Keeping Your Spirit Intact

Hi,

This is Jennifer Regular.

I'm happy that you're here with me,

Joining me as I share my story.

As Ram Dass once quoted,

We are after all just walking each other home.

I was brought through my transformation by the dissolution of my highly dysfunctional marriage.

Of course this wasn't the only transformational process I had been through.

However,

It was one that created a spiritual crisis,

Leading to a spiritual awakening,

Opening me up to a new dream.

How did I know I was in a spiritual crisis?

Well,

I felt depressed,

Exhausted,

Could not envision any kind of future.

I experienced some suicidal ideation,

Lacked direction and focus,

And felt empty.

I had lost the connection to the bigger picture and felt separated from any source or form of higher power.

Have you ever felt disappointed or disillusioned about life,

Work,

Relationships?

There are many ways you can become dispirited.

Work conditions,

Family relations,

Relationships,

And environmental influences can either be life-supportive or and help you thrive,

Or they can leave you feeling like you're struggling to survive.

Keeping the spirit intact is at the core of soul care.

Many of the things that stress us out also dispirits us and our energy becomes dark and heavy,

Making it harder to cope with the increasing demands on our time and energy.

By keeping our spirit intact,

We cultivate resilience and become the person who can handle it,

Whatever it is.

Carolyn Mays described three symptoms of spiritual crisis in her book,

Anatomy of the Spirit.

It may be an experience where you feel a much deeper longing,

Like something's trying to wake up inside of you and you just don't know how to see it yet.

It could be strange new fears,

May feel like you're losing touch with your self-identity,

Like I'm no longer sure of who I am and what I came into this life for,

Or what I want out of this life.

Or there may be a need to experience devotion.

We all biologically need to be in contact with the source of power that transcends human limitations and turmoil,

The need to be in touch with miracles and hope.

Even in my darkest moments,

On some level I knew there had to be something more.

My growing self-awareness allowed me to see how resentful,

Angry,

Hostile I had become.

Perhaps it was my soul that kept my inner light alive,

Motivating me to find purpose,

Passion,

And meaning for my existence and the world during that time.

Much of what you have learned about life came from the outside in,

From your parents,

Cultures,

Media,

And schools.

They formed your beliefs and gave meaning to your actions,

However not in alignment with who you are inside.

This sets you up to constantly look outside yourself for whatever you felt might be missing,

Causing you to mistake and misplace your power,

And in essence,

Dispirited you.

Who you are makes a difference.

It's not about what you do that makes a difference.

It's about who you are that does.

I learned that in being humble,

I allowed the love and support I craved from all my doing.

A renewed sense of purpose emerged and I understood through my process of healing and empowerment that I would help others to do the same.

It's been a journey and a life lesson to be both strong and vulnerable at the same time.

The traumatic experiences I had gone through,

Along with confusion,

Doubt,

And chaos,

Humbled me from my normal role as a counselor who knew how to cope with anything and began asking the universe for signs and guidance to lead me into a higher place and rise above my current circumstances.

This awareness fueled me to do things differently.

It's a lonely place to not know your role anymore.

Following the dissolution of my marriage,

I quit my job despite thoughts and beliefs that I could not survive without the income or move beyond the shame of having to quit.

I underwent a complete changeover in my life and this is what I would call transformation,

Transcending form,

Transcending from the roles that people thought of me as or that I thought of myself as into something different,

Merging more with my true essence.

It amazes me how the universe always provides for our needs for the highest good of everyone involved.

During this transformational process,

I asked the universe to show me where I needed to be,

Doing what I needed to be doing.

Then I patiently waited with an open heart to be shown.

A healer goes through many life trials and tribulations as initiation into what it takes to heal and become whole and reconnect with your spiritual being in the midst of human experience.

There were times I felt suicidal and realized karma would have to make me come back and do it all over again.

So I gathered the strength to do what I came here to do.

Getting in touch with your true source of power and creativity brings about revitalization,

A renewal,

And cultivates a more resilient spirit.

Please know that you are a divine being and you have a divine life purpose that deserves recognition.

You are capable of expressing that purpose in this lifetime and have the universal support to now carry this out.

Significant changes and loss,

Negative environments,

Non-supportive workplaces,

Misunderstanding amongst family,

Friends,

Lovers,

And family members can threaten to dispirit you.

Yet you always have the power to stand in your truth.

When looking at self-care there's a tendency to get back to the basics.

So getting back to caring for those biological or physiological needs to have shelter,

Food,

Sleep.

And although that's very important,

It doesn't really get us anywhere because as we start to go up we get knocked back down if our spirit isn't intact.

So start viewing self-care from a higher perspective,

Allowing a deepening of self-awareness to make conscious decisions that supports the needs of the soul.

When we are stuck,

Overwhelmed,

And exhausted,

We keep going out of a need to please and a need of approval and attempts to maintain our self-esteem and feel safe.

If we were to look at soul care,

We're working to tune in to our natural rhythms and remember our core essence.

The soul is where the sacredness of life is revealed and accessing that remembrance brings us peace,

Clarity,

And a sense of purpose once again.

I recognize the value of doing the inner work and became more energy efficient so I can be the light for others who are still in the darkness.

I began moving from a place of inner knowing rather than simply adapting to circumstances outside myself.

Through this realization,

I began to restore my relationship with myself and fine-tune the way I was relating with others.

Life force energy began to flow through me and expand my energy field to attract what I needed as I honored my life path unfolding before me.

I stepped into it with faith and confidence that I was being led to where I needed to be and find all that I needed along the way.

David Allen,

Who's a productivity consultant,

Said,

You can do anything but not everything.

By not honoring my needs,

Pushing myself too hard,

Saying yes out of fear,

Obligation,

Or guilt,

Buying into feelings of unworthiness,

And not following through on promises I made to myself,

I ended up giving way too much of myself and felt depleted and drained of all energy.

It was akin to a slow death.

The fact that we are spiritual beings affirms we can do anything,

And the fact that we are having a human experience reminds us that we can't do everything.

There are limitations in body,

Mind,

And emotions that must be replenished and restored every now and then.

So how do we build resilience and keep our spirit intact?

Maslow described self-actualization as realizing personal potential,

Self-fulfillment,

Seeking personal growth,

And peak experiences.

The goal here is to be happy and fulfilled.

As I reclaimed my inner power,

That worryer in me,

I went through a rebirth where I honored who I was,

My capacity to love others,

And to engage in self-care,

Soul care.

I also got in touch with my soul's needs and was able to tap into my innate wisdom by first replenishing my energy and clearing emotional blockages.

I felt the passion arise within me.

I dissected the word passion to pass I on.

In this form,

Passion means looking at what your higher self,

Or better yet,

Whole self,

Wants to leave behind on this earth and pass on to the future generations.

By igniting your passion,

You free your spirit to live the life that you were meant to live.

I love this quote by Maya Angelou,

And although it mentions women,

I believe it's really for anyone.

A woman is in harmony with her spirit,

Is like a river flowing.

She goes where she will without pretense and arrives at her destination.

With soul care,

The soul leads.

We access intuition,

Innate wisdom to discern instead of the voice of tradition,

Authority,

Or the majority.

We take responsibility for having our needs met rather than expecting someone else to fulfill them,

Giving us the courage to respond without defenses and with authenticity and integrity.

When we take inspired action though,

We don't feel those limitations.

There is no pushing or controlling.

We just enter into the flow of our divine nature,

And it will direct us.

Here are some strategies.

Start tending to those relationships where it's safe to share life experiences and align with those who encourage you to live your life's and heart's desires.

Spend time in nature to realign with your body's natural rhythms.

Releasing what no longer serves you creates space to experience this energy flow,

This opening,

In gentler yet more powerful ways.

Ensure those needs support your soul.

Let love,

Those things that give you lots of vital energy,

Guide you to choosing what is more and most life-supportive for you.

And experience life at a deeper,

More vital level.

Pay My Children offers that the most important aspect of being on a spiritual path may be to just keep moving.

So start with self-care first thing in the morning before you do anything else.

Connect with you and or your higher power first.

Remember,

The inner work allows the outer work to be effortless.

And downtime is essential.

Maybe even putting a plant beside your bed to replenish you.

All you have to do is sleep and have it next to you and it will replenish you.

And always end your day with an intention to rest your soul.

I'm going to sum up now what it takes to cope.

Conscious connection,

So that's with your higher self,

Your higher power,

Others,

Gives you time for reflection and contemplation.

And clear negative energy.

You can smudge or purify yourself for space or declutter to create space and clear your mind.

Clear out what no longer serves you from all areas of your life and set new boundaries of what you invite or allow into your life to protect your energy.

Own it.

Embrace your power.

Acknowledge your strength and how far you've come.

Pace yourself.

Learn effective time management techniques and align with your flow in your natural rhythms.

Engage spiritual practices and energy work.

If you would like to learn more,

You can visit my website at www.

Enlightenwellness.

Ca.

Blessings on your journey.