Roadblocks 🛣to Soul Maintenance (& using Soul Tools ⚙️)

Greetings Magnificent Souls to the Attract Health Build Wealth Blog where we have open and honest discussions about ourselves.

This is a place where we breakdown, breakaway, and breakthrough codependency allowing ourselves to attract health, build wealth, and live a peaceful life.

We are tired of being sick and tired.

We are tired, but we are not giving up.

We KNOW that there is something magnificent inside of us.

Because we are fighting daily, hourly, and by the minute: fighting ourselves, our kids, our spouses, we have to do things differently.

We have to break the cycle.

We don’t have a million chances.

We have to be happy, NOW.

We have to find a way.

So how do we do that? How is that possible?

If you look around at what society is telling you, they’d tell you that what we’re doing is impossible.

Yet, it’s happening. Every. Single. Day.

It’s happening through the practice and love that we call Awakening the Magnificent Soul.

We are all Magnificent Souls, and these are our stories of healing!

Today, I wanted to discuss a codependent trait that I noticed as I dug myself out of the hole of codependency and that is the diminishing of the importance of tools to keep yourself aligned.

I’ll dive in deeper in a moment.

But, before we get in to the discussion, don’t forget to let me know your thoughts about this post, any feedback you have, or anything you’d like me to cover on future posts at the Epiphany Vault.

Remember, you can share anonymously; it’s a safe place and I would welcome the discussion.

So, back to what I wanted to talk about today.

What I’ve learned throughout my journey of codependency is that this is not something that is just going to go away.

It’s not something that just an affirmation is going to help with.

It’s not something that reading a book is going to help with.

It’s not a switch we can turn on and off.

As we have talked about here before, these codependent traits that we have been groomed with our entire life is like a muscle. It has been honed and toned and reacts to our environments’ as it has been trained to… mostly dysfunctionally (as is evidenced by relationships with ourselves and with others).

What’s interesting about codependency is that it’s a self defeating state of being.

The self toxicity is so high that even if you found a magical cure or magical pill, you might just not take it. 

It is such a pervasively self destructive construct that the use of tools, like we will be discussing today, is more than hard, it’s almost impossible.

Think about that, how counterintuitive is that? 

I know it doesn’t make any sense at all, but it’s what we do. 

We don’t think we are worth it, really, so we stop before we even start.

I think this is so important to call out because when I reached a point of just giving up, I felt like I had tried everything. 

I tried therapy.

I tried reasoning it out with my partner.

I tried daily affirmations.

I tried adopting the daily habits of millionaires.

I tried watching/reading/practicing the art of “The Secret.”

I tried writing out my feelings.

And I could go on and on and on and on.

I remember being so frustrated. And trying all of those things only to be MORE unhappy. The expectations on doing these things was just so high that I felt like these actions would make my life better.

Let’s be real, the list of things you can do to “be successful” or to “be happy” is infinite. 

But, here’s the thing, this list of “to dos” in on other people’s terms. Not to say that those steps are irrelevant or any less powerful, BUT, if you were like me, something was missing.

Wires weren’t connecting and said actions were not resulting in the final results as advertised.

I’m calling this out to you today to let you know, I am with you; you are not alone.

So, I thought it would be helpful to share with you some Soul Tools that I use to keep up my Soul Maintenance, to keep myself aligned. 

Soul Maintenance is the best way that I can express how important it is for me to keep up with these practices.

Just like you would maintain a car, I feel as if this Soul Maintenance is ESSENTIAL for aligning and opening up with my self. If I get off track with this, I feel mis-aligned and start to drift back into old ways.

If you’re completely confused about where I’m coming from, what I want to do now, is I want to lay out for you what I do to keep up with my Soul Maintenance. 

And, I want to tell you what kept me from doing these and the excuses I gave my self for procrastinating or not even attempting these practices. 

Remember, these limiting beliefs are what keeps you in the pattern of dysfunction that you are used to, so if we can together debunk these limiting beliefs; we will be all the better and open to Soul Maintenance and Awakening practices.

So, let’s begin, here are the 5 Soul Tools that I use every day to keep my self aligned…

1. Sunlight - 10 minutes of sunlight a day (preferably in the morning) will open up your day to glory. I walk my dogs immediately after I get out of bed in the morning. The natural light is good for the body and the self. There are many studies that point to being in nature for 10 minutes a day being chemically beneficial and to borrow a slogan “doing the body good.”

The limiting beliefs for me not getting exposure to sunlight would be not having enough time, too hungover, just not feeling like doing it; or no time at all. Does that sound familiar?

2. Meditate - Harness your mind and set your intention for the day by meditating for 10 minutes. As we all know, and the reason that we’re here and that you’re even listening or watching, is that our minds are powerful. We create our realities with our minds and many times our minds are not our best allies. The importance of meditation is so huge in this regard. By adding meditation to my Soul Maintenance, that inner peace, that inner love and inner calm came with it.

Let me say this too, meditation for me isn’t always peaceful, I don’t always get it right and a lot of times I am interrupted by a knock on the door or by my dogs. And that’s okay. That’s one of the biggest hurdles that I had to overcome with this Soul Tool; is wanting it to be perfect. I want to say this and I want you to accept it. This will not be perfect, but what is; I’m not and you’re not. Relish in that and enjoy the time you can be with your mind, and its imperfections.

3. Move - Find a way to move your body and muscles for at least 10 minutes a day. Preferably at a different speed or activity than the sunlight tool, for some people that is the gym or running. For me, that’s either yoga or hiking. Find something that (emphasis here) YOU LIKE TO DO. If it’s not something you like to do, DO IT. If you don’t like to do it, DON’T DO IT. For many, many years, I would go to the gym because that’s what others told me I needed to do to be fit. Moving the body in this way feeds your muscles and your mind. They can work in tandem for the overall good of your self.

The limiting beliefs for moving would me much the same for getting sunlight, above, no time, too hungover, my kids have to go to school, etc. Or, it’s not fun, I don’t like it. I’m hurt, etc. Do you identify with any of these?

4. Feed Your Mind - Read/Listen 10-30 minutes every day. I have a wealth of books that I would recommend and, in fact, did a review on The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, which has been the biggest influence on my life. But, find something that you will learn from and turn off your electronics (unless you are listening). I find that the actual act of reading is much more affective than listening to audio books, but really dig deep on what works best for you. I think the benefits of feeding your mind are obvious, just like you would work your muscles and eat food, your mind needs nourishment as well.

Why would you not find 10-30 minutes to read a day? Time is always precious, not knowing what to read, not being able to have the privacy as your home life is too demanding or there are always people around, or maybe “I’m not a reader.” What rings true about these roadblocks to reading a book?

5. Let it Out - Write at least 100 words a day….preferably on paper. Real ink to paper. There is something about writing things out that open up the door to your heart, your mind, your soul. Mindfulness is probably THE BIGGEST and most important skill that I’ve acquired through my awakening and journaling is the tool to hone that skill. Point blank. I’ve challenged you, Magnificent Souls on a previous podcast before to just begin by writing 100 words a day. It could just be “I am writing. I am writing. I am writing.” The process of opening your self up to streaming consciousness will begin to morph into you actually tapping in to your thoughts and feelings.

My limiting beliefs on journaling were so strong that it took me years to get over it. Here’s what I would say to myself “I’m not a writer.” “It sounds so shitty and dumb.” “I don’t know what to say.” Sound familiar? What I realized is that these limiting beliefs were only a projection on how I felt about my self. I was judging my self by comparing myself to others. Once I was able to overcome this one, the doors to my mind and consciousness were wide open and it’s a practice that has been huge in my Awakening.

So, there you have it.

Those are the 5 Soul Tools that I use to keep myself aligned every day.

If I veer off track and don’t practice this Soul Maintenance for a few days, I definitely become misaligned. 

I urge you to try it out, and let me know what you think at the Epiphany Vault.

That’s it for today, Magnificent Souls.

Until next time,

Livin & Lovin 💗

Lilli