The secret to success on the journey of the soul - space and time for the unfurling of your truth.
Has anyone asked you lately what your soul’s perspective is, amidst this world of disease and fear? There are media beat ups, statistics out of context, mis-information, conspiracy stories and insidious agendas, all let loose on the public at the moment. Frankly, it messes with my mind, and then I am back in square one, where I have been aiming to step out of. So I put in practice my usual medicine of putting pen to paper to give and gave it my soul’s perspective. I hope you enjoy the read and find some gold in it for yourself.
What is this square one? It is a reality where the mind receives so much of my focus and attention and therefore my energy. Why is this a problem? Because it tires me and mis-directs me. Because it does not allow me to hear and honour the wise knowing of my heart, the keeper of the soul’s code and purpose. Then the joy drops out of life. Additionally it disconnects me from my organic self, my body, a vehicle for my soul to travel it’s journey on this earth. When I listen to my body I am in connection with my true nature and all of nature and I move in sustainable ways. When I disconnect my awareness from it, I push myself beyond my limits and then the body calls me back with a dis-ease or ailment or physical pain. And then the joy drops out of life.
I know that my greatest learning in life is born from shedding old patterns of driving myself into the ground and instead remaining connected with joy, intuitive flow and the pleasures that life has on offer. We are currently in a time where there is a huge disruption to ‘the norm’ and it leaves us wide open for learning a new way. Learning is a crucial skill that we all need to have to be able to thrive in this world and it is something I am passionate about facilitating in my Kinesiology consultations. So what are you learning about yourself in this time?
Beyond Blue have named some of our current top mental health issues to be exhaustion, loneliness and anxiety about coping with change. If this is the state of our minds, then what a perfect opportunity to learn about ourselves and turn our own inner crisis into a practice of awareness. Self mastery, and therefore self empowerment and the ability to meet our essential needs stem from self awareness.
I have been grateful to have had a break from my normal duties of running a business, which I find all too seductive, something I could possibly thank my workaholic father for, but I am not going to give my power away that easily. Since stepping out of my business, I have had the opportunity to reflect on what truly feels to be supportive and what is unsupportive in my life. I have realised just how essential and supportive it is to take more than 2 weeks off. It is at the 2 week stage I found myself truly unwound, unravelled and thus realised just how tired I was. So next year I won’t be waiting for a global crisis to give myself time off for deep restoration.
I have also discovered since renewing my relationship with my organic self, the joy and necessity of afternoon tea break. It has become an essential and sacred practice for me. At this time of day my body’s needs would usually be drowned out by a mind flaunting a business suit and air of importance. Instead, my heart has stepped in and reminded me of afternoon tea rituals with my mum when I was a young girl. It was the one time in the day that I saw her at rest and thus creating a sacred space for me to connect with her, and ask the big questions like ‘why does the moon looks like that?’. I had the opportunity to truly see her and her love for exotic fruits, such as custard apple and mango. I basked in her passion for her garden and her fulfilment in learning from the Australian Geographic magazines. At any other time of the day her identity and her spirit was obscured in the business of farming and pragmatic ‘mothering duties’.
My body has gleefully shown me just how much it needs that sustenance at afternoon tea time. When normally I would push on to tackle that next task, moving at my fathers pace of a brisk march, I now exhale and refuel in preparation for an enjoyable afternoon, not only for myself but also for my adored husband. Many times I have snapped at him in the evenings and in hindsight, it was the hungry woman inside me that couldn’t help but have her say in a misdirected way. Now that I am meeting my needs of food and sacred time of stillness and connection, that woman does not hunger and she is accepting of the pace at which a meal arrives and of how and where her husband is placed.
These things may seem small and insignificant, yet they are in fact a retrieval of the spirit. They represent a calling back of the soul from times gone by, from life-sapping habits and from disempowering patterns. The power of a fully present soul is a power that surpasses the illusions that the world throws at us. It transcends the red-herrings and inappropriate agendas that swim around us. It contains our life force energy for creating a life worth living. Clarissa Pinkola Estes states it eloquently in her book ‘Women who run with the wolves’. ‘The central psychic fact remains that our connection to meaning, passion, soulfulness, and the deep nature is something we have to keep watch over. There are many things that try to force, sweep, seduce away … seeming simple things like saying, “Later, I’ll do that dance, planting, hugging, finding, planning, learning, peace-making, cleansing … later.”
So now I challenge you, what soulful practices will you be commencing?
What practices will you be keeping when the world changes again?
What holds you steady and supported in this ever changing world?
What do you truly value in yourself at this time on earth?
If you are having trouble concentrating, focusing or learning, or feeling disconnected from this question itself, it may be your body’s way of telling you that stress is hijacking your state of wellbeing. Here are some suggestions for a daily practice…
For your morning, to shed the accumulated stresses of yesterday and start your day fresh:
Journal the stories and sense the learning or explore the silver lining… often a gift comes wrapped in a problem.
Get outside and enjoy the sun on your skin, let it melt away the tension.
Stretch your body and shift out of those postures of stress.
Spend quiet time in meditation focused on your breath, body and heart’s desires.
Wash it away with a swim in the ocean
For the end of the day, to shed the stresses and prepare yourself for a relaxing evening and a good quality sleep:
Step your mind out of your work world and into a world of enjoyment with music, art, walking in nature or any activity that you love and brings you joy.
Treat yourself to your own foot massage.
Have a relaxing bath or shower and lovingly pamper your body. Make it delightful with your favourite body products.
Sit back with a cuppa and contemplate the things you loved about your day and the things that you want to put behind you.
Sit in meditation and slow your breathing to allow your body to unravel its tension.
Journal the golden moments from your day.
Have a chat with a companion who listens well with their full bodied spirit.
Reference
Clarissa Pinkola Estes. 1995, Women who run with the wolves, Random House Publishing Group, USA, P. 242.