Soul Care for Life, Loss & Love
Life is filled with constant change, both inside and outside ourselves. Loss leaves us feeling fractured, empty, abandoned, and raw. Love gifts (yes gifts) us a whole spectrum of feelings and emotions throughout our lifetime.
Living your fullest life in your own time requires you to give yourself permission to feel all of the feelings that rise and fall through you. During this process, try not to label feelings as good or bad. They are simply feelings. Letting your body expand into bits of peace and happiness, along with sadness, during a difficult time is essential for growth and overall well-being.
Before We Begin:
Here and now begins the process of Soul Care. Soul Care is an approach to giving yourself care amidst the messiness of life, on your own timeline, by learning to listen to what your body, mind, and spirit needs. Here are a few Soul Care Practices to try.
Grounding
Stand or sit with your bare feet on the Earth (dirt, plants, grass, rocks, or water) . Bring your attention to your feet and affirm aloud or to yourself, “I am (your name) here and now. I am a beautiful soul in a human body. I am loved.” Repeat. You may want to practice this for a few days before moving on to the next part of Soul Care, or feel free to read and be guided by these practices all at once.
Remember, all in your own time.
Feel Your Feelings
Feelings open you up to the breadth of the human experience. If you can let yourself feel, you will be more grounded and connected in your life, your health and wellbeing, your relationships, your family, and your community.
What thoughts are filling your mind?
Feelings follow our thoughts. When we try to push feelings away, repress, or avoid them all together; fear, worry, or anxiety may take over and our brain creates a story about what something means, creating even more fear, worry, or anxiety.
Bring to mind what is on your mind. It may sound silly, but often we are not even aware of the thoughts or the feelings because we push them away.
Ask yourself. What is on my mind today? I am sure something pops up. Observe how your body reacts, with as much compassion as possible present. Literally love yourself more than you ever have before. Let the thought be there for a few moments and notice how you feel. Often if you stay in this moment, the mind reacts with more swirling thoughts, heart racing, pit in the stomach, sweating, weighted feeling on the chest, or some type of amplified pain. Be truthful with yourself. Allow yourself to feel a bit more than you did the day before.
As the quiet observer, begin to notice how certain thoughts lead to particular feelings and emotions, and then you will behave or react in a certain way. Pay close attention to the thoughts in your mind and notice how they are connected to your feelings.
Let yourself have small (or big) feelings whether they are happy, sad, angry, frustrated, or relaxed. Let them be there.
Pause and listen to your body. What is it telling you?
Pause and breathe with your whole body. Let the thought from above bubble up as emotion.
Emotion is processed through our body. If we hold it back, it will get stuck and rise to the surface as chronic pain, stress, or illness later. Today, let yourself express the emotion with a balance of movement (walking, dancing, shaking, running, hiking etc.) and stillness (with soothing music, consciously without screens, arms crossed, hugging yourself, or lying on the floor with your legs elevated on a chair or up a wall) will support you and help bring you back to center.
Follow what your body needs. Make a conscious choice to either move or find stillness. If it is hard to rest, walk or dance, if it is hard to move, curl up in a ball and close your eyes. One of the tools of Soul Care is to move enough to rest and to rest enough to feel like you want to move. Listen to your body. It never lies. Always trust yourself and do what's best for you. (image)
Over Time, Build Awareness of Your Body:
Inquire about how you're thinking and feeling. Check in with yourself. Sometimes, it’s helpful to write these things down. Be uncensored with yourself. Speak your truth to the page or share with someone you trust.
Tune into your senses by pausing your day. Listen to the sounds in the distance and then close by. Look out and observe something far away and then close by. Take deep breaths and notice the details a bit more. Place your hands together and gently rub your fingertips together so you feel the ridges of your fingerprints. Practice noticing the sensation your body is experiencing and come back to this place frequently.
Gentle Reminder: Let yourself have your feelings while holding yourself in the highest regard… sadness, anger, happiness. Have self-compassion and FEEL the feeling a little bit more each time the thought comes to mind.
Befriending your body takes patience and understanding. Hold this Soul Care Guide in the literal or figurative palm of your hand, and return to it as often as you need to. You got this. I am here cheering you on. Keep going!
Love,
Jenny
