no, no idea.

[25:46] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah, everything really.

[25:49] This is an illusion.

[25:51] We live in an illusion. We live in kind of a school room that’s here to try and wake us up to what we are.

[25:59] And when you dissect your life and you look at it from that perspective,

[26:03] you can see the breadcrumbs all leading to moments in your existence which are trying to get you to wake up to something.

[26:11] The problem is we’re just so busy. We don’t see them, we’re moving too fast, we’re too occupied,

[26:17] but it’s really there. I’m not special because I receive psychic messages. We all receive them, we just can’t hear them.

[26:26] And the only thing blocking us from them is us.

[26:30] Andy Walker: Wow.

[26:31] Jonathan Ashford: So the interesting part is everybody here is aligned to receive. And it’s only when you choose to receive will you.

[26:40] Andy Walker: My friend, you are the most unlikely mystic I think I’ve ever met my entire life.

[26:47] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah, I would say some of the people who knew me before this would say the same thing.

[26:52] Andy Walker: Just amazing. It’s just amazing. So you touched briefly there on being psychic. Do you have. Is your psychic capabilities or the messages you get,

[27:01] has that been amplified? Is that changed for you?

[27:04] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah, absolutely. I. I came back receiving messages, but it over a year, it really developed.

[27:12] Andy Walker: Wow.

[27:12] Jonathan Ashford: You know, I predicted the LA wildfires and earthquakes off the coast of Thailand and things of that nature.

[27:19] And then when I do my readings, if there’s something that comes through for somebody, I try to share it in a way that will enhance their life. But yeah, I do.

[27:29] I did come back with those abilities.

[27:30] Andy Walker: And would you say clairvoyant? Clairsentient? Like what. What claires would you say you’re getting.

[27:35] Jonathan Ashford: Or have we have all of them.

[27:37] So I can.

[27:39] Yeah, it’s really surprising. I can smell psychic messages sometimes. It’s really wild. It comes through in all ways and I just see them as the tools that are helping me do what I’m here to do.

[27:54] Andy Walker: Have you had any encounters with sort of apparitions? Can you have you Seen dead people. Like. And is any of that play?

[28:01] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah, I’ve done medium work. I’ve had people who have passed, come through for others that are still here in this existence.

[28:10] Yeah, I’ve had experiences with. With what people would call the Divine Feminine.

[28:16] I’ve had many experiences with orbs of light.

[28:20] Came back seeing them. I see them in rooms or I see them in the sky.

[28:26] All manner of things. I.

[28:27] I know from my experience that material existence here is not what we think it is. It’s more of a projection.

[28:36] So for things to change shape or appear for me is just because my veil, my curtain has been removed.

[28:45] It’s actually happening for everybody. But not everybody can recognize that that’s what’s happening.

[28:50] Andy Walker: Interesting. So. So then what can people do to amplify that? Do you have any advice?

[28:57] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah,

[28:58] it’s back to finding your center. It’s.

[29:02] People ask me all the time how to enhance those abilities. And they look for the recipe. You know, they look for the thing outside of themselves. Give me the instructions on how to get there.

[29:12] And really is. It’s simply finding that place where you’re most calm. You, you know, that might be in a hot tub, that might be in a walk, that might be in nature.

[29:21] But finding the place where you can just be the most relaxed and silent in solitude and finding that center. And from that place, you’re in a point of reception, then your eyes are open.

[29:34] There’s no desire. You aren’t who you think you are.

[29:38] I like to use a sunset. Oftentimes. If you watch a sunset and you,

[29:42] you’re just taking in the beauty in that moment. You aren’t you.

[29:47] You aren’t your name, you aren’t your career, you aren’t your age. You’re actually just the awareness of the beauty.

[29:53] And that’s kind of the spot you’re looking for. You’re just looking for that place where you’re no longer carrying around the baggage of who you think you are.

[30:01] Andy Walker: And then the messages start to whisper.

[30:03] Jonathan Ashford: They will. If you’re open to it and it’s genuine, they will.

[30:07] It is here to remind you of who you are. And it wants that more than anything else. It wants your acknowledgement that it’s there.

[30:16] So it will come through. It wants to come through. And if you’re in the right place, it will certainly come through.

[30:22] Andy Walker: We recently did an episode on angels. Did you have any encounters or what’s your opinion of angels and their existence?

[30:30] Jonathan Ashford: I do believe they exist, but I believe the category to be somewhat different than what we’ve maybe been told,

[30:39] I met beings on the other side. I met. I could say I met God itself.

[30:46] But I also know that all things come from that source or center.

[30:51] So if you see an angel,

[30:53] you could say that that is a portion of what we would call the source taking shape as an angel for you.

[31:01] Somebody else might see it as,

[31:03] or call it a guide.

[31:05] Somebody else might see it and call it a dead relative,

[31:08] or somebody else might call it their pet.

[31:11] But it really is going to take the shape as you need to see it to expand your awareness in this existence.

[31:19] Andy Walker: So do you think that angelic energy then finds its way into something here that, that we connect with? Like, I think my dog’s angelic, honestly, she’s a golden retriever and she’s made, she made out of divine material.

[31:31] Uh,

[31:32] but that. Could that be true? Could that be that the divine energy has found its way into my dog?

[31:36] Jonathan Ashford: I’m very happy you mentioned that. So I had a dog that passed shortly after I returned. And before he was just this little wild Boston terrier.

[31:46] And I would call him, I would say at times he was my little angel because he was the thing that brought me out of the chaos of my C level existence life.

[31:57] So I used to think of him in that angelic place and I went to the other side and coming back with these psychic abilities, I do understand that’s what he was in a sense, he carried, as you said, that energy and it was a gift for me where he saved me a number of times just by being him.

[32:18] So yes,

[32:19] you could say our pets are angelic in a way. And people are the same way that people will appear in your life who just provide that sense of calm to you.

[32:29] Andy Walker: Sometimes I’ll have a great moment with a human being.

[32:33] And before that happens,

[32:35] I may have been in a bad mood, but something takes over me. And then whatever happens, like I try to be kind or I have a moment of recognition, of not judging and avoiding discarding my judgment.

[32:47] And sometimes I feel like that’s not me. Where did that come from?

[32:51] Right. And I’m glad it is me.

[32:53] So I wonder too, if that spirit or angelic or the divine at least sort of intervening.

[33:00] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah,

[33:01] you could say, I mean, this is, you know, the hallmark cheesy part that we think of. But at the end of the day, love travels and a person who is in their genuine understanding or calmness, having a conversation with somebody else transfers that feeling,

[33:19] that love. It’s, it’s knowing that to change a room, all you have to do is walk in. In that space of love because it exudes from you without you even realizing it.

[33:30] Andy Walker: Wow. What about spirit guides and. And. And sort of people who’ve passed in our family? Do you. Is that real, do you think?

[33:37] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah. I was shown every time in my existence. You know, I’d be in my. One of my Mercedes on a back road and on the other side of the country,

[33:46] you know, just touring around, thinking I was alone.

[33:49] And I was shown all the times that I had a passenger in the car and didn’t realize it. We’re never truly alone. We always have.

[33:57] You could say guides or spirits or divinity or God.

[34:01] The words don’t matter.

[34:03] But they’re always with us. They’re always by our side, helping nudge us in the direction we’re supposed to go. We just need to remember that that’s the case.

[34:13] Andy Walker: And look for the signs.

[34:14] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah, you can look or just know that they’re there and they’ll show you.

[34:18] Andy Walker: They’ll show you. Yeah. Yeah. I was flipping through a book the other day, and I was having a hard time with something, and I just, like. I don’t know, I picked something up and I was just flipping through it and literally I looked at a sentence and it was the message I needed to receive.

[34:29] It was the most weird thing. Like, it wasn’t just like some random, like, you know,

[34:34] and the dog is red. It was like, you know,

[34:37] transform your life because it’s the thing you need to do now. Or there was some, like. It was some weird, like, specific statement. It wasn’t like an action.

[34:47] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah.

[34:47] Andy Walker: And I was like, wow, that’s.

[34:49] Jonathan Ashford: They communicate like that all the. All the time. All the time. Songs, numbers, books,

[34:55] television, electronics. Yeah,

[34:58] it’s kind of you. You were in the space to recognize something about that which allowed you to recognize the communication. But oftentimes, let’s say you were really busy and you weren’t in the space.

[35:10] You would have just read it and moved on.

[35:12] Andy Walker: Yeah.

[35:13] Jonathan Ashford: So it really is about the state that we’re in. The communication’s happening all the time. We just aren’t in the state to receive it.

[35:20] Andy Walker: Well, I think when you start to develop yourself as your awareness develops, I think you start to see the messages. I think, you know, people ask me, well, how do I, you know, because I’ve only been on the journey really, for me for a year, maybe a little bit more than that.

[35:32] And then no. One thing that I’ve developed is my awareness. It’s like being tuned to these kinds of things.

[35:40] And I think a lot of us walk through the world unaware,

[35:43] right?

[35:44] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah. It’s kind of like, well, we’re both old enough to remember tuning a radio station, but if you’re just one or two degrees off on the station, you don’t get the full song, you just get a fuzzy version of it.

[35:58] But if you can remember, you’re just trying to tune to the station where you can hear the fullness of the song. And really, we’re the ones with the hand on the tuner, and that is us.

[36:08] That’s our center, that’s our calmness, that’s our awareness, and we’re in control of all of it.

[36:14] Andy Walker: Brilliant. Really brilliant.

[36:15] We talked a little bit about a takeaway. Do you have a little exercise that the listeners can do after, or even now as they listen to. To this episode?

[36:26] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah. The most simple takeaway I have is find nature.

[36:30] It’s find, even if you live in an urban environment, if you live in a city, you probably have a park somewhere or access to a park is go and just spend 15 minutes in nature as often as you can, because nature is your grounding rod to the electricity that’s all around us.

[36:51] And if you can go to nature and then take it one step further and focus, maybe do some breath work, maybe just have gratitude, maybe just try and give yourself a little bit of self love,

[37:03] you’re really far down on the path of getting to where we’re trying to get. It’s much further than people think.

[37:11] So just take the time, Take the time. See it as loving yourself, as giving you 15 minutes of nature every now and then. And hey, if you want to spend a couple hours, even better,

[37:20] but find it. It’s our really. It’s our direct connection to what the divine really is.

[37:26] Andy Walker: And then what do I do if I find myself, if I go, okay, I’m going to go outside now, I’m going to go and sit in a park, or I’m going to go walk out.

[37:33] I mean, I walk out in the soybean fields here, which is brilliant.

[37:37] What would you suggest? What’s the practice when you’re out there?

[37:41] Jonathan Ashford: For me, I would say it’s a mindfulness practice,

[37:44] walking amongst nature. I know that everything is just as alive and conscious as I am.

[37:49] Learn that on the other side. So you’re walking amongst beings or direct connection to divinity. And if you can appreciate that and just say thank you. You know, thank you for being here.

[38:00] Thank you for allowing me to walk through here. Thank you for supporting me and loving me as I walk through here,

[38:07] everything really does love you.

[38:10] The soybeans love you, the soil loves you, the sky loves you. And if you can just get in a moment of gratitude every now and then to know that you’re part of something far greater,

[38:22] it will open doors for you.

[38:24] Andy Walker: So what could my experience feel like? Let’s say I took on the Jonathan challenge in nature and I went, okay,

[38:31] next 14 days, I’m going to go out and I’m going to do exactly what you just told me. What could I expect at the end of that?

[38:38] Jonathan Ashford: Yep,

[38:40] peace for one. You’ll find peace.

[38:43] The second part of it is you’ll start to connect with,

[38:46] actually connect with love. You’ll start to be able to feel it.

[38:50] It’s one thing when you’re just walking in nature because you need a moment of calm. It’s another thing when you realize that the trees are sending you love when you’re walking through them.

[39:01] So it’s opening doors to experience more of this existence. And again, it’s you tuning the radio station. The song is always playing. The song never stops playing.

[39:11] Can you just tune to the station?

[39:14] So the 14 day challenge would be just take time and try it. Try to get to that space where you realize that all things around you in nature really are alive and really do care about you and are really there for you to experience.

[39:27] Andy Walker: That is great. I’m going to take that on.

[39:29] I really am. Like, that’s really fun.

[39:31] That’s. Yeah. I’m going to go out today and I’m going to do exactly what you asked me to do. I’m going to repeat that for 14 days. So I challenge all the listeners to do the same.

[39:40] Just to see,

[39:41] just to see what our new friend, our new mystic Jonathan Ashford means.

[39:48] Because we. I want what you got, my friend. And I don’t want to die, but I do want what you got.

[39:53] Jonathan Ashford: I know you already have it. You just have to remove a couple things to reach it. But it’s already there.

[39:59] Andy Walker: I got it. That’s brilliant. All right, well, in a sec we’re going to zip on over to a Woobiz like we do with the extended episode called Woo Biz plus for our members.

[40:07] But in the meantime for everybody else, I’d just like you to share with them how could they reach out and connect with you and, and, and learn from you. And you have a, you obviously have a website,

[40:17] so share what you’d like to tell everybody and how, how they can get more Jonathan in their life.

[40:23] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah, I talk to anybody everybody. I’ve talked to everybody from psychologists and mental health professionals to people going through divorces and cancer and it really. You don’t have to be spiritual to reach out.

[40:36] If you’re just looking for guidance, you can reach me on my website, jonathanashford. Com.

[40:41] I usually get back to everybody within 24 hours and I do zoom calls and phone calls and face to face meetings and it really is, I’m just here to help.

[40:51] So if you are looking for any guidance, please reach out.

[40:55] Andy Walker: That’s great. Jonathan Ashford. Com. And I’m gathering you have a book at some point cooking up. Are you cooking up a book?

[41:03] Jonathan Ashford: Yep, I just finished a book a few weeks ago and I’m going through the publication hoops right now trying to get it published. So we’ll see how that ends up. But I imagine in 2026 I’ll have at least one book out, maybe two.

[41:17] Andy Walker: Oh, two. Wow. Well, it sounds to you got a lot to say, right? There might be three on you maybe or more.

[41:22] Jonathan Ashford: I have a lot to share. Yes, I have a lot to share and it was part of the agreement I made on the other side.

[41:27] Andy Walker: It was. Oh, they gave you a task?

[41:29] Jonathan Ashford: Yeah. Yes, a few. So it was kind of like if you’re going back, you have to share this and that’s what I’m doing.

[41:37] Andy Walker: Very good, good. You succeeded today, my friend. That’s very good, Jonathan. All right, well, thanks for being with us.

[41:43] Jonathan Ashford: Thank you.

[41:44] Andy Walker: For now, I’m going to say goodbye to our all of our listeners. As I said, if you’re a Woobiz plus member, stick around because we’re going to do a little deeper dive with Jonathan just shortly.

[41:54] Um,

[41:55] but don’t forget, this is Woo Biz. My name is Andy Walker and stay in the woo.

[42:02] Thanks for listening this week. If you enjoyed the episode, please post a five star review on the platform where you found the show that could be Spotify,

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[42:16] Woobiz theme music is by D Long.

[42:19] Learn more about D Long at D E E l o n g.com the show is produced by Kay Walker and co produced and hosted by Andy Walker. To learn more about Woo Biz Plus Extended Episodes, go to Woobiz.net and click subscribe to Woo Biz plus at the top of the screen.

[42:39] You’ll also find show notes for every episode of this podcast and lots more.

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