This is all about energy. Thinking of your soul being the core essence and vehicle that you are like a computer, your spirit is the wifi — the energy that’s being put out there to the world. Being aware and conscious as to how your energy is flowing and how energy itself is communicating to you (that you can perceive as the Universe/Source/God/Consciousness). We all know what it means to be body conscious yet so few of us are soul conscious that is be concerned about how we view ourselves internally beyond our appearance and the surface.
Do you have practices in place that nourish and light up your soul, that renew your energy? What really comes to mind that’s being channeled is that child like behaviour and essence: feeling playful, laughing, giddy, pleasure, joy, excitement. The simple things. Pockets of happiness.
Energy is everywhere and in everything, particularly our environment. How good does it feel when we create space in our homes by cleaning and decluttering? It’s also about an energy audit, looking at your life and becoming aware of what drains your energy and what gives you energy. So much of integration isn’t learning but also unlearning (the very core concept of my debut book The Great Unlearning). If we keep adding stuff think of it like clothes it just accumulates, we need to actually clear some and have space in our wardrobes for more or perhaps that idea of a capsule wardrobe and minimalist — breathing room… which leads to my next point rejuvenating the soul by taking moments to consciously breathe in and out.
Spending time in nature whether that’s walking barefoot on the Earth, breathing in fresh air, feeling the sand between your toes on the beach, being immersed in the sea.
Devotion and commitment to yourself, something of routine that you do daily for yourself. For me that’s non negotiable meditation everyday, for you that may be something different! Doing something you know feels really good for you and helps you to be grounded within yourself and the busy chaos that life can be.
All these come together as means and ways to approach rest and integration in your journey. By no means is it restricted to what I have just shared more acting as a springboard!
Doing a whole body scan and checking in with how it feels to be inside your body. Do you feel a heaviness anywhere? Any aches? Pains? This can be done with PMR (progressive muscle relaxation). The premise here is to tense a particular area of your body for a few moments and then release to feel yourself letting go of tension. Going from the bottom to the top. Starting with your feet and toes, wiggling and curling them. Moving up your body tightening your thighs. Squeezing your hips and bottom. Breathing in deeply into your chest. Pushing your shoulder blades together. Clenching and unclenching your jaw. Scrunching and unscrunching your face.
On an aside, one particular body part, I want to draw attention to is your gut as I mentioned earlier. Our gut communicates to our brain. Our gut influences our emotions and feelings which makes sense like when we feel anxious or nervous it’s in our gut first through grumbles, noises and butterflies. The gut is the only organ with it’s own nervous system known as your enteric nervous system or the second brain. It’s importance is known with sayings such as ‘trust your gut’ and ‘gut feelings are guardian angels.’ There’s a lot of research out there and I encourage you to look into it yourself too but our gut is far beyond just digestion, it’s been linked to our moods and mental health too.
Incorporating movement into your day. It must be said that the core essence of meditative movement brings all three parts into the present moment through means such as yoga, tai chi and Qi gong. Yoga combines muscular activity and turning the mind inwards. Tai Chi and Qi Gong are all about Qi – life force through breathing, stretching and movements.
Ways to rest your mind is well through mindfulness being in the present moment. Acknowledging your thoughts. Acknowledging your feelings. Not being resistant to the thoughts that are happening but allowing them to happen, to be in flow which leads to inner peace. You don’t want to just trap your thoughts within your mind but releasing them by means of talking to someone, that’s where a life coach like me comes in handy or writing it all out in your journal. You don’t have to make sense of your thoughts and feelings straight away it’s about releasing them, letting go. It can be also helpful to have silence, not listening to a podcast or music but simply being in the moment. Taking in the surrounding sounds.
