Soulful Living

What does it mean to live in alignment with your soul? Where is the soul? How do we know?

I have come to view the soul as that which we are - a soul first with a mind-body presence. I used to think we were all bodies with a soul somehow inhabiting that body. These days, I visualize more of an expansive soul that has a body dropped into it. I think of the soul as what connects us all - each of us unique and yet part of the whole life force energy. I could be wrong, of course. What I do find is that if we leave the soul part off/out of the healing process, we miss a significant aspect. Aspect of what? I’m not sure I can find the words to describe what I mean. 

When I think about autoimmune diseases, I see that bodily expression as the self not recognizing the Self. Where little s - self is on the level of the physical and includes ego, and big S-Self is our soul. There appears to be confusion at the physical level when we have an autoimmune disorder. Same for mental health - when there is dis-ease, it’s as much a spiritual issue as it is a mind-body issue. Essentially, I see the mind-body-soul as whole and inseparable. Occasionally, in my individual work with clients, it seems as though the client’s soul is screaming through their body. Trying desperately to be integrated or maybe just heard/acknowledged? The soul seems desperate, somehow separate and yet bigger than the physical issues. Other clients, even with significant physical issues, seem in alignment with their souls. Maybe it’s actually our bodies that are trying to tell us how to be in alignment (or more in alignment) with our soul. Or, our soul’s purpose here. I could spend days just pondering this very idea. Why are we here? Why do we get sick or have physical issues? Those that have amazing healing stories - what can we learn from them? How can we all heal? How do we align with our soul?

One idea is that the soul is already living its purpose through our life. We don’t need to do anything - it just is. I’m not sure about you - but I love feeling good. I spent a lot of my life feeling lousy and feeling good is way better. I’m okay with the suffering from the past and the sacrifices to get here to a place of feeling really healthy most of the time. The healthier I feel, the more in alignment with my soul I feel. It appears to matter - health. But, maybe not for everyone. Maybe Love is the medicine. 

The Seat of the Soul author, Gary Zukav, discusses alignment with our soul in terms of Fear versus Love. When we experience a fear based negative feeling - that lets us know that we are moving away or out of alignment with Soul. When we experience feelings rooted in love - joy, contentment, excitement, freedom - that lets us know we are moving toward or in alignment with our Soul. 

I used to ignore spirit in my work - not really ignore it, but not bring it up. I think I was educated to err on the side of caution with regard to spiritual content in counseling unless explicitly introduced by the client - and in turn, I turned a blind eye to spirituality in both counseling practice and counselor education. I am a deeply spiritual person. It can’t be denied. That doesn’t mean spirituality is important to everyone. I support total freedom. I just think whatever it is you call the soul (higher power, nature, life force energy, Yoda, or whatever) is important in the process of living from or perhaps with the whole heart. I remember saying back in 2012 that I wanted to “live and love with my whole heart”. Little did I know what that would mean. My overarching intention as I approached this idea of wholehearted living was to be in alignment with my soul. To be in alignment with Self - big S Self. I made the conscious decision to say “YES” to life. Luckily I didn’t realize when we say yes to life - we say yes to life on life’s terms. I don’t think I would have so willingly made such a decision if I had known the heartache, stripping of beliefs/things/people/substances that would be involved in freedom. Of course, there is no going back. At times I have prayed for ease and only what I can take - this prayer always seems answered even when life circumstances still seem brutal. Alignment with the Soul is not for the faint of heart. Love is brutal that way - beautiful and brutal.