Exclusive Interview With Annette Maria – Founder Of Sanctuary Publishing
Updated: Dec 13, 2021
Annette Maria is Founder of Sanctuary Publishing, Best Selling Author, Host of Sacred Dance Podcast & Intuitive Facilitator of Healing. Through Sanctuary Publishing she supports entrepreneurs in becoming published authors to make a greater impact. Annette believes through storytelling, you can show others what is possible for their lives. She wants to see the planet as a place that supports each individual in feeling wildly expressed while living out their soul’s purpose. She resides in New Jersey with her artist partner, George & rescue dog, Max.
Who is Annette?
Annette Maria is the Founder of Sanctuary Publishing, Somatic Soul Guide, Best Selling Author & Host of Sacred Dance Podcast within her business. She is a visionary here to remind you of your limitless innate nature.
Through Sanctuary Publishing she merges healing with publishing. She works with soul-led entrepreneurs who are ready to be authentically seen for their medicine whether it is through publishing their story or refining their mission.
As a Somatic Soul Guide she activates individuals into becoming leaders in their lives harnessing the intelligence of the body, mind & soul. She believes that you are truly limitless, you have just been limited through past conditioning and expectations – you have the ability to break free from it all while getting to know who you are underneath it all. She is an advocate for everybody learning how to listen to their inner truth & feeling invigorated to live it out!
Annette’s vision is to see the planet as a place that supports each individual in feeling wildly expressed while living out their soul’s purpose.
When she is not creating & birthing portals of expression you can catch her learning something new, currently she is deepening her knowledge of shamanism. Also as she is a big kid at heart she is often dancing, playing in nature, hiking or playing with clay at the pottery studio. She resides in New Jersey with her artist partner, George & rescue dog, Max.
What is it that you do for your clients?
I support my clients through two separate avenues within the umbrella of Annette Maria.
On one side I have Sanctuary Publishing where I support soul-led entrepreneurs who are ready to be authentically seen for their medicine through publishing their sacred creations. Whether that is through a multi-author, solo-author or creating oracle decks- we are a full-service hybrid publisher. A priority within Sanctuary Publishing is to treat the projects that come through as a sacred birth – we merge publishing and healing together to make you energetically prepared for all the limitless possibilities to come from sharing your creation.
On the other side, I have my work as a Somatic Soul Guide where I infuse Somatic Healing, Meditation, Energy Healing, Shamanic Medicine & Life Coaching together to support my clients on their path of liberation. I make it a priority to bring the body into the healing experience as it is often overlooked in the spiritual community.
Who should hire/work with you?
Those who are spiritually focused & consider themselves as soul-led leaders work with me through both avenues of my work.
Within Sanctuary Publishing those who honor the importance of delegation & staying in their zone of genius work with us. Throughout the process, we truly make publishing a seamless, joyful & expansive journey.
Within my work as a Somatic Soul Guide those who are ready to truly hone in on their self-trust and intuitive wisdom above all else step forward. If you are sick of looking outside of yourself for the answers, then this work is for you to start listening & implementing the intelligence of the body, mind & soul in regards to your soul’s mission. My work is trauma focused and supports those who are in a constant state of running to cultivate safety within themselves while making magic occur in their external reality.
What is Somatic Healing?
Somatic Healing is infusing the body into the healing process – using breath, movement/dance and expression to express emotions & to lead the healing. Oftentimes we focus on the mind when it comes to healing work but oftentimes the mind has various blocks it puts up for protection. The body though remembers it all & holds the keys for those issues that you feel unable to find resolve.
It also brings us back to our primal way of being, as children we knew how to express emotions but then sadly we got told to stop yelling, that anger was bad, to cry quietly on our own or whatever the conditioning may have been. Implementing this work allows your body to start having the conversation it desires. Somatic Healing is supportive for those who feel disconnected from their body, stuck in their healing process &/or struggle with anxiety/depression as well as trauma.
What made you start a publishing company?
I published a children’s book, The Worry Wave with a publisher and felt very dry through the experience. Inspiration, excitement and recognition for my channeled sacred creation were left by the wayside. That planted the seed for me to do things differently for others. I deeply feel that when we write our stories it is often a closing of the chapter of what has been. It allows us to redefine what our past means. Also, many of the authors who work with Sanctuary Publishing are intuitives, channels, physics, mediums etc. & I want to value their connection to the unseen. For me it is more than another business transaction – it truly is a sacred birth of your art into the world.
How has the merge of publishing & healing supported your clients?
Writing is so deeply powerful. When we are writing whether a chapter or an entire book – we are going into the depths of who we once were. You have to go back through the past, shift out what you feel called to share & then you have the power to redefine how it all has happened for you. The writing process itself can bring up many old traumas and core wounds – if you allow yourself to hold space with all that you are feeling. This to me is the medicine is of the writing process.
As well as being seen for your vulnerable words out in the world can stir up a lot of emotions. Putting yourself out there in terms of a book is an act that makes many want to contract & hide rather than celebrate & be seen. I support authors to truly develop a sense of safety within themselves & feel calibrated for all that may occur rather than feeling like you are getting thrown to the wolves and want to hide.
Merging the two together is a no-brainer for me and for my clients – the act of writing & publishing their stories has been massive stamps of death & rebirth.
What is your big goal? Where do you see yourself in 10 years from now?
I don’t believe in the 10-year visions because truly when do our plans ever work out how we expect them to.
But my big goal that I am working towards alongside my partner Geroge, is opening a retreat center & community living space in Vermont. This retreat center is a space rooted in community, creativity & cultivation. From the architecture to the daily experience, I desire for our clients to feel the magic of Divinity within it all. Oftentimes we find ourselves dreaming of hosting a free Sunday dinner & kirtan for the local community that resides outside of the retreat center – to build the roots that we are all here to help each other grow & evolve. I’m very excited to see what comes from this desire & am always open to where I am being divinely guided.
