Transcripts
When you let go of some of that
grasping around how things need to
Speaker:be or have to be the way things
want to be as they desire to
Speaker:be, will come into being.
Speaker:Hello and welcome to
Remember Why You Are Here,
Speaker:a podcast for seekers and sensitives
where you can relax, receive,
Speaker:reconnect to your own self and remember
the most important thing of all:
Speaker:why you are here. I'm Asia Suler, author,
Speaker:teacher earth intuitive.
Speaker:And in this episode we're going to
talk about surviving soul forging
Speaker:times.
Speaker:We'll discuss what exactly
a soul forging time is,
Speaker:why it's important for us,
Speaker:how we're living through
one right now on earth and
Speaker:how to survive it and not
only survive it but thrive
Speaker:through having experienced it.
Speaker:So this episode feels very dear
and important to me right now in my
Speaker:life.
Speaker:And I think it's when we're all
feeling in this moment now here on
Speaker:earth.
Speaker:It first came through for
me when I was living through
Speaker:and surviving Hurricane Helene here in
the mountains in Western North Carolina
Speaker:this past fall.
Speaker:And I had this kind of front
row seat through that experience
Speaker:of what it is like to live
through an epic natural
Speaker:disaster.
Speaker:What it is like to be disconnected
Speaker:from all the things that
normally make your life possible.
Speaker:Things like running water,
electricity, cell service,
Speaker:gas roads going in and
out of where I live.
Speaker:Every major highway except for
one was destroyed or closed.
Speaker:And so I had this really pretty intense,
Speaker:powerful, soul forging experience.
Speaker:And what I have found moving
through this is it's given me
Speaker:this fodder,
Speaker:this roadmap and this way to
talk about these experiences
Speaker:that can really help as we
move collectively through what
Speaker:I see to be a soul forging time.
Speaker:And this is something I talked
about a lot in my reading for: Speaker:when I did my intuitive reading for this
year that this was going to be a year
Speaker:of soul forging on a collective level.
Speaker:And so I think this information and
this roadmap is really important at this
Speaker:time.
Speaker:And the cool thing about it
is as intense as it is to be
Speaker:forged,
Speaker:it also means that we are coming into
our power in a completely new way,
Speaker:that you are reconnecting
to yourself, your mission,
Speaker:your soul in a way you probably have
not experienced yet on this planet.
Speaker:And that's a good thing.
Speaker:So what do I mean when I talk
about soul forging? Well,
Speaker:I'm not a blacksmith,
Speaker:but my understanding of forging is
that there is an intense alchemy that
Speaker:happens when you forge something.
Speaker:Think of anytime you've ever
seen someone work metal,
Speaker:whether in person or if
you've watched a video,
Speaker:they're taking this piece
of metal, heating it up,
Speaker:shaping it, rolling it, pressing
it, changing its shape completely.
Speaker:Its essential self remains the same,
Speaker:and yet it's being forged
into something different,
Speaker:being forged into decoration,
Speaker:being forged into weaponry,
being forged into utensil,
Speaker:being forged into something
other than it knew itself to
Speaker:be. So in this way,
Speaker:forging time, a soul forging
time is moving into the fire.
Speaker:It's like going directly into the
fire and the heat of an experience in
Speaker:order to be transformed and changed.
Speaker:Sometimes we choose soul
forging times on purpose,
Speaker:but what I found more often
is that we don't choose them.
Speaker:They tend to just happen to us.
Speaker:So you might be in a moment right
now where you are in a soul forging
Speaker:time, but if not,
Speaker:I'm sure you can remember one times
where it felt like you were being
Speaker:cooked where everything that held
your life together in a certain way,
Speaker:your whole structure of reality
started to shift and change beneath
Speaker:you. This could be a
loss of a relationship.
Speaker:This could be a shift in
your health, your wellbeing,
Speaker:loss of a home, radical change in any way,
Speaker:shape or capacity, birth of a child.
Speaker:All of these are soul forging
experiences that bring
Speaker:our essential element like the
metal of who we are to the surface.
Speaker:And I think that there is an essential
importance to this kind of soul
Speaker:forging that we come here
to this planet planning
Speaker:for and knowing that we are
going to experience these
times and that these times
Speaker:are important because
they help to reshape us.
Speaker:They help to mold us once again
back into the shape of our
Speaker:destiny to realize the shape
of our destiny once more.
Speaker:So let's talk a little bit about how to
know if you are in the midst of a soul
Speaker:forging time right now in your life.
Speaker:And I prefer this term over
something like a very hard
Speaker:time or a dark night of the soul.
Speaker:And it might be all those things too,
Speaker:but it's helpful to have this
framework of I'm in the midst of a
Speaker:soul forging time.
Speaker:It gives it this very heroic element
to it like you're on your own Lord of
Speaker:the Rings type mission at
this time in your life,
Speaker:but how do you know that you're
in the middle of one right now?
Speaker:So here are some signs. One,
you don't know what's going on.
Speaker:And I say,
Speaker:this was so much love in my heart
because Lord knows I've been there a lot,
Speaker:but it's this sense of this feeling like
what is actually going on right now?
Speaker:I don't have the template for this.
Speaker:I have not lived through this
specific kind of thing before.
Speaker:Some aspect of this feels
very new to me, very unsure.
Speaker:It might even be in a specific
way in your life. You're like,
Speaker:what is going on on a
day-to-day basis in my life?
Speaker:I have never seen this kind of
thing happen in this kind of way.
Speaker:My routines are all out of whack.
Speaker:If you have this feeling sense of
like I do not know what's going on,
Speaker:then you're probably living
through a soul forging time.
Speaker:Number two is it's really
hard to directly envision
Speaker:your future. I am a very
future oriented person.
Speaker:I love daydreaming about the future.
I love having plans, visions, goals.
Speaker:When I am living through
a soul forging time,
Speaker:it's like all that drops away
and I can no longer envision my
Speaker:future.
Speaker:It's very scary to a part of my brain
and my psyche that absolutely loves that,
Speaker:loves holding that vision, loves
working towards that vision.
Speaker:But there's also a piece here where
we need to be willing to even let
Speaker:go of the reaching for that visioning
of the future. And here's why.
Speaker:It's because the future is
changing in this very moment
Speaker:in soul forging moments
Speaker:your future is being redefined. Now,
Speaker:I think we all come here for a reason.
That's literally why I named my podcast.
Speaker:Remember Why You Are Here.
It's to remember right,
Speaker:those things that drive us, that brought
us here that we're passionate about,
Speaker:that we're here to give to this planet.
Speaker:And nothing is set in stone in terms
of how that's going to manifest
Speaker:or how exactly you're going to evolve.
Speaker:And so when you're in a soul forging time,
Speaker:it's almost as if this
wider aspect of you,
Speaker:and if you've been
following me for a while,
Speaker:you know that I really like the term
wider self rather than higher self
Speaker:because for me, my higher self
is something I'm a part of.
Speaker:It's this wider energy and
awareness that I belong to.
Speaker:And so our wider self is always
holding this vision, right?
Speaker:But here in the vessel of our
bodies, we can often forget,
Speaker:right?
Speaker:Or we grow accustomed to a certain shape
or way of being in the world and we
Speaker:only take up that space. Well,
when we're in a soul forging time,
Speaker:it's like we're reforging the container
of who we are so that our soul
Speaker:can sit in it in a different way
so that our soul itself is actually
Speaker:enriched and changed by the
experience of being here.
Speaker:That our soul is able to receive the
learning and the knowing and the growth
Speaker:that it yearned for, that it desired
in coming here to this planet.
Speaker:And so in this way,
Speaker:it is almost essential
actually that you let go of
Speaker:this visioning of the future,
Speaker:this vision of what's to come
because it's changing. And in fact,
Speaker:it's probably going to take on a new
and more radical shape than you ever
Speaker:could have imagined from
where you were previously.
Speaker:It's like your ability to even hold
that awareness and that imagining
Speaker:of your future is growing in its capacity.
Speaker:The vessel of your imagination
is growing in its capacity.
Speaker:So if you're in a soul forging moment and
you can no longer glimpse your future,
Speaker:know that that's a positive
thing, that's helpful,
Speaker:let it go because on the other side,
Speaker:so much clarity is going to stream in.
Speaker:And the third sign that you might be in
a soul forging time is that certainty is
Speaker:in flux.
Speaker:There are things in my life
that I'm certain about,
Speaker:and some of those things are eternal.
Speaker:Like I am certain that this earth loves us
Speaker:and that I'm here for a reason.
I'm certain that I love my child.
Speaker:I'm certain that it's a
gift to be on this planet.
Speaker:Those are some of my certainties.
Speaker:But what happens during a soul forging
time is that some of these certainties
Speaker:that are a little less eternal,
Speaker:but nonetheless were things you
were pretty certain about before
Speaker:suddenly are no longer certain.
Speaker:Suddenly these things that were
kind of like the bedrock of your
Speaker:existence that you planned around,
Speaker:that you mapped the whole world
out within are no longer certain.
Speaker:The map itself has
changed. And this happens
Speaker:pretty organically when you
have a big change come up
Speaker:during a soul forging time, if you've
had a big loss or a dramatic shift,
Speaker:it's like that map of
certainty that bedrock has
Speaker:changed beneath you and it is terrifying.
Speaker:It's terrifying to have the things
that you were so certain about,
Speaker:whether it was the land where you live,
Speaker:your town, your loved ones, your job,
Speaker:these things that you almost didn't
even have to think about, right?
Speaker:When that certainty is in flux,
Speaker:it's almost like you are set free to
Speaker:imagine something different.
Speaker:And I say this with so much love
and compassion in my heart because
Speaker:losing those certainties can
be absolutely heartbreaking
Speaker:through the hurricane, losing my
apothecary, losing our entire town.
Speaker:That's heartbreaking in a
way that doesn't change,
Speaker:even as I know this is a absolute
soul forging time where more of
Speaker:me is now coming to this planet and
my mission is even that much clearer.
Speaker:And yet when certainties are in flux,
Speaker:it opens up our perception.
Speaker:It gives us the ability to widen
our field of vision and our field of
Speaker:knowing.
Speaker:It's really normal and natural
as human beings to want to have a
Speaker:certain field of our knowing,
Speaker:to have the things that we know are
certain and there's a reason for this.
Speaker:When we're certain about something, we
don't have to think about it anymore.
Speaker:That's helpful. There's a
lot of things to think about.
Speaker:And so when you're certain
about something, there's
a part of you that goes,
Speaker:okay, that stone is right there. I
don't have to think about it anymore.
Speaker:I know it's right there, but what
happens when that stone tumbles down?
Speaker:You have to rethink everything.
Speaker:You have to rethink the
whole map of your existence.
Speaker:So if you're in a soul forging time,
Speaker:likely the things that you were
certain about aren't feeling so certain
Speaker:anymore, and that can be a
really challenging experience.
Speaker:But what I want you to think about
is that certainty like being that
Speaker:standing stone or perhaps like
being a tree in the forest,
Speaker:this old tree that you thought, there's
no way this tree could ever fall.
Speaker:And then it does,
Speaker:and it's shocking and it's hard.
Speaker:And on the other side of that shift,
a space opens up in the canopy,
Speaker:the ground is revealed.
New seeds can take root.
Speaker:You view your landscape differently,
Speaker:and not only are you viewing it
differently, you're seeing it.
Speaker:This is the thing about the
things that we're certain about.
Speaker:Studies have shown that when we kind of
have something categorized certain in
Speaker:our brain, we literally stop
seeing it. We stop noticing it,
Speaker:we stop perceiving it. So when
certainties in our life change,
Speaker:it opens up our field of perception.
Speaker:It's sort of this semi
psychedelic awareness that gets
Speaker:opened up where you're actually
seeing your life again with fresh
Speaker:eyes. You're seeing your world again
with fresh eyes, your relationships,
Speaker:your career, your path in life.
Speaker:All these things now have the
ability to be seen with fresh eyes,
Speaker:and that's valuable, that's so valuable,
Speaker:and it doesn't negate the pain, right?
Speaker:I walk around here in the mountains
where I live and some hillsides,
Speaker:every single tree it feels has been
broken in half like a matchstick.
Speaker:The land here looks completely different.
Speaker:Things I never thought
would change streams,
Speaker:creeks that became raging rivers that
entirely and completely changed the
Speaker:geological history of
that place, that valley.
Speaker:Nevertheless,
Speaker:it has revealed this layer of
Speaker:existence that I didn't see before.
Speaker:It is literally unearthed rocks
that may have never been held
Speaker:by a human hand or seen by human eyes.
Speaker:And it's powerful to have those maps
Speaker:change and that power and that
Speaker:opening of new perspective gives
us the potential to come once
Speaker:again back into ourselves
with an expanded perspective,
Speaker:to let ourselves be forged by the fire
of what we're experiencing so that we can
Speaker:be an even wider container for
our own soul and our own being.
Speaker:So you might, after listening
to this, be saying to yourself,
Speaker:I am in a soul forging time. Or
maybe you're thinking, oh gosh,
Speaker:I really remember that time in my life.
Speaker:I know what it's like
to live through that.
Speaker:Or maybe you're even a
place of being like, yeah,
Speaker:we're there as a world
right now. We are there.
Speaker:And if you're in that place, I'm going
to tell you I'm in that place with you.
Speaker:So this is pertinent information
for wherever you are.
Speaker:But the next piece I want
to share is what do you do?
Speaker:What do you do in those
soul forging moments?
Speaker:Because it is so confusing and hard
Speaker:and you feel untethered in
this way, and it can be scary.
Speaker:What do you do in these soul forging
times these times that look so dire and so
Speaker:drastic,
Speaker:but are literally actually reshaping
the container of physical reality,
Speaker:including the container of your own self
so that more can be held so that your
Speaker:soul is literally enriched
and grows through this
Speaker:experience? This is like the stuff.
Speaker:This is the stuff that
your soul came here for,
Speaker:but what do you do on a
very real human level?
Speaker:What do you do during these times? Well,
Speaker:the first thing I would suggest is
to look for handholds of meaning.
Speaker:That's what I call them,
handholds of meaning. And
Speaker:these are not the new vistas that you're
going to get to and look out of and be
Speaker:like, I have it all figured out. No,
Speaker:this is like you scaling a wall
and you just find one handhold
Speaker:after another. That is all that's
being asked of you right now.
Speaker:You don't need to see the whole future.
You don't need to see 10 steps ahead.
Speaker:Just the next step.
Speaker:Find that next handhold of meaning
where you can continue to hold on
Speaker:because there's this level on which that's
all that's really being asked of you
Speaker:during a soul forging
time is just to hold on.
Speaker:The alchemy is already
happening within you.
Speaker:The alchemy is already taking place.
Speaker:You don't need to do any
special kind of ritual.
Speaker:You don't need to set up an
altar in order for it to happen.
Speaker:It is happening and
your job is just to hold
Speaker:on while it is happening.
Speaker:It is literally like a weather
event that you are experiencing
Speaker:and your job is to hold on.
Speaker:So looking for handholds of meaning.
Speaker:Are there moments where you
felt affirmed or had a tiny,
Speaker:tiny little bit of clarity?
Speaker:Or are there things that you can see and
Speaker:understand that help make sense of
what happened to you that morning?
Speaker:You don't have to understand
the big picture here,
Speaker:but just those tiny little
handholds of meaning.
Speaker:Feel free to revisit things in
life that have been helpful.
Speaker:Or if you do find
something, write it down.
Speaker:It can be really helpful to
keep a journal at this time.
Speaker:And at the end of the day,
Speaker:just write down whatever that
little handhold of meaning was.
Speaker:Write it down. Because the thing is,
Speaker:it feels little like this tiny
little shift and you're like, okay,
Speaker:I have a new handhold. I can
hold on just a little bit longer.
Speaker:But one handhold after another is
what gets us right to the top of the
Speaker:mountain. It's what gets us to that vista.
Speaker:So know that it's really okay to not
have the full picture right now to
Speaker:just have a handhold of
meaning and to find the
Speaker:next one when it comes.
Speaker:Another important thing that can help
you through this time is to remember that
Speaker:nothing is ever exactly as
you think it's going to be.
Speaker:Whatever you imagine the
future is going to be,
Speaker:it won't be exactly that,
and that is a positive thing.
Speaker:So have you noticed this? When
we have a vision of the future,
Speaker:no matter what that vision is,
whether it's positive or negative,
Speaker:it's never exactly like that.
Speaker:Even if you're very clairvoyant,
Speaker:even if you have these super crystal
clear images sometimes come in for you of
Speaker:the future or really strong feelings,
Speaker:it's never exactly like that, right?
Speaker:There may be elements that are even more
delightful than you could have imagined
Speaker:or elements that are more challenging
or it's just not better or worse.
Speaker:It's just slightly, slightly different.
Speaker:And this is a very positive thing.
Speaker:So here's why we as humans
have this negativity bias.
Speaker:We tend to focus on what's negative
because we're trying to protect
Speaker:ourselves and make sure
hard things don't happen.
Speaker:But then what does end up happening is
we often can have sort of a slightly
Speaker:negative bent to what we imagine
will happen in the future,
Speaker:this sort of catastrophizing. So if
you are catastrophizing in any way,
Speaker:and during soul forging times,
Speaker:one thing I do find is that
we tend to go into this place
Speaker:of despair where we say to ourselves,
A, X, Y or Z are going to happen,
Speaker:or B, I'm never going
to feel excited again.
Speaker:I'm never going to feel enliven again.
I'm never going to have direction again.
Speaker:Everything that I've been building is
just going to fall apart like a pancake on
Speaker:itself. So when you catch
yourself in those cycles,
Speaker:remind yourself nothing is ever exactly
as you imagined it was going to be for
Speaker:better or worse.
Speaker:And that should feel like this
sort of freeing trickster energy.
Speaker:It's such a trickster energy at
play in this world that even the
Speaker:most specifically
clairvoyant of us all will
Speaker:never have the full picture
of what the future holds.
Speaker:And that's on purpose partially right,
because the future is being written now,
Speaker:but it's so helpful to remember when
you get into these despair cycles of
Speaker:thinking, I will never get out of this,
Speaker:or things are inevitably going to be bad,
Speaker:or I'm losing everything
that I've built to remind
Speaker:yourself like, ah, nothing's ever
exactly as I thought it was going to be,
Speaker:as I think it's going to be.
And that's positive, right?
Speaker:It leaves space for the
beauty of the mystery,
Speaker:the beauty of the potential to come in,
Speaker:and there's so much beauty and so much
potential that's ready to come in for
Speaker:you.
Speaker:And when you let go of some of that
grasping around how things need
Speaker:to be or have to be the way things
want to be as they desire to
Speaker:be will come into being.
So remind yourself of this.
Speaker:It's also really helpful,
Speaker:especially when going through
the hard aspects of soul forging
Speaker:times to remember that the
Speaker:earth loves you, this planet loves you,
Speaker:the unseen elements that are
manufacturing and co-creating and
Speaker:bringing this precipice into
view, that they're loving forces,
Speaker:that the general force behind the
world is one of love and benevolence
Speaker:and care, and that in fact,
Speaker:you are so loved and your
growth is so important to the
Speaker:overall development of this world, to
the evolution and healing of this world,
Speaker:that the message that you
need to grow will never stop
Speaker:being delivered. It will
never stop being delivered.
Speaker:And this can feel hard sometimes, like,
Speaker:why am I at this healing precipice again,
I'm dealing with this issue once more.
Speaker:Here I am in the cul-de-sac
of whatever the thing is that
Speaker:comes up again and again.
But to remember that
Speaker:this is a message. This is a message
coming from your own wider self,
Speaker:from the heart of the world,
Speaker:and it's a message that
keeps coming because you are
Speaker:that loved. Your evolution
and growth is that important,
Speaker:that you're not going to be let off
the hook without stepping into it.
Speaker:That the forces that care for
your evolution and growth will
Speaker:continue to come, to
make themselves manifest,
Speaker:to send these messages,
these opportunities to grow,
Speaker:to grow, to grow. Your
growth is that important.
Speaker:What you came here to give is that vital.
Speaker:It's that necessary. So you
were not being punished,
Speaker:even though I know sometimes
it can really feel like that,
Speaker:but you were not being punished by
the challenges that are coming up,
Speaker:especially when they're
repetitive patterns, issues,
Speaker:challenges that just seem
to just cycle in your life.
Speaker:It's a message that is once again being
delivered because the heart of the world
Speaker:is saying, do you will not be left
behind. You'll not be left behind,
Speaker:not in this lifetime.
Speaker:You are here to continue
to blossom and unfurl.
Speaker:You're here to give your gifts. You're
here to live into your potential,
Speaker:and this world loves you so much.
Speaker:There's no way that is
going to leave you behind.
Speaker:And that is why this is coming up
again. Now, saying all of this,
Speaker:the reality is also that
soul forging times can be
Speaker:hard on our bodies, on our soma.
Speaker:There's literally a part of our
bodies that is going to be saying,
Speaker:this is not okay with me. This
is hard. This is stressful.
Speaker:I like certainty. I like safety.
Speaker:I like knowing that the
way things are going to be.
Speaker:And so it can be really
helpful to have somatic tools
Speaker:to be a companion to
your body in this time,
Speaker:even if there's a part of our
psyches, our wider spirits that know,
Speaker:yes, this is for the greater
good of my unfurling,
Speaker:that I am becoming this vessel where
I can hold more and more of who I am.
Speaker:The animal of our bodies needs
support during this time.
Speaker:Shock,
Speaker:trauma these are very
real aspects of living
Speaker:through especially a soul forging
time that's very shocking and
Speaker:it kind of tends to be
shocking, soul forging times.
Speaker:There's normally an element
of it where we are deeply
Speaker:surprised by what has taken
place. We didn't see this coming.
Speaker:And so having somatic tools to be a
companion to your body to help your
Speaker:body and your nervous system as you
move through this time can be really
Speaker:important.
Speaker:So one of the first most basic
things that you could do is to shake.
Speaker:So literally to just shake your body,
Speaker:whether you are dancing
and shaking it out,
Speaker:or whether you're just letting
your whole body shake with emotion,
Speaker:shake when you're crying. You
could lay on a vibrating board,
Speaker:you could twerk, you could do a shimmy,
Speaker:whatever helps you shake.
Speaker:Shaking is a very primal
somatic response to stress
Speaker:and shock. And oftentimes,
Speaker:if we don't let ourselves shake,
Speaker:the energy of that shock can live
in our body still and become trauma.
Speaker:So letting ourselves shake and maybe
having a daily shaking practice can be
Speaker:really helpful in letting go
of some of this stored charge.
Speaker:And when we have stored a charge,
Speaker:our body will continue to
try and complete the cycle,
Speaker:whatever that cycle is to try and
complete it so that the charge can be
Speaker:released.
Speaker:And so sometimes this can look
like manifesting more issues.
Speaker:It can look like sort of
Speaker:recapitulating a trauma.
Speaker:And so if it feels like you're kind
of in this space where you can't get a
Speaker:break,
Speaker:one thing you can do is try literally
giving your body a break by shaking,
Speaker:shaking, shaking, shaking,
Speaker:because this really helps
to integrate and release the
Speaker:charge that we're carrying.
So even in this moment,
Speaker:you could try shaking your hands and
just notice as you shake your hands,
Speaker:if you have the ability to do so,
Speaker:that even just a little bit of
that energy can be released.
Speaker:And that's super duper helpful.
Speaker:I noticed when I was living through the
hurricane the first time I went to the
Speaker:apothecary, and that was an
entire experience unto itself.
Speaker:It was dangerous and very hard
physically and emotionally.
Speaker:When I came home,
Speaker:my whole body shook like a leaf for hours,
Speaker:and it was really important
that I let that go.
Speaker:It is super important that I let
that happen when it was arising,
Speaker:and I made a practice of continuing to
shake in the days after and even the
Speaker:months after. So that's one tool.
Speaker:Another tool is called a butterfly
hug. And so this is pretty simple.
Speaker:You take your two hands,
Speaker:you cross them over your chest
so that your thumbs meet,
Speaker:and then you intertwine your thumbs,
Speaker:and then you lay both hands sort of
opposite of one another on your chest.
Speaker:So you'd have your right hand
on the left side of your chest,
Speaker:your left hand on the
right side of your chest,
Speaker:and you can keep your
thumbs intertwined here,
Speaker:or if that doesn't feel comfortable,
Speaker:just have your hands sort of crossed
over your chest and then you alternate
Speaker:tapping on one side of
your chest versus another.
Speaker:This somatic technique was
literally developed in the
Speaker:aftermath of a natural
disaster to help people survive
Speaker:moments of big upheaval and change.
Speaker:But it's really this bilateral stimulation
is super helpful for regulating our
Speaker:nervous system for coming back
into this settled state of
Speaker:being in our nervous system. So you
can do this for 30 seconds, a minute,
Speaker:even longer,
Speaker:and just see how long it takes until you
just reach this sense of settledness.
Speaker:Again, nothing's fixed,
but you're settled again.
Speaker:There's a sense of being
able to touch your center.
Speaker:The last practice I want to hand
to you is called comfort object,
Speaker:eye gazing.
Speaker:This is also a somatic tool
where you find something in your
Speaker:environment that is very
comforting for you to look at,
Speaker:and you let your gaze rest there.
Speaker:So the first thing you're going to do
is actually literally move your neck
Speaker:around in a circle, not a specific circle,
Speaker:but just let your neck move in all
directions. So you look to the left,
Speaker:you look to the right,
Speaker:you really let your head move
up and down and all around.
Speaker:And this movement of our neck is signaling
to our nervous system that we are
Speaker:safe, right? When we're
in a high stakes moment,
Speaker:we're going to want to be
looking straight ahead.
Speaker:We're focused like a laser beam.
Speaker:So when you specifically
intentionally move your neck around,
Speaker:it is signaling to your
nervous system, oh,
Speaker:we must be safe enough to look around us.
Speaker:So really look all around
the space that you're in.
Speaker:And then once you've really
taken a good look all around,
Speaker:letting your eyes move too as you,
your head, your neck, and your eyes,
Speaker:then find an object,
Speaker:something that you can rest
your gaze on that is comforting.
Speaker:So when I first returned from
Speaker:making my way to the apothecary,
hiking onto the island,
Speaker:I was in a pretty big state of
shock after that experience.
Speaker:And I was sitting in the grass of
Speaker:this farm. We didn't have
running water at the time still.
Speaker:And so we went to a farm where they
did have running water to take a shower
Speaker:because I was covered head
to toe in this toxic sludge,
Speaker:wasn't fully geared up or prepared for
the reality of what that was going to be
Speaker:like.
Speaker:And I could feel that I was
literally living outside of my
Speaker:body. I was not inside of
my body. I was so in shock.
Speaker:But I remembered these tools, I
remembered them. And so I did this.
Speaker:I looked all around and
ended up letting my gaze
Speaker:fall on this trellis of
tomatoes that they had and
Speaker:was looking at the tomatoes and
all the different stages of growth.
Speaker:And it was really amazing to notice
that just this simple motion of
Speaker:first looking around and
then letting myself really
Speaker:be comforted, really letting myself
be comforted by something in my field,
Speaker:did a lot to help myself come
in. And I did all the things.
Speaker:I was shaking on purpose. I was looking
around. I did the butterfly hug,
Speaker:and it was actually
life-changing to witness how my
Speaker:soul came back into my body. And this
is something that's really important.
Speaker:And another big reason why I bring
up somatic exercises in particular
Speaker:is because in order for a soul forging
time to actually forge our soul,
Speaker:our soul needs to be present.
And it makes sense, right?
Speaker:When we're going through a really,
really hard time or something traumatic,
Speaker:something shocking, that part of us fleas
is like not going to be here anymore.
Speaker:That's by design. It's important.
Speaker:It helps keep our souls
and our psyches intact to
Speaker:dissociate in that way. And yet,
Speaker:in order for the integration to happen
on the other side, for the evolution,
Speaker:the growth, the potential to come in,
Speaker:we need to bring our souls
back in to our bodies,
Speaker:back into the vessels in order
for our soul to then both forge
Speaker:us in their next evolution
and be forged as we grow and
Speaker:evolve and change.
Speaker:So these are just three somatic exercises
that I find to be really helpful that
Speaker:will really bring you back
into your body so that
Speaker:your soul can do its work,
Speaker:your soul can be changed
from what you've experienced,
Speaker:that you can evolve more into this wider
Speaker:receptacle, this wider vessel that
you are meant to be. And lastly,
Speaker:I find it super helpful if you're in
the middle of a soul forging time to
Speaker:remember other soul
forging times in your life.
Speaker:To remember how you were in the midst
of it. When you were in the midst of it,
Speaker:you had no idea how you
were going to survive this.
Speaker:It felt like everything had changed.
Everything was up in the air,
Speaker:and yet you did. And so
they can give us templates,
Speaker:they can give us handholds of
meaning to look back and see, oh,
Speaker:I had no idea what was
being forged in that time,
Speaker:but I would not be the person I
am today without that experience.
Speaker:So much so that maybe even a part
of you is grateful that it happened.
Speaker:So look back to those times because they
will help to guide you for the times
Speaker:ahead and to know that as much as we
are living in a time where everyone
Speaker:keeps calling it unprecedented times,
Speaker:there's this level in which it's not.
Speaker:There's this level in which everything
under the sun has happened before
Speaker:in one iteration or another.
Speaker:And so when you look at a collective
level and you start to feel like
Speaker:the world is going to
hell in a hand basket,
Speaker:you can remember that human
beings have lived through so
Speaker:many cycles of cataclysm and change.
Speaker:We have gone through great bottlenecks
in which our species almost completely
Speaker:died out. We have seen
empires rise and fall.
Speaker:We've seen the worst of humanity
and the best of humanity.
Speaker:We have lived through it all our
ancestors have lived through it all.
Speaker:So as we walk into this
time this year of: Speaker:year that I had called in my
reading a Soul Forging Year,
Speaker:remember that you have
the tools to live through
Speaker:this.
Speaker:Your ancestors lived through
every imaginable iteration of
Speaker:change, cataclysm, upheaval. As humans
Speaker:we were designed to actually
withstand this, to move through this,
Speaker:to be forged by it so that we can
continue to bring the invaluable
Speaker:gifts that we carry as a
species and as individuals to
Speaker:this planet.
Speaker:I don't think any soul
forging times happen by
Speaker:accident.
Speaker:There are opportunities
that the earth is helping
Speaker:to bring into being that we're part of
Speaker:co-creating because
the deepest part of us,
Speaker:the widest part of us, wants
to grow, wants to evolve,
Speaker:wants to be forged by
this experience of living
Speaker:here on this planet because
there's a freedom in it.
Speaker:There's a freedom in
evolving into who you always
Speaker:knew you were meant to be.
Speaker:And what's really cool and kind of
radical about living through hard
Speaker:times,
Speaker:living through soul forging times is
that your mission can get super clear.
Speaker:All the stuff that isn't for you anymore,
Speaker:that you don't need to worry about
anymore, you don't need to handle,
Speaker:you don't even need to pay attention
to, you don't need to read about,
Speaker:you don't need to watch.
Speaker:All that stuff gets really clear
because you notice the way in which it
Speaker:takes you away from what's most important,
Speaker:the way it takes you away
from your heart's mission.
Speaker:Soul forging times make
what is very important
Speaker:collectively, but also personally
to you, very, very clear.
Speaker:So embrace that gift of this time,
Speaker:whether you're personally
in a very soul forging time,
Speaker:or whether you just are experiencing
the vast soul forging that we are in as
Speaker:this world.
Speaker:Know that things are being
made clear for you in your own
Speaker:lives, for the collective.
Speaker:There is a deep and powerful
clarity coming out of this time.
Speaker:And on the other side will
be this new fashioning,
Speaker:this new forging,
Speaker:this new patterning
that can hold even more
Speaker:potential than what we
can currently imagine.
Speaker:So thank you for being here.
Speaker:Thank you for living through
these soul forging times,
Speaker:for being willing to continue
to be here. You're vital,
Speaker:you're really important for this moment
in time. If you weren't important,
Speaker:you wouldn't be here. What
you have to give who you are,
Speaker:it's an essential part of this whole.
Speaker:And you being willing to be
forged by your experiences
Speaker:and by what we're moving through
collectively on this planet is a really
Speaker:important piece of the
becoming that is at play in our
Speaker:world right now. So if you are
loving this podcast so far,
Speaker:and I sincerely am hoping that you are,
Speaker:please leave me a rating or review
wherever you listen to podcasts.
Speaker:This ask is a new one for me as
everything with this podcast,
Speaker:but I know it helps so much to
increase the visibility of this
Speaker:podcast to reach the people that
this message is meant to reach,
Speaker:to help people remember why they
are here. I read every review.
Speaker:They mean so much to me,
Speaker:and I'm really just so
grateful and honored that I
get to be in this collective
Speaker:with you, these sensitives and
seekers who are really here to
Speaker:dedicate themselves to this one thing,
Speaker:which remembering why we're here.
Speaker:So thank you so much for being
here, and I'll see you next time.
