Hey friend. I see you. You’re busting your behind to be the best version of yourself for yourself and those around you. You are doing great. You feel pretty good. But there’s something that’s not quite right.
There’s a part of you, deep down, that doesn’t fully and unconditionally love yourself, and you feel like there is a part of you missing. Some void.
We hear about “mind, body and soul” all the time.
I know that you check in with your mind – after all, you’re making the choice each day to feed your light side over the dark. You push through your internal voice of doubt and promote positivity every day.
I also know that you check in with your body. You care about being healthy. You are mindful of what you eat and you make sure to move your body each day. You probably even meditate or do some deep breathing exercises each day to center yourself. You rock!
But what about your soul?
When was the last time you checked in with her? Really listened and nurtured her?
You know that void we talked about earlier? That “something” that’s off? If you’re sitting here thinking, “how the heck do I check in with my soul? Whatever that means…..”, then this could be your problem.
You see, when you leave the soul part out of your daily practice, it will start to suffer and have an impact on you and all areas of your life.
It starts to feel like you’re just going through the motions and that you’re disconnected. It can get lonely and dark very fast, and you aren’t quite sure how to pull yourself out. You know that you’re a spiritual person and that you are supported and comforted by your faith, but even that begins to dwindle and you begin to be fearful, questioning what’s real.
You may start to snap on people close to you. You may find that you’re not really happy doing the things that you normally love to do. You start to listen to your inner critic and put off things you normally wouldn’t. You just feel exhausted.
I’m here to tell you that it’s not hopeless and you don’t have to continue on this way.
Here are some ways that you can truly listen to and nurture your soul so that you can get back to being the unstoppable rock star that you are.
- Slow Down – take a quick inventory of your day to day life. Chances are you’re running around like a mad woman, striving to conquer endless to-do lists. Sometimes you’re so busy you forget to eat, skip your workout, and power through. That’s fine from time to time, but how often does this sound like you? If it’s happening multiple times per week, you may need to slow it down. Prioritize yourself. Open up space for your soul to speak up because right now, it’s buried underneath your to-do list and until you slow it down, it will stay buried.
- Quiet Time – when was the last time you sat down and meditated? Or perhaps did a restorative yoga class? Or just listened to your breath. The more time you can spend having this precious “quiet time”, the more you open yourself up to receive, whether this be guidance from the universe, or a gentle nudge from your soul, who has been so desperately trying to get your attention. If you care about nurturing yourself then you will start to prioritize this every day, even if it’s 10 minutes.
- Talk to Someone – if you have a coach or a therapist, this is the perfect person to bring this up to. These individuals are skilled and help their clients with similar topics all the time. By bringing someone else into the picture, it can also help open up new perspectives and give you these important light-bulb moments that you may not otherwise be able to achieve on your own. I recommend a specialist over a friend because although it may be helpful to talk to a friend, it may also lead to unsolicited advice that you didn’t want in the first place, and you very well may filter yourself out of fear of judgement far more than you would with a coach or therapist.
- Journal – how often to you spend time writing in a free form fashion? The kind of writing where you just start going and see what comes out? This is a great way to get in touch with those deeper emotions and messages that may not otherwise have the opportunity to present themselves. What if you spent just 5-10 minutes each night before bed, journaling about how your soul feels today? If you’re not sure how your soul feels, do it anyway.
You don’t get to be wrong about how you feel, and keeping an open mind may be just what your soul needs to come to the surface.
- Listen – specifically, listen to your intuition and listen to your body. Your intuition is usually right, but yet you ignore it time after time. The result? You keep having similar experiences because you aren’t listening and therefore you are not learning your lesson! What does your intuition have to say about your soul? What about your body? Have you been carrying a ton of tightness in your upper back or hips? Do you feel like there is a constant knot in your stomach? Listen to it – odds are you have some major trapped emotions and there’s something you’ve been avoiding which has manifested physically. Not sure? Look it up. There is endless research linking certain physical ailments to emotions and thoughts you’re having. This is just one other way that your soul may be trying to communicate with you.
Other things that I would recommend (take what you need, leave what you don’t) would be seeing an energy healer or reiki practitioner. Spend some more time in nature – and when you do this, make sure to leave the headphones at home. Really allow yourself to be in it. If all else fails, draw yourself a yummy Epson salt bath and give yourself permission to take a day off and give yourself a “me” day to create some space.
What is the alternative, you may ask? Well, the alternative is more of the same of what you’re currently experiencing. It’s probably going to get harder and you’re going to feel worse. You may be able to find a band aid solution but beware – that is short term and if you don’t do the real work, you’re going to be doomed to experience this same cycle over and over again until you do.
Commit to trying some (or all) of this out and I know you will get through this. The world needs you and your unique magnificence. We believe in you and can’t wait to have you back at 100%!