The most self loving practice you can develop.
Developing a practice that constantly checks in with and prioritises the needs of your Soul is the most Self Loving you can have.
The state of our Soul is the most important aspect in our lives to take care of. It is the foundation from which everything else operates. When our Soul is suffocated and stifled, our lives are out of whack, we becomes stressed, disconnected, our physical bodies are effected and things start to unravel.
I was recently invited to speak at The Self Love Movement about ReWilding. ReWilding is the process that returns us to our most free Self, it connects us back to our inner wild, the essence within us that knows who we truly are and what we really want - before all the bullsh*t from society started to tell us otherwise.
This allows us to lead our most adventurous, wild + soulful lives because it prioritises what we really want and need, by stripping away the things, people, and stories keeping you from being the person you truly are and doing the things you came into the world to do.
I opened up and shared my own journey from being conditioned to fit in, bullied, keeping myself small, shying away from being 'too much', 'too emotional', ' too independent' and how I found my way to being unapologetic in who I am, what I truly want, creating a life around it and how I empower others to do the same, in their own unique way.
No one is more of an expert in who you are, what you need and what you're capable of than you!
Before we are taught otherwise, we are each born with a clear knowing, unapologetic nature and we walk around the world exactly as we are. We talk to whomever we want, we laugh, we play, we express our emotions and we believe that whatever we can imagine, is possible.
As we grow up we become conditioned to fit in and our society, care givers, our peers and systems start to tell us who we are, and depending on our background, skin colour, identity, abilities or race - we are taught that we are right, wrong, accepted, normal, an outsider, or not important.
Because of this we lose touch with our truth, we become distrustful of our own inner guidance system and start to place more value on what others think of us, what they think we should do and we're squashed into a box. Each ‘right’, ‘wrong’, 'should and shouldn't' story we inherit, forms another layer over the knowing within of who we really are.
ReWilding is deep, involved and ongoing work I support others to move through because I'm passionate about helping them break down the layers keeping them stuck, and allows them to hear ( and trust ) that inner voice so they can confidently follow it.
Here is a helpful process you can do to start your own ReWilding journey.
1. Take stock of exactly where you're at
( Where do you currently feel restricted, trapped, suffocated, unfulfilled? )
- Break your life up into 5 sections:
Career, Creativity, Community, Spirituality, Wellness.
- Write down how satisfied you are in these areas.
10 being the highest, 1 being the lowest.
- Next, write down how much you allow your true Self to be expressed in these areas. ( Do you let who you really are shine through in these areas. Do you say what you want to say. Are you doing the things you would love to do in these areas. )
- Tally up the scores and start with the one that you rated lowest in.
2. Develop ( or strengthen) your relationship with your intuition.
Our intuition is like the walkie talkie between us and our Soul. Our soul, our inner wild, is always guiding us towards towards ( or away from ) the people, places or things that we need for our best lives. We are raised to undervalue this part of ourselves but it is always there and part of our work is to learn what it looks or feels like for us so we can lean into it more.
When we don’t listen to those inner whispers - our body will speak to us, and when we don’t listen to our body, the Universe will give us a big slap upside the head. ( For me it was in the form of losing a best friend suddenly and developing health issues )
An exercise that Teal Swan developed is the act of using the messages from your body to decipher your intuition.
- Close down your eyes and bring your attention inwards.
- Scan your body and bring your awareness to any tingling, any ache, any pain or anywhere you are instantly drawn to. Focus there and breathe for a few seconds.
- Imagine that sensation, ache or pain turning into an object. ( Don’t think, just feel and let your imagination take you )
- Imagine that object turning into an image. Breathe and allow the image to appear in front of you. Picture it floating in front of your face and spend some time there, observing and noticing as it comes to life.
- When you have the image - ask it for guidance around what you need to let go of in that particular area of your life. Ask what you need to ReWild. And then listen. It may just be a word, it may be a sentence, you may see another vision but just listen and allow it to come through with no judgement.
- Open your eyes and write down what came up.
Journal and let the words flow. If it doesn’t make sense straight away, thats OK. Just carry that guidance with you throughout the week or so and see what evolves.
3. Give voice to what you want.
What does your Soul want you to express? What did your intuition urge you to speak up about? What are you really craving? What do you really want to let go?
Part of rewilding is honouring that part of ourselves that desires to be heard. We all have a voice that matters but we are often taught to be quiet; don’t be too loud, too emotional, too ‘something’ for others and our voices are drowned out.
We are taught to put the comfort or opinions of others above our own need to express ourselves.
Start to prioritise this and give voice to what you want. Scream, laugh, cry, sing, say that thing. Speak out loud the guidance you received from your intuition, Let that inner Wild out ;)
4. Give yourself permission to follow through
The act of DOING what you really want is a form of rebellion that our Ego ( brain) doesn’t encourage, so it puts fear in our way and it's a part of what society tries to numb out of us.
Write yourself a permission slip and DO the thing you want,the thing that scares you, the thing that excites you. Prioritise the needs of your Soul.
5. Repeat as necessary
Run through this with the other areas of your life or use it to tap in for guidance about decision, actions or things you need. Remember, you are the expert and you have all the answers within but if you need some support getting over any procrastination, confusion or doubt that surfaces - you can download my free ReWilding Ebook by joining The Wildings here or learn about how I can help support you here.