by Christel | Dec 31, 2021 | Podcast
How can you actively take part in creating the future you desire?
This episode highlights the practice of future casting, which is an active collaboration with spoken word, breath, sound, and energy healing.
I’m Christel Arcucci. You’re listening to the Soul Purpose Podcast, the lightning path of embodied spiritual awakening with shadow and light integration. Quit people pleasing, create healthy boundaries, reclaim power, and live your soul purpose legacy.
How is this different from the law of attraction teachings? (LOA) While I agree that our energy and attention create momentum.
If you’re stuck in the looping patterns of your mind, it’s difficult to move into a different energy frequency.
With future casting, you are actively participating and feeling your body and breathing your breath and speaking your dreams out loud. It becomes infinitely easier to get out of the habitual tracks that have set in your mind and in your emotional body and in your physical body.
Thank you for being here, it’s a pleasure to walk the soul purpose path with you.
You’re listening to the soul purpose podcast, the lightning path of embodied spiritual awakening with shadow and light integration. Quit people pleasing, create healthy boundaries, reclaim power, and live your soul purpose legacy.
You can access the Free Soul Success Journal & meditation and all episodes of the podcast and all the goodies mentioned in this episode at soulpurposepodcast.com/11
If you are interested in exploring soul purpose mentorship options with me visit soulpurposepath.com to fill out an application.
I believe in you and the magic power of your soul.
For more revolutionary teachings and tools, please follow on your favorite podcast app or visit soulpurposepodcast.com. I look forward to connecting with you in the next episode.
I am sending you so much love!
by Christel | Dec 19, 2021 | Podcast
The Practice of Embodied Soul Purpose is the ability to distinguish between intuition guiding your choices or anxiety running your life.
I’m Christel Arcucci, you’re listening to the Soul Purpose Podcast, the lightning path of embodied spiritual awakening with shadow and light integration. Quit people pleasing, create healthy boundaries, reclaim power, and live your soul purpose legacy.
I based this podcast upon the assumption that every adult has experienced trauma int their life. Trauma can include events that are obviously difficult, like a car accident, illness or injury, a pet dying, having surgery, giving birth, death of a loved one, divorce, buying a house, losing a job, being bullied or getting robbed. The struggles of your own or a loved ones addiction, or a history of abuse or abandonment.
Trauma also includes events that FELT traumatic and may have been dismissed as “no big deal.” Like being left with a baby sitter, not getting a part in the 1st grade play, or being told you can’t sing. On the surface these events can be easily overlooked yet they may leave traumatic imprints.
The level of trauma in the body, mind, and heart all depends on how you learn to regulate your nervous system during and after a traumatic event.
I believe everyone has trauma to unwind and integrate.
A key component of embodied trauma integration practice is learning to distinguish between your intuitive body wisdom guiding your choices and your pain body wounding running your life.
Keep in mind your pain body wounding is not bad or wrong, you are not broken for struggling with anxiety or depression, the hardest life lessons are often the greatest teachers. The key teaching of this podcast is to recognize when the pain body is hijacking your brain is trying to convince you that it is in charge and the CEO of your life.
Let’s start to distinguish choices from your intuitive body that are low importance and how your wounding, survival strategy or the mind’s override mechanism will try to derail and control you.
The reason this happens is because your mind is literally designed to keep you in safety, which means keep you in what is familiar, even if it’s unhealthy.
As Carl Jung said, “until you make your unconscious, conscious it will rule your life and you will call it fate.”
Your task, should you choose to accept the challenge is to face your shadows and learn the inner landscape of programming vs transformational change.`
First practice is getting dressed in the morning or planning your outfits at night. Take a moment and a deep soul body breath to ground and connect your mind, body, and heart. Feel your feet on the floor, take a deep breath, gently move your body and bounce to bring your awareness from mind down into your heart, down into your hips.
Listen to episode 5 for more information the soul body breath practice.
Stand in front of your closet and ask, “what is the best color or outfit to wear tomorrow in order to step into my greatest soul-centered power?” Or change the request to speak directly to your desired experience or outcome. “In order to generate more money.” “In order to enjoy delightful collaboration with my clients or partners” name the specific outcome or experience you want to have that day.
Keep breathing and notice what your mind says and notice what your body guides you to.
Often you will have an exciting first inspiration yet your mind may try to logic you out of taking action since your brain is wired to keep you safe by keeping your life and choices familiar even if it’s unhealthy and or you are unhappy.
When your mind is disconnected from your heart and intuitive body wisdom your wounded parts will try to lead, this is not meant to demonize your mind. When your mind is disconnected from the heart and body wisdom, it can tell you all manner of stories that are not true, supportive or rooted in intuitive body wisdom or intuition. So at first when you start this practice the mind is going to try and take control, “listen to me, I’m the boss.”
Making healing choices from a deeply rooted connection takes time and practice. Be an observer when you’re standing in front of your closet and ask who is leading?
Love or fear?
Intuition or anxiety?
Intuitive body wisdom or pain body wounding?
Getting dressed in the morning there is no great risk, nothing is at stake if you follow general protocol yet still allow yourself to play.
After you ask the question and then listen, listen, listen.
Open your mind to how you receive the guidance, some people will hear words, some will want to scan your clothes with your eyes or hands until you feel it, others will have a deep knowing.
Here’s an example:
My mind says: wear the teal colored dress.
My intuitive body says: wear the the coral skirt, and purple top.
Take a breath. Pause. Listen to voices and explore the feeling signature of each voice and its essence in the moment.
Is it love or fear?
Is it intuition or anxiety?
When you start this practice you may experience discomfort in listening to your intuitive animal body wisdom.
As I selected this random example just imaging standing in front of my closet my mind said, “Wait, those are really bold colors together, do they even go together? What’s going on?” Even this is a made up example my mind is overriding the intuitive guidance yet I have done enough practice to know the difference between wounding and wisdom.
As I build trust in my intuition, I’m going to trust myself and make this choice to wear this outfit and go on with my day.
Eating is another great place to experiment with this practice. When you sit down to eat or choosing what you’re going to have for a meal. Ask your intuitive body from a place of deep connection.
Become anchored in your place of connection by taking deep breaths, feeling your body, recognize where you are in time and space, then ask, “What can I eat for lunch, that will support the highest expression of my body, mind and soul right today? Or to boost my immune system or help me feel clear and awake?”
If you’re choosing from a menu or choosing from your refrigerator, pay attention to what your mind says and what your intuitive body says.
These two practices are a great place to start, as you become aware of what you wear and what you eat and notice how often your Intuitive body and the override mechanism of your mind pull you into different directions.
The next stage of unwinding, healing and learning is to distinguish between wounding and wisdom would be in attending certain events, going to a party, an event or meeting someone new.
If you are in a phase of deep trauma where there’s a fear of going out, there can be healthy fear that comes from wisdom, and then there’s wounded fear that comes from trauma, the pain body and wounding.
Fear is not bad so be careful not to automatically connect feeling afraid with wounding. It’s important in your healing that you learn what emotions, feelings and sensations are rooted in truth vs where you can stretch yourself to expand your comfort zone.
Make it your practice to discover where and when to challenge yourself in a way that is rooted in wisdom and not in wounding because the wounded fear will push you to do things when the cost is too great.
I have unknowingly pushed myself too far many times when attending workshops, trainings or business events when I’ve said, “you have to go, you’re gonna miss out, you need this information, if you don’t get this information your business will fail.”
Okay, that was a really good example of wounded fear driving. You can feel and hear the FOMO and threats present in that example of self talk.
When I was working on this in my own practice many years ago I was attending a lot of business events. Most of those events were in hotel conference rooms with recycled air, fluorescent lights with no windows, tight seating back in the day. When we used to do that with 50 to 500 people, the is not my ideal environment, it’s hard on me.
I was actively working on this intuitive body healing practice to restore my intuition I would negotiate with myself, and use my inner guidance to help me select the best choice for the outcome I desired.
For example if there is a two day business building event I am considering attending, I connect my breath with my body-mind, to decide if I was even going to the event by asking, “will this event support me and my business to create a bigger impact and make more money?”
If the answer is yes, then I would choose which sessions to attend based on my intuitive body wisdom. There were generally morning and afternoon sessions sometimes evening sessions with lunch and dinner break.
Examples of how I plan my day, I would attend the morning session and then leave after lunch, or I would show up at the end of the lunch break and attend the afternoon session.
Sometimes I would be guided to walk out in the middle of a session, sit on the sun, or walk around the block, and then come back for the next session. I let my intuition guide me and it became easy to distinguish when wounding or fear was trying to control me.
Yes, I was missing information yet as I rebuilt trust with my intuition I always ended up hearing the information I most needed or magically meeting someone to collaborate with on a project I was working on.
The FOMO fear/wounding voice would jump in and declare, “if you don’t attend EVERYTHING your business is going to fail.”
My bone deep intuitive animal body says, “that is not accurate information. You are speaking from fear and wounding, no thank you.”
The intuition and wisdom body is not rooted in fear, it’s not an urgent, emergency type of feeling when you receive guidance.
When my intuition is guiding me and it is actually an emergency it feels grounded, rooted, clear, firm, direct, kind yet confident.
The fear and wounding voice uses, threats, shame, FOMO and false urgency.
As you practice you will begin to recognize the fear program and rebuild trust instead.
I want to restate this teaching in another way to make sure it lands since this is often life changing for my clients once they get it in their bones.
If we go back to the business events example. Pause, breathe, feel your feet on the floor and anchor yourself in the present time and say, “honey. I love you, and I’ll be at the sessions that I need to be at.” I trust that what I need it’s available and will be provided when I need it.”
When you’re in a place of deep connection body, mind, heart and soul you’re rooted in your being, what you need, shows up.
The soul body breath practice is helping you weave your body, mind and heart together. In order to notice when and how your trauma and wounding pulls you off center.
Soul body, breath and present moment awareness helps anchor you in trust, connection, willingness to face hardships, shadow aspects, wounds and being okay with the things that you miss out on.
This practice will help you to choose what you attend or what you do. Each time you consciously select the places that you stretch and challenge yourself for positive and empowered choice you are healing your entire animal body intuitive system
Stretch yourself in ways that it’s easier to heal, think about increasing trust in your intuitive body like increasing your physical capacity. If you are learning to do the splits and can’t even go halfway down, it would be unwise to overriding my body’s limits and wisdom forcing yourself into the splits on the first day.
If you have perfectionist tendencies keep in mind and heart that you will not do this perfectly and forcing yourself with an override approach would likely get you injured, but take your time with patience, sensitivity and persistence every day you will increase your capacity and restore your intuitive animal body wisdom.
Journal prompts (visit Soulpurposepodcast.com for a printable version)
I encourage you to write without stopping and without editing. The answers are your perspective and experience, there’s no right or wrong, yet the practice itself often highlights your personal relationship with wounding and wisdom, intuition and anxiety,
What’s the difference between wounding and wisdom?
Write a magical example of your intuitive body?
How does your pain body trick you into thinking it’s the CEO?
How can you tell the difference?
Wounding:
Contraction/hardening/urgency/frenetic energy/demanding/bossy/shaming/making wrong/either or thinking/controlling
Wisdom:
Solid/confident/grounded/quiet/clear/knowing/certain/grounded/kind/focused/unconditionally loving/having choice
Wisdom is knowing how far to go.
Wounding is shaming yourself for making a mistake.
Just like if you have a yoga practice that wisdom of knowing how far to go in a pose.
Wisdom is trusting yourself and to challenge yourself when not to challenge yourself, so that you’re anchoring our choices from a place of wisdom, and not from wounding because when your make choices and push ourselves and challenges ourselves from a place of wounding, it can traumatize yourself or create new trauma.
My invitation to you is to take on one or more of these practices. Practice in your everyday life with small things that are low risk, where there’s no great cost in learning, to distinguish between intuition and wounding or love and anxiety.
The focus of this podcast today is to anchor yourself in your being and whatever ways you do that. Connect body, mind, heart, and soul. Come into the present moment and learn to distinguish when your intuition is guiding you. When your wisdom is guiding you, or when your wounding, pain body or anxiety is trying to push you forward and control you.
Thank you for being here, it’s a pleasure to walk the soul purpose path with you.
You’re listening to the soul purpose podcast, the lightning path of embodied spiritual awakening with shadow and light integration. Quit people pleasing, create healthy boundaries, reclaim power, and live your soul purpose legacy.
You can access the Free Soul Success Journal & meditation and all episodes of the podcast and all the goodies mentioned in this episode at soulpurposepodcast.com/10
I believe in you and the magic power of your soul.
For more revolutionary teachings and tools please follow on your favorite podcast app or visit soulpurposepodcast.com. I look forward to connecting with you on the next episode.
I am sending you so much love!
by Christel | Sep 10, 2021 | Podcast
How many times have you been told to play nice? This real talk episode is focused on giving you permission to access your creative power, to play naughty and explore the question: what do I *REALLY* want to create?
I’m Christel Arcucci, you’re listening to the Soul Purpose Podcast, the lightning path of embodied spiritual awakening with shadow and light integration. Quit people pleasing, create clear boundaries, reclaim power, and live your soul purpose legacy.
This podcast is informational and this episode is a very special embodied journey of sensual hypnosis with energetic healing, I intend to seduce you with my voice.
Yes, seduce you into a greater, deeper, more delicious experience of your body and your soul purpose. I will use sounding, deep breaths to help you feel and integrate the teachings into your body and mind.
When I was a little girl, I dreamt of being an artist and writer.
The dominant culture says that artists struggle and aren’t good with money.
I became a healing artist instead, so I could focus on building a service and education business with jewelry design as a “artistic passion project”.
I am blessed to make a living doing work aligned with soul purpose. I always wondered if I could make more room for the artist and writer in my business…
A wild idea during the heart of the global reset in 2020 bloomed into a secret business, and the first month I made $560 from my art.
I have launched hundreds of business ideas, some have been successful and some have failed. I’ll share my take on failure in an upcoming podcast episode. The “failed” biz ideas have cost me tens of thousands of dollars over the years and I will never stop believing in and trying inspired ideas.
I have publicly proclaimed I would publish several books and delayed the latest book publication date (with my real name) due to fire evacuation and an unexpected move.
One year ago today I took a crazy chance… I selected a pen name and let myself PLAY and try something wild, new, unexpected, creative and naughty.
My wild creative artist dreamer generated $26,000 in the first year in this “side business.” I know there’s lots of talk about how peeps have made “6 figures in my first 6 minutes in business,” ok I am exaggerating a little. I am delighted with this success!
There is so much power in not hiding who you are, yet I have found incredible freedom in not giving a f-ck about what anyone thinks and letting myself play, dream, create and explore.
It’s a *REALLY* stressful time in the world, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, afraid, confused, depressed, anxious, etc.
I invite you to take a crazy chance on your dream and do the f-cking creative-wild-artistic-and scary-thing. You can start small and in secret at first if that suits you.
A client messaged me today to let me know she received a $500 tip on top of her fee for a commissioned mural.
YES MORE PLEASE!
Sensual hypnosis to Awaken your Creative Power:
I invite you to make yourself very comfortable, allow your body to set up and whatever you’re sitting on. If you can lay down, that would be even better. Let your body settle and let your mind stay focused on my voice. Trusting my voice to guide you. Hmm. Yes. Guiding you feel your breath is moving without any effort.
Your breath is moving in and out without you even having to think about it. Breath, rising and falling breath, arising and falling. Your breath helping you feel more relaxed, more settled and more open.
I invite you to open your mouth and take a deep inhale in and exhale. Let it out with a sound or a sight or a naughty moan.
Going deeper.
And deeper into a creative and relaxed state.
Creative power lives inside of you. It is the power that is breathing your breath without any effort. No effort, just relaxation.
You find yourself standing at the top of the steps, walking down a 7 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1.
Feeling so relax, standing in front of the crystal elevator, the doors slide open. Mm. Yes. And you step inside glittering gemstone buttons and you already know intuitively which one to select.
And the doors are closed, sliding down, down, down. Going deeply into your creative power.
Moving past any layers of resistance, not entertaining any thoughts and letting them float away, like little butterfly, no need to hold on or catch them. There’s so much more beautiful and they’re fluttering way. Brightly colored wings leaving streaks in the sky.
So relaxed, so open trusting yourself and this journey.
Listen to the podcast for the full journey.
Thank you for being here, it’s a pleasure to walk the soul purpose path with you.
You’re listening to the soul purpose podcast, the lightning path of embodied spiritual awakening with shadow and light integration. Quit people pleasing, create clear boundaries, reclaim power, and live your soul purpose legacy.
You can access the Free Soul Success Journal & meditation and all episodes of the podcast and all the goodies mentioned in this episode at soulpurposepodcast.com/9
If you are interested in exploring soul purpose mentorship options with me visit soulpurposepath.com to fill out an application.
I believe in you and the magic power of your soul.
For more revolutionary teachings and tools please follow on your favorite podcast app or visit soulpurposepodcast.com. I look forward to connecting with you on the next episode.
I am sending you so much love!
by Christel | Aug 29, 2021 | Podcast
Let’s play in the deep end with a shadow integration practice called: Love the Heart of Fear. What does the heart of fear mean? Is it possible to love fear?
I’m Christel Arcucci, you’re listening to the Soul Purpose Podcast, the lightning path of embodied spiritual awakening with shadow and light integration. Quit people pleasing, create healthy boundaries, reclaim power, and live your soul purpose legacy.
You may have noticed that episode 8 is weeks late. This episode is going to start with the real life challenges I am facing instead of the past episodes that focused on core elements of what I teach my clients.
The plan for episode 8 was, “Wounding or Wisdom – How to Heal your Intuitive Body.”
On a Tuesday a few weeks ago a FB live I created 4 years ago popped up in my FB memories “Loving the Heart of Fear.”
I watched it, impressed this lady named Christel Arcucci dropped some wisdom bombs about shadow work and transformation. 😉 I had the audio transcribed as inspiration for a future episode of the podcast.
Wednesday (the next day) a wildfire starts dangerously close to my home in Northern California. As soon as I hear about the fire, I checked to find out how close is it to my home and drive home, hoping I will still be able to collect my valuables and evacuate. I know the roads may already be closed…I’m driving towards a wildfire. The fire clouds and smoke are ENORMOUS AND TERRIFYING.
2016 the wildfires in California started impacting my friends, places I love and communities *VERY* near me. In late summer of 2020 after 4 years of this intense stress combined with dangerous air quality and the pandemic felt like hell. I swore to myself I wouldn’t and couldn’t stay through another fire season in California.
When I arrive home on I was already in fight or flight stress response. I’m grateful I made it home before the roads closed or the fire reached my home yet feeling overwhelmed about what to take, where to go or what to do next.
The FB video on Tuesday had given me a transmission of love for the fear that is now coursing through my heart and flooding my system with stress hormones. Reminder to pay attention to all the signs and resources you are offered to you even if they don’t make sense in the moment.
Now you see why this episode is focused on loving the heart of your fear and why I am weeks late in delivering this. In the last 5 weeks there have been 3 wildfires that threatened my home.
As you know I get off on befriending my shadows, loving my shame, loving my fear, and getting in there and being with those parts that I wish didn’t exist. It would be easier if life was just unicorns, rainbows and wildflowers right?
Earth School is the shadow integration masters program that you may have realized you signed up for yet cannot escape…. So let’s make this wild ride more enjoyable.
All kinds of protection mechanisms and survival strategies keep you from looking at your fears, help you avoid feeling pain sadness, grief, shame even desire or sexual arousal.
Your brain is wired to survive. To try to keep you away from what you fear in order to keep you safe in what is known and familiar.
Your journey of awakening who you are and your purpose is rooted in being able to embrace your full human experience and your ability to accept and even love yourself.
You can say all day, “I love myself I love myself I love myself I love myself.”
And there’s a part of your brain saying, “Yeah, but what about the horrible thing you did. What about that like horrible thing you said? What about swearing at the person that didn’t use their turn signal? Or what about when you were five? You are bad and wrong so you can’t LOVE THAT!”
It’s easy to love the pretty parts of yourself, easier anyway.
It’s harder to love the undesirable things about yourself, to love the bad things that you’ve said and done.
Dominant culture decides what is good or bad, right or wrong, acceptable or forbidden.
I’m exploring embracing my shadow, befriending the skeletons in my closet, rather than trying to pretend they’re not there, I invite them for tea.
It takes an enormous amount of courage to acknowledge and accept your shadow, let’s be real.
Shadow integration isn’t a casual thing you take up one day and it’s all grand and rosy with your skeletons carefully coming down out of the closet and sit at the table with you, they will likely throw shit and will likely be really mean at first.
So… is loving the heart of fear possible and why am I talking about it?
It’s an important part of your journey of healing and a central way to love those horrible parts of yourself.
This shadow integration practice doesn’t condone bad behavior or abuse from yourself or anyone else, but it is about loving the wounded parts of yourself and the collective. When you can do this inside yourself you’ll be better able to engage with the shadow aspects of others.
The heart is the softest most vulnerable, innocent and tender core element of everyone. When you turn into that truth it’s easier to imagine the possibility of loving the heart of anything that you most want to avoid or fear.
Start this practice by being willing to admit and be with your fear, doubt, shame, sadness, grief, addiction, victim, perpetrator, rescues etc.
All the parts of yourself that you wish didn’t exist and also the behaviors and traits which trigger you in others.
Acknowledge the shadows exists and be with them. “I see you”
Invite them into your journaling practice, meditation or mindful movement practice rather than pushing them away. “I feel you.”
The next level is to love your shadows.
Love the heart of your fear.
Love the heart of your deepest, darkest, scariest parts…the ones that you if could, you would throw them out of the universe. “I love you.”
I’ve discovered the heart of fear is where so much power lives. I will even go so far as to say unlimited power lives.
Tap into that power to be more aligned, on purpose and connected to who you are and what you’re really here to do.
The more that you run from fear, the more you run from being yourself. Is that’s a game you want to play?
Playing hide and seek with the infinite power of your soul is why you decided to become human, it’s so fun!
This is demonstrated in the 5 Acts (or Powers) of Shiva. The ability to create, maintain, destroy, conceal and reveal.
The game of playing hide and seek with each other and yourself is a fun game when you’re young… do you still the divine play now? Especially with the intensity of what’s happening in 2021 for example?
Although the way that adults most often play hide and seek is unconscious and full of shadow material most often we don’t even realize what and who you are hiding from.
Lila is a Sanskrit word that means Divine Play and is a powerful tool to help remind you of the conscious game of hide and seek that you decided to become human and “forget” that you are infinite intelligence.
Using your life force energy to hide who you really are and what you think is exhausting and painful, and can lead to illness, depression, anxiety and suppressed immune function.
I invite you today, at whatever level you’re ready is to turn towards your fear.
Name fear.
Be with fear.
Befriend fear.
Love the heart of fear.
Look fear in the eye and really be with what is there. Be willing to stay in the intensity and see what opens for you.
Im my practice of loving the heart of fear I like to practice this while eye gazing in the mirror. After a few breaths to drop in, it doesn’t take long before there’s a massive shift. As I’m able to feel the resistance to fear, the fear softens and opens. The resistance to feeling fear which is most often a desire to control in order to feel safe.
Resistance, the desire to push away or get away from takes so much energy.
With the practice of simply being with fear, being with doubts, demons, shadows or skeletons unlocks so many resources and power.
Loving the heart of what you what to avoid or destroy changes everything and changes it quickly.
Where are you in your journey of loving your fear, shadow and what you wish didn’t exist within you, others or the collective?
Be willing to be with your fear, love the heart of that what scares you most.
Love the heart of the most horrible things you’ve done in your life, love the horrible thoughts and you learn to love life itself, all of it.
I still often want life to be easy, playful, abundant and full of all my favorite things and the reality is that life on earth is the expression of spectrum of all possibilities and experiences.
My practice is anchoring myself in the moment with breath, mindfulness, and movement practices and then remember the divine play of life on earth, that humanity is actively co-creating this experience.
Love your shadow, it liberates you from struggling again what is and trying to control the uncontrollable.
Your shadows will act out when you try to get rid of them or repress them… the shadow will create trouble.
Love your shadows, shame, anger, rage, sadness as much as you can.
Be willing to turn towards, look in the eyes of the parts of yourself that you wish weren’t there, and love all parts of yourself. When you’re able to do that, then things will change in the outer world.
It’s so easy to run from the hard and ugly stuff. Oh, just keep yourself busy and do to anything to avoid looking at or being with fear.
Turn towards fear.
Be with anger.
Embrace sadness.
Sit with rage.
Love the heart of fear.
To the healing that is possible and the transformation that is available… love your heart, and love what you fear most.
Thank you for being here, it’s a pleasure to walk the soul purpose path with you.
You’re listening to the soul purpose podcast, the lightning path of embodied spiritual awakening with shadow and light integration. Quit people-pleasing reclaim power and create your soul purpose legacy.
You can access the Free Soul Success Journal & meditation and all episodes of the podcast and all the goodies mentioned in this episode at soulpurposepodcast.com/8
I believe in you and the magic power of your soul.
For more revolutionary teachings and tools please follow on your favorite podcast app or visit soulpurposepodcast.com. I look forward to connecting with you on the next episode.
I am sending you so much love!
by Christel | Aug 1, 2021 | Podcast
Are you creating connection or separation in your life and relationships? How can you choose to respond instead of be hijacked by a stress response or trauma pattern?
I’m Christel Arcucci, you’re listening to the Soul Purpose Podcast, the lightning path of embodied spiritual awakening with shadow and light integration. Quit people pleasing, reclaim power, and create your soul purpose legacy.
I am recording this episode in July 2021 it’s an incredibly intense time in human history with so many people experiencing extreme stress and daily challenges.
Two of the greatest concerns is the lack of recognition and support for a population that is working with dysregulated nervous system and the lack of ability to have meaningful discourse on charged topics. I believe the lack of ability to navigate conflicts is because of the first issue that and most people don’t know what this means to have a dysregulated nervous system and how to resolve it.
This amplifies the ‘power over’ dysfunction and limits the chances of coming into ‘power with’ a framework, I have talked about power over vs power with in almost every episode so far.
The basic idea of power with is we’re in this together. And how can we come to a solution rather than I’m going to try to overpower you or bully you into doing what I want.
So…. how can we as a collective come into balance even in a stressed state to be able to respond instead of react?
Today’s topic applies to every relationship in your life no matter what is happening in the world yet with the intensity of what is happening in the world it’s even more important to learn to self-regulate, navigate conflict skillfully and work together to create win-win solutions.
In the present time these topic are important and essential to humanities survival and not easy to implement.
Are you consciously choosing to create connection or separation? Including on social media
There are times that creating separation also called clear and healthy boundaries is the best choice if you’re in an unsafe place or unhealthy relationship.
The main focus of this episode is to be able to CHOOSE TO RESPOND instead of react from a stress response or trauma pattern.
The results of dysfunctional and harmful communication that is rooted in:
us against them
right or wrong
truth or lies
black or white
With us or against us
Either or thinking instead of ‘both and.’
Can you move into a state of ‘yes and’?
Notice, what happens in your nervous system the I ask that question?
There may be some topics that feel so charged for you that you can’t even, won’t even consider it.
And I ask you to take gentle breaths and be willing to explore this topic more deeply.
This is fueling the divide and remember that “divide and conquer” is a strategy of war that works… so who are you really fighting against?
Let’s work on the concept to agree to disagree, for some this idea is so threatening right now yet I believe not being willing or able to self-regulate is rooted in trauma and not the present moment circumstances.
You can have strong thoughts, options and beliefs about your position AND have a reasonable discussion about differences when you have two or more regulated nervous systems to engage.
Either or thinking is often the result of deeply held conditioning and or trauma.
I think humanity as a species is in a collective crisis and trauma response and my focus with this episode is to create connection, curiosity and “yes and” opportunities through our differences. I spoke how to utilize the improv practice of “yes and” as a shadow integration tool in ep 3 The Shadow side of Gratitude Practice.
I am not going to talk about specifics or my perspective or position on any of the HOT TOPICS because the focus is on creating connection even with different opinions, stress management, shadow work, integrating trauma and the power to choose by working with a ‘power with’ framework.
Are you creating connection or are you creating separation?
Humanity is at a tipping point and the question is will humanity come together and make it through this or fight, disagree and expedite the collapse of human civilization?… again.
Let’s talk about a powerful shadow work practice before going further…..Can you go to the mirror right now look into your own eyes and say, “I am a ________” fill in the blank of the topic you are most adamantly opposed to right now. Can you say I have the capacity to be and do that which I most want to avoid or hate most about humans?
I AM THAT.
BOOM. If you can do that and maintain a neutral nervous system you stop playing this show right now. If not keep listening and you’ll get closer to integrating the hardest and ugliest aspects of free will.
Free will gives us the choice and ability to do the most amazing and horrible things.
Let’s try an example. I talk about VPR victim-perpetrator-rescuer on the show.
Can you look into your own eyes in the mirror and say, “I am a perpetrator.” Or “I am a victim.” Or “I am a rescuer.”
Which one is the hardest for you to say. Which one is the easiest for you? Which one lands in the middle?
For me, the easiest one to say, and for most people will be, I am the rescuer.
And the hardest one for me to say is not, I am a perpetrator. The hardest one for me to say is I am a victim. There’s the most internal charge and resistance for, for me personally, since I don’t want to admit that I don’t want to be that. So, how does that land for you?
Of those examples its hardest for me to say, “I am a victim.” There is the most internal charge and resistance for me since I don’t want to admit that.
You may feel a lot of intense emotions with this practice you will be able to say it from a neutral perspective and little to no emotional charge.
Why is that?
Because that helps you to see that you can be any of those. Yet you are in a place of a regulated, nervous system, which allows you to choose to be the victim, the perpetrator, or the rescuer or not to be that is the whole point.
I also encourage you to do this practice with the hot topics you are feeling about the state of humanity today.
Shadow work is the ability to integrate and embrace ALL aspects of your shadow and light. The incredible and horrible. Free will gives you the creative power and opportunity to be a serial killer or a saint and anything and everything in between being able to regulate your nervous system is what gives you the power to choose who you want to be, how you want to show up and how you want to utilize the tools of connection and separation.
Good people generally don’t like considering the shadow aspects of what is possible to do as a human yet being willing to embrace this reality and work together in personal and collective shadow and trauma integration is a core part of healing humanity.
It’s ideal that you work with basic tools of understanding how to communicate when your nervous system is regulated and how to recognize your own nervous system being dysregulated or noticing it in somebody when you’re trying to communicate with. Practice coming back into a state of co-regulation, which simply means that you and the other person that you’re communicating with are in a state of rest and digest and not fight or flight.
If you are in a fight or flight stress response those are the only choices your brain registers in order to stay safe and survive and not about connection.
Fight or flight only cares about your survival and not about connection.
If you are in a fight stress response you will make the other person wrong, attack, defend name call etc
Your autonomic nervous system (ANS) controls the subconscious operation of your nervous system with two primary branches.
Sympathetic nervous system controls the fight or flight response
Parasympathetic nervous system controls your ability to rest and digest.
In the modern world most of the time the fight or flight response is set off in situations that are not life or death. You practice in the moment when you feel extreme stress is to ask yourself is this a life or death situation?
When the answer is no, take a beat, take a breath and anchor yourself in the present moment. Listen to Ep 5: Create the Future with a One Breath Meditation for more support with this.
Bring your system back into a rest and digest state where you can have a conversation with whoever you’re in the disagreement with
Step One: Self Regulate
1. Take a gentle breath
2. Notice sensations you are experiencing to connect with your physical body
3. Anchor your attention in present time to make sure that you are only dealing with the stress of the moment
4. Listening to your thoughts to notice how your system wants to react instead of respond
5. Breathe and stay in the present moment.
Step Two: Recognize the DAMN BS
1. Defend
2. Attack
3. Make wrong
4. Name call
5. Blame
6. Shame
All of these fight responses create more stress, separation and disconnection.
So then you go back to step one, anchoring yourself in your body. Breathing deeply notice sensations, even communicate with the person you’re talking to. I’m noticing I’m feeling stressed right now. I need to take a moment.
Step Three: Choose to respond
1. Be curious about what is possible
2. Dedicate yourself to creating connection instead of separation.
3. Agree to disagree
4. Take a breath regulate your stress system so then you can choose to respond can you learn to agree to disagree on any topic to be Curious
Be committed to looking for that place that you connect.
Be willing to look for your shared humanity.
go beyond separation to find the connection of our humanity
On a fundamental level I believe all people to have a good life for themselves and those around them.
Yet this is an epic time in history of extreme separation and destruction learn to self-regulate and then co-regulate with others and reclaim the ability to have meaningful discourse about topics we disagree about.
Ultimately I think all want to thrive, that desire may be expressed in different ways but essential seeking love and connection, shelter, food and purpose.
Are you willing to look beyond the external expressions?
they worship this God and don’t believe in god.
they want this thing to happen and I want something else to happen
they want this person to be elected and I want that person to be elected
They believe in this cause and I don’t
Can you tap into shared Humanity of living on the same planet and completely dependent upon the health of this Planet to survive?
Then move into a state of creating greater love and connection and having conversations about the things that we disagree about instead of attacking, defending, name calling… etc
Are you able to move out of stress response, be curious, compassionate and have conversations that have the potential of creating change?
This is not easy yet this is the most important practice to resolve conflicts, integrate trauma patterns, and create love and connection.
I am opposed to fueling the fire of division and separation, I believe we’re in this together. Do you want to work together to create a better world for everyone?
I’d like to see us learn to create an environment where we can have different beliefs and different perspectives yet have a fundamental core of commitment to love and connection that is where we move into human awakening and creating heaven on earth and integrating the collective shadow.
Thank you for being here, it’s a pleasure to walk the soul purpose path with you.
You’re listening to the soul purpose podcast, the lightning path of embodied spiritual awakening with shadow and light integration. Quit people-pleasing reclaim power and create your soul purpose legacy.
You can access the Free Soul Success Journal & meditation and all episodes of the podcast and all the goodies mentioned in this episode at soulpurposepractice.com
I believe in you and the magic power of your soul.
For more revolutionary teachings and tools please follow on your favorite podcast app or visit soulpurposepodcast.com. I look forward to connecting with you on the next episode.
I am sending you so much love!
by Christel | Jul 26, 2021 | Podcast
What can you do if your inner child easily gets overwhelmed and shuts down by the demands of your adult life? And how working with the inner wounded healer support rapid transform o childhood trauma?
I’m Christel Arcucci, you’re listening to the Soul Purpose Podcast, the lightning path of embodied spiritual awakening with shadow and light integration. Quit people pleasing, reclaim power, and create your soul purpose legacy.
As I am preparing this podcast, I feel the heaviness of this topic since it includes a discussion of childhood issues included unmet needs, family dysfunction, parenting styles, trauma, abandonment and abuse patterns. While I don’t include specific examples, the residual impact of trauma that has not been integrated is discussed which is a GOLD mine that can unlock self-love, self-understanding, self-honoring, self-respect and embracing the inner child issues wounds in order to reclaim innocence, play, curiosity, imagination and creativity.
Inner child healing happens in stages as you learn to re-parent your inner child which and take on the roles of the divine mother and divine father to yourself and your inner child no matter what your gender is, finding this dynamic integrated balance of masculine and feminine essence is a core part of healing.
Stage one of inner child re-parenting is establishing trust and make a commitment from your adult self to your inner child, that you will not ignore or neglect your inner child. If you had a challenging childhood I would encourage you to go further by committing to not abuse or abandon your inner child.
Your brain and nervous systems get hard wired in the first 6 years of your life and the treatment you received from your parents or caregivers becomes the baseline for how you let yourself be treated and how you treat yourself. The good news is the brain and nervous can be rewired with conscious and consistent practice, attention, and loving care.
If you’re new to inner child work rebuilding trust can take a significant amount of time because often in your adult life you’ve shoved your inner child into a closet or the basement. Perhaps you’ve even thought, “I’m an adult I need to carry on, that was my childhood and now I’m over that and I need to move on.”
The lack of integration or a position of denial reinforces stress or trauma patterns that were happening in your childhood which may include abuse, abandonment and neglect.
Even if you grew up in a healthy environment that did not have abuse or abandonment, things that happen in even a healthy childhood, can create stress patterns in your consciousness, which then get reinforced and played out in your life as an adult.
Yes, talking about abandonment and abuse is intense and those experiences are, yet many people have unresolved stress patterns or negative habit loops that come from experience childhood that felt traumatic to the child yet would not be considered abuse/abandonment.
Like being left to cry alone in the crib as a baby in order to learn to self-soothe even before you are psychologically capable of doing so or being told no. These experiences are not necessarily abuse and abandonment yet can create an imprint in the psyche that love equals being left or made to feel bad/wrong or unworthy of attention or love.
And as a human being, especially as a child, touch kindness care and love are the foundation of what creates a secure attachment and a deep understanding of what love really is for some of us. We have to reset those patterns and create them in our adult lives. That is the foundation of this work here.
Stage two is unconditional love and learning to accept, acknowledge, appreciate and love all aspects of the inner child the wonderful and wounded parts. This allows you to reclaim innocence, play, creativity and curiosity that most people of had squashed during your childhood.
Showing up in an unconditionally loving way with your inner child and keep in mind unconditional love IS NOT giving the inner child whatever it wants.
The foundational piece of learning to unconditionally love your inner child is the first step and for your inner child to trust that you will unconditionally love them and not abuse or abandon them is the foundation that needs to happen before anything else happens.
This mean being committed to not ignore or neglect your feeling, thoughts, emotions wounds, traumas as well as your dreams, time to play, create and rest.
Stage three begins when your inner child trusts you, you are practicing unconditional love and next you need to create healthy boundaries. This stage is where the wounded healer comes in, because many swing to the opposite side because needs were not met in childhood the wounded healer can swoop in to “save the day” and overcompensate for the unmet needs from the primary care givers. The wounded healer will them bend over backwards to give the inner child anything and everything it wants which will not create healing.
It just cultivates a feeling of being able to take advantage of and not needing to respect others
Approach re-parenting as if you were to parenting a real child. Often people think that inner child work is like you give the inner child whatever it wants, it doesn’t want to work, you don’t work. The inner child doesn’t want to do some activity so you don’t do that activity or you let them sabotage any plans for it’s whims.
And the challenge with that is like letting an unhappy five year old run your life and say “I want doughnuts for dinner, or drive you car even though I am not old enough, talk to your boss because I am pissed off or tell your partner to fuck off” and you say, okay, because that’s what the inner child wants = bad idea!
The wounded healer plays the “rescuer” and the inner child plays the “victim” while the parents/care givers are the “perpetrator”. I spoke about the trauma triangle in ep 1. VPR or victim, perpetrator, rescuer is a “power over” framework that will not support the inner child or the wounded healer to reclaim power and operate in a ‘power with” framework which is where deep healing and integration is possible.
Your job as a healthy parent aka empowered healer is saying no with kindness and create healthy boundaries for the child this is why I call it Inner Child Re-parenting and not just Inner Child work.
One of the most important teachings in caring for the inner child or a real child is creating healthy boundaries. You will listen, hear, see, love the child and what they want, but also teach them to receive a no and respect it, learn what is healthy, what is possible, and make choices from a foundation that balances present moment enjoyment with long term positive outcomes so that the inner child isn’t running and ruining your life.
As the parent you listen if a child is afraid, excited, overwhelmed, curious, sad, confused, etc.
Open hearted listening is essential to rebuild trust. Listen yet you don’t let the inner child run your life which leads to the wounded child and wounded healer down spiral.
The advantage to inner child re-parenting unlike raising a real child is you can come back later, send the child off on an imaginary adventure with a dragon or to play with a unicorn while you work.
You can have a conversation inside your mind and put things on hold while you’re attending to whatever activity is happening.
When Inner child wants your attention you say, “I hear you. What can I do to support you to feeling safe while I work or get things done?
Listen to your inner child and create healthy boundaries, then your life will transform quickly because the inner child trusts you to show up and take care of them, yet not let them take advantage of you so they will respect you, your authority and your guidance.
The process of reparenting your inner child never ends even if you had amazing parents and a dreamy childhood.
The focus is present moment power where the abuse and abandonment patterns have been cleared on a deep level, so that the inner child gets to be what it’s meant to be, which you may not have gotten in your childhood, the innocent, creative, curious playful part of you.
Healing so there is room for imagination, taking risks and believing anything is possible in your life are the results of this inner child re-parenting work.
This comes from the solid foundation of trust, love and boundaries because your inner child always knows that you’re going to be there and to take care of them. And at the same time, if they throw a temper tantrum, your life doesn’t get derailed because of it. The inner child is not running the show.
The integrated adult aka the empowered healer is running the show. Yet that first two stages are important to distinguish from the third stage where it’s about creating healthy boundaries.
Learn to communicate with your inner child, why something is happening, and also letting them know like, okay, we’re going to get our work done, and then we’re going to play afterwards. You know, just like you would with a real child is the child doesn’t get to run the show.
Be extra mindful about how you speak to the inner child abusive self-talk can be VERY COMMON if you had a critical or abusive parent or caregiver. If you wouldn’t say it to a REAL CHILD adjust what you are saying to match how you treat others and how you want to treat yourself.
The forth stage is when the adult part learns to admit, apologize and cleaning things up when you make a mistake.
This involves making a commitment to not abandon or abuse yourself and if you do to take accountability, apologize and commit to doing better when you make a mistake.
After many years of doing this practice my inner child trusts me and knows that if and when I mess up more like when, when I mess up, she knows that I will take accountability, and that I will apologize and I will make it right. Instead of reinforcing the abuse or abandonment pattern that happened in my childhood.
I started doing inner child work when I was 12 and my dad got sober. I was really lucky to have his support, accountability and love. I have been estranged from my mother since I was 14 and she DOES NOT and has not showed up in any helpful or meaningful way to clear the past.
I’ve had both experiences and I can say with certainty that you CAN heal the deep wounds from childhood while the parent that created the wounds does not even acknowledge the abuse or abandonment that occurred.
The empowered healer and integrated adult part of you is the one that creates the safe space for freedom for a play for in essence, taking these teachings into practice becomes an ongoing practice in your everyday life where. You can have a dialogue with your inner child either out loud while using touch as a way of reassuring your physical body and your inner child that you are present that you hear them.
You can do this simply by placing your hands on your body and saying, I hear you. I see you. I feel you. I love you.
You can do this while placing your hands on your body, on your belly on your heart, giving yourself a hug.
You can dialogue with your inner child as the empowered healer speaking to the inner child, either in your mind or out loud, as well as using reassuring touch, to deepen the work that you’re doing of establishing trust, unconditional love, creating healthy boundaries, taking accountability for any mistakes you make.
Being in relationship with your inner child so that they trust you to be in charge of your life, to know what’s best for them, which gets disrupted in childhood or in traumatic life events.
Being with the needs of the wounded inner child creates the opportunity for you to be present with and meet the needs in real time. In present time of unmet needs from your childhood is a deeply healing and helps to reclaim power in the present moment.
The dynamic relationship inner child and empowered healer helps you reclaim your power in the present moment by hearing your inner child by listening to their fears, their concerns, their sadness, yet them also trusting you to know what’s best when it comes to leading your adult life now.
The four stages of Inner Child Re-Parenting and becoming and Empowered Healer, it’s important to know where you are and know that you need to attend to all of them to create an on-going healthy relationship with your inner child and empowered healer.
Are you building trust?
Are you committed to unconditional love?
Are you establishing and maintaining clear boundaries?
Are you able to admit mistakes and clean them up?
These four stages will support you in reclaiming innocence, play, curiosity, creativity and integrate shadow aspects of your childhood and any residual dysfunction in how you speak to and treat yourself.
There’s a link to many additional resources the show notes: Build Trust with your Inner Child Audio, A Guided Meditation & Self-Love Healing Journey, and Self-talk and Unconditional Love Audio. www.SoulPurposePodcast.com/6
The ‘power with’ framework can be deeply healing for the relationship with yourself and everyone else in your life in order to reclaim power from the past and live and love in the present as you create a loving future.
You may have noticed I have not mentioned your parents, partners or human children at all so far…. and for good reason.
Doing the inner reset work and learning to self-regulate and be with ALL ASPECTS of your light and shadow helps ground you in your unmet emotional needs and the core wounds and conflicts you would like to try to resolve with your parents, children or your partner.
The reason is if you can not done the work to trust, love, create boundaries , clean up mistakes with yourself first you will continue to act out the dysfunctional dynamics from your childhood.
You cannot expect anyone else to trust you, love you unconditionally, respect your boundaries and navigate conflicts if you don’t already do this with yourself.
Note on the reality of trust, unconditional love, respect and navigating conflicts with other humans especially the ones closest to you, your parents, children and intimate partners… about to drop a bomb.
Deep breath:
HUMAN ARE NOT CAPABLE OF BEING 100% trust worthy, UNCONDITIONALLY LOVING or lovable and honoring of boundaries. Conflict and messes are inevitable, the most important part is how easily you can come back into love and connection after a bump in the road, or an epic fracture or rupture.
You and your people WILL FAIL at trust unconditional love, boundaries and navigating conflicts. Don’t buy into the “happily ever after myth,” it simply does not exist.
Just like sometimes you don’t love or even like yourself the same will be true in your closest relationships… that’s the real talk. If you can be with that truth, not fight it, not expect the impossible you will have more fun in navigating the challenges of human love and relationships with play, curiosity and creativity…. Oh it seems there’s a profound connection to what we’re talking about today.
When a child is safe, loved and respected they are honest, open and more able to go with the flow of getting hurt or misunderstood or not getting what they want.
This is the intention in your adult relationships too.
The reality is is dysfunctional relationships and abusive communication is GLORIFIED in our culture so most people have no idea what a healthy secure relationship even looks or feels like.
The only forever relationship in this life is with yourself and your self-trust, self-love, self-respect and self-talk are the framework that gets repeated in ALL YOUR OTHER RELATIONSHIPS.
So the point is to start there. Work on you in your relationship with yourself? Clear that first
While co-regulating with others is an essential part of healing and healthy relationships if you don’t trust, love or respect yourself you are literally not capable of that in your relationships with others.
If you have a parent, partner or child that is involved in your healing journey you can open transformational conversation to clear the past. I will post a resource in the show notes to navigate conflicts with compassionate communication.
Trust, love, safety, respect and accountability are the golden keys to healthy and secure relationships with yourself and others and are deeply healing especially for anyone that has suffered childhood trauma, abandonment or abuse.
This episode has been a LOT of intensity please take good care of yourself by drinking water, breathing deeply, going for a walk and asking for support if topic has brought up challenges you need support with.
If you are interested to explore working with me to help you integrate the challenges of your past trauma in order to live as an empowered healer in the present you can visit www.SoulPurposePath.com for more information.
Thank you for being here, it’s a pleasure to walk the soul purpose path with you.
You’re listening to the soul purpose podcast, the lightning path of embodied spiritual awakening with shadow and light integration. Quit people-pleasing reclaim power and create your soul purpose legacy.
You can access the Free Soul Success Journal & meditation and all episodes of the podcast and all the goodies mentioned in this episode at www.soulpurposepodcast.com/6
I believe in you and the magic power of your soul.
For more revolutionary teachings and tools please follow on your favorite podcast app or visit soulpurposepodcast.com. I look forward to connecting with you on the next episode.
I am sending you so much love!
by Christel | Jul 18, 2021 | Podcast
Your breath is the most powerful healing practice and awakening tool that you have with you at all times, and you are only using it a fraction of its capacity which means you are living at only a fraction of your capacity.
I’m Christel Arcucci, you’re listening to the Soul Purpose Podcast, the lightning path of embodied spiritual awakening with shadow and light integration. Quit people pleasing, reclaim power, and create your soul purpose legacy.
So what does the breath have to do with reclaiming power and embodying soul purpose?
In order to reclaim power, first you need to move from feeling stressed out, overwhelmed and sabotaging your success into a neutral place, where you can reclaim power.
Start by taking a slower, gentle and deeper breath…without forcing.
Feel More. Become more aware, present, and connected to your experience.
Recognize your level of stress and evaluate if you are in a stress response: fight, flight, freeze or please.
De-stress your system in order to reclaim power and take action in living your purpose by actively and consciously incorporating breath practices into your daily life.
Your breath is tool that’s always available, you’re only using a fraction of its power and you can only live a few minutes without breathing.
How do you move from breathing unconsciously minimally shallow breathing which actually perpetuates keeping you in the stress cycle to more consciously breathing?
Start with a simple One Breath Meditation practice.
The beauty of this practice is, it’s only one breath, and you can do it anywhere and any time it’s a gateway that is always available to you.
A secret to creating anchor practices in your life is connecting the practice to an activity that you are already doing.
You can choose to anchor the One Breath Meditation to anytime you hear a text message arrive, anytime the phone dings with a notification, or anytime your child calls your name. Being able to do the One Breath Meditation when your child calls your name is an advanced practice but if you do it, it will change everything by supporting you to respond instead of react.
Connect the anchor practice of the one breath meditation to a mundane activity that you’re already doing like walking through a doorway, drinking water, standing up, sitting down, washing your hands, or any number of activities that you most often do mindlessly.
When you first try to integrate this practice it can be helpful to write a sticky note in that location to remind you.
“Before (blank) activity do the OBM.”
Don’t make it more complicated.
Don’t attempt to start meditating for an hour a day.
If you struggle with stress and anxiety, trying to make yourself meditate for one hour a day if you’ve never successfully done a practice of meditation consistently is a fast track to creating more stress and reinforcing the failure soundtrack.
One breath meditation is literally only one breath and don’t be fooled into thinking it’s easy, you can still get off track and distracted in that short amount of time.
You need to know, this simple pause, reset and breath practice may be challenging to be fully focused in one full breath, one full inhale, one full exhale.
Don’t let this be fuel for the Inner Critic soundtrack.
Be playful and kind with yourself in this exploration.
The beauty of it is the one breath meditation practice, is if your mind wanders halfway through the inhale, you can just try again, you can laugh and say, “okay, my mind wandered let’s begin again, slow and deep inhale and focus on my breath slow and complete exhale.”
And the BOOM your mind wandered again, I didn’t even make it through one breath.
Here’s the thing this is simple and short practice prime territory for the inner critic to jump in and say mean things, don’t take the bait. If you do start saying mean things to yourself, STOP as soon as you notice.
Do not beat yourself up. If you have a habit of buying into the inner critic that you’re a failure, focus on letting this be an imperfect practice, practice, practice.
As soon as you notice the inner critic and be like, “thank you for your input and I’m going to start again… over and and over and over as long as you are breathing.
Do not let your inner critic bash your head in.
Let’s take an example… let’s say that you’re in your home and you open the door and as soon as you open the door, a stranger that you’ve never seen before starts screaming in your face, “you are such a loser! You’re always going to fail. You’re never going to be able to meditate! You’re always stressed out and you’re a terrible person because you can’t even focus for one simple breath.”
Would you invite them in for tea?
No, you would not, Not unless you have a humiliation fetish. Most likely would close the door, and you say, “wow, that person is deranged!
I want you to have the same boundary with the inner critic soundtrack in your mind…just close the door and you begin again.
Close the door on the inner critic and start again. Focus on one single breath in and one breath out.
I find further anchoring your attention with words can keep you mind more focused, it’s like giving a fussy baby colorful toy to play with… the child will be transfixed for a period of time.
This practice of using woods as an anchor for your mind’s attention during meditation is called “Japa Meditation” in the yoga tradition and the words you use are called a Mantra.
A simple sentence you can use to focus your attention, “I am focused on one relaxed breath in and one complete breath out.”
I like to say: Soul Body Breath
Repeating the phrase soul body breath supports me to integrate the soul, the body and the breath together, for me it’s feels like an activation and recode to weave together my body, mind, heart and being into the present moment.
Pick any statement or mantra that resonates with you and you could make a new one up each time to connect your intuition int your present moment experience and don’t make it complicated.
The One Breath Meditation is a Mindfulness practice as well which I find mindfulness practices are a great gateway to seated meditation especially if you struggle with anxiety.
One of my current mindfulness practices is relearning to play piano. I can see the exact moment when I am reading the notes and my mind wanders off because inevitably I make a mistake right then. My intention is to play my chosen piece through 3 times without making a mistake. And guess what, I rarely make it through when I am learning a new song. I almost always mess up when my mind wanders because the practice has not yet become automatic, and I don’t start screaming at myself about how I’m such a loser and I’m always gonna be a failure when it comes to piano I just go okay my mind wandered Let’s try again. Let’s try to stay more focus. Let’s focus on my breath. Yes? Yes!
Your focus with the one breath meditation is to anchor your attention to integrate the soul, body and the mind into your breath. The breath is most often unconscious since it’s happening needing the think about it. The practice of the soul body breath is the simplest way to bring your unconscious power into conscious awareness so you can direct your power into the purpose you desire to create in your life and business.
One breath meditation into an activity that you always do like for just one breath. Notice the saboteur sound track might kick in an attempt to keep you safe in the known space of unconscious action. Don’t take the bait.
The greatest power of this practice is to do just one breath many many many many times throughout the day.
For example before I sign into a social media platform, or check my email I breathe first.
I check in.
I STOP and ask myself, “am I logging for a distraction from feeling? or to connect or contribute: love, truth, kindness or beauty?
I often find myself unconsciously logging into to social media to procrastinate or because I feel lonely = which of course it a bad plan.
Instead I center myself and breathe and say in my mind or out loud, “soul body breath.”
I become present with myself and then I am in a more powerful place to post of connect. And if I was seeking distraction I’m less lonely and I can make a conscious choice to do something else that will bring my power back into my body mind.
Your practice for today is to weave in one breath meditation as an anchor practice to support you to transform your unconscious actions to empowered and embodied choices to create your purpose with power and pleasure.
Even if you already have a seated meditation practice I encourage you to also practice the one breath meditation, and see how deeply you can go and instantly be centered, focused and aligned.
If you’ve struggled with trying to create a consistent meditation practice or you’re feeling extremely stressed with what’s happening in the world right now…. I really encourage you to only work with one breath at a time.
Success creates more success.
And failure is often the trap door that opens into the failure spiral…and going down down down into the self sabotage, self destructive and maybe even self-loathing soundtracks. I encourage you, DO NOT TO GO THERE. Don’t do it my dear.
When you succeed one breath at a time, you will feel successful, and you will build on the feeling of success. Then you may move on to feeling accomplished and you’ll know you can build your life One Breath at a time.
It’s incredible powerful and magic and so easily over looked because it so basic.
Feeling good will happen more often when you de-stress your system and reclaim our power.
You will speak up.
You will connect.
You will share your truth.
You will create your bold vision be part of the change that needs to happen in the world right now.
Thank you for being here, it’s a pleasure to walk the soul purpose path with you.
You’re listening to the soul purpose podcast, the lightning path of embodied spiritual awakening with shadow and light integration. Quit people-pleasing reclaim power and create your soul purpose legacy.
You can access the Free Soul Success Journal & meditation and all episodes of the podcast and all the goodies mentioned in this episode at soulpurposepractice.com
I believe in you and the magic power of your soul.
For more revolutionary teachings and tools please follow on your favorite podcast app or visit soulpurposepodcast.com. I look forward to connecting with you on the next episode.
I am sending you so much love!
by Christel | Jul 9, 2021 | Podcast
How do you find your purpose? Your purpose is about so much more than what you do for work.
I’m Christel Arcucci, you’re listening to the Soul Purpose Podcast, a resource guide to the lightning path of embodied spiritual awakening with shadow and light integration. You can quit people pleasing, reclaim power, and create your soul purpose legacy.
This podcast is informational. It’s also a transmission of power using hypnotic rhythm and energetic healing, which includes a variety in the quality, intensity, and speed of my voice. Notice how that makes you feel…
I see so many people stuck and deeply tormented. Wondering what is my purpose? When will I find my purpose? Where will I find my purpose?
You can put so much weight on this question as if you only get one chance. So you better get it right, and you better be happy with all aspects of whatever you choose FOREVER.
I think your purpose finds you.
Often, your purpose is so obvious and that’s why you don’t see it, you might disregard it, or even ignore it. If you’re interested in discovering your purpose. Living your purpose and embodying your purpose. I invite you to start by exploring what you value most.
What do you value physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and financially?,
And even more importantly, where do you invest your time, energy, money, and attention?
The disconnect between these answers is where you can find an infinite source of power.
For example, I value love, connection, creativity, truth, and nature. I can incorporate these values into everything I do. I could be a postal worker, kindergarten teacher, the CEO of a company, or a homeschooling mom, and bring all of those values into what I do in my life,
Step one: discover your purpose by focusing on what you value and the disconnection between what you value and what you’re actually doing.
Are you investing time, energy, money, and attention into what you value?
Are you stuck in an existential crisis loop thinking if I’m not living my purpose and doing the ultimate thing, I am failing at life?
If you feel unhappy, I will bet that you’re living out of alignment with your values in at least one area of your life. You feel pressure to change your life, but you’re not allowing yourself to live in alignment with your values because of cultural conditioning or trauma or both.
It’s up to you to build the foundation with what you value most and begin incorporating that into whatever you’re doing in your life now.
Step two: What quality of being do you want to create more of in the world?
What qualities of being do you value?
How can you bring this quality of being into every aspect of your life?
Earth School is intense and when you focus on your quality of being first, then turn your attention to what you’re doing. There will be greater power, pleasure, flow, ease, and clarity.
People think finding your purpose is the holy grail, and once you find it, you will never have a problem again. Which simply is not true.
When you are living your purpose, you will face challenges. Yet, when you are clear on what you value, who you are and how you show up, you will navigate whatever challenges arise with greater grace and ease.
Step three: What are your natural talents? Discover your soul purpose, magic powers.
Often your soul purpose powers are skills that you may not have professional training in.
These powers come so naturally and you’re so good at them. You most likely act like it’s no big deal. It’s like a fish not knowing what water is, even though they have spent their entire life swimming in it.
So you may need to ask people around you for their perspective on your greatest strengths and what activities they see come the most naturally to you.
For example, I’m a natural organizer and I enjoy organizing.
When people come to my home, they often comment about how organized and clean my home is. For years, I would brush off the compliments until I was living in Asia and a friend was coming to visit. I asked him to go into my storage unit and bring a list of specific items.
We were on the phone when he entered my unit and he gasped, I said, “what? Is something wrong?”
He laughed and said, “no, it’s like an immaculate warehouse with everything neatly organized and labeled.”
Oh, I replied relieved. I proceeded to guide him exactly to the shelf and box to go in for each item and it had been months since I had been there, he was in awe and kept talking about how crazy organized I am.
It finally reached to my brain and I jokingly said, “oh, you mean my organizing ability? Isn’t normal?”
“No, this is not normal. You are an organizing super hero.” He said.
I don’t have training to be a professional organizer yet I am a Capricorn and I have taken on projects to help clients organize their office downsize or move out of a home after decades of living in one location.
Organizing information is an essential part of my business coaching. Since I help clients organize their expertise to create signature programs that serve their students and clients.
In life, coaching the organization skills come in with organizing spaces, information, time, conversations, boundaries, et cetera.
You see the skill has always been there without official training. It is valuable to others yet It took a lot for me to even recognize that it’s a superpower.
Organizing is a skill I’m good at it and comes easily to me. I do enjoy it, and I didn’t receive any professional training for it.
Organizing information and possessions are aspects of my life and business coaching.
If you are working in a job you don’t love, or you’re working in your business and you’re not totally stoked. Start by focusing on an expanding the desired qualities of being into what you’re doing now.
Once that is set, make a plan to transition, to be in greater alignment with your soul purpose magic, instead of staying stuck and unhappy.
Ask yourself, how you can be of service as you make this transition in your life to live in greater alignment with your values, focus on your soul purpose, as qualities of being combined with what you enjoy doing, and then incorporate that into everything and anything you’re doing.
There are many ways you can bring desired qualities of being and essential core elements of who you are into what you’re doing.
Stop believing the hype that there is only one right answer to living your purpose. It will change over your lifetime. Let go of the idea that you only get one chance and you better get it right since you’re going to be stuck doing that for the rest of your life, don’t believe the lies that your brain tells you.
You can focus different phases of your life on different expressions of your purpose.
I’ve had many phases in my business over the last 30 plus years. One phase focused on making jewelry and doing art shows. Another phase was massage therapy. Hands-on bodywork and energy. Another phase focused on being a yoga teacher and then becoming a yoga teacher trainer, another phase focused on helping clients with back pain, which opened the path to becoming a money coach, which led to becoming a business consultant, which led me to focus on helping people with soul purpose.
Would you say that any of that was wrong or off track?
I think this is how your purpose guides you to the next thing and the next evolution.
If you’re listening and paying attention, focus on one thing at a time and just like stepping stones at a garden path, you will find alignment and flow.
Who you are will guide you to what to do live in alignment with your values.
Follow your passion, heal your relationship with money clear past traumas and show up in service as you share your soul purpose magic.
When it comes to your soul purpose as a business, Or if you’re making a transition into business for yourself, it is important to remember why you’re doing the work you’re doing.
Why did you become a professional in your line of work in the first place?
Why is your work important to you?
Step four: explore your bold vision and take a stand.
Are you living in alignment with your values?
Are you becoming the best version of yourself no matter what you’re doing?
When you focus in this way on who you are being first and then align that with what you’re doing you come into a great place of power in your life, expressing your soul purpose magic.
As you rebuild after the global reset, I encourage you to take an even bolder and more courageous sand for your values and the vision for the present and the future you want to co-create.
The pressure on humanity to awaken consciousness is greater than ever before people and communities are experiencing more stress and need support with a variety of challenges. This is an ideal time to make changes since the old way and world has fallen apart. Take the risk to experiment and dive deeper into the next evolution of your purpose.
You can peel back activities that are no longer in alignment and let go of habits that aren’t helpful when you have a solid foundation in your why, when you experience a crisis or have to change and engage in unfamiliar activities like transitioning to remote services, building a new program in your business, being more visible in your marketing or asking for a sale, it will be easier to change because you have no choice
And let’s face it, most humans won’t change unless you have to.
Ground into your body.
As you learn new things and gently expand yourself outside of your comfort zone. The transition will happen with grace.
Your why doesn’t have to be some grandiose altruistic mission yet it can be, it can be as simple as you want to pay your bills with ease. You want to be a good example for your children or in your community. Or it can be a mission that addresses a challenge your community is facing.
My big dream is to support women, to have empowered relationships with money and to create financial freedom doing what you love.
More specifically, my focus is to support 1000 women to become millionaires.
My dream is important to me. Not only because I am a woman but also because I believe women having empowered relationships with money and business will change the world for the better.
In addition, I am actively working to change the common imprint and negative impact of my mother, not feeling confident to support herself and her children and therefore getting into an abusive marriage after my parents’ divorce, because she thought she needed a man to take care of her just to survive.
It is my purpose to make sure that no woman needs to compromise her health or safety in order to survive and thrive.
My purpose gets me out of bed to take care of business, support myself and other women to have an empowered relationship to money and business and service to the common good.
My mission and dream upsets some people and that’s okay.
An essential part of healing, the people pleaser is being willing to take a stand for something people don’t agree with and no matter what you choose to stand for, someone will be upset about it.
That’s why learning to embody your qualities of being align with your values and strengthen your mission so that no one can stop you. This an essential part of living your soul, purpose and transforming past trauma onto fuel for your mission.
Take a slow and breath, become rooted in any resistance to changing your offerings, adding a new service or taking a bold stand.
Breathe, feel the resistance and fear as you notice write down any stories that are going on in your mind.
“I don’t want to do this. This is going to be hard. I’m only valuable when I’m working at a job or when I work with people in person or when I’m a people pleaser. It won’t be the same. If I can’t touch people, be in person or have the security of a job.”
These are all forums of resistance, which will keep you safe and stuck.
When resistance comes, it’s important to acknowledge it, listen to what the voices say and write down exactly what it says. Feel the story. Notice the sensation of fear and breathe into it. Don’t push it away, breathe into and gently expand and open what’s possible. I guarantee there are gifts dormant inside you that will awaken because you are stretching outside your comfort zone.
Also, if you’re willing to explore things you’ve been wanting to try, you’ll find delight in aligning with your soul purpose. What is your someday vision you’ve been hesitant to try it?
Allow yourself to play without pressure to work within certain parameters.
What if something new and exciting as possible for you to create right now?
What is your someday dream that you want to bring in to your heart?
And explore in your imagination.
Can you allow yourself to create it?
What can you explore now?
What do you want to expand right now?
Someday is today.
When you come to resistance in this process, pause, breathe more gently soften the edges of your body and let yourself be curious about what gifts await.
What would you like to try?
How can you let this process be playful?
Where is your heart calling you to explore and expand?
What challenges have you overcome?
Where is the opportunity for you to share your soul purpose magic?
Notice the mindset shift you need to step into greater power.
Say, “yes, my purpose may challenge me, but I will figure it out. How can I leave my job? How can I transform my relationship with money? How can I do remote sessions? How can I build a location, independent business? How can I serve more clients and charge money for my services with ease? How am I going to serve clients and create financial abundance and the process?”
Living your purpose is a challenge, but it’s also an opportunity. Building a location independent business, working over the phone or video and offering recordings gives you the training needed to work with a group of clients at the same time, which can help you in the future living your purpose and making a living doing what you love.
It is a challenge and an opportunity where your gifts will awaken. It will demand that you tap into gifts you haven’t strengthened yet, or didn’t even realize you had gifts, gift you thought you might save for someday.
Someday is today.
Today is an opportunity to share your work, also known as marketing your services in fresh ways, based on education, inspiration, entertainment and offering value.
Remember that marketing is not, “Hey, buy my thing, buy my thing.” That’s annoying when you see it on social media or when you’re talking to people in your community and you know, it doesn’t work since you don’t like it. Don’t do it, but don’t let that stop you from contributing to your community through educating, entertaining and inspiring.
When you see a social media post or an ad that is telling an interesting story, offering value and you’re drawn to it because it’s something you need. Notice what turns you on and what turns you off when you see others sharing and marketing online, the most important thing is to take daily aligned and inspired action in growing your business and living your purpose.
the same is true when you focus on teaching and sharing stories, people will not truly ask to work with you so have your programs ready to serve.
My first book called soul purpose business circle will teach you the elegant soul centered system to build a referral based business without social media. The release date into the wild is set for September, 2021.
In order to receive the pre-release resources and join the movement of creating your bold vision and your soul purpose business. Go to: soulpurposebusinesscircle.com
Thank you for being here. And I look forward to walking the soul purpose path with you. You’re listening to the soul purpose podcast, a resource guide to the lightening path of embodied spiritual awakening with light and shadow integration. You can quit people pleasing, reclaim power, and create your soul purpose legacy.
I believe in you and the magic power of your soul for more revolutionary teachings and tools please follow the soul purpose podcast on your favorite podcasting app.
I look forward to connecting with you in the next episode.
I am sending you so much Love.
by Christel | Jul 1, 2021 | Podcast
Gratitude practice is a common teaching in spiritual and personal growth communities. Let’s look at how gratitude practice can *stop* you from having the health, love and financial success that you desire.
I’m Christel Arcucci you’re listening to the Soul Purpose Podcast the place to learn the lightning path of embodied spiritual awakening with shadow and light integration in order to quit people-pleasing, reclaim power and create your soul purpose legacy.
This podcast is informational it’s also a transmission of power using hypnotic rhythm and energetic healing, which will include a variety in the intensity and speed of my speech. You may move into a trance state… so be mindful about what you’re doing while you listen.
Hey have you heard that gratitude practice is the ultimate technique to get you out of survival mode and into thriving mode and a life of abundance.
While I do agree that gratitude practice and appreciating what you have by keeping a gratitude journal is a powerful practice to shift your awareness out of survival mode.
Yet what I don’t hear teachers talking about how Gratitude practice can EASILY be a tool for gaslighting yourself, shaming and making yourself wrong which pushes what you want further out of reach.
“Woah, Christel did you really just say that?”
Oh, yes I did.
What is gaslighting?
Gaslighting is psychological manipulation that makes your question your sanity and yes you can do this to yourself although it’s most commonly spoken about in dysfunctional relationships with other humans.
To clarify gratitude practice CAN BE harmful but doesn’t have to be when you understand how gratitude practice can be gaslighting.
Have you ever finished a gratitude journal entry and felt worst? Did your practice make you think you’re crazy because you have so much to be grateful for yet you feel stuck and unhappy so you must be broken?
If gratitude practice is creating internal conflict then stay tuned to understand how to avoid a harmful gratitude practice and into move into gratitude gone wild.
If you only focus on gratitude practice by saying, “I’m grateful for my family. I’m grateful for the food in my fridge. I’m grateful for freshwater coming into my house. I’m grateful for heat. I’m grateful for my job. I’m grateful for my friends.” If those are all true and your genuinely feel thankful for them, that’s awesome.
BUT if you have all these things you “should be” grateful for yet you’re not also acknowledging that you’re also unhappy or stuck that’s were it can turn toxic in a flash.
If you focus on appreciation without acknowledging conflicting thoughts, emotions and beliefs then your gratitude practice can become a subtle yet destructive form of gaslighting, shaming, blaming, making yourself wrong, bad or broken.
The shame of having so much to be grateful for yet still being unhappy, anxious, ill, depressed, guilty because others don’t have what you have or not being ecstatically happy can be rooted in trauma from your childhood and or the cultural program of destructive consumerism.
I’m not suggesting you ditch feeling grateful for what you have in your life, what I am suggesting is to practice gratitude and also recognize your shadow desires, beliefs, and emotions around what you have and what you want.
Let’s take a slight detour to the common teaching in the new age and law of attraction circles that “wanting” is bad and just leaves you wanting without receiving. It’s hard for me not to rant on that topic but let’s just say that teachings that wanting and desire are bad are a trap to keep you stuck and powerless. I talked about the ‘power over’ dynamic in episode 1.
Desire is pure power. The fire of your desire needs to be put into inspired and aligned action in order to actually create what you want. Your desire unlocks your power.
Putting on blinders on that only allow you to look at what is good in your life without integrating the challenging feelings will keep you stuck.
It is good to put the MAJORITY of your energy and attention on creating momentum and focusing on what is going well and what you appreciate.
BUT If you fail to validate the challenging feelings, you separate yourself from what is really happening and how it’s impacting you. Pretending it’s all fine with only gratitude practice is spiritual bypass by putting frosting on poop and calling it a cupcake.
Yes gratitude practice has INCREDIBLE power to create change yet if you don’t rip out the foundation by resetting your limiting beliefs and resolving trauma gratitude practice can be harmful.
The common pop culture phrase that “it’s all good” can be harmful especially if you experienced trauma in early childhood that demanded you “put on a happy face” or you had to walk on eggshells to feel safe.
It is essential that to learn to be comfortable with uncomfortable thoughts and feelings.
Being present with challenging emotions from the past or in the present trains your body and mind to experience intensity not as something to be avoided but as a source of pure power.
The practice of developing emotional resilience is life changing and a core element of transforming trauma.
You may have heard people talk about feeling truly grateful for the greatest trauma or life challenges they have faced like cancer, death of a child, or other intense tragedy., generally after the situation is resolved. You may have been through this yourself.
Feeling grateful for tragedy, catastrophe or crisis may sound outrageous and radical yet clarity happens during a crisis because it gets to the core of what matters.
A life reset demands clarity about who you are, your priorities and where you are going in your life.
So let’s talk about the epic 2020-21 global reset.
This challenge has collective and individual impact and many people are also having significant personal challenges on top of it.
If you force yourself to only focus on what is good in your life and not make space for challenging emotions, the shame, blame and make-wrong can make the whole situation wildly more difficult that it already is.
The improvisation practice of “yes and” is a powerful remedy to acknowledge what is good while making space for shadow emotions. For example, “I am grateful for my beautiful, safe, and clean home and I feel afraid of what will happen next.” I am grateful for the food in my fridge and I am worried about my business income decreasing and not having enough money to pay the bills.”
Practice feeling grateful and turning towards challenging emotions. Turn towards unwanted, unlovable and undesirable. Get comfortable being uncomfortable.
I predominately see people teaching gratitude practice by glorifying what is good, right and going well in your life while demonizing the challenges. Like somehow you’re failing if your life isn’t Instagram perfect.
This “it’s all good” spiritual bypass creates a problem for most people by reinforcing the pattern that you’re not good enough and you are broken that keeps you from experiencing more of what you want in your life. Because it fuels the inner conflict, “if it’s all good why do I feel bad?”
It can be a good and helpful practice to recognize and appreciate the good emotions and positive aspects in your life YES AND let’s take time to befriend and be with the fucking hard messy reality of being human.
Let’s not put frosting on poop and call it a cupcake. Note: I am not a poop talk girl but this one gets be fired up and saying it thins way gets the point across with greater potency and this is the lightning path so…..
it is really all good and I should feel “I am grateful that I lost my job or I’m grateful that I’m in the hospital with Covid” or whatever whatever.
What I am suggesting is if you’re in a really really hard place and feeling stuck is to start by speaking the TRUTH. “I’m having a really hard time right now. I’m really feeling alone and afraid and uncertain and unlovable.”
If you go deep enough into the shadow you may access anger, “life is fucking hard right now and I feel desperate. I am afraid and I hate this feeling!”
Turn towards and be with you depth, darkness and fear. This may be one of the only safe spaces you will find to be real and fully feel yourself.
Turn you attention towards the uncomfortable and be grateful for truth and honesty.
Say to yourself, “thank you for telling me the truth. Thank you for trusting me.”
Be with the feelings and discomfort and getting out of spiritual bypass aka “it’s all good” or the gaslighting that you can’t be yourself, do your best to avoid “should”ing on yourself and demand that you feel grateful when you don’t.
Once you have confessed the truth and thanked yourself you will likely more authentically be able to feel grateful for the food in my fridge, or the air you breathe.
Be present with that intensity because the power of your truth and life force is power and so I continues to suggest that gratitude practice when it only focuses on what is good and right and going well in your life it cut you off from the Power of the fact that being human is fucking hard and that you were going to lose people and possessions that you love.
Devastating things are gonna happen in your community and in the world. You’re going to get sick and people you love are going to get sick and terrible things will happen.
I Imagine a diehard law of attraction practitioner out there is clutching there pearls right now….. look life on earth is both heaven and hell… let’s be honest about that so we can stop the spiritual bypass and gaslighting that is keeping good people stuck and struggling.
Excuse me while I get down from my soapbox… no actually this podcast IS MY SOAPBOX!
Gratitude practice is not focus on ONLY good things. Yes I agree that the majority of you time, energy and attention is best invested in creating momentum in the direction you want to go… but if you are bullshitting yourself about the truth of struggle you will not get the results you desire!
Move in and embrace the light and shadow, Intensity and ecstasy of being human and move out of this illusion that glorifies only good and perfect and pleasing being success.
The myth that when life is hard, push it away because you are somehow failing… is ridiculous. Struggle, challenge and heartbreak is part of the game you signed up for when you came to earth school.
You can try aversion as much as you want yet it’s almost guaranteed to keep you stuck in the cycle of suffering.
Can you practice being with what is?
Take a gentle breath now without pushing or pulling.
Can you be with what is?
The more you practice the easier it becomes.
A consistent gratitude practice can be super helpful but it’s not the antidote for being in a hard place, First embrace and land in the challenge. Feel it, be with it, befriend it. This will help you to be honest with yourself and when you truly become intimate with the truth of your experience no matter how ugly, awful, painful, disgraceful it is…. You will meet your truth and yourself and from there you will be authentically grateful.
If you are in a deep state of suffering and struggle then FORCING gratitude practice could be poisonous.
Be with what is. Recognize your wounds. Then choose to focus on the present and future you want to create.
When you can peel back all the should and land in truth then you will find the ecstatic power of gratitude in the simplest things:
The sun is shining and I’m grateful for the sunshine on my face right now and like is really fucking hard but right now there’s a crack so I let it in.
That is the gratitude gone wild practice of yes and….
Yes, life can be beautiful and it’s fucking hard too.
Yes, I’m having a really hard time. I’m going to be with intensity. Be with the energy. I am turning towards lonely. Feeling depressed, hopeless or powerless.
I will not push it away.
I refuse to resist.
I turn my full attention towards the challenging aspects of being human.
I will be with the hard things.
I not pushing them away.
I name my experience what it is.
I move out of this shiny object syndrome that clings to, chase after and glorifies that which appears good to our ego and cultural agreements.
Spirit is designed to thrive in all settings.
There are countless stories throughout history of people that survived and thrived in extraordinarily terrible, awful, devastating situations.
What made this possible?
How did they do that?
Being with their experience as much as possible.
Not pushing away the hard stuff and force trying to be grateful.
I imagine it came down to the exquisite simplicity of present moment awareness with “yes and” with no denial of pain and suffering.
“I’m grateful for this breath, yes and I am present with the pain in my body.”
“I love the way the light shines in the window, yes and or I feel afraid.”
Each moment you are FULL present with what is, you will feel grateful.
You can look for and celebrate what anchors you into the present moment.
Awakening and enlightened are being fully with what is. So simple yet not easy.
My issue with the gratitude teachings is it can just is another way of striving, another way of disconnecting you from the struggles of be human on earth now, another way of making you wrong for being human.
Embody the light and shadow.
it’s not using gratitude practice as a spiritual bypass or gaslighting tool to keep only focus on what is deemed good and therefore keeping you from feeling bad things.
Pay attention to hard things.
Utilize your gratitude practice to bring you into the Present moment.
Gratitude Gone Wild Practice: “Even though I’m in pain right now I appreciate that my breath is moving in and out of my body without effort.”
When your gratitude practice is truly anchored in your physical experience, in the present moment instead of in the mind and the list of things that we should be grateful for… That’s where you can unlock the greatest power of bringing ourselves into the present moment.
Bring yourself deeper into the human experience of light and shadow, amazing and challenging things, love and loss, fear and fortitude.
Let your gratitude practice bring you more deeply into the present moment.
Feel your experience to find what you appreciate in your feelings rather what the ego wants which often speaks through our mind to say “I should be grateful there’s so much that I should feel good about.”
Recognize and feeling the challenges that you experience of being human.
True, honest and uninhabitedwillingnessto FEEL is the most potent pathway to heal.
Thank you for being here, and I look forward to walking the soul purpose path with you.
‘Yes and’ your way to your deepest truth, power, pleasure and purpose.
You’re listening to the soul purpose podcast filled with teachings and resources for the lightning path of embodied spiritual awakening with shadow and light integration in order to quit people-pleasing reclaim power and create your soul purpose legacy.
You can access the Free Soul Success Journal & meditation and all of the episodes of the podcast at soulpurposepodcast.com
I believe in you and the magic power of your soul.
I am sending you so much love!
by Christel | Jun 22, 2021 | Podcast
“Your Body is Holy Ground.”
I received this teaching from my inner guidance. Do you receive messages from your inner guidance?
I’m Christel Arcucci you’re listening to the Soul Purpose Podcast the place to learn the lightning path of embodied spiritual awakening with shadow and light integration in order to quit people-pleasing, reclaim power and create your soul purpose legacy.
This podcast is informational it’s also a transmission of power using hypnotic rhythm and energetic healing to integrate the teachings into your body-mind.
Today is the dark moon, and the day before the new moon. I sat down to work on my art journal entry when a booming voice said, “your body is holy ground.”
I stopped, and it repeated, “your body is holy ground.”
This declaration struck me like a bolt of lightning in my bones, grounding and anchoring me into my body and the moment. This simple statement was an energetic transmission that amplified my connection to planet earth in a way that I have only experienced In the heart of nature.
The dominant culture program running is that your body is a problem.
Many traditions teach that the only way to enlightenment is to get beyond the body, as I talked about in episode 1.
The idea that the body is the source of original sin, especially if you’re a woman, is widely accepted as truth.
Stating that the body is sacred, and holy ground is radical.
Treating yourself and your body like it’s a miracle is a revolutionary and rebellious act!
Learning to trust your body by unraveling stress and trauma patterns is one of the most important practices you can explore.
Will you accept the invitation to practice acknowledging, accepting, appreciating, and even loving your body?
I know it’s radical and let’s go deeper into embodied spiritual awakening.
How does it land in your body when I say, “your body is holy ground.”
What thoughts or feelings come up for you?
What sensations do you experience?
Now try this breath work practice: Take a gentle breath as deeply into your body and heart as you can. Place your feet flat on the floor with your hands resting on your thighs. One breath to open the back of your body, open breath to open the heart and front of your body. One breath into your hips, legs and feet. One breath flits your spine, neck and opens the crown of your head. Now speak out loud, “My body is holy ground.”
What do you feel and notice with no pushing away or pulling towards?
What is your experience in your body mind right now?
Right now is the place to access your power. Yet the mind pulls you into the past or future and makes the present so unfamiliar you don’t know how to skillfully ride your experience. Most often you will only be willing to be present if it’s good and even then your mind will jump into fear of something “bad” happening.
This moment. This experience. This NOW is magical, powerful and holy and your body is the gateway that is always always always with you and available.
As I tune in to my experience right now, I feel the central channel of vertical energy as clear and powerful. The central channel runs from the center of your hips between your sit bones in the core of your pelvis all the way through the top of your head.
My central channel lights up with excitement and upward moving, sparkly enthusiasm. “Yes, yes, yes, my body is holy ground!”
You should know that this has been a focus of my practice for decades so when I am reminded of this teaching it is a beautiful anchor to help me feel that my body right now is holy ground, but it has taken a lot of practice to have instant access like this.
A core element is being able to BE WITH whatever is happening in my body without trying to push it away or grasp on to whatever you are experiencing. I am not trying to dominate my experience or change it in any way.
The golden keys to access your body’s holy ground wisdom:
Present moment willingness to be with what is, not pushing away nor pulling towards.
The mind is a storyteller (which is a fancy way of saying it’s a liar.)
The body only tells the truth, although in order to access the truth you must unwind layers of trauma and stress response to discover the body never lies.
A golden key to unlock the felt sense and knowing is the pure flow of experience. Sometimes experience is like a fresh mountain stream and sometimes it is like the inside of the sewer system. Both are essential elements of life on earth, but often the focus is pushed onto only what is considered good, clean and worthy.
If this is a new concept for you, it may be met with resistance or it may not land for you if you are still working on resetting old programs that are running.
I worked out a little I bit too hard yesterday and so physically I am in some pain today. There’s something going on in my pelvis that is more that just muscle discomfort.
The truth is… I’m in physical pain today.
I mention this because it’s important to I speak honestly about both the pain and the knowingness that my body is holy ground exists at the same time.
Many people are experiencing pain in the bodies, which can make it difficult to feel the truth that your body holy ground and my intention with this episode it to create an opening for a different experience.
When you’re not feeling good, it’s easy to buy into the belief that you can only feel good when you feel better when you’re not in pain, ill, anxious, depressed, or sad, etc.
A big focus today is “be” with whatever is happening in order to feel better. I invite you to try, don’t wait until things are perfect in order to feel good.
Yes, it’s hard to remember and feel that your body is holy ground when you’re feeling crappy.
Feeling good can be elusive and that’s how you remember that earth school is the project that you signed up for in order to focus on this!
Life experience, stress and trauma often disconnects you from your body and from remembering your infinite creator self. Yet inner guidance, gently and sometimes not so gently, teaches you to remember your Creator Self.
You have a body in order to experience, learn and remember that your body is holy ground, all of your experience, wonderful and terrible, beautiful and devastating, embrace and be with the extremes.
Embodied spiritual awakening is revolutionary practice and is more challenging and important for women to remember that your body is holy.
Your body is holy ground does not mean it’s perfect or flawless.
Your body is MIRACULOUS! All the systems that are working together right now for you to be alive and listening to this are truly astonishing. Note, my intention is not to gaslight you into making yourself be grateful. I have an upcoming episode about when gratitude practice can do more harm than good.
What has your body done that’s astonishing or amazing? Recovered from a serious accident, injury, or illness? Run a marathon? Or simply woken up to enjoy another day? Part of this practice is to give your attention to the miraculous things our bodies does daily.
Being human is not flawless. Being human is wildly messy and chaotic, yet also amazing!
The Body as Holy Ground practice in this episode it’s not about being flawless, it’s about witnessing your present moment experience and maybe even enjoying the mess and miracle of life in a human body.
Holy is about your body being sacred and miraculous and also painful, ill or broken sometimes. Can you be curious and playful about everything and anything that is happening in your body?
On earth, it’s challenging to remember the body is holy.
Being human which is incredibly flawed and wildly challenging.
And most spiritual traditions and religions teach that the body is a problem not even remotely close to the body is holy.
It’s your work today is to remember that your struggles, flaws and programming is not what defines you.
When you feel stuck, or circling in a negative feedback loop, stop and embrace that life is difficult.
I am making this recording while we are in the coming out of a global pandemic.
Life is extra messy right now because it’s not just me and my humanity, messiness, hope, fears, anger, love and my gratitude that are present in my life right now.
When I tune in to what’s happening outside of my little bubble of my life, the entire world is in a global reset.
What the heck is happening?!
The reality of earth school is THIS is what you signed up for!
The best thing you can do it pause, breath, touch your legs and remember your body is holy ground, your experience and full embrace of whatever is happening in the moment is the gateway to FEELING THE SACREDNESS OF LIFE.
You may have to do this practice 10,000 times before you feel it, yet I promise you will feel this truth if you continue to do the practice.
Truth be told I often wonder, “what am I doing here?! Why did I think this was a good idea?”
Yep, even after all these years I often question myself!
A key is to not expect yourself to be enlightened and awake all the time.
Recognize the messiness of humanity.
Acknowledge the struggle.
That is why it’s holy Ground.
It’s a complete mind fuck and trust me… just keep practicing!
Humanity is fucking messy.
Embrace that everything shifts.
Holy and messy co-exist at the same time.
All right, my friends, this is the wisdom for this transmission.
Thank you for being here, and I look forward to walking the soul purpose path with you.
You’re listening to the soul purpose podcast filled with teachings and resources for the lightning path of embodied spiritual awakening with shadow and light integration in order to quit people-pleasing reclaim power and create your soul purpose legacy.
You can access the Free Soul Success Journal & meditation and all the episodes of the podcast at soulpurposepodcast.com.
I believe in you and the magic power of your soul.
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review and follow on Apple Podcasts. I look forward to connecting with you in the next episode.
I am sending you so much love!
