Integrate mind + soul

“You know,” my soul tells me. “You always do,” she goes on. “You don’t require external validation to reach an answer, but it’s okay if you like to receive it anyway. Sometimes it’s helpful, but you needn’t rely on it. Your answers are within. They are always within. For big questions and for small. You simply need to get a little quiet and create a little space to listen and to connect in to them…”

My soul has been trying to connect with me for many years. I’ll hear portions of her guidance along the borders of my mind and in the deep waters of my heart. Sometimes I listen, and many more times I don’t.

Each of my soul’s efforts are lined in grace. She offers a whisper here and a glimmer there. Dew drops on the edge of my life experience, so beautiful but so easily missed. 

Practically, my mind leads the way. My mind is loud, my mind is consuming, and my mind is distracting. Full of careful analysis, deep evaluation, thinking, overthinking, rethinking, and loads and loads of logic. My mind aligns with what makes sense. 

And my mind takes me out of my moment. 

Drawing me into a daily, intellectual ping-pong match of “what-if” this and “how-come” that. All the while pulling my attention and my energy into my thinking. And out of my very real moment. 

My mind is affirmed by what is most challenging. What is most impressive. The more effort, exertion, and trying, well… trying always receives the mental gold. Trying to achieve, trying to understand, trying to excel, and trying to do it all.

The mind is not to be blamed for its consuming tendencies. They are intended for good, really. To keep us secure and safe. Out of danger, nestled carefully in the comfort of what is known.

And a true connection to our soul is untapped, full of such possibility, and very, very unknown. 

So I find myself on a journey. A journey to align to my soul and a journey to capitalize on my mind rather than being consumed by it. 

Instead, allowing my present moment to consume me. To be fully in it. To feel it. To know it. To enjoy it. To be totally embraced by it. 

This journey may outwardly seem like a simple exchange. One of releasing the leadership of my thinking mind and replacing it with the compass within. But rather than a simple swap, the goal here is integration. Braiding each component together. Aligning with soul and engaging the capacity of the mind. With care and with intention. And within the simplicity of our ordinary every day.  

So here I am. A few steps into this soul-led journey. Hearing her wisdom more. Seeing the glimmers of her guidance all around me. And still, so very practiced in letting my mind lead the way. Conditioned in this way of functioning. And defaulting to this way of living. 

But I know that every moment is a chance to begin again. And there is no need for a new beginning to be a sharp or dramatic one, though my mind may make me think that is the case. Because wouldn’t that be oh-so impressive? Wouldn’t it be exceptional to make this integrated shift in the shortest period of time and yield the greatest results? 

Even in a transition to more soul-led living, my mind finds an opportunity to maximize the experience into one that is quantifiable. 

I know how to do that. I can measure, I can optimize, I can perform the mental gymnastics, and I can push. Oh can I push. 

And so can you. I can see it. I feel it. She feels it too. You are so good at doing. At pushing. At trying. And of course, at excelling. Because what would be the worth it not for the ultimate outcome of accomplishment? Why bother if not for an awarded achievement? 

“Take a breath,” she advises. “Inhale and then slowly release. There is no rush here. You are so good at rushing, you know how to do that already. Instead, what if we were to welcome the shift to occur? What if we were to open up to the grace of space? And what if we were to smile into it? Maybe even to enjoy it a bit?” 

We can be in the lack of resolution. We can exist in the in-between. We can enjoy ourselves in the absence of an achievement. We can be on the road pointing towards a destination and look down at where our feet are on the road, right now. Allow ourselves to arrive, right here. Let this place be exactly the right place for us. And welcome our moment to absorb us. 

For me, this writing is an ideal practice and a perfect example of this intersection. I sit and gaze out the window, wondering what to share next. The wheels in my head start to spin, analyzing the themes I’ve begun to introduce, crafting an outline of sub-points and samples to align to each one. And yet, I remain still. Because this text is not one that I will think my way through. I know how to do that. And my soul is calling for me to learn something new. To listen. To connect. And to be led. Not intellectually, but inwardly. 

And so I allow the words to arrive. I receive their blessing. And I analyze nothing. I remember that the practice of sharing can be sacred. And I choose to enjoy it as such. I let the words flow, knowing - without any mental justification as to why - that I am ready. And that it is time. 

And I thank you - from the deep waters of my heart - that you are joining me on this journey. For connecting with soul is much more enjoyable in connection with others. And yet, this is a topic that is so rarely discussed with others. “How are you aligning to your soul today? Has your soul offered you any sweet guidance this week? How does she (your soul) feel?” 

Could you even imagine?? 

Thankfully, I can. Those questions are very real to me because I have those exact conversations with dear friends who are earth angels. Divinely aligned connections on this journey who have externally validated what I internally know. 

I share this so that you know too - we are here. And it is time. To welcome a new way of engaging with others. To allow for a new experience of life. And to accept a new way of functioning. An easier way, a more supported way, and an inspired way.

Perhaps your thinking mind isn’t there yet, and that’s okay. Because the more we turn down the volume in our mind, the more opportunity there is to turn up the volume of our soul. And she is very excited to be heard. 

So in posts to follow, I will be sharing samples of soul alignment with you. Ways and scenarios in which I’ve lowered the mental noise to truly linger in the space of soul. 

I have been scattering breadcrumbs towards this topic for awhile now. Feeling the calling of an integrated way of living in the depths of my being. And I am finally ready to share with the intention of serving others. Those who wish to welcome the sacred into the ordinary, leverage the mind in alignment with the soul’s calling, and allow the support and blessings that are constantly available to arrive. 

Remember: each and every step in alignment with soul is of value. Remember: we can always glance down to see and honor where we are on our own journey. And remember: that with each step, we energize the shift into a new way of living. 

I’ll remind you when you forget, when your mind gets too loud, and your days get too busy. So will she.

And now, we journey together.